Arthur's Restaurant
240 North Tustin Avenue
Orange, CA 92867
It was another date with my sister on a Monday morning. I have loved that she has been available to have breakfast with me recently. Since my schedule at work has changed, I do not have much of an opportunity to try out breakfast joints around OC, and the first meal of the day is usually one of my favorites. As is our custom, we usually pick a place that is centrally located between the two of us, and on this recent Monday morning that meant we would be meeting at Arthur's in Orange.
I had been here one other time, but it was definitely over 20 years ago, well before I started writing this restaurant blog. Arthur's is located not far from the Chapman and Tustin intersection. The building housing this restaurant looks like it was plucked right from the ghost town at Knott's. The marquee above the restaurant, along with a sign on the front of the restaurant proclaims that they serve the best breakfast in town. I know there's a connection between this and Arthur's Coffee Shop in La Habra, but neither of their websites acknowledges the other, even though the signage and menus are basically the same, but with different pricing.
I have never been to Cracker Barrel, but the inside of Arthur's is what I imagine it to be like. Very down to earth, maybe even folksy. Comfy worn booths, plenty of knick-knacks scattered around the restaurant and walls, and servers that know most of their customers by name. I've heard that the wait can be pretty long during weekends, but we got right in when we arrived here for our breakfast date to catch up on all of our family happenings.
We were presented with a rather large specials menu that is available during weekdays. Speaking of large, the regular menu is pretty massive, with lots of breakfast selections offered all day until they close at 2pm on weekdays and 3pm on weekends. For those that are not partial to breakfast, Arthur's Restaurant also offers plenty in the way of sandwiches, burgers, salads, and even a few Mexican inspired plates. Let's see what we ended up with off their menu on this late morning.
Ladies first, so we'll start things off with my sister's breakfast, the Chicken Fried Chicken Special ($9.14 with the cheese added to the eggs). I'm always partial to traditional chicken fried steak because I figure if you are going to eat something that's not particularly good for you, you might as well go all out and eat the real deal chicken fried steak, but apparently, my sister does not feel the same way. I thought we were close. Anyways, she ended up loving this very comforting dish. I got my chance to try a few bites of this and it was very tasty. Arthur's gets a lot of love for their gravy, and it was very good. Thick and peppery, just how I like it, but it kind of detracted from the taste of the chicken fried chicken. My sister did finish all of her scrambled eggs, which had a nice blanket of cheddar cheese covering them. The bread was toasted well and the fruit cup contained nice cubes of fresh fruit. A very solid meal to start our stint at Arthur's.
It's hard for me to resist a scramble, mainly because I don't like to miss out on much. I figure if I get a scramble, I have a better chance to try more of the items they have in the kitchen, and that was the case with this Arthur's Scramble ($15.75). What clinched me getting this was the fact that it came with two kinds of sausage, Polish and Italian, along with onion, bell peppers, three scrambled eggs, and topped with plenty of cheddar and jack cheeses. This plate was massive, and I took half of it home for later. Really filling, and delicious as well. The use of the two sausages was excellent. The balance between the eggs, cheese, and potatoes was spot on. Maybe because the flavors had a chance to mingle more, but this was even better the next day for lunch. With this scramble, you get to pick your favorite breakfast bread, and at Arthur's, they get a lot of love for their biscuits, so that's what I ended up with. This is going to sound like a dis, but the biscuits here look just like the Pillsbury Grands that are so popular during the holidays at my mom's house. They taste like them as well, but fresher and a bit airier. Again, not an insult, because I like the store bought biscuits, but that's what they reminded me of. I also got a Side of the Okie Country Gravy ($1.25) which went well with the biscuits, and also the leftovers of my skillet. This was a meal that kept me satisfied well into the dinner hour.
The marquee for Arthur's proclaims that they serve the best breakfast in town, and in a city that boasts Anepalco's, Orange Cafe, Sammy's Stack House, Paul's Place and more that I'm probably forgetting, that's a pretty big proclamation to make. Not sure they are the best, but Arthur's is in the conversation as one of the most satisfying breakfast joints in Orange. Big portions of food that will keep you full throughout the good majority of your day. Their down home appeal and good, honest food is the reason that they have long wait times on weekend mornings. Another factor is probably the staff here. From the owner on down to our server Rachel, everyone was so nice and made us feel welcome during our stay. My sister and I will definitely visit Arthur's again when we need to catch up with our crazy family.
Out of five top hats, (because whenever I hear the name Arthur, I think back to the 1981 movie and its lead character Arthur who was often seen wearing a top hat), five being best to zero being worst, Arthur's Restaurant gets 3 top hats.
For more information about Arthur's Restaurant, head to their website here: http://www.arthursfamilyrestaurant.com/
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