By Drew Olson Special to OnMilwaukee.com Published Jul 02, 2008 at 7:37 AM

The food at Summerfest is legendary and almost everyone who strolls through the gate has a favorite item.

Among the standards: mozzarella marinara from Saz's, eggplant from Venice Club, jambalaya from Crawdaddy's and barbecue from Pitch's.

But, there is a culinary secret on the grounds that only insiders know about.

Breakfast.

For years, Major Goolsby's, located on the south end of the grounds near the Briggs & Stratton Big Backyard, has offered a "farmer's breakfast" for employees who work to prepare the park for the day's festivities.

We asked a few early-bird customers about the breakfast this week and nobody was exactly sure when the tradition started. They just know that Jerry Cohen, the longtime owner of Major Goolsby's, has provided the service for as long as they can remember.

And they love it.

Goolsby's offers an array of breakfast options including bagels ($2.50), scrambled eggs with ham or bacon ($5.50) and three-egg omelets ($5.50) served with American fries and a toasted bagel.

The menu also features specialty items such as the Boogin' B3 ($6.50), which is a bagel with a burger, bacon, egg and cheese. There is the Egg McCohen ($5.50), which features two eggs, one slice of cheese and a slice of ham. The three-egg omelets ($6) and a signature hoppel poppel ($6), which includes kosher salami, bologna and potatoes fried together with three scrambled eggs.

It's a great way for security workers, cleaning crew members and others to start the day. 

Drew Olson Special to OnMilwaukee.com

Host of “The Drew Olson Show,” which airs 1-3 p.m. weekdays on The Big 902. Sidekick on “The Mike Heller Show,” airing weekdays on The Big 920 and a statewide network including stations in Madison, Appleton and Wausau. Co-author of Bill Schroeder’s “If These Walls Could Talk: Milwaukee Brewers” on Triumph Books. Co-host of “Big 12 Sports Saturday,” which airs Saturdays during football season on WISN-12. Former senior editor at OnMilwaukee.com. Former reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.