I hate to be like everyone else by prefacing a story about breakfast with a commentary on how Honolulu can't do breakfast. But I don't know how else to start.

It's as if all other cognitive function is halted as soon as the words "restaurant" and "breakfast" are muttered within a few words of each other. They're the trigger. The Pavlovian bells that, instead of inciting appetite, suppress it and then immediately bring this question to the forefront of my (and everyone else's) brain: Why are there so few places in this city that can turn out a good breakfast?

There's no good answer to that question, but the fact that it's even a source of debate is the answer to the question the couple standing in line behind me asked on a recent Saturday morning at Cafe Kaila: "Is it always like this here? We've been waiting for 20 minutes."

Yes. It's always like that here. Because here, a breakfast restaurant like Cafe Kaila is called upon to be the fulfillment of the breakfast-brunch fantasies of a city with too few options and an unending string of long Friday and Saturday nights that are crying out for a comforting late-morning meal cooked by someone else.

It's been about nine months since Chrissie Castillo opened Cafe Kaila, and sometimes — when every table in the little Market City eatery is full, and there's a line snaking down the sidewalk — I wonder if she wonders what she's gotten herself into.

The long waits, the harried servers (Castillo included), the empty water glasses and uncleared plates are signs that Kaila is doing more business than it can handle. But until someone else outside of Waikiki and Kailua (this island's breakfast town) takes on breakfast, I think Castillo and crew are always going to have their hands full.

And to attribute Kaila's popularity solely to an absence of options is certainly doing the place a disservice. People wouldn't be flocking to the cafe, many of them knowing that they'll have to put in some time in line, if they didn't know that it would all be worth it.

Cafe Kaila serves breakfast and lunch, and does brisk business for both meals, but it is most popular among the masses for its breakfast. A quick look around on every visit of three indicated that people come for the buttermilk pancakes ($6.95 for a stack of three). The asking price is steep for three pancakes, but don't pass on them based only on the price, because if it's possible for pancakes to be worth $7 (and some would argue otherwise), these are.

The cakes are light on fluff, but they're not dense, either. They have the kind of substance that might be the result of adding yogurt or creme fraiche to the batter, though I'm not certain that's Castillo's secret, or even if there is a secret. What I do know, and what most people recognize on first or second bite, is that the pancakes are laced with cinnamon - a simple and wonderful addition, especially when paired with pure maple syrup (the only kind of syrup you get at Kaila).

The sweet-bread cinnamon french toast ($5.95) is a better deal, and it's also warmly satisfying, but it doesn't educe quite the same subtle surprise in taste and texture as the pancakes. But it's French toast done right - thick slices of soft sweet bread dipped in an egg batter rich in vanilla and cinnamon and then dusted with powdered sugar.

The best deal on the menu is the breakfast combo ($9.95), which comes with either the French toast or two pancakes, accompanied by two eggs and a choice of breakfast meat. It's a big meal for so early in the day, and protein lovers, weight watchers and light eaters will be more drawn to the small, fresh meals such as the granola, fruit and yogurt parfait made with organic granola and yogurt ($6.50) or the omelets, which come with a variety of fillings from meaty (ham, bacon, Spam, Portuguese or link sausage and cheese, for $7.75) to veggie (choose from tomatoes, spinach, zucchini, mushrooms, bell peppers, onions, eggplant, avocado, salsa, or cheddar, pepper jack, provolone or Monterey jack cheese, for $7.50) to build-your-own. The omelettes come with a choice of rice or homestyle potatoes and a choice of wheat, white or sourdough bread.

Breakfast is just another meal if there's no coffee, and at Cafe Kaila, lovers of joe can rest assured that they'll get a hot cup of dark roast or a perfectly pulled espresso to go with a carefully prepared meal. But don't let that perfect cup of coffee tempt you into taking your time.

The ambience of Cafe Kaila doesn't exactly encourage leisurely mornings spent with a hearty meal, a newspaper and a cup of coffee - it's too frenzied for all of that, which in itself wouldn't be so bad, in a big-bustling-city kind of way, if the staff didn't make it so very apparent that it's stress they're feeling, not the pleasure of your company. Service with a smile doesn't apply here - it's more like service with a grimace. Which is too bad, because everyone else is smiling.