Bill Smith's Cafe

Recently I finally got around to trying Bill Smith's Cafe in McKinney.  My wife and I had several people recommend this place to us, so we loaded up the girls and went there for breakfast on Saturday.  This place also made D Magazine's list of The 20 Best Breakfasts in Dallas.  When we pulled into the parking lot, we actually had to make a couple of loops because it was so packed.  We finally got parked and were able to find a table in the back of the cafe.  I would guess that there were probably around 125 people in the cafe on a Saturday morning around 8:15.  A packed house is usually the sign of good grub.   

A young lady ready to eat some pancakes!

The inside wasn't much to look at, but luckily I had this beautiful lady sitting across from me.

Our waitress was extremely friendly and quickly got our coffees as we looked over the menu.  I ordered chicken fried steak, scrambled eggs, and biscuits and gravy.  The chicken fried steak was perfectly cooked with a crispy crust and was so tender I could cut it with a fork.  Although it was small (breakfast portion), it was one of the top five chicken fried steaks I have ever had.  The biscuits were homemade and the gravy had just the right amount of pepper in it.  The eggs were mediocre at best, but the awesomeness of the chicken fried steak more than made up for the eggs.  Pancakes were the item of choice for my daughter and she ate every bite of her short stack.  My wife had the breakfast sausage, scrambled eggs, and pancakes.  When I asked her how she liked it, she said she wanted to make breakfast here a Saturday family tradition.

Chicken Fried Steak and Eggs

Short Stack 

Homemade biscuits and gravy.

I have been looking for a great breakfast place that is close to the house and I think I have finally found it.  Bill Smith's Cafe is not only tasty, it is very affordable.  The wait staff was friendly and very attentive.  The place isn't much to look at and it has the look of a dive, both inside and out.  But we all know that looks can be deceiving.  I would rate Bill Smith's Cafe a 4 on a 5-point scale.  If you live in the Collin County area, I highly recommend giving this place a try.  Just make sure you take cash, because they do not accept credit cards.

P.S.  On the way out, I noticed they had several varieties of homemade pies.  The lady at the register said that they made them from scratch each morning.  I will be coming back here for lunch sometime and might take a pecan pie home with me.