Breakfast by Salt’s Cure has open doors on Montana Ave, meaning Westsiders no longer need to endure long lines and journey to West Hollywood to enjoy chef Chris Phelps’s famous griddle cakes.

The second location of Breakfast by Salt’s Cure is nestled into the cozy space formerly occupied by Osteria Bigoli and features all the staples of the original restaurant in addition to new vegan and dairy-free items.

The snug breakfast joint is open from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily and can host up to 30 diners when it’s operating at full capacity. The menu is simple, offering a selection of Phelp’s delectable griddle cakes, a classic breakfast sandwich and a range of breakfast sides designed to pair perfectly with the cakes.

As with the original location, the menu has a ‘no funny business’ attitude. Diners won’t be able to find fancy infused lattes or request dish modifications. According to founder and head chef Chris Phelps, every item is carefully cultivated and sourced with the highest quality ingredients to ensure it is absolutely perfect as is.

“I think that just having the griddle cakes set the really bar high, so then the sausage has to be really good and the eggs have to have deep orange yolks from local farms and the orange juice has to be fresh from the farmers market,” said Phelps. “That is basically the creativity and the spin on it — making each of these products as good as they can possibly be.”

Griddle cakes have been part of Phelps’ life for as long as he could remember. Growing up, his mother made them for him every single weekend. The cakes are made with oats blended with molasses and cinnamon, are cooked with a generous amount of butter and topped with sea salt butter and a padding of powdered sugar.

Phelps, who comes from a fine dining background, started incorporating griddle cakes into his menus and was pleasantly shocked by how popular the dish became. Once brunch at the original Salt’s Cure restaurant began drawing hordes of hungry Angelenos demanding griddle cakes, he decided to launch his first “Breakfast” restaurant.

A Westside location has been on Phelp’s mind for a long time, but he struggled for years to find an open space. Thanks to a pandemic induced opportunity, he was able to nab a prime spot on Montana Ave and is planning to open a third location in a shared space with the Standing Butcher on Main Street this fall.

“We have several customers that would be like ‘you should come out west’, so I had that in mind and I love the beach. I mean I really love it; part of the reason I moved to LA was for the beach,” said Phelps. “I saw the Montana Ave space and within five minutes I was like ‘all right this is perfect’.”

The diner-style space has a set of small tables both inside and on the pavement outside. The airy and simple interior is centered around a vibrant mural called “Malibu Sunrise”, painted by artist Pau Quintanajornet.

“It shows the bright colors of sunrise from Malibu sweeping the ocean and the sun together by the beach without being the sunset,” said Phelps. “It’s designed to wake you up and make you have a positive day, and if you eat the stuff we’re hoping you will have a great day.”

In the future Phelps seeks to expand the restaurant’s offerings by incorporating some lunch menu items like his popular chicken burger as well as fun brunch additions such as a breakfast salad with crispy potatoes and boiled egg. He assures diners that no matter what changes on the menu, there will always be ample griddle cakes for all.

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Top 4 oatmeal griddle cakes breakfast by salt's cure edited by Top Chef