Blue Plate Café

5469 Poplar Ave., Memphis, TN - (901) 761-9696

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Posted By Michael Stern on 5/24/2010 12:16:00 PM

In this cheery café that was once a private home (built by Holiday Inn founder Kemmons Wilson), breakfast, served all day, is the specialty of the house. The menu includes omelets with great hash browns or grits on the side, and flavorful knobby-top biscuits served with silky cream gravy dotted with bits of sausage. Once a bastion of thin, small-tread waffles, the Blue Plate Cafe has gone to Belgians, but the pancake repertoire continues to uphold high, from-scratch standards. Of special note are the banana pancakes, available with crunchy peanut butter syrup -- a nutty, fruity combo that Elvis would have loved, especially with an order of crisp bacon on the side.

Lunch is good ol’ meat-and-threes, with such entrees as pot roast, baked pork chops, chicken and dumplings, and fried shrimp (that last one is every Friday). The vegetable roster is about twenty items long, including real mashed potatoes, turnip greens, creamed corn, mac ‘n’ cheese, etc., etc. If you want something simpler than meat-and-three, there are salads, soups, and sandwiches, including a fried peanut butter and banana sandwich. Apparently, that one is health food: it is served on whole wheat bread.

Scorecard

Overall: One of the Best - Worth a Trip

Biscuits	Omelets
Pancakes	Banana Pancakes
Buttermilk Pancakes	peanut butter and banana sandwich
country ham	waffles

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"Crunchy peanut butter syrup is an option if you order banana pancakes. The syrup's earthy luxe is banana's best friend."
Michael Stern

"The sawmill gravy that comes with biscuits balances creaminess with a pepper punch."
Michael Stern

"A slab of country ham, sizzled on the griddle, makes an ideal companion to almost any breakfast. When we ordered it, the waitress warned us that it was very salty. It sure is, and that's part of what makes it so good to eat."
Michael Stern

"On the road from Memphis to Germantown, the Blue Plate Cafe is a breakfast-lover's destination. But don't ignore the meat-and-three lunches."
Michael Stern

"On a weekend morning, you likely will spend some time looking down at the welcome mat as you wait for a table to become available."
Michael Stern

"Memphis is far more famous for its barbecue than for breakfast. But this is a good place to start the day."
Michael Stern

"Blue Plate cafe biscuits are excellent, even better when split in half and blanketed with savory sausage gravy."
Michael Stern

"Service is fast at the Blue Plate Cafe, but it is a pleasant place to spend a long time eating a meal."
Michael Stern