Secret Deals: M Street Kitchen

M Street Kitchen's sort of a head scratcher. Serving good, but certainly not great food, at fair but certainly not exemplary pricepoints, it is sometimes hard to decipher why Santa Monicans perpetually pack the place. Weekend breakfast and dinner walk-ups sometimes are even greeted with a 45-minute wait - and get this: they actually wait it out!

While I do not quite understand the popularity with the sit down portion of the restaurant, I cannot say a negative word about their bakery in the back (or in the front, depending on how you approach the restaurant). Consistently filled to the brim with bountifully sized cookies and brownies, it is hard to go wrong with any of the pastry case's buttery delectables. It is, however, the morning pastries, specifically the muffins, that rise above the pack though. Softball-sized (plus some), the muffins come in a variety of everyday flavors like Blueberry, Blackberry Bran and Chocolate Chip With Orange Glaze (pictured above) and also in a select "Muffin of the Day" flavor. Decadent and fresh, these are top notch muffins.

They're even better when they only cost a dollar. Which is every day. Well, after 3 pm at least. Yep, every day after 3 pm, M Street offers all remaining muffins in the pastry case for only $1. No limit. I often find myself at a nearby coffee shop around that time and take a quick stroll over. There's usually plenty to choose from and it isn't abnormal for me to buy a few and store them away in the freezer. Then when I'm craving a sweet morning treat (which, let's be honest, is almost ALWAYS) a few days later, I pop the muffin in the mircrowave for 30 seconds or so and there I have a filling, delicious, fresh muffin for breakfast. And it only cost me one smackaroo.

((Note: Please leave me one.))