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ABOVE: The Toasted Owl’s popularity skyrocketed when they moved to their location on Mike’s Pike and offered patio seating.

RIGHT: made of pork, turkey or jalapeño-spiked—plus scrambled eggs and cheddar, potatoes and house-made salsa.

Owl’s best sellers include biscuits and gravy or the egg breakfast, comprised of classic components from sausage or bacon to potatoes and eggs, which “just kills it,” according to Maniaci. From the Owlrageous Omelettes, guests prefer prosciutto and brie with fig jam. Three eggs with mixed greens and creamy balsamic, plus potatoes, round up Europe’s best bites to start the day.

Lunchtime is covered with a variety of hot and cold owlwiches and a great list of burgers. If you’re chillin’, there are mimosas and Bloody Marys served all day, every day.

Toasted Owl is kitsch and vintage. To sustain an exploding love of throw-back fabulous, Maniaci’s restaurants are filled with one-of-a-kind items from chandeliers to everything owl. It’s her hobby as décor in a retail outlet. As the signs say: Everything is for sale. What will you take home?

Challenges over the past few years have plagued small business owners, and Maniaci believes her patio saved her. It’s always been furry friendly, but during the pandemic, tourists in trailers with their pets in tow pushed the limit in hilarious ways. From an enormous bird on a shoulder to fish in bowls to a tarantula at the table, she laughs at having to set reasonable limits.

Success is a siren, and Maniaci is singing its tune with more good eats. In February, she opened Plantasia Eatery nearby. The plant-based restaurant is the tasty extension of her personal health journey. Additionally, Toasted Owl announced a third location in central Phoenix in a busy, burgeoning spot called The Newton. With hundreds of apartments and an intimate following of friends and family, this owl will fly as far as her others. Think you’ve got what it takes to run a restaurant? Toasted Owl franchising opportunities exist.

Still, Maniaci celebrates and admires the collaboration with her original business neighbors and industry friends most. “Flagsta has been nothing but generous and kind,” Maniaci says. “I have such a love for Flagsta —it was the start of all of it.”