Breakfast at VIPS

There are two chains of restaurants which are ubiquitous in Mexico City... Sanborns and VIPs.  Neither one is a gourmet dining experience, although I would rank them higher than a place like Denny's in the U.S.  Generally, they are a better choice for breakfast than for dinner.

Of the two, Sanborns is the older.  It was founded in 1903 by two brothers from the United States as a pharmacy, soda fountain and lunch counter.  Eventually the chain was sold to Walgreens, and now it is owned by Mexico's richest man, Carlos Slim.

VIPS is owned by the same company that manages such U.S. chains as Starbucks, Burger King, and the Cheesecake Factory in Mexico.

Alejandro and I usually go out for breakfast on the weekends.  Most of the independently owned places in the neighborhood are closed on Sundays, so we have to go to one of the chains.  We have both a Sanborns and a VIPS within a few blocks of the apartment.  However, the food and the service at the nearby Sanborns are not up to par, so we usually go to VIPS. 

VIPS also has a much wider selection of breakfasts, and we have found the waitresses there to be very friendly.  A couple of them will come up and say hello to us even if they are not waiting on us.  

At the beginning of November we got two of their monthly loyalty cards.

 

On each return visit we get a higher discount until on the fifth visit the discount is 50%.  So each Saturday and Sunday morning this month we have been going to VIPS.  This coming weekend, my last weekend here on this trip, we will make it up to the 50% mark.  So the two of us will have a very hearty breakfast for less than $10!