West Eggs: A Weekend of Breakfasts on Eldridge

By Katharine Shilcutt Wed., Nov. 9 2011 at 1:15 PM

Categories: Breakfast

Photos by Troy Fields

Everything goes into the Big Deal omelet at Pecan Creek Grille -- even hashbrowns.

As discussed in this week's two-fer cafe review of Pecan Creek Grille and Chatter's, it wasn't too long ago that you'd be hard-pressed to find a decent, non-chain breakfast on the west side of town. Growing up over there, our best bet for Sunday mornings after church was the Le Peep on Westheimer or -- on special occasions -- the brunch buffet at Rio Ranch. (FYI, that place is still awesome after all these years.)

These days, west Houstonians have the one-two punch of Pecan Creek Grille and Chatter's, across the street from each other on Eldridge, both of which offer impressive breakfasts. Were I still a west-sider, I'd spend my Saturday mornings at Pecan Creek and my Sunday brunches at Chatter's (with ample visits to Flora & Muse in between, as well).

Pecan Creek Grille is the more casual of the pair, owned by two Buffalo Grille ex-pats who brought a laid-back Hill Country vibe to the restaurant. It's only open through lunch, but it serves breakfast the entire time.

Every dish at Pecan Creek is customizable and made to order.

At Pecan Creek, my morning tradition -- so far -- is to get The Texan breakfast platter with a half Belgian waffle on the side (topped with either blueberries or strawberries, depending on my mood) and endless refills of the house cinnamon-laced coffee. It's help yourself here, which means I don't have to be quite so ashamed of drinking six cups of the stuff in a row. The Texan comes with my favorite item at Pecan Creek, jalapeño-cheddar grits that almost always require a hearty salting but are tremendous anyway.

Chatter's is the more upscale of the duo, and unlike Pecan Creek stays open all day long. In fact, although it's attractive at breakfast and brunch, Wednesday nights are the real draw here -- every bottle of wine on its 50-plus list of bottles is half-off.

The bar at Chatter's is a draw during non-breakfast hours.

Both Chatter's and Pecan Creek have a patio, but it's at Chatter's where you can get lattes and bottomless mimosas along with your brunch in the sunshine. As with Flora & Muse, the allure of being able to do this at all out here in the 'burbs is enough of a draw for me -- it's an added bonus that the mimosas and lattes are actually good, as are the Belgian waffles and Eggs Benedict.

Best of all, Chatter's and Pecan Creek Grille mean that westsiders never have to darken the door of an IHOP again...unless they really can't resist the siren call of the Rooty Tooty Fresh & Fruity.

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