People have strong opinions about the humble bacon, egg and cheese — that classic sandwich that starts so many days. Should the eggs be scrambled or fried? Should the bacon be crispy or chewy? Does cheddar or American reign supreme? Are buns or biscuits better?
But almost everyone can agree that the sandwich, known as a BEC, shouldn’t cost upward of $15. So, in an era when even the simple things feel like a splurge, David Right, the owner of the Right Cream ice cream parlor, 2423 S. Downing St. in Denver, decided to start making and selling BECs for $6.50 on Saturday mornings. “This city desperately needs this,” he wrote on Instagram.
On July 20, the shop’s inaugural sandwich pop-up had a line out the door, and Right plans to bring the popup back every Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon during the summer.
But Right Cream’s BEC also sparked an online conversation about the affordability of breakfast options in the Mile High. One Reddit user said about the pop-up, “The man is a man of the people. $6.50 for one. No 18 dollar [b.s] like some other places. This is what Denver needs.”
“I wanted to make a quick on-the-go breakfast sandwich that’s affordable, something that you might make at your house but you don’t have time to do. Nobody is out there searching for the craziest breakfast sandwich, I don’t need a bunch of lemongrass, arugula, and prosciutto. Denver lacks neighborhood spots to rely on for quick, affordable breakfast options,” Right said.
He also emphasized the importance of community and accessibility. “I think the term ‘bodega’ gets thrown around way too loosely nowadays. But I wanted to bring that bodega culture to our location because our business is driven by that community,” he explained. “We did the math, and we still make money on it. I don’t have to make $15 on every BEC I sell. I want to sell a lot of them.”
While $15-plus breakfast sandwiches seem like the norm right now across metro Denver, Right Cream isn’t alone when it comes to budget-friendlier breakfast options.
Rise & Shine Biscuit Kitchen, which has three locations, offers build-your-own BEC biscuits for less than $7. “Our goal has always been to keep Rise & Shine at a price point where someone can come 2-3 times a week without being concerned about the expense,” said owner Seth Rubin.
Mary Nguyen has a unique perspective as the owner of a few different restaurants with multiple price points. At Little Finch, 1490 16th Street Mall, you can get a grab-and-go sausage, egg, and cheese on an English muffin for $6.25, while at Olive & Finch (with locations in Denver’s Uptown and Cherry Creek neighborhoods), a BEC breakfast plate costs $13.
“Breakfast sandwiches at Olive & Finch are made fresh to order and come with your choice of fruit, mixed green salad, or a crognet [croissant-beignet]. With the High Five, for example, the sunny side eggs are made to order, we make the five spice candied bacon in-house, as well as the sriracha aioli, and the brioche bread is baked fresh daily,” Nguyen said.
The quality across both concepts remains consistent, though, she emphasized (and the grab-and-go sandwiches are actually made at Olive & Finch). “Our ethos has always been making great food accessible. It’s challenging to balance the cost of goods and labor, but we are committed to offering affordable options,” she continued.
“Between staffing, cost of goods, changing trends — for every item we sell, we’re lucky if we make 10% profit. For a $6 sandwich we might make a 40-cent profit, for a $13 sandwich maybe a $1 profit,” Nguyen said.
Right and Rubin recognize this as well.
“It’s a product of the time. That’s why things are more expensive across the board, even McDonald’s. You can’t leave a drive-thru with a combo meal for less than $11 now,” Right said.
“Pricing always depends on people’s cost of operations. I know Denver in particular, minimum wage has gone up significantly so the cost of doing business is hard to keep prices low, especially when margins are as thin as they are in the restaurant business,” Rubin added.
Perhaps this is why there’s such a discrepancy in the price of a BEC around town. Here are a few examples:
- Leroy’s Bagels, 2139 W. 44th Ave., $6.95 for an egg, meat, and cheese on a bagel.
- Leven Deli Co., 123 W. 12th Ave., Sandwiches start at $7 for eggs and cheese on a baguette, add $3 for bacon or ham.
- Zaidy’s Deli & Bakery, 600 S. Holly St., $8.50 at the deli window for a grab-and-go BEC on a challah roll or bagel; $13.50 on the regular menu (comes with a side of breakfast potatoes).
- Steuben’s Uptown, 523 17th Ave., $9 for a BEC on a potato bun.
- Izzio Bakery, 2669 Larimer St., inside Central Market, $9 for eggs on brioche, add $0.50 for cheese, add another $3.99 for chorizo or pork belly.
- Port Side, 2500 Larimer St. $9 for a BEC on a potato bun.
- Kaffe Landscape Union Station, 1750 Wewatta St., $10 for egg and grilled cheese on sourdough, add $3.50 for bacon.
- Call Your Mother, three locations, $10.50 for “The Bacon Sun City” with bacon, eggs, American or cheddar, and spicy honey on an everything bagel (it’s a better deal than CYM’s “create your own bagel sandwich” option, which totals $11.65 for bacon, egg, and American cheese on a bagel).
- Rosenberg’s Deli, two locations, $11 for a BEC on a bagel.
- Odie B’s, 2651 W. 38th Ave., $13 for “The Basic,” a BEC topped with a hashbrown wedge on a Kaiser roll.
- Fox Run Cafe, 3550 E. Colfax Ave., $13 for the “Classic Biscuit Sandwich” with sausage, scrambled eggs, cheddar, aioli, and a side of “Fox Run potatoes.”
- La Fillette, 6217 14th Ave, $13.30 for the B.Y.O Sandwich, in which you can select from a wide variety of breads and ingredients, including the classic bacon, egg and cheese, but also green chile, duck confit, goat cheese, tomato jam and much more.