Fresh biscuits and gravy can make me smile like nothing else, so it came as no surprise when I started grinning like a Wonderland cat during a recent rendezvous at the PerKup Café. The charming Urbandale nook just happens to have the best biscuits and gravy in town.
Nestled in a bland shopping plaza, the café is bright inside with a 40-seat dining room full of warm colors and casual country décor.
The PerKup serves breakfast and lunch. Morning bites include a variety of smoothies, omelets, breakfast sandwiches and hearty breakfast platters. Noticeably absent are pancakes, although the kitchen compensates with cornflake-crusted French toast that’s crafted with apple-cinnamon bread from Big Sky Bread Company, a local bakery situated around the corner.
The star of the menu is a hefty biscuits-and-gravy platter for $5.75, available Friday through Sunday. If you’re interested, get there early. It often sells out by 10 a.m., which I learned the hard way when, on my first visit, an apologetic waitress broke the news that they were sold out.
I returned the next day earlier, hungrier and ready to riot if they were out again. Fortunately, there was plenty and soon my breakfast appeared: a pair of flaky, split biscuits drowned in generous ladles of peppery sausage gravy. For an extra $2, mine came topped with two eggs sunny side up. Paula Deen would have been so jealous.
My companion ordered a hefty wheat tortilla breakfast wrap. The filling had obviously been cooked to order as the scrambled eggs were light and fluffy and the bacon crispy. A piquant “revenge” sauce, served on the side, added extra zing to the tasty wrap.
Another pleasant discovery was the fine-tasting homemade jam: peach, plum, strawberry and raspberry were on hand during my visits. The café also serves a decent brew, thanks their custom of using freshly ground coffee. I appreciated being able to order a cup while waiting for a table to open and that I could get my refill to go when it was time to leave.
Lunch was not so good. I ordered the Jack Daniels Burger one day and regretted it. The patty came drenched in a candy-sweet whiskey sauce that soaked entirely through my bottom bun, making the burger a sticky mess. The side of cucumber pasta salad wanted for salt while an apple-walnut salad was grossly overdressed. Breakfast for lunch would have been better.
Regardless, the PerKup ranks among my favorite places to eat out. Burger? No thanks. Biscuits and gravy? Yes please!
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