>>> VOTING CLOSED FOR MARCH 24 <<<

This is a tournament, folks, not a playoff. Each match is do or die - one misstep and you're out of the dance. Under-cook the batter, add a few too many shakes of powdered sugar or clump the cheese, and you can pack your oven and go back to obscurity, crying into your canned mushrooms.

This contest can only be decided by those participants willing to grab hold of destiny, coat it in 100 real whipped butter, and close the waffle iron for four minutes. Powerhouses and underdogs, favorites and unknowns - they all come out of the iron with a chance.

May the best breakfast win.

Yesterday's Tournament of Breakfast Results

Here were the match-ups:

Marcia's Silver Spoon (Tacoma) vs. Spring Lake Cafe (Fircrest)

The Homestead Restaurant (Tacoma) vs. Babblin' Babs Bistro (Tacoma) 

McMenamin's Spar (Olympia) vs. New Moon Cafe (Olympia)

Cicada Restaurant (Olympia) vs. Darby's Cafe (Olympia)

In a battle of breakfast supremacy, not surprisingly the institution well known for its delicious breakfast dishes emerged decisively victorious - with Marcia's Silver Spoon Cafe cruising to victory and securing roughly 66 percent of the vote by the time things were said and done. This one was over early, and the pummeling lasted all day. Luckily for all of us, Spring Lake Cafe doesn't need the Tournament of Breakfast to get by ... what it can do with eggs is pure magic. The high-powered Marcia's moves on to the Scrambled 16.

Everyone loves a good comeback, and this may have been one of the better clutch performances in the (obviously short) history of the Tournament of Breakfast. Down by a substantial margin by midday, The Homestead Restaurant was able to rally the troops at halftime, and by the time the final buzzer sounded the South Tacoma Way, family-friendly, barn-inhabiting restaurant had walked away with an impressive victory, racking up 57 percent of the vote against Tacoma's gourmet bistro, Babblin' Babs. There'll be some dazed looks in the Proctor District today.

If you visit New Moon Café's website, you'll see some lovely woodcut art and a photo of people enjoying themselves. If you visit McMenamins's website, you'll see trippy art and an army of hotels, pub and restaurants, including downtown Olympia's The Spar Café. Did the McMenamin brothers rally its entire organization to take on the quaint New Moon Café? Doubtful. It's hard enough to compete with The Spar's Hangtown fry and 4^th Avenue Mess, especially surrounded by a bevy of historical documentation. McMenamins moves into the Scrambled 16 with 52 percent of the vote. It was a well-fought battle.

Darby's Cafe held a slight lead all morning over crosstown rival Cicada. Then the comments began to flow in - every single one cheering on Cicada. Where were the Darby's fans? Where was its cheering squad? Our guess is the Darbyheads were inside their beloved Fifth Avenue breakfast spot, jammin' to the tunes, chattin' up a storm, instead of logged online. Cicada Restaurant and Lounge, with its wild huckleberry and bacon waffle and 70 percent of the votes - yes 70 - moves into the Scrambled 16.

Let's take a look at the stack. The following are advancing to the next round:

• Marcia's Silver Spoon Cafe
  
• The Homestead Restaurant
  
• The Spar Cafe
  
• Cicada restaurant and Lounge
  

The daily breakfast battles here on Spew are sponsored by Shakabrah Java on Tacoma's Sixth Avenue.

OK, let's check out today's Second Round breakfast battles. Vote for one breakfast joint per battle. Voting for today's breakfast battles ends at 11:45 p.m.