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 prepared eggs and 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 scrambled eggs were about a fresh as i have had anywhere. the chickenfriedsteak 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.