When you arrive at Cookies, the first thing you find is that, well it's not easy to find. The restaurant is in a storefront where all the businesses look exactly the same. The fact that Cookies occupies what I am sure was intended to be three stores means you might find yourself walking into the wrong door. When I stepped into the waiting room, my first impression of the place is more "so what" than anything else. The interior is painted some almost but not quite offensive yellow. I think the attempt was to make it warm and cozy, but with everything the same bland color, that's not what it looked like to me. It looks like if you are a local, they allow you to bring in your own coffee mug and leave it on a shelf in the waiting room. I didn't take the time to count, but the fact that there were over 100 mugs on the wall indicates that Cookies does have a good set of regulars.
The wait at 9AM on a Sunday was less than 10 minutes. The place was busy, but not crowded. Seems the trade is mostly regulars, as the standard set up at a table does not include a menu. It's a pretty good-sized menu, but my eyes went straight to the section titled "Things With Sausage Gravy." I spotted the Country Benny (biscuit, sausage patty, two poached eggs covered with sausage gravy and a side of home fries) and it was clear what I was going to have for my breakfast.
Mmmm, sausage gravy. When it's good, it's almost like you are eating food meant for the gods! But to often it's just a white cream-colored thing that has a similar texture but nothing else. Too often what's passed off as sausage gravy in a breakfast joint has neither the sausage, nor the taste to be called anything other than library paste. This happens so frequently I am hesitant to order it at any of the normal breakfast places, but Cookies has the audacity to name an entire section of menu after their gravy, it can't be awful, can it?
I quietly drank my tea, and covered my nervousness by reading the front page of the paper. My plate arrived and it was sufficiently covered with a semi liquid substance that was studded with the proper amount of sausage crumbles to hopefully provide the right taste and texture. I hesitantly took my first bite. Nice texture, hints of sausage, no pasty uncooked flour taste. It's eatable; no it's even good. Not as good as Bob Evans sausage gravy, the Holy Grail of sausage gravy in my book, but I was going to be able to eat, and better yet, enjoy this. Hey wait, there's some more items on my plate, are they any good?
The poached eggs where not rubbery, the yolk was a bright yellow color and tasty. The sausage patty was just a bit subtler than I prefer, but then I like a very assertive breakfast sausage. The biscuit was just fair, but I will admit it is better than mine. (I can't seem to make a decent biscuit no matter what I try. Sadly the things out of the tube are better than anything I can whip up in my kitchen.) The home fries where fair to middling. These where not home made, but instead of the tiny cubes of deep fried potato like substance that Sysco delivers to every shop that thinks they are a local diner, Cookies seems to have opted for the next level up in quality. These were larger chunk of potato lightly deep-fried and covered with a bit of seasoning before being shipped across the country. So not awful, but not as good as if they started with real potatoes back in the kitchen.
Service was just a bit slow, but not painfully so. Clearly the tempo is intended for one to linger over the food and enjoy their breakfast companions. That seems appropriate for a Sunday morning. Cookies is just a breakfast place now, closing time is noon on weekdays and 1 on weekends.
I think I will be back here, when I need my next sausage gravy fix. It was good enough I don't feel the need to explore the rest of the menu. read more