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Atlanta Bread Co. |
Bob Evans |
Doodle's |
WHuddle House |
IHop |
McGee's |
Panera's |
Perkins |
Waffle House |
Many Lexington restaurants, especially those in hotels, serve breakfast. The ones we list here specialize in breakfast. In the case of Perkins Pancake House, Waffle House and The International House of Pancakes, that's all they serve, 24 hours a day, and Atlanta Bread Company and Panera's expand their specialization range only as far as lunch. It should come as no surprise that they've become pretty good at it. You've probably never realized how many different kinds of pancakes and ways to fix pancakes there are, not to mention the various forms of French Toast, Croissants, Omelettes, Eggs, Sausage, Crepes, and even Cappucinos, Frappacinos, Coffees and Teas. Eating breakfast in the afternoon or evening might be a new experience for you, but it can certainly be a high energy meal, and if you order Steak & Eggs, Ham & Eggs or Shrimp & Eggs, it becomes just as hearty as any other dinner. A clue for coffee drinkers : Even if you've been drinking coffee all your lives odds are you've been drinking coffee made from low quality Robusta beans. Be sure to look for coffee made from Arabica beans. It's a whole different level of quality and taste. There are a thousand of both kinds, but Arabica beans contain less caffeine and have no bitter after taste. |
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Atlanta Bread Company features five gourmet Omelettes : Ham & Swiss, Three Cheese (cheddar, Swiss and provolone), Spanish (tomato, red onion, cheddar, provolone and salsa), Florentine (spinach, mushroom, red onion and provolone), and Tomato Bacon (tomato and applewood smoked bacon with cheddar). They also offer Cinnamon Raisin French Toast (raisen bread dipped in egg batter and grilled, topped with powdered sugar and served with maple syrup), Belgian Waffles (waffle topped with powdered sugar, served with maple syrup), and The Morning Classic (scrambled eggs with toast, herb garlic roasted breakfast potatoes, gourmet coffee and your choice of sausage, bacon or ham). There are the usual bagels. And there are five kinds of coffees, six tea flavors, cappucino, latte, mocha, hot chocolate, espresso, cafechillos (frozen coffee drinks) in kona mocha, vanilla, caramel and spicy, and four smoothies (strawberry banana, pineapple mango, strawberry, and raspberry mango strawberry). Finally are three types of "breakfast sandwiches." Harrodsburg Road past The Big Red Mile. |
| Bob Evans' theme is good old fashioned American farm cooking, and big breakfasts were a tradition down on the farm. They start off with the Homestead, the classic bacon, two eggs, home fries, two biscuits and sausage gravy. Alternatives are eggs and steak ham, pancakes or sausage. Vegetarians love the veggie omelettes, fruit yogurt crepes, blueberry banana french toast, and fruit plates. Truck drivers like the Pot Roast Hash (slow roasted beef with home fries, two eggs, cheddar cheese, scallions and two biscuits). The newest entry is the Border Scramble (fluffy omelette filled with sausage, home fries, tomatoes, onions, picante sauce, rolled in a tortilla, topped with sausage chile, sour cream and scallions). For griddle lovers, they offer Belgian Waffles, Crepes, French Toast, Cornmeal Mush and seven flavors of Pancakes. Finally, there are Biscuit Bowls: flaky buttermilk biscuits filled with scrambled eggs, queso sauce, sausage, home fries, diced tomatoes, onions, picante sauce, cheddar, scallions and sour cream. You get unlimited refills of coffee or hot chocolate. Richmond Road / New Circle. |  |
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The International House of Pancakes is the most creative in town with their pancake flavors. If you're a pancake fan you MUST try their New York Cheesecake Pancakes, but the Strawberry Banana, Chocolate Chip, and Harvest Grain Nut Pancakes are also great. There are seven Omelettes : Ham & Cheese, Chicken Fajita, Spinach Mushroom, Steak & Hash Brown, Garden, Colorado, and Bacon, and each comes with the bonus of three buttermilk pancakes. In addition to the basic Belgian Waffle and French Toast, you can get Stuffed Toast (cinnamon raisen toast containing cream cheese with strawberry topping) or Strawberry Banana Toast. And they have a page of Crepes : Chicken Florentine, Garden, Nutella, Danish and Swedish. The Lexington IHop is located on New Circle Road at Palumbo Drive directly across from the Cadillac Dealership. |
| Magee's is basically a bakery, but has added tables and chairs and now has its own loyal cult of breakfast customers. They come for the donuts, Danish, pastries, muffins, rolls, biscuits, breads and toast. This is not the place to come for pancakes, eggs, meats or any of the hot breakfasts. But if your idea of breakfast is good coffee and some sort of bread or pastry, no one in town can touch Magee's. Everything is fresh from the oven and just outstanding. People drive all the way across town for their donuts. They do a tremendous carry out business as secretaries and clerks pick up various items to take to work for the staff. Magee's is on East Main across from the Fayette County Public School offices. |  |
