Iron Horse Tavern (Midtown Sacramento): Brunch Edition
food: 5/5
experience: 4.5/5
overall: 5/5
The line here for brunch rivals Bacon & Butter. Thanks a lot to everyone who gets bottomless mimosas for planting yourselves at the table for an entire hour. Service is excellent at least. (The waitress remembered our entire order and afternoon plans from one week to the next)
The rundown:
Beignets: 4.5/5
Had to try these first. I think they're a signature dish here. Eleven huge fried New Orleans-style doughnut holes (not really but if you want an idea) with powdered sugar, served piping hot on a fake newspaper. Delicious but I wish they were doughier inside. They're very crisp but since they're fried they don't last more than a couple hours before getting soggy. And soggy beignets is a very sad thing. (A bit of trivia: apparently Portuguese "filhós" are very similar to beignets. Yay for being Portuguese!)
Buttermilk biscuits: 4.5/5
These were also huge. They were more like scones. Also really crispy on the outside and really tasty, among the best biscuits I've had in Sac. They rival Cafeteria 15L's but they're owned by the same people so I wouldn't be surprised if they're the same recipe (again, my tastebud memory is decent but not that specific). The pecan butter that went with them was the best. It had a bit of cinnamon in it. Again probably the same recipe as Caf.
French toast: 5/5
I had high expectations for these, but I read very mixed reviews. Two people said it was better than Tower's (impossible!). Some said it was too greasy. I read they used to make it with Brioche bread but now it's just regular old bread so that was a letdown. But let me tell you, this toast could easily go head-to-head with Tower's (it would ultimately lose, but still). It's stuffed with cream cheese frosting. Um, yes please. Beware though, it's a stack of three and the further down the stack you get the soggier and flatter the toast. If you're sharing (and you should), whoever gets the top piece will probably rate it the highest. Comes with a mountain of delicious whipped cream and berries.
Belgian waffles: 4/5
Decent waffles compared to others I've had in Sac (seriously, Sacramento, get your shit together on the waffles, they ain't that hard). Four little circles of bready goodness. Not much to say about these, but they're not a bad choice for brunch and are fairly light. Comes with that delicious aforementioned pecan butter and more berries.
Cinnamon roll pancakes: 5/5
All the sweet, cinnamony-goodness of a cinnamon roll in the shape of three big, fluffy pancakes with that delicious sugary cream cheese frosting. Need I say more?
Chicken & buttermilk pancakes: 5/5
Iron Horse does fried chicken right! This was crispy and cooked to perfection. The batter tasted savory, with room for a bit of sweetness from the syrup, creating the perfect salty-sweet combo. The chicken was moist. The pancakes were tasty and thick. Just how I like them. So tasty, in fact, that I ate way more than my fair share. These are definitely among the best pancakes Sac has to offer. Oh, and they come with more of that sweet, sweet pecan butter.
The portions as you can see are pretty big and they don't do half orders which is unfortunate for us smaller peeps. And though the waitresses are on point, the hostesses can be a little disorganized. But for brunch spots in Sac this one is an unexpected winner. Seriously though, who thought a bar would serve such a bangin' brunch?
experience: 4.5/5
overall: 5/5
The line here for brunch rivals Bacon & Butter. Thanks a lot to everyone who gets bottomless mimosas for planting yourselves at the table for an entire hour. Service is excellent at least. (The waitress remembered our entire order and afternoon plans from one week to the next)
The rundown:
Beignets: 4.5/5
Had to try these first. I think they're a signature dish here. Eleven huge fried New Orleans-style doughnut holes (not really but if you want an idea) with powdered sugar, served piping hot on a fake newspaper. Delicious but I wish they were doughier inside. They're very crisp but since they're fried they don't last more than a couple hours before getting soggy. And soggy beignets is a very sad thing. (A bit of trivia: apparently Portuguese "filhós" are very similar to beignets. Yay for being Portuguese!)
Buttermilk biscuits: 4.5/5
These were also huge. They were more like scones. Also really crispy on the outside and really tasty, among the best biscuits I've had in Sac. They rival Cafeteria 15L's but they're owned by the same people so I wouldn't be surprised if they're the same recipe (again, my tastebud memory is decent but not that specific). The pecan butter that went with them was the best. It had a bit of cinnamon in it. Again probably the same recipe as Caf.
I had high expectations for these, but I read very mixed reviews. Two people said it was better than Tower's (impossible!). Some said it was too greasy. I read they used to make it with Brioche bread but now it's just regular old bread so that was a letdown. But let me tell you, this toast could easily go head-to-head with Tower's (it would ultimately lose, but still). It's stuffed with cream cheese frosting. Um, yes please. Beware though, it's a stack of three and the further down the stack you get the soggier and flatter the toast. If you're sharing (and you should), whoever gets the top piece will probably rate it the highest. Comes with a mountain of delicious whipped cream and berries.
Belgian waffles: 4/5
Decent waffles compared to others I've had in Sac (seriously, Sacramento, get your shit together on the waffles, they ain't that hard). Four little circles of bready goodness. Not much to say about these, but they're not a bad choice for brunch and are fairly light. Comes with that delicious aforementioned pecan butter and more berries.
Cinnamon roll pancakes: 5/5
All the sweet, cinnamony-goodness of a cinnamon roll in the shape of three big, fluffy pancakes with that delicious sugary cream cheese frosting. Need I say more?
Chicken & buttermilk pancakes: 5/5
Iron Horse does fried chicken right! This was crispy and cooked to perfection. The batter tasted savory, with room for a bit of sweetness from the syrup, creating the perfect salty-sweet combo. The chicken was moist. The pancakes were tasty and thick. Just how I like them. So tasty, in fact, that I ate way more than my fair share. These are definitely among the best pancakes Sac has to offer. Oh, and they come with more of that sweet, sweet pecan butter.
The portions as you can see are pretty big and they don't do half orders which is unfortunate for us smaller peeps. And though the waitresses are on point, the hostesses can be a little disorganized. But for brunch spots in Sac this one is an unexpected winner. Seriously though, who thought a bar would serve such a bangin' brunch?
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