Let’s Get Crackin’

By Naperville Magazine
Appears in the February 2024 issue.

By Peter Gianopulos

Effin Egg elevates the breakfast sandwich

We’ve been conditioned to expect egg sandwiches to be boring, dry, or served with Canadian bacon on microwaved English muffins. Robert and Jill Watson, who recently opened up an Effin Eggs franchise in Naperville (22 E. Chicago Ave.), ask you to consider the benefits of upgrading—pardon our French—to a real effin’ egg sandwich.

We’re talking cage-free eggs. Toasted brioche buns. Homemade biscuits. Quesos, breakfast sauces, salsas, and spreads. And flavor combos too bold to ever see the light of day at any Waffle House in the nation.

A few years back, Robert visited the original Effin Eggs location in Florida, took one bite of its Jax sandwich—turkey sausage, over-medium egg, and cheddar cheese, all smothered with a chipotle-mayo Effy Sauce—and told founder Jeff Martin that he was determined to open a location back home in Naperville. “It blew my mind,” Watson says. “It was unlike any breakfast sandwich I’d ever eaten. The minute I finished my sandwich, I immediately went back and ordered a second one. It was that good.”

Flash forward to today, and the Watsons are serving eight different made-to-order breakfast sandwiches. Think bacon, egg, and cheddar cheese enhanced with a spicy mayo on a toasted brioche. And a turkey bacon, eggs, and cheese stacker drizzled with chipotle ketchup. Or a bougie bagel schmeared with the house’s avocado spread and your choice of eggs.

Effin is a breakfast-all-day operation, serving its fancy sammys, along with burritos and breakfast tacos, from morning until midafternoon. A smattering of brunch items include egg-topped burgers, pancakes, and a few poutine-inspired sides, including a clever riff on nachos called Brisket Totchos, which piles queso, sour cream, and homemade brisket atop a bed of freshly fried tater tots.

Breakfast, as we’ve long been told, is the most important meal of the day; the Watsons are angling to make it the most delicious meal of the day, too.

Photos: Effin Egg