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Panera's plays to its strength at breakfast with a long list of baked goods. There are eight flavors of Bagels, seven Breakfast Sandwiches, and 15 flavors of Breads, five flavors of Pastries, three kinds of Scones, six kinds of Muffins, four kinds of Sweet Rolls, not to mention Brownies, Blondies, Coffee Cakes, Cookies, and Mini Bundt Cakes. We like their Sourdough, Honey Wheat and Asioga Cheese items. They also have gourmet teas, cappucinos, lattes, espressos, and freshly brewed coffees. Then there are fruit smoothies, mangos, caramels and mochas, and, for the traditionalists, orange juice and apple juice. The crackling fireplace is nice on cold Winter mornings. Richmond Road (at New Circle Road), Nicholasville Road in Regency Square, and Harrodsburg Road in Palomar Center. Shown here is the Regency Square outlet. |
| Perkins Pancake House was one of the most popular stops in Lexington when it was adjacent to the UK campus, but it was bought out to make room for research facilities. In its new location, it's still pretty busy, especially in the mornings. Obviously, the menu focuses on every imaginable kind of pancake and their syrups, toppings and sides. We're pretty big pancake conneisseurs, and we think they have the best in town. We especially love their Potato and Blueberry Pancakes, but the basic short stack of Classic Buttermilk Pancakes allows you to experiment with their syrups, such as Maple, Apricot or Twinberry. Their Belgian Waffles, especially topped with Strawberry or Blueberry Toppings, are very light, almost foamy. We like waffles, but often they're too heavy, a problem Perkins avoids. The French Toast is batter dipped in a mix of eggs, cinnamon and vanilla before being grilled golden brown. Perkins uses a French bread which they bake themselves so, like the waffles, their toast is very delicate. There's a whole page of Omelettes, featuring everything from ham, bacon, sausage and border grilled chicken to onions, celery, peppers, cheese, and broccoli. Perkins also has a page of various scrambled egg dishes, wrapping them around hash browns, sausage, bacon and cheese. For something different, try the New Orleans Eggs Benedict. |  |
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Waffle House is famous for their waffles but ironically their menu features everything else. They promote their Steak & Eggs, Pork Chops & Eggs, Grilled Chicken & Eggs, Omelettes (Cheesesteak, Chili Cheese, Jalapeno and Ham & Cheese), Egg Sandwiches, Hash Browns and classic EggsnBacon or Ham & Egg plates. They're also pretty proud of their biscuits, sausage and bacon sides. Then, over there in the corner, they get around to their Waffles. Their basic is the classic Butter Milk Waffle. There are Double Waffles and Waffles With Sausage or Ham or Eggs. You can pick from Pecan, Chocolate Chip, Blueberry and Strawberry. Actually, we regret the evolution of Waffle House. Way back there, they served ONLY waffles, two pages of every variation imaginable. We could try waffles here we could never find anywhere else and couldn't fix ourselves. Now they've diversified, but the waffle choices are narrowed. Luckily, they still do a good job, with waffles and everything else. South Broadway, next to Casanova's, top of the hill from the Norfolk & Southern overpass. |
| Doodles is a converted gas station made into the best breakfast stop downtown and a rather unique experience. They use almost all local organic ingredients and prepare it on site. It's only a notch above a fast food outlet in service : you place your order, pay, take a number and display it at your table. A server brings it to you. The place is eccentric. It specializes in breakfast but doesn't open until 8. On weekends it's overwhelmed and you may wait 30 minutes just to place an order. Parking is dicey; the lot's too small and there are no spaces on North Limestone. None of this has deterred a loyal customer base from developing. That's because the food is either very good or controversial. Everyone likes the Cornbread Silver Dollar Pancakes, Shrimp, Grits & Tomato Gravy, and Corned Beef Hash & Eggs. The Oatmeal and Beignets are more debatable. Many loyal customers love them. Others dislike the toasted sugar drizzled over the oatmeal or the "heavy" feel to the beignets. Coffee lovers rave about the French Press of locally roasted Cafe Marco blend. Doodles is only open til 2, but has also become a favorite for lunch. They take pride in their Chicken Doodle Soup, Fried Shrimp Po Boy, and Griddle Cooked All Beef Frank. Doodles is on North Limestone, a block above Sayre School, right across the street from Atomic Cafe. There's a patio (note the umbrella visible through the window at right). |  |
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