The Sunrise Cafe in Memphis is a great local find and worth heading to (obviously if you’re a local and perhaps not so obviously if you’re a visitor as it’s not quite on the beaten path. But it’s not far from Sun Studios so it’d be a great breakfast/brunch stop if you were headed there afterwards. It’s an order at the counter, seat yourself kind of place.
Restaurants that serve biscuits, live or die (in my mind) based on the quality of the biscuit. In this case, Sunrise Cafe should live forever. Their biscuits are legitimate southern biscuits, served with some pre-set sandwich choice, or you can roll your own. I rolled my own and had a biscuit with egg whites, cheddar and tabasco honey. The biscuit was fluffy and super good. The tabasco honey it was served with was a perfectly and unique treat – sweet with just the right amount of kick.
I also had a side of hash browns which were among the best I’ve had. They were thick with tender potatoes on the inside and exactly the right amount of crisp on the outside, all served without being too greasy. they were perfect and, a couple months later while writing this, I’m kind of salivating thinking about them.
The only area for improvement, in my experience, was the coffee. They serve “Onyx” dark and light coffee (serve yourself in a mug they give you). I had the dark. On the website it’s described as highly caffeinated which excited me as someone who typically drinks Death Wish Coffee. This was slightly better than standard diner coffee, perhaps a little thin for my taste, but much better than the brown waters I’ve received at other diners all over America.
They also offer a coconut bacon (vegetarian), but they happened to be out of it when we were there so I can’t tell you whether or not it’s good, but it’s cool that there’s a veggie “meat” option.
The dining room is a spacious, nice and comfortable place to eat. It’s nicely decorated with local art and lots of colors. (Though our first seat choice was on a cushioned bench…the cushions probably need to be, err, re-cushioned, as I sank deep into it and was concerned I might sink so low as to enter the bowels of Memphis. So we moved to a table with chairs.
My wife (a gluten-free eater) had the oatmeal made with milk, peanut butter and banana. (We were headed to Graceland so this was her breakfast tribute to Elvis.) Her initial reaction was that there wasn’t enough peanut butter, but she kept eating it and said it seemed fine, especially after she added almonds and honey. The milk she added, by the way, was almond milk (My wife generally avoids dairy as well) and she was happy they had this nut milk as an option. This oatmeal was the dish that the coconut bacon would’ve come on and that would’ve theoretically elevated the dish to a point where she would have been more excited about it.
They have a limited hot tea selection.
Breakfast is served all day. Lunch is added in...
Read moreYou will definitely appreciate the atmosphere here at Sunrise they even have a Sunrise To Go. This makes it very convenient for any and everyone that wants to enjoy a good meal. For those that don’t know about the menu items that are not on the menu. Here’s one mimosas different flavors you may already know one of them is orange juice can you guess the others.
The meal and atmosphere is great. Just remember to place your numbers in the middle of the table where they’re able to know where you’re sitting. You have the option of sitting inside or out on the patio. Nice cool Heisey to go along with your meals and if you’re close to the UT medical district, this is definitely worth Coming in for before or after your shift. Please keep in mind that they do have new development going on so finding parking, some days will be harder than others. They accept card and cash. You can also tip on the display. Choose to have your receipt sent to your phone or email or print it out all your bookkeeping organized for you. For those that are planning on having a morning breakfast with the team you may want to call ahead to let them know. Overall is a great experience and your food will always come out hot and fresh so get there before the line. Once you see the pictures are posted, you will get the understanding of WHY!
Each one of me and my friends chose something different. It was three of us, so it will give you an idea of what to expect. I had the kitchen sink with eggs, scrambled with cheese, turkey, bacon, grits, biscuit, sausage, and one pancake with blueberries. (the pancake cost extra it’s not a part of that meal, but it was well worth it. Nice, fluffy and tasty..) the second was loaded grits with sausage on the side (yes, it was amazing!) the third was short Stack blueberry pancakes with a side of scrambled eggs with cheese. And as mentioned earlier, we had mimosas to enjoy doing our meal. It was definitely a great add to my...
Read moreI have visited this location several times,but after today I left slightly annoyed and a little confused. I do understand yall do get busy. Today however we brought our 2 dogs. Like we always do. So we found a table outside. I went in and grabbed some menus so we could decide what we wanted to order without standing in line with dogs. I then decided to walk in and grab some drinks from the bar. Which I did ask the people at the bar if I was able to before ordering food and they said no problem. I then went back to the table with the 2 dogs and person I was with to continue to decide what to try this time. Well the drinks got delivered and the man who delivered the drinks wanted us to get up and leave because we hadn’t ordered food. He said plain and simple we couldn’t hold a table if we weren’t going to eat. However I just spent 30.00 on drinks from the bar. Were we supposed to stand and suck them down real quick and leave? We even explained that we’re were still deciding and were going to go stand in line. He seemed extremely agitated. So I got up and got in line to order food. He then followed me. And started talking to someone behind me about how everyone is from all over and wants to eat there. Ok. Cool. So you rather just support people all over and not your local customers? Thats what’s important? NOT the possible repeat customers from down the street? OK. So why would I want to promote local people supporting you? There are a ton of breakfast places in Memphis. And I could leave the dogs at home. And honestly the food is mediocre. And I rather spend me 130.00 PLUS TIP...
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