Eggs Betty with goat cheese
When my son Jack and I met for breakfast over the weekend, we discovered Tupelo Honey Café on Market Street. We parked in the Warehouse Row area.
This place was surprisingly busy for breakfast on a Saturday morning so Jack and I wanted to be seated outside where it seemed much quieter - neither of us are very friendly with others until we have had our coffee.
We had a nice view of the old Federal Building, which I think is beautiful. Our server was named Andrew. He had his hair in a ponytail, but he still looked clean-cut and he used manners. I didn’t understand his earlobes though. I know that some young men like to wear earrings and ol’ Willie Mae is hip to that, but these weren’t earrings. The boy had rubber gaskets in his ears! I didn’t say a word, I just minded my own business.
The menu had several items to choose from but they had some pretty strange concoctions. I would describe it as ‘Southern food’ with a flair.
Jack wanted the ‘Shoo Mercy Omelet’ with home fries for $13.95. I swonny, that boy could eat fries in his sleep! Andrew described the fries and said they were just homemade potato chips with bacon grease and pepper sprinkled on them.
Jack’s eyes lit up and he said, “Anything with bacon grease is g-o-o-o-d! And… can you sprinkle a little bacon on them too?” I guess he was trying to make his morning meal of chips seem more like breakfast.
The Shoo Mercy was described as spicy and I wanted that, but I am not fond of pimento cheese unless I make it myself …with Velveeta. I decided on the ‘Eggs Betty’ with a biscuit and goat cheese grits for $9.95. Our waiter told me the grits were really good, so I couldn’t wait to try them.
When he went over to a table of young girls I overheard them discussing what they would have and, when one gal said she wanted to try the goat cheese grits, the other girl screamed out, “O-M-G! Their goat cheese grits are to die for – they are fabulous!”
Now, I am not sure if ‘O-M-G’ was the other girl’s name or not, maybe I heard, “Oh, Em… gee the goat cheese grits are to die for.” I don’t plan on dying anytime soon, but I was looking forward to my grits.
While we waited for our meal, Andrew brought us each a biscuit with their house-made honey and jam. The jam and honey were both quite sweet and a little too much for me that early.
Our breakfast arrived and Jack took a look at my plate, scrunched up his nose and said, “I’m just not a runny-egg-kind of guy.” I think he disapproved of my selection in case I couldn’t finish it and he had ideas to help me.
Remembering my breakfast at TerraMae Bistro, I expected the ham to be as delicious as theirs, but it was just a regular slice of ham and not the thin shaved country ham like I liked. The egg whites were not cooked very well in some places, so I scooted that part over and just ate what looked cooked. It’s hard to get ‘runny-eggs’ cooked just right, but it was still a pretty good meal and the goat cheese grits made up for it. They were so good. I could have just eaten a large bowl of grits only.
They also put a flower on my plate, but I didn’t eat that. The hollandaise sauce tasted a little on the sour side – not in a bad way, just enough to make you pucker.
Jack’s omelet was a little too spicy for him, but he ate it all. He said I probably would have liked it. Jack must have liked his fries, because they were all gone. My boy pushed his plate away, leaned back and said, “Shoo! Now I know why they named it that!”
There are many interesting items on the menu to try, but you wouldn’t go wrong if you go just for the grits!
Hours:
Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m.
Friday, 11 a.m.-10:30 p.m.
Saturday, 9 a.m.-10:30 p.m.
Sunday, 9 a.m.-8 p.m.
Shoo Mercy omelet with home fries