A Boise Brunch Stop Where Bacon Gets Its Own Tasting Flight

A printed bacon mile on the floor points the way from the entrance to the ordering counter, which tells you almost everything you need to know about the mood here. This is a Boise breakfast-and-brunch stop that treats bacon not as a side note beside the eggs, but as a full-fledged tasting subject.

The menu has enough hearty plates to satisfy somebody who wants steak, potatoes and eggs before noon. But it also leaves room for the person at the table who would happily spend a few minutes comparing maple rosemary bacon with a peppery hot strip and calling that research.

The setup is casual and easygoing: pick up a menu, follow the bacon-themed path, order and pay at the counter, then settle into a table while the food is brought out. Coffee comes from a self-serve station, and the paid-up-front format means no waiting around for a check once breakfast has run its course.

The most playful opening move is the bacon flight, also called Bacon Shots. Several varieties arrive in individual shot glasses, turning a familiar breakfast staple into a small, savory tasting session that can be shared around the table.

The lineup includes the traditional Berryhill bacon, a slightly sweet house favorite, along with spicy hot, maple rosemary and candied bacon. The hot bacon has a lingering peppery kick, while the maple rosemary selection takes the flavor in a more herbal, breakfasty direction.

Candied bacon is the sweet end of the spectrum, with enough sugar-forward appeal to make it popular with children and serious sweet-tooth adults alike. It is a nice counterpoint to the spicy variety, especially when the table wants more than one personality from its breakfast meat.

There is also a rotating bacon option, so the flight does not have to be the same on every visit. Specialty choices have included Bourbon Coffee bacon and coffee-seasoned bacon, giving repeat diners a reason to see what is in the shot glasses this time.

For anyone who decides a tasting is not enough, bags of the restaurant's bacon are available to take home. That is a useful bit of restraint-testing: breakfast can end with an actual supply of bacon leaving with you.

The bacon theme is strong, but the kitchen is not asking everyone to build a meal out of strips alone. The Hash brings together steak, mushrooms, potatoes, okra, onions