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| - This place is so good it doesn't need my review to help it out, but maybe I can clear up some confusion you'll see if you read all the other reviews.
A new owner took over the place around April of 2011. He had been General Manager at a Mimi's Cafe and had worked there seven years, but had always wanted to have his own place. Mimi's typically does good work, so surviving seven years there is graduate school level training. He clearly knows both front of the house (FOH) and back of the house (BOH) in the biz, and he clearly cares about doing a good job. More on that below.
Anyway, reviews coming up on this April -- say February and March of 2011 -- are likely to reflect an exiting owner who may have let things slide a bit knowing he was a short-timer.
So how do I know the new guy cares? My wife and I just bought a house about a mile from Red Bird. The realtor we bought from took me there for lunch, and although it was our waitresses second day and she didn't know the menu items personally, she did a fine job and had been pretty well trained already. The food was excellent and plentiful, and the price was more than fair.
A couple of weeks later (about ten days ago) I played golf super early, got done about 9 a.m., and called my wife to ask her to walk to the Red Bird and meet me for breakfast, which she did.
The menu described the pancakes as "crispy on the outside and light and fluffy on the inside." When our waiter came I asked him if he wrote that copy, and he said he did. Turns out he was the new owner, which is where I learned what I reported above. In both fun and seriousness I said, "let's see," and he answered in kind that the pressure was on!
The pancakes rose to the occasion and were part of an excellent breakfast, including homemade sausage patties (spicy) and a very nice cup of coffee. My wife's french toast was also terrific, but her egg dish (scrambled) was only very good. The potatoes were marvelous.
This is a down-home cafe with friendly service and wonderful food. It is not fine dining, but the dining there (open until 2 p.m.) is just fine.
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