poor richard's cafe

great find! the restaurant was fairly crowded when we arrived. that being said it was because of the food and the service. both were spot on.
i got theeggssanta fe and it was delicious.

after an impromptu stop at the donut shop across the way, we ate at poor richard’s on nom’s suggestion. she claimed it was good, let’s see!

om: so happy that nom suggested this place! i had never eaten there before, and i walked away thinking that it was one of the best breakfasts that i’ve had! the restaurant is located in a strip mall, not a flashy exterior, but a large interior and dining area that holds a good number of people. we were seated immediately and placed our order shortly after – our waitress was nice and patient while we looked over the menu. i ordered a pecan waffle, eggs, bacon, potatoes, and biscuits w/gravy. yes, i was hungry! food came out pretty fast considering the place was pretty busy. i have to say that everything was just fantastic! the pecans are baked right into the batter, making the waffle have a satisfying “crunch” as you eat it with a good pecan flavor. eggswere buttery, bacon crisp, potatoes fresh with the skin still on the pieces. biscuits and gravy were very satisfying as well. poor richard’s is one of, if not the best place for breakfast that i’ve been to! excellent food, clean restaurant, reasonable prices, solid menu variety, friendly service…if it weren’t for the 20 minute drive i would find myself here on a monthly basis easy! nom picked out a great place!

nom: i haven’t been to poor richard’s in a long time!! and wow i have been missing out… you’d never guess driving by how wonderful this place is, you might not even notice it’s there! it’s very unassuming not fancy at all and very small town dinerish except the inside is huge!!! they can seat more people than you can wrap your brain around! we only waited a matter of a minute or two to be seated and when our waitress came she was super helpful with our questions. i ordered french toast with an egg over medium and bacon. the french toast was wonderful, it has a nice batter on it but they manage to cook it all the way thru so there is no gooeyness to the bread, it’s also coated with a nice thin layer of powdered sugar! the egg was cooked just right, not slimy but still with a soft middle and the bacon…well i could eat the bacon by itself till i’m full. it’s flat, crispy and the color of rusted tin…perfect! i’m not a huge fan of their biscuits, because to me they look like a cross between a roll and a biscuit but they are still tasty! i love this place and i’m so happy i could introduce my handsome love to this place!

horrible experience. sadly, we used to be regular customers of this establishment. today we arrived at 11:30 and waited until 11:50 before our order was taken. i have three kids, one which is 10 months old.
when our food cameeggswere cold, my husbands chicken fried steak came out with brown gravy instead of white and my sons migas came with no tortillas. oh, and my grilled cheese never arrived. at about 12:10 the waitress came to tell me that i was not allowed to have a grilled cheese because it's on the kids menu. i ever offered to pay more. i asked for a manager which did nothing. he did not seem to care and did not offer to let me have my grill cheese even though they screwed up our entire order.
sadly, that's the last time i'll be going there.

all about the breakfast. i'm all about the breakfast. love the breakfast. mornings were made for breakfast. "what do you want for your birthday?" breakfast. am i clear? was very interested in trying this restaurant. it sounded right up by alley. i should have cased this place before i committed myself to it though.

first, i am a pretty easy-going guy when it comes to where do i want to sit. i make enough decisions during the week. if you are going to have a hostess, take me to a seat. don't make me choose whether i want a booth or a table. surprise me. i really don't care. i really and sincerely don't.

this place was really dark too. perfect for migraine sufferers or those with a hangover. think cavern. or a cinema with that muted lighting just before the movie begins. each booth has a mushroom shaped light fixture of its own that hangs precariously over the table. the decor, if you call this decor, is decayed 70's, unfashionable even in its heyday. even with the subdued lighting, the turquoise leather booths stood out. the chairs were the institutional type of an achromatic tan color, which contrasted the fake woody color of the stand-alone tables. (i read someone's comments that they liked the "older" place they used to have!)

they have a vast menu of breakfast and luncheon items. this is another thing that attracted me to poor richard's. i ordered the big tex breakfast, but questioned by my server as to whether or not i would have the texas breakfast. the order is basically the same with the exception of the big tex having a larger cfs for a $1.50 more. both came with three preparedeggsand two biscuits. (there are so many variations on the menu i just looked over the take-out menu for about five minutes to discover the "lighter" version.) i decided on that.

the food was okay. my scrambledeggswere about a fresh as i have had anywhere. the chicken fried steak was an average size and was well prepared. the gravy was a translucent brown that thinned out on the steak the longer that it sat. extra gravy was served with the meal. the biscuits were good. they had a commercial look to them, but once i pulled one apart, i could tell that they were homemade. they had two types of margarine that came with the meal--country crock and promise. promise? i haven't seen that since the 70's either. i skipped the faux butter and just ate them straight.

service was all over the place. coffee at first was quickly served along with ice water that i requested. my coffee was refreshed (topped off) a couple of times, but the water was never brought again even though i wished they had. toward the end of the meal as my coffee disappeared another server with coffee was stopping at all the tables around me refilling up their cups but neglected mine. i don't know if it was intentional but there was a gentleman sitting at the booth in front of me, having finished his breakfast who sat and read his newspaper getting coffee until it was coming out of his ears.

the final verdict on poor richard's cafe is that if you don't mind sitting in a darkened space, love 70's culture, don't mind having margarine with your meal, and having spotty service maybe this place may have some merit. but i left this place depressed. and that is sad because i'm all about the breakfast.

average diner.. the menu is huge: this is usually a sign the kitchen is overworked and unfocused. based on recommendations here and from a person online, i had theeggsbenedicts combo.
the potatoes were great, very tasty. theeggswere perfect. the hollandaise sauce seems to have been mixed with that nasty watery brown gravy, had a funky brown gravy-like taste and consistancy, and there was so much of it the toasted english muffins were soggy and basically ruined.
the bacon was average (not good with this gravy stuff), the sausage patty was, well, uniquely flavored and not to my taste, but the ham was good.
ice tea was strong and perfect, even unsweet. the canned cling-peach on the plate made for a great appetizer (eat dessert first).

portions are huge, but that does not help if you don't like it. stick with the basics i guess, the ladies group at the next seem to have all ordered salads this morning. hmmm!

love this place. ben coming for years great breakfast. wife loves theeggsbenedict. pulled pork omlette is amazing. service is indifferent. take your order then leave you alone, which i love

best breakfast in town. if you rise early in the morning and want a large, filling, fresh breakfast with a hot cup of coffee then this is your place. so far, i haven't found a plate of food that wasn't the best around. the "texas breakfast" with it's threeeggsand large chicken fried steak is top notch. smothered in cream gravy, with home fries and toast/jelly on the side it satisfies even the largest hunger.

arrive early, and seat yourself, arrive during the "rush" and while the line may be out the door, they seat 300+ and the line moves faster than any ihop or denny's i've ever seen.

all in all poor richard's is the best breakfast in plano, bar none.