L.A. has Eggslut. San Jose has Egghead Sando Cafe — and it’s expanding to a second location

In deciding on a new restaurant concept, South Bay entrepreneurs Vinh Ha and Yi Ru Chen first explored opening a cafe serving tamago, the delicate Japanese-style egg sandwiches.

But then they decided to go big or, in other words, crack the idea wide open.

The result was Egghead Sando Cafe, a breakfast sandwich spot that serves breakfast for lunch and dinner too — until 8 p.m. And they’ve branched out with lunch-style burger/egg and chicken/egg sandos that you can order any time, even at 7 a.m.

After launching in Cupertino and drawing lines of customers there, the Egghead team moved recently to new, larger digs on San Jose’s Capitol Expressway and announced plans for a second location in San Jose.

Cage-free eggs are the stars of the menu. Fluffy ones in the Scramble, poached ones in the Eggy, over-medium ones in the Hawaiian Morning, the Chic and the Breakfast Burger. Playing a valuable supporting role is the warm brioche bun, a recipe developed by Chen and baked fresh in-house every morning.

Ha, Chen and manager John Tang say they’ve taken inspiration from other restaurants and then drawn on their roots — Vietnamese, Taiwanese, Chinese — to put their own spin on dishes. Ha got his start years ago when his family operated a Vietnamese restaurant in Newark called My Tho.

The bestseller is the Chic, with Taiwanese-style fried chicken served on brioche with egg, arugula and house sauce. New on the menu is a grilled chicken version called the Side Chic, with egg, bacon, tomato, arugula and chimichurri sauce. Customers can add sides of tater tots or waffle fries.

Like Los Angeles’ trailblazing Eggslut, the Egghead menu offers a creamy egg-and-potato-puree in a jar, with baguette slices, and a scrambled egg sandwich.

Unlike Eggslut, the sandos here are supplemented by a huge lineup of beverages. The Hojicha Latte and Strawberry Hojicha Latte, made with double-roasted green tea, are the most popular. The house coffee blends come from Peerless roasting company in Oakland. Non-caffeinated hits are the Pink Supreme, with guava, citrus, orange, mint and sparking water, and the Sunburst, a blend of freshly pressed carrot, apple and orange juices.