Fresh-squeezed orange juice. A blueberry-flavored Arnold Palmer riff. Gatorade and coconut water. Pedialyte. Liquid IV.
Those are just a few of the options featured on the "hydrate" section of the beverage menu for I Egg You, the fun, egg-focused breakfast and lunch spot that opened on Barracks Row back in the fall from ChiKo and Anju vets Scott Drewno and Danny Lee.
"I just feel like A) people want more non-alcoholic options these days, and on the other side of the coin, people want more options when they're hungover," Drewno says with a laugh.
So far, the offerings, which have stayed pretty consistent since opening, have been a hit. The fresh-squeezed orange juice is among the restaurant's best-sellers ("People just freak out about it," Drewno says, since many restaurants no longer make their own), and customers are even willing to shell out $6 for a bottle of Gatorade on mornings when they're feeling a little rough.
"If you need a Gatorade, you need a Gatorade," Drewno says.
An item that has attracted attention -- and some confusion -- is the S.D. Combo, which gives drinkers a Diet Coke, a packet of Liquid IV, and a bloody mary, for $18. But several customers reading the menu have suspected the drink is a weird-sounding cocktail combining the three, rather than a combo, Drewno says.
"I'm thinking we may have to either change the wording or go on social media, mix it all together, and see what it tastes like," Drewno says.
Outside of the hydration station, I Egg You's beverage offerings are pretty expansive. "My original idea was, 'Let's do every breakfast drink that exists and put it on the menu,'" says Drewno. He and beverage director Phil Anova eventually narrowed the field, but customers can also "caffeinate" with a number of coffee-based drinks using La Colombe coffee (the Vietnamese egg coffee is a particularly popular choice) or "inebriate" from a selection of nine brunch cocktails. Diners can even turn any lunch into a "D.C." power lunch and add two martinis for $25. That's most likely to happen on a Friday afternoon, Drewno says.
"You don't see a lot of those orders Tuesday morning at 9 a.m.," he says.