A $1.50 Breakfast Special
On the corner of 149th St. and Grand Concourse Blvd., one stop shy of Yankee Stadium and a block north of the Hostos Community College, the El Valle Restaurant has embarked on a bold new marketing venture: a $1.50 breakfast special. El Valle's special is no mere egg on a roll, it is the complete package: two eggs, toast, home fries, a large glass of water and coffee. I arrived at 8 o'clock and took a table by the window. I opened The New York Times and a waitress sauntered over for my order.
Outside the restaurant a young man was pacing up and down the street. He kept looking at me through the window and when he caught my eye, he smiled. I smiled back and the man entered the restaurant to ask me a question: "Do you work at the law office? I'm waiting for it to open. When do you start?" I was wearing a tweed jacket and perhaps it had thrown him off. I said I did not work at the law office, but that didn't seem to satisfy him and he asked how come I was in the Bronx. Somewhat apologetically, I explained that I was only there for the breakfast special.
Minutes later another man walked in off the street and came up to my table. Gaunt and disheveled, this second man was panhandling: "Can you help me out with a subway fare?" Flustered, I gave him three dollars. "Yeah, thanks. You know, I'm gonna use this for the subway. I ain't jumpin' no train. I'm gonna use this." He knew that I did not believe him and he seemed annoyed.
The waitress arrived with my food. Just as I began to eat a third man approached. He wore olive-green trousers and a beautiful matching shirt. He had a gold chain tossing around in his chest hair. He put his hand on my shoulder: "Mind if I use your salt?"
El Valle's breakfast special is excellent if you like that sort of thing, and I do. The scrambled eggs were good, and I was impressed by the coffee. The coffee is donut-cart coffee; it came in a "We Are Happy To Serve You" paper cup. But what made The Special sublime were the french fries, and the restaurant let me substitute french fries for home fries at no extra charge.
By 8:30 the restaurant had begun to fill up. The customers were college students and people on their way to work. There were a handful of old men, all of whom seemed to know each other. At a table in the center of the dining room sat a young couple with three small children, each of them eating his own breakfast special. The Special was very popular.
"Everybody likes The Special," said Altagracia.
Altagracia is a manager at El Valle; her name translates roughly to "Great Thanks." Our interview was complicated by the fact that she spoke very little English. I'm not too fluent in Spanish and when she first told me her name I thought she had said "Altagrasa." She was a large woman, and "Altagrasa" translates roughly into the name "Great Fat." I dared not repeat it back to her. In the end she had to spell it out in my notebook.
Altagracia works three mornings a week. She has been at the restaurant for just two months and I asked her how she came to start working there. She didn't answer but rolled her eyes and waved her hand in the air as if to say that it's a very long story. Our conversation went through a number of false starts. I asked her to describe the clientele and she said: "All types." I asked her what the restaurant sells more than anything else and she looked at me rather incredulously: "Pues, comida!" (Food!)
El Valle is basically a Dominican place. The owner is Dominican and so is Altagracia. "Me? Dominicana!" The Special has been on offer since the beginning of October. I asked Altagracia how long it would last. She said she had no idea. Does the restaurant make money off The Special? "Money? No. It make more customers than money."
It struck me that the waitresses might get a little tired of so many small checks?I asked Altagracia if any of them had complained about The Special. "They like it fine. Why not?" Because it's hard to make good tips off a $1.50 special. Altagracia waved her hand in the air again: "Don't worry. Nobody tips."