Biscuits Cafe a worthy addition to breakfast-and-lunch genre

While way too many really good restaurants foundered during the moribund economy from which we are slowly — and finally — recovering, a couple of sectors grew tremendously: counter-service restaurants and breakfast-and-lunch places.

Which only makes sense, of course, counter-service places because their lower staffing and incidental overhead help keep prices down (though at the cost of employment growth), breakfast-and-lunch places because the nature of what they serve contributes both to economy of scale and lower supply costs, foods like eggs and flour being much less expensive than foods like foie gras and steak.

Also, such restaurants tend to provide a cozy feeling, which all of us need from time to time. To reinforce the feeling their decorating schemes tend to lead heavily to kitsch (which may be comforting or not, depending on your affinity for kitsch).

There, Biscuits Cafe departs from the norm. Although the interior is attractive, it’s fairly streamlined and not so cluttered that I found myself wondering about the poor soul who has to dust it all. When it comes to the food, though, Biscuits Cafe tucks snugly into the genre.

There are, of course, biscuits, in various combinations but naturally as biscuits and gravy, which in this case come with a choice of ham, bacon or sausage, and with one or two biscuits ($8.59 or $10.59). We stuck with one biscuit with the classic sausage, in the classic patty (link sausage also is available). Just the evening before I’d had one of my own (leftover) homemade biscuits, so the memory was fresh, and the Biscuits Cafe version had it all over mine — buttery and flaky, despite the blanket of gravy. The gravy itself was superlative, creamy and filled with bits of sausage, and while I can’t think of a culinary technical term that would be the opposite of gloppy, it was that, too. Eggs prepared as ordered, etc.

Peering across the table at my Biscuits Smoked Brisket Dip ($10.49, and try saying that five times fast), my friend commented that it looked dry and indeed it was; it’s not for nothing that smoked brisket almost always comes with a sauce. And that was what made the difference, the “dip” of jus, into which I dunked the sandwich halves. As it should the dip had good beefy flavor and was neither greasy nor salty, and the bread on which the brisket was served — the menu called it a “dip roll,” but I’d call it a French roll — was sturdy enough that it didn’t dissolve in the jus.

On the side we were offered a choice of potato salad, green salad, coleslaw, a cup of soup or french fries (seasonal fruit is $1.49 extra) and we found the potato salad to again reflect the cozy-kitchen theme, as it was creamy and just rich enough, with a touch of mustard.

Service throughout was excellent. We had barely stepped through the door when an employee grabbed a couple of menus and showed us to a table. She turned out to be our server, too, and showed that same efficiency, which was matched by the kitchen as our food came surprisingly quickly.

So add Biscuits Cafe (a link of a growing chain based in Oregon) to the ever-expanding list of great breakfast places in the Las Vegas Valley. The company’s motto, emblazoned on wall and Web, is “We don’t serve fast food … we serve fresh food as fast as we can!” And this is definitely one example of truth in advertising.

Las Vegas Review-Journal restaurant reviews are done anonymously at Review-Journal expense. Email Heidi Knapp Rinella at hrinella@reviewjournal.com, or call 702-383-0474. Follow @HKRinella on Twitter.