I just came home from Breakfastology Café. A new restaurant on River Road with an interesting menu…read moreof great tasting food.
The place is nice, with most of the windows done up with art that reflects the theme of the restaurant. Owner Logan Henderson is passionate about the idea of taking menu items and making tweaks to normal breakfast fare that provide just enough change to make them interesting without being so far out there that they're unrecognizable from the staple they came from.
Today my brother and I visited for the first time. We ordered Powder Puffs (beignets, but layered and fried; almost a croignet) and the Fryology (cripsy twisty fries with cheese and bacon) for appetizers. The puffs were crispy on the outside, melt-in-your-mouth on the inside, plentifully sprinkled with powdered sugar, and served with choices of chocolate, caramel, or raspberry sauce. We got the caramel, and it was a great dippable accompaniment (not so thick that the whole container wants to stick to the beignet, not so thin that it's watery). Pro tip: get the coffee to help cut through the richness of the beignet.
The Fryology can almost serve as a meal in itself. Plenty of twisty fries (not curly fries. These are slices of potato but with a slight curl to them, with just enough cheese and bacon to add to the fried potato flavor. Kudos to not just drenching the pile of fries with sauce and smothering the crunchy texture of fresh-made fries!
My brother got the Syrup Double Stack. Two pancakes, eggs how ya like 'em, house potatoes, and choice of bacon, patty sausage, or link sausage. The portions were good, everything was fresh, and my brother ate as much as he could and there was still food on the plate.
I had the Dockside Data - Breakfastology's take on shrimp and grits, and a side of the house potatoes. The house potatoes are small enough and crispy enough that you start treating them like popcorn; grab a few, pop 'em into your mouth, and then wonder how the bowl got emptied so fast. With the grits, the cream sauce had just enough flavor to add to the whole without becoming the loud second cousin who never learned how to speak with an inside voice. Plenty of proteins with the Conecuh sausage and shrimp, and vegetables that weren't overcooked and added a nice texture and flavor to the dish. I'd peg the bowl as a great example of how to do shrimp and grits right, with properly cooked shrimp that weren't overly flavored with blackening seasoning.
The restaurant has only been open for a couple of weeks and given that, the staff seemed to be doing a good job of keeping up with a room that was almost always full while we were there. Logan has a quick and adaptable sense of humor and is definitely following a passion. The kitchen appears to have the concept down and are putting out good food in a fairly timely manner. There's a whole other side of the menu for bagels, different breakfast drink concoctions, and cream cheese combos.
Breakfastology has a nicely varied menu, imported New York bagels, a family-friendly atmosphere, and staff that keep the food coming. Portions are reasonable for breakfast; it's hard to go away hungry from this place unless you just ordered a coffee.... Revisits will be required to sample other menu items.