{"id":820973,"date":"2026-05-25T11:44:29","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T11:44:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/820973\/"},"modified":"2026-05-25T11:44:29","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T11:44:29","slug":"south-phillys-morning-glory-diner-homemade-breakfasts-with-a-spicy-political-topping","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/820973\/","title":{"rendered":"South Philly\u2019s Morning Glory Diner: Homemade breakfasts with a spicy political topping"},"content":{"rendered":"

Love Philly? So do we. Let\u2019s be friends. Sign up for the Billy Penn newsletter today<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Morning Glory Diner made its mark in the late 1990s as the place that \u201cmade brunch cool again\u201d and paved the way for a slew of other hip breakfast spots to open up in South Philly and beyond.<\/p>\n

Decades later, the Bella Vista restaurant remains famous for its made-from-scratch pancakes and biscuits, distinctive home-brewed ketchup, and year-round covered patio \u2014 along with long lines on weekend mornings.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But the diner may be even better known for the loudly left-wing, anti-Republican messages it blasts from handmade window signs and, uh, colorfully titled menu specials.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOur first one ever was \u2018Scalia Is a Douche,\u2019\u201d owner Carol Mickey recalled<\/a> in 2023, \u201cwhich was right after he wrote a dissent in the gay marriage debate.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The dish, a frittata with andouille sausage, tomato, scallions and Monterey Jack cheese, sold out<\/a> in record time. The spicy name and many others that followed brought the diner national attention, as well angry attacks from those who objected to Mickey\u2019s politics.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey interfered with our phone service. They would call and order food and never pick it up,\u201d she said. \u201cThey would do everything to try to torment us\u2026 And the last thing they did was interfere with our Facebook and our Instagram and our Google websites.\u201d<\/p>\n

The restaurant nonetheless remains tremendously popular, and Mickey as loudly defiant as ever in her beliefs and continually updated dish titles.<\/p>\n

Scrumptious French toast, polarizing ketchup<\/p>\n

Samantha \u201cSam\u201d Mickey opened Sam\u2019s Morning Glory Diner in 1997 after bartending and waiting tables at several restaurants, including the similarly acclaimed Down Home Diner in Reading Terminal Market, which inspired her menu.<\/p>\n

Amid the often bleak and boring restaurant breakfasts available at the time, it turned out serving really good homemade food at a charmingly decorated neighborhood diner was a recipe for success.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIn an era when so many of our old-fashioned diners are slipping away into the microwave age of convenience,\u201d Inquirer restaurant critic Craig Laban gushed, Mickey\u2019s eatery was \u201cbreathing new life back into the genre, pouring heart and soul into comfort food that still bothers to be homemade.\u201d<\/p>\n

While her inexperience as a cook occasionally showed, the menu made good use of fresh local produce and meat, and featured many delights, like challah French toast with strawberry compote, and puffy pan-baked frittatas filled with roasted potatoes and smoky ham, Laban wrote.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Interior at Morning Glory Diner (Clifton Jackson for Billy Penn)<\/p>\n

The critic also mentioned the ketchup, a polarizing condiment that has been compared to marinara sauce. Initially it was made in a 12-hour process that involved mixing in apples, clove, ginger and tomato.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After the Morning Glory succeeded, it was followed by several other more or less \u201cfunky\u201d brunch places like Honey\u2019s Sit and Eat, Sabrina\u2019s, and Green Eggs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mickey battled brain cancer, and was mourned in the restaurant community and beyond when she passed away in 2012 at 44 years old, leaving three young children. Her mom Carol, who\u2019s an attorney, took over, and a few years later started putting her own distinctive imprimatur on the restaurant.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have the biggest mouth\u201d<\/p>\n

Since the Scalia frittata, the daily specials menu has continued to feature new dish names reflecting Carol Mickey\u2019s disdain toward President Donald Trump and conservatives generally, as well as her affection for Democrats \u2014 particularly District Attorney Larry Krasner, a longtime regular, and Gov. Josh Shapiro.<\/p>\n

Menus have offered \u201cHate Makes You Hungry\u201d tacos and a \u201cGov Shapiro Is Pro-Life\u201d scramble, and dishes that say Krasner or Shapiro \u201ceats free.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Others include \u201cBan Guns Not Pastrami Scramble,\u201d \u201cRead a Banned Book Then Enjoy A Breakfast Quesadilla,\u201d and topical recent titles like \u201cThe King\u2019s Castle Needs A Ballroom Scramble\u201d (with turkey sausage, spinach, shiitakes and smoked mozzarella), \u201cSecy Duffy is a Douche Chilaquiles\u201d (referring to the U.S. Secretary of Transportation), \u201cShapiro 2028 Sausage Gravy and Eggs,\u201d and \u201cEnact the 25th Amendment then eat Eggs Benedict Florentine.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Menus from the Morning Glory Diner in South Philadelphia, from July 2024 (at left) and April 2025. (Meir Rinde\/Billy Penn)<\/p>\n

In 2018, Shapiro, then the state attorney general, visited the Morning Glory to highlight his opposition to a Trump administration proposal that would let employers take their employees\u2019 tips. \u201cAfter the press conference, I said to him, \u2018Why us, out of every place in Pennsylvania?\u2019\u201d she told 34th Street magazine<\/a>. \u201cHe said, \u2018You have the biggest mouth.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The staff have also designed window posters with messages on a range of subjects, from supporting democracy to advocating for Ukraine relief, and written political messages on a blackboard inside. A Trump effigy is a regular presence by the restaurant\u2019s entrance and a hand-written pro-choice poster with the image of a crossed-out coathanger hangs in the window.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mickey\u2019s outspoken politics still occasionally enrage critics on the right, but the restaurant remains a beloved dining destination for brunch aficionados \u2014 especially those who lean left.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople tell me it\u2019s like a haven,\u201d said Cotton James Mcgowan, Mickey\u2019s grandson and a manager at the diner. \u201cFor every single person there that doesn\u2019t like what we do, there\u2019s like three more that love it, support it, and tell everybody else about it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Love Philly? So do we. Let\u2019s be friends. Sign up for the Billy Penn newsletter today. The Morning…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":820974,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5132],"tags":[5229,159168,6329,42199,337547,137346,990,10577,55839,1448,2830,1311,337548,80,988,337549,101681,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-820973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-america","tag-bella-vista","tag-breakfast","tag-brunch","tag-carol-mickey","tag-city-guide","tag-food","tag-josh-shapiro","tag-larry-krasner","tag-pa","tag-pennsylvania","tag-philadelphia","tag-philly-restaurants","tag-politics","tag-restaurants","tag-sams-morning-glory-diner","tag-south-philly","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116635047491368278","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/820973","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=820973"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/820973\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/820974"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=820973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=820973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=820973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}