April, 2008

Food

Combined: (4)

AT:

LM:

It would be a mistake to lead off by saying that the menu is tex-mex (wait...) — there are burritos and quesadillas, sure, but also breakfast and lunch standards (pancakes, french toast, sandwiches and burgers). It's likewise sort of a mistake to call it a breakfast joint (even though they're closed well before Atlanta's extended afternoon rush hours begin). So it's a tex-mex breakfast joint in the same sense that William Shatner is that guy from T.J. Hooker.

I had the "Paris Texas Toast" french toast with pecans and a side of sausage. Not really adventurous enough to allow me to make a judgment about whether the fifth star is applicable. What puts it into the four-star category is that the syrup was really tasty (in a way that I never got around to trying to put my finger on) and the coffee was excellent. The sausage was standard breakfast patty fare, so no plus or minus there.

Arica's blueberry pancakes were really, really good. She had me try a bite without syrup or butter and I was impressed that, unlike a lot of other places, Gato hadn't gone overboard in making the pancakes themselves sweet. The predominant flavors were grain and a bit of salt, which I'll bet means that when you put the sugar and butter on, you'll get a sweet (and fluffy — did I mention fluffy?) bite in which you can still taste the pancake. Good stuff.

We got a biscuit/egg/grits combo for sg to graze on, and the biscuit was fluffy and buttery. Why is it so hard to find a good homemade fluffy biscuit in Atlanta? The Flying Biscuit, despite its name, serves leaden sugar-frosted crumbling scones that have nothing — nothing — to do with southern heritage biscuits. The Radial (we love you Radial, don't take this personally) just doesn't even try. Java Jive does a better job, but thanks to Gato Bizco, we no longer have to drive all the way up to Ponce for a fluffy biscuit.

Grits: nothing to write home about. You either make awesome grits, or you don't. Gato Bizco doesn't. I can live with this.

AT: "I'd agree on 4 stars - but my pancakes were terrific (I love that you can add pecans, blueberries or chocolate chips to the pancakes for like 50 cents more)!!"

Food

Combined: (2.5)

AT:

LM:

My food was fine, nothing special. AT's sucked. AT: "I had some kind of ham sandwich on pretzel bread - not impressive."