For the longest time, we've been told breakfast was the most important meal of the day. Without two eggs and a square of toast before 9 a.m., we'd be doomed to walk around like reverse-negative sun zombies, drooling, chewing on pencil erasers and unable to form complete sentences.
Recently, though, the New York Times stood up and declared breakfast overrated. The article cited two studies that concluded if you're not hungry in the morning, you should skip the meal. Granola companies quivered, but maybe the news takes the pressure off. If breakfast is something you only have to do when you want, it suddenly becomes decadence akin to a much cooler version of brunch. Think about it: you already have to get up early five days a week for work. And those mimosas sucked anyway.
Here's where to get your brekkie:
CBD Provisions (pictured above) If you're staying at The Joule, breakfast at CBD downstairs is a no brainer. You could even be extra decadent and have some pancakes and sausage sent up to your room. The hotel is a fine place for breakfast even if you're not spending the night in luxury, though. Just look at that bowl of oatmeal, drizzled with sorghum and topped with a dollop of crème frîache. Sure, there are some unnecessary calories in that tangy cream, but otherwise the USDA would approve.
Start Come to Start if you like your eggs with a side of feel-good, or if you've got a little crumb-snatcher strapped to a car seat and you'd prefer they stay put. Start has a drive-thru that will hand you one of the better breakfast burritos in all of Dallas. (The scrambled eggs are loose and moist and decorated with just enough melted cheddar cheese.) Factor in that all the ingredients are responsibly sourced, and that healthy options like smoothies and oatmeal abound, and suddenly you have no reason to be in that McDonald's drive-through.
Good 2 Go Taco On weekend mornings, you can find salvation in a breakfast taco. And while Good 2 Go may not provide that authentic Austin experience, they lead the charge in Dallas on original taco creations. Start with a brisket number loaded with cheese and eggs and branch out from there. Don't forget a cup of coffee while you're at it. The guys from Cultivar have small shop set up in the dining room -- two for one.
Crossroads Diner Corned beef hash is one of the most abused diner dishes in existence. Often the meat is pulled straight from a can and tastes only of sodium and nitrites. The beef cured here has a certain saltiness, sure, but it still tastes like beef, which is the whole point. If isn't your thing, they turn out plenty of eggs and bacon, too. And those pecan they add to the pancakes are worth the surcharge, for sure.
Jonathon's Go ahead and wait in line for brunch on the weekends at Jonathon's, and get ready for a long one. Oak Cliff locals have come to depend on this house-turned-diner to start their day off right, and they come in vans. The weekdays on the other had are relatively quiet. You can read the paper and sip on coffee until your eyes start to buzz. Who needs kidneys, anyway?
Smoke If you have plans for the day, Smoke is the last place you want to come for breakfast. An early meal here requires a three-hours nap, minimum, on a bed dressed with fluffed pillows and freshly laundered linens. If late morning naps are your thing, get ready for some of the biggest, fluffiest pancakes you've ever encountered, alongside house-smoked sausages and a ton of smoked brisket. Forget the bed: You're going to need a stretcher. If breakfasts were already on notice, Smoke puts them right on the danger list.
