Bacon and cheese quiche, fresh fruit, and Paula Deen's mashed potato casserole make a hearty breakfast at The Booksellers Bistro.
Leave it to calorie queen Paula Deen to ratchet up hash browns into a decadent and delicious start to any morning.
I fell for Deen’s hash brown casserole at a recent breakfast at The Booksellers Bistro in East Memphis, where the casserole was a side dish to my breakfast plate. A bowl of fresh fruit (cantaloupe, pineapple and red grapes) also sat nearby, but did little to divert my attention from the crispy potatoes topped with French fried onion rings and held together with butter, cream cheese, sour cream, and a cup of Monterey Jack.
The Bistro's Debbie Durso was nice enough to hunt through Deen's casseroles online (there are many!) to find the recipe her restaurant uses.
Although I’ve eaten at Booksellers Bistro for years, I’d never had breakfast until a two-for-one coupon pulled me in before 11 a.m. on Monday. Bistro coupons pop up periodically on the store’s email blasts on upcoming store activities, so it’s well worth signing up.
For breakfast, I ordered a slice of bacon and cheese quiche along with those hash browns and fruit ($9.75), and Tony had a customized breakfast croissant sandwich ($8.25). The kitchen was happy to hold the egg for extra sausage.
Coffee drinkers will find all their favorites, including mochas, lattes, and steamers, and carb lovers may want to move past the potatoes for crème brulee French toast or a three-stack of pancakes with banana and berries.
Overall, we were impressed with the Bistro’s straight-forward breakfast menu, efficient service, and our bottomless cup of coffee, all must-haves for us in the morning. The Bistro is also Project Greenfork certified and hires friendly servers who remind you to come back on Saturday evenings for live music and half-price bottles of wine.
(The Booksellers Bistro, inside the Booksellers at Laurelwood, 387 Perkins Ext., 901-374-0881)
