If you are a breakfast food fanatic like I am, then I want to share with you, Woodchuck's Café! This is a great little diner off of Tharpe St. in Tallahassee. Now, it may be a little out of the way for some, but I promise it is worth the drive. The restaurant on the outside may concern a few patrons, as it is attached to a gas station, but have no fear friends, on the inside is the perfect setting for a great down home cooked meal. The restaurant is locally owned by a Tallahassee native, Chris Benfield, and his family helps run the place. Benfield opened his restaurant in 2013 and has been happily cooking ever since. As always I have attached the restaurant link and other information at the bottom, but I think it is worth mentioning here, the restaurant is open until 3pm Monday through Sunday, but the best part...they serve breakfast all day. That is a score in my book, if only they were open later.
On a Sunday morning with a good friend of mine, I dined at Woodchuck's. It was shortly after 9am when we arrived, so we didn't wait at all before being seated. However, I have been told on the weekend the place can be packed, so if you do not like to wait, then arrive early.
Once seated our server quickly brought us mismatched coffee mugs filled to the brim with that glorious steaming joe, we all love and adore. The indiscriminate use of unique and fun coffee mugs added a homey feel to the table, which I for one enjoyed. It's a nice touch. After perusing the menu, we settled on several items, after all, we want to give you as much information about the selections as we can, right? We chose the "Woodchuck Special" I ordered my meal with a pancake on the side and my friend ordered French toast. The breakfast comes with two eggs (cooked they way you like), your choice of meat (bacon, sausage, ham, corned beef hash, turkey links, veggie patties, and even tofu), toast, and home fries or grits, as well. We also ordered biscuits to try. Our server explained they make their biscuits in house from scratch every morning. Being a home grown southerner and a baking and pastry culinarian I felt obligated to give them a go, I am very picky about my biscuits, but isn't everyone? We also ordered a side of the "sausage gravy."
Ok, for the first special. I ordered my eggs over medium with crispy bacon and a blueberry pancake. The eggs were cooked well, I enjoy the yolk with a biscuit or toast, so these eggs hit the spot. My bacon came out crispy, as ordered, but not burned. The potatoes were seasoned pretty well, though I wouldn't have minded if they had been cooked slightly longer. Lastly, the pancake. I very much enjoyed the blueberry pancake. They sweeten their batter just a touch and the pancake is light and fluffy. Also, they don't skimp on the berries, there was plenty of blueberry goodness in every bite!
Next, the second special, with the French toast. My friends eggs were also cooked perfectly, over medium. He too asked for crispy bacon and received crispy bacon, which I know he appreciated. The potatoes were cooked to a soft doneness and seasoned well too. If you are looking for more of a hash brown or a potato with a little crunch, you may just ask them to leave them on the griddle a little longer. As with any good French toast, there should be a nice eggy taste but not overly battered, this toast did not disappoint, but is your average diner French toast.
Now for the big finish! The biscuits made us excessively and exceedingly happy. They came out perfectly warm, with a wonderful tender crumb, that any good southerner knows well. They were exquisitely buttery with just the right amount of salt deliciousness. I will undoubtedly order several biscuits upon my return to Woodchuck's. Lastly, the "sausage gravy," unfortunately the gravy fell incredibly flat for us. There really wasn't much sausage to speak of, the meat or the flavor. Actually, there wasn't much flavor at all. The gravy was very bland. That being said, on a whole the food at Woodchuck's Café is delicious. I would recommend the home style breakfast with pancakes or French toast. And for heaven's sake get the biscuits!!
Click on the Woodchuck's menu page below to connect to the Woodchuck's Café website.
Woodchuck's Café:
HOURS
Mon - Sat: 7am-3pm Sun: 8:30am-3pm
[850-224-9766] 2520 W Tharpe St, Tallahassee, FL 32303
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