TA S T E E E E !

Jim and Nancy do not disclose the fact that they will review a restaurant before they attend, ensuring their reviews are unbiased and uninfluenced by their position with the Sun Day.

People often ask us how we pick out restaurants to review. There are three ways in which we do this. The first is simply “Googling” restaurants near me and hope the result yields restaurants that are still open. Second, we receive recommendations from our endless swarm of paparazzi. The third, and the most important criteria, is whatever Nancy has a taste for.

Four score and about a year ago our friend Lynn raved about a breakfast place in St. Charles. The reason why we waited a year to check out this recommendation is because we assumed it was in downtown St. Charles with street parking only. Fortunately, this was not the case with the Tasty Biscuit Pancake House.

This restaurant is conveniently located across from the old Charlestowne Mall. It is a stand-alone huge restaurant that for some reason resembles a Mexican hacienda. When you walk in, the first thing you see is a giant coffee bar. The inside décor is modern with black and white booths, light wood tables with white wooden chairs, and pinewood accents.

Their breakfast/lunch menu is as large as the restaurant. It’s hard to concentrate on the menu when the waitresses are walking past with trays loaded down with intriguing dishes. One dish had a fork sticking straight up, another one had an ominous knife stabbed through a sandwich, and their skillet breakfasts are served in what looked like a roasting pan.

One of Nancy’s favorite breakfast dishes is banana bread French toast. The only thing that could make her favorite breakfast better is the addition of chocolate. Her eyes bulged, her mouth started watering, and she was speechless (for once) when she saw the Chocolate Banana French Toast ($12.99). This was homemade chocolate banana bread topped with more bananas, chocolate chips, drizzled with their house-made salted caramel sauce, and dusted with powdered sugar. She ordered a side of bacon ($4.99) for three slices. This was a sweet and salty OMG food bomb, and surprisingly, it was not as sweet as you would think. She is forever spoiled. Nancy will never be happy with banana bread French toast from any other restaurant.

Jim also spotted one of his favorite dishes, but not necessarily for breakfast. He wanted to try the Cajun Shrimp and Grits ($15.99). This was creamy white cheddar grits, bacon, fresh shrimp, jalapenos, mushrooms, minced garlic, bacon, Cajun cream sauce, and mixed cheeses topped with two eggs any style. He chose to have his eggs scrambled. I asked him what he thought of this unusual breakfast, and he didn’t know where to begin. He said the grits were creamy and were loaded with shrimp and huge chunks of thick cut bacon. He also said the Cajun cream sauce was to die for, and the portion size was gigantic. This dish would give any Cajun restaurant that serves Shrimp and Grits a run for their money.

FYI: This restaurant is handicap accessible.

The price for our “Tasteeee” recommendation $44.76, finding a great breakfast restaurant and taking half of our meals home in a doggie bag, priceless.

This restaurant has now moved to the top of our list of breakfast restaurants. It would be quite a challenge for any other breakfast restaurant to take its place. The quality of the food was top notch.

Jim’s take: I’m now a believer in Shrimp and Grits for breakfast, as long as it has an egg on top.

Nancy’s take: I love chocolate covered bananas, and now I’m eating them for breakfast!!!

Have comments or restaurant suggestions for the Dining Duo? Send them an email at: thediningduo@gmail.com

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