Poor Richard's Cafe

My father-in-law recently had a birthday and my wife wanted to meet him for breakfast to celebrate.  We wanted to meet somewhere in Plano because it was halfway between our home in McKinney and their home in Garland.  After much discussion, my father-in-law chose Poor Richard's Cafe and we loaded up the family to meet him and my mother-in-law for a birthday breakfast.

When we arrived, my in-laws had already secured us a table.  Poor Richards was packed on this Saturday and had a short line waiting to be seated, but the restaurant is very large and I don't believe anyone had to wait longer than ten minutes to be seated.  I started with coffee while we visited the family.

The Big Tex Breakfast

The menu is quite extensive, but I finally decided on the Big Tex Breakfast.  The Big Tex is a chicken fried steak served with your choice of eggs, potatoes, and bread.  I got scrambled eggs and toast with my order.  When the chicken fried steak arrived, I was very impressed with the size.  I would estimate the size of the chicken fried steak to be twelve long and it literally took up the entire platter.  My scrambled eggs and potatoes had to be served on another platter.  The batter on the chicken fried steak was great, the gravy was creamy, and it was tender enough to cut with fork.  The potatoes were fantastic and reminded me of the ones my grandmas used to make.  The toast was buttery perfection as well.

Bacon, Eggs, Grits, and Gingerbread Pancakes

My wife ordered a breakfast platter than consisted of bacon, fried eggs, grits, and gingerbread pancakes.  She gave her meal the stamp of approval and refused to even share a bite of pancakes with me.  My oldest daughter enjoyed her gingerbread pancakes and my toddler ate all of her eggs and some of mine.

Poor Richard's is a really good family friendly restaurant that serves a quality breakfast at a reasonable price.  The service was spectacular on our visit and we never had to ask to have any coffee refilled.  The kitchen is fast too and we had our food within ten minutes of ordering.  My first visit to this restaurant was much better than I had anticipated and I really want to try out their lunch menu as well.

Poor Richard's Cafe
http://www.poorrichardscafe.com
Livin the Good Life Rating=3

AllGood Cafe

When it comes to comfort food and Southern cuisine, it is hard to beat a great chicken-fried steak.  I am constantly on the lookout for a good CFS.  This Fall, D Magazine published it's list of five restaurants that had The Best Chicken-Fried Steak in Dallas.  I had sampled the chicken-fried steaks at three of the five restaurants on the list, but I had never had the chicken fried steak at the AllGood Cafe.  My wife was also interested in giving this place a try, so we mad a family trip to Deep Ellum to eat at the AllGood Cafe.

Origami hanging from the ceiling

Our family arrived at a perfect time for a late breakfast or early lunch.  The restaurant was very busy, but they had one booth available and we took it.  After being seated for ten minutes, we finally had a waiter arrive and take our drink orders.  While he was there, we also requested a high chair for our toddler.  After a five minute wait, our drinks arrived without the high chair.  I reminded our waiter that we still needed a high chair and he finally brought us one.  

My girls as we patiently await a high chair to arrive

We went ahead an ordered while the waiter was at out booth.  I ordered the chicken-fried steak with mashed potatoes and black eyed peas. My wife was in the mood for breakfast and she ordered the breakfast #2, which was two scrambled eggs, bacon, and pancakes.  We also ordered chicken strips for my oldest daughter and some pancakes for the toddler.  The place smelled delicious, so we had high hopes for the food and waited patiently for it to arrive.

CFS, Mashed Potatoes, and Black-eyed Peas

Luckily, our food arrived much faster than our drinks and high chair did.  My chicken fried steak was delicious and had a crunchy batter that was not soggy even with the gravy on it.  The steak was a little on the small side, but it had outstanding flavor.  The mashed potatoes were nothing special, but the black-eyed peas had some small chopped peppers mixed in that gave it a nice kick.  My wife said her breakfast was pretty basic and wasn't overly impressed with anything except the bacon.  

Breakfast #2

Once our waiter delivered our food, we did not have anyone come to the table again for over thirty minutes.  We had actually been finished with our meal for over twenty minutes before my wife finally just went to the kitchen area counter and said we were ready to pay.  The waiter she spoke to (not our waiter) apologized and said they were short staffed that morning.  I am not sure if that was the case, because every table around us had waiters stop by frequently.  The only difference between us and the other tables, was the fact that we had children.   The service at the AllGood Cafe was the worst I have had in close to a decade.  I really thought the food was pretty decent, but I cannot recommend this place due to the poor service that we received.

AllGood Cafe
http://www.allgoodcafe.com/index.php
Livin the Good Life Rating =1

Jean's Feed Barn

Deer hunting is one of my favorite things to do when I have a little free time.  Although I don't get to hunt as much as I would like, I cherish the time that I do get to spend away from the urban environment.  When I am away on these trips, I enjoy getting to try the local restaurants.  While hunting with some buddies in Cross Plains, we decided to grab a bite to eat at Jean's Feed Barn one night.

Chips and Salsa

Despite the fact that we arrived just thirty minutes before closing time, we were warmly greeted by our waitress when she came to bring us some chips and salsa.  My two buddies ordered the daily special, which was a 10 oz sirloin, baked potato, and salad for $11.95.  I ordered the small chicken fried steak with fries, salad, and toast.  While we waited on our order to arrive, we munched on the chips and salsa.

Chicken Fried Steak and Fries

When my chicken fried steak arrived, I was surprised that the "small" chicken fried steak covered three-fourths of a my large oval plate.  The chicken fried steak was very tender and had a batter on it that was very similar to the batter on the chicken fried steak at Mary's Cafe in Strawn, Texas.  The fries were fresh cut and absolutely delicious, while the toast was cooked to perfection with just the right amount of butter on it.  Both of my buddies enjoyed their meals as well.   I was stuffed, but one buddy ordered the coconut creme pie for dessert and said it was great as well.

Biscuits and Gravy

We enjoyed our meal so much, we went there again for breakfast the following day after our morning hunt.  I ordered the pancakes with bacon and two biscuits and gravy.  When my food arrived, the biscuits were each about the size of a hamburger bun and much larger than I had expected.  They were very tasty and could have been a meal by themselves.  The bacon was the highlight of this breakfast because it was very crispy and had a nice smoky taste with a hint of brown sugar.  The pancakes were pretty basic, but still tasty.

Pancakes and Bacon

If you are ever in the Cross Plains area, I highly recommend Jean's Feed Barn.  The food is fantastic and the service is spectacular.  In addition to the fantastic food and great service, the price of food is fairly cheap considering the large portions that diners receive.  I know I will be stopping by again next time I am in the area to hunt or just passing through Cross Plains.

Jean's Feed Barn

Livin the Good Life Rating = 4