The Central Valley’s appetite for more breakfast places has a new Clovis restaurant scrambling, even if the owner is grateful.
EggBred, at 1127 N. Willow Ave., Ste. 105 in Clovis, was originally meant to have a soft opening when grills lit for the first time in the new restaurant. A soft opening gives staff time to sort out how much food to prepare, how many people to expect, where staffing levels should be and lets them discover any potential hiccups in service before the main crowds file in.
Owner Varinder Singh said anticipation from local crowds changed those plans. The mayor of Clovis, Vong Mouanoutoua, showed up at the grand opening to present the restaurant with a certificate of recognition, and the Clovis Chamber of Commerce was also there.
“We weren’t ready for this kind of love,” Singh said.
Singh is no stranger to the Central Valley. He’s lived here since 2001 and is part of the group that owns The Clovis Castle, a wedding venue on Auberry Road. His wife owns a dental practice.
This is the first time he’s been a franchisee, and he’s behind the line, cooking right next to the rest of his crew. He hasn’t had a day off in the last 10 days.
“Every day we’re getting sold out of something,” Singh said.
Various sandwiches from EggBred, located in the shopping center southeast of Willow and Nees, include a Scramble Me Softly, top, a Ben Franklin served with hollandaise sauce, and a country fried chicken sandwich served with country sausage gravy. EggBred is a fast-casual restaurant concept that specializes in breakfast and brunch sandwiches. The concept was started by Albert Shim, a chef and former Chopped contestant. The Clovis franchise owner is Varinder Singh. CRAIG KOHLRUSS ckohlruss@fresnobee.com
On Saturday, the restaurant completely sold out and had to close early. EggBred is a “scratch kitchen,” meaning that everything is made from scratch, so even if they have the ingredients to make more of something, like the country pork sausage gravy, it might take them a couple of hours to make a new batch.
“That’s the best problem to have,” Singh said.
That Singh was planning to bring the restaurant to Clovis was first reported on in April.
Singh was introduced to the larger brand while in Los Angeles with his family. EggBred, as the name might imply, focuses on egg-forward breakfast sandwiches. His favorite is the Ben Franklin, which has Black Forest ham, an over-medium egg, truffle-dressed argula, an English muffin and hollandaise, and that’s unusual — he’s not usually a ‘ham guy’.
“We didn’t have anything in the Valley that tastes like this,” Singh said.
And despite the presence of other breakfast places nearby, Singh wasn’t worried. He described EggBred as a family-friendly location, and on every wall there are simple, cartoony drawings of eggs, toast, bacon, waffles and avocado in a manner similar to Gudetama, a popular “lazy egg” character made by the same company as Hello Kitty.
Also on the walls were jokes and other quick phrases. In one corner, a cartoon waffle says”‘I’m just a pancake with abs,” and a bright yellow-and-white neon sign says “Hand Crafted to Order.”
Zach Voth, who lives in Vancouver, Wash., had been waiting about five minutes for his chicken burrito. His dad lives around the corner from EggBred, and so when Voth saw the place was open, he decided to check it out.
“The wordplay in the name got me,” he said.
People line up at the counter to try the food at EggBred, located in the shopping center southeast of Willow and Nees, a fast-casual restaurant concept that specializes in breakfast and brunch sandwiches. CRAIG KOHLRUSS ckohlruss@fresnobee.com 
EggBred, located in the shopping center southeast of Willow and Nees, is a fast-casual restaurant concept that specializes in breakfast and brunch sandwiches. The concept was started by Albert Shim, a chef and former Chopped contestant. The Clovis franchise owner is Varinder Singh. CRAIG KOHLRUSS ckohlruss@fresnobee.com 
A line forms outside the door at EggBred, located in the shopping center southeast of Willow and Nees, a fast-casual restaurant concept that specializes in breakfast and brunch sandwiches. CRAIG KOHLRUSS ckohlruss@fresnobee.com
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Amber Hair (they/them) is the food and restaurants reporter and influencer. Amber has been in professional journalism for more than a decade, writing for outlets like the Orlando Sentinel, The Villages Daily Sun, the Pacific Coast Business Times and others. In their spare time, they enjoy going to concerts, reading and spending time with their cats.