Blue Plate Cafe, South
When Stephenie suggested I look at Blue Plate Cafe for Rocket City Mom, frankly, my enthusiasm was limited. I imagined a lot of dishes clanging and servers barking orders to the kitchen, and maybe being able to tell what was mostly recently on the grill because the smell of it had never quite dissipated.
Instead, Blue Plate Cafe gets the diner décor just right, with none of the potential accompanying negatives. Lea, the boys, and I visited the South Memorial Parkway location for a Saturday morning breakfast. It is clean, brightly lit, and well-organized, so it took just about one minute for me to realize how ludicrously unnecessary my fears had been.
(Do note that Blue Plate Cafe has a full menu and is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. My review, however, is breakfast-centric.)
The Blue Plate Experience
After a friendly host greeting, we were seated immediately and began looking over the menu. It is extensive, containing any standard breakfast selection. There are occasional interesting wrinkles as well, like breakfast burritos and fried bologna available as a meat. There are numerous combination plates in the $6-9 range. There is no dedicated children’s menu in evidence, but the reasonable pricing, coupled with the fact that most items on the menu are also available a la carte, renders this a largely moot point.
Just about 15 minutes after our friendly server took our orders, our breakfast arrived. An omelet is my usual choice at places offering such. Blue Plate’s three-egg omelets start at $6.99. I had mine with ham, cheddar cheese, onions, and jalapeno peppers. In my mind’s eye, my omelet was going to come with canned jalapeno slices. Instead, it arrived with freshly diced raw jalapeno on it. That made an already-good omelet outstanding.
Lea’s French toast kept disappearing off her plate to her left, as Nathan liberated what he could get away with. That’s an excellent testimony to its quality. Aaron loved his pancakes. Blue Plate’s batter recipe includes generous amounts of vanilla and sugar, and you might want to taste these before putting a lot of syrup on them. Indeed, Aaron ate his plain.
The broad parameters of breakfast in American cuisine are well defined, so it tends to be the details that make or break a place. Blue Plate gets the details right. The scrambled eggs are done, but not cooked to sponginess. The coffee is fresh and of appealing strength. The bacon is perfectly crisp, but with no burned spots. My orange juice came out of the refrigerator two minutes ago, not ten.
Family-Friendly
Blue Plate Cafe is more accommodating of small children than any other restaurant I’ve ever reviewed. There are changing tables in both restrooms. Highchairs and booster seats are available, as are slings for very small children. Rocket City Moms and Dads, if you want to eat out with little ones, Blue Plate has you covered. Bravo!
Our experience at Blue Plate Cafe was top-notch in every way. It is budget-friendly, and the service and food were both excellent. This is a marvelous option in south Huntsville, and we look forward to returning.
Blue Plate Cafe
Address: 7540 Memorial Pkwy SW, Suite E, Huntsville (map)
Phone: (256) 885-3550
Hours: Mon-Sat, 6:00 am-8:00 pm (both locations)
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