Brenda Snook Waffles Between Coffee and Hardtack

Editor,

I know Marlene does her homework when it comes to places in Alameda that are worth going to, so I usually take her word for these things without thinking. But this time, one thing did cross my mind. I think maybe she's exaggerating a little about Ole's Gruel and Hardtack Hovel being the only place to eat. I usually go to Gym's Coffee Clutch where there's plenty of free parking, but they strike me as both being very good eating places. I like gruel, I like coffee, I like waffles, I like Gym's collection of old exercise equipment and historic sweat socks hanging on the wall, I'm not too keen on that Benedict stuff that they put on the eggs, seems kind of shifty, I'm not sure if you can trust it, but I don't really see much wrong with either place.

Brenda Snook

Editor's Comments: Anyone who's been in Alameda for more than five years knows that there is no middle way between the Coffee Clutch and the Hardtack Hovel. You either like one or the other. Claiming to like both just shows that you are trying to have your hardtack and eat it, too. Brenda Snook just needs to figure out what side she is on, and then dig in her heels (as long as she chooses the correct side, that is).