Tag: arkansas

Food Review: Big Bad Breakfast

Big Bad Breakfast is a new brunch/ breakfast chain found in many other states that finally made its way here to Arkansas. It is in the same building at David’s Burgers at the Markham and Bowman intersection. There’s a great menu here, so let’s check it out!

ENVIRONMENT

I went with five friends to Big Bad Breakfast at 12:15 on a Saturday. The wait was supposed to be 45 minutes, but it was only 30. The restaurant is a decent size, nothing too big or tiny. There’s a bar, plenty of regular tables, tall tables, and booths. The decor is modern and has a lot of “Cathead” decor. It was nice, but pretty noisy.

MENU

Their menu can be found at their site. I love this menu! It has so many great options to choose from. You can start with one of five cocktails, all featuring Cathead vodka, or some house-blended Big Bad Cold Brews, or fresh squeezed juices. (They have oat and almond milk for a dairy-free option with your coffee). The food has everything from traditional breakfast plates, to eggs benedicts, biscuit sandwiches, omelets, shrimp and grits, french toast, pancakes, waffles, salads, or even granola or oatmeal. Yes, there is also a children’s menu. The most unique dishes to me were the Fried Oyster Scramble and the Fried Oyster Caesar salad. We don’t get a lot of friend oyster dishes here in Little Rock! They also have red eye gravy and tomato gravy.

FOOD/DRINK

Vietnamese Big Bad Cold Brew: $4.75 and a large Fresh Squeezed Grapefruit Juice: $5.50

All of our table got waters, with great “Sonic” ice, I may add! My Vietnamese cold brew was delicious, with just the right amount of sweetened condensed milk so it didn’t taste too sweet. My friend’s large grapefruit juice was tasty, but a little smaller than expected for a large. I never saw a small juice come out of the kitchen to compare.

The Jack Benny: $13

Description: Crispy fried hash cake, two poached eggs, sliced ham, wilted spinach, hollandaise, ham powder, and one side.

I LOVE an eggs benedict. I also love a great hash. This was the perfect breakfast for me! The crispy hash brown cake was crisp on the outside and soft inside, and not too greasy. The eggs were perfectly poached. There was plenty of seared ham and just a little spinach. The hollandaise was very good. I just mixed it all up and it made a very large breakfast. (The plates are huge, making the food look smaller than it was.)

I got to choose one side and after seeing others with these massive biscuits, I had to get one. It was the best biscuit I have had around here. They add ground pepper, which is a nice touch. The buttery crust and flavorful middle made a wonderful biscuit. I hardly needed butter. Get. The. Biscuit.

OVERALL

The service was new, but good! We had a lot of questions that our waitress took the time to check for us. Need examples? We wanted to know if there was dairy in the red eye gravy- there is none except for extra butter they add at the end, and they can leave that out.

The menu has something for everyone- vegetarians, pescatarians, gluten-free, dairy-free. All of the food my table got looked great, was BIG, and very tasty! I will definitely be back the next time I want to treat myself to a big, bad breakfast.

Food Review: Minute Club in Mountain View, AR

The Minute Club is a long-awaited new restaurant that took over Mikey’s Smoked Meats and Deli down Hwy 5. I went in to dine solo after a hike one day and was thoroughly impressed. Here’s the breakdown:

ENVIRONMENT

The bright blue of the outside of the newly updated building does set the perfect precedent for the entire atmosphere of Minute Club. Everything is updated, new, clean, and shiny! With a blue and red theme (your drink even comes in a red solo cup), tv’s playing sports all around, and a digital juke box, this place is fun! While there’s plenty of tables to sit at, there’s also a bar. There’s even a nice patio outside for when the weather isn’t freezing.

What stuck out to me most when I arrived, however, was how genuinely friendly the staff is. The waitress was beyond nice and patient with me as I tried to quickly decide on what to order. She let me know her favorites and didn’t rush me in the least. Then, I believe the owner (or manager?) came by a couple times to answer questions, make sure the food was good, and he was just as friendly as could be! I really appreciated everyone being so kind and talkative, especially when I was dining solo.

MENU

While the menu is typical southern food, mostly sandwiches, they have some unique items not found around the area. They have cheese curds, fried mushrooms, beignets, fried oreos, and daily specials. However, they are best known for their many different burgers, which are supposed to be the best in town. Their pizzas look very enticing, as well!

FOOD

The first thing you see when you walk into the restaurant is this full dessert display case full of at least one thing you’ll want to try. I couldn’t decide, so went with the owner’s suggestion of the strawberry pie to go. I know we should talk about dessert last, but we’re already here.

STRAWBERRY PIE- $5

With a graham cracker crust, a sweet and creamy filling topped with perfectly delicious macerated strawberries, this pie was very tasty!

BIG ROG- $12 with hand-cut fries.

This sandwich comes with fried bologna, cheese, bacon, lettuce, and mayo on a hoagie bun. I got mine without the cheese, but added an over-easy egg, which they did not charge for. Yay! Instead of house-cut fries, I opted for the beer-battered onion rings instead for $2. These rings were delicous! Crispy, not greasy. Dang near perfection! I didn’t even need the ketchup they provided.

The sandwich was the star, however. Was it messy and required me to use SIX napkins?? Yes. But that’s okay- any good fried bologna sandwich is a big ole mess to eat. It was sooo good! There’s the right amount of bolonga and all the toppings. The crispy bacon was a delicious addition I had never tried on fried bologna sandwiches before. The egg, though MADE IT! Perfectly cooked egg with nature’s gravy (egg yolk) running throughout the sandwich. I loved it!

The only downfall was the price. I ate all my food and took home a dessert for almost $20, not including tip. This is a little steep for the area, but worth it for a nice meal out.

If you give this place a try, let me know what I should get there next!