A year ago, this west-side joint was Italian: red sauce, shellfish, pizza. Times were tough. A retired businessman from Arizona, Jim Puckett, came out of retirement and took over, and now: omelets. Big, beautiful, fluffy omelets, named after horses. And burgers named after jockeys.

Del Mar Cafe has a quaint theme to its menu of breakfast and lunch classics, patterning everything after the San Diego County beach town with the famous racetrack. And after almost a year in business, it’s just getting going, which means it’s not as crowded as so many other brunchy venues in the area.

Back to those omelets: They have all sorts of interesting things in them. My choice is the Man o’ War, with bacon, avocado, lots of cheese and roasted red peppers. The proportion of eggs to filling is just right, and so many other restaurants overcook their omelets. Everything seems to be just right at Del Mar; maybe slow and steady wins the race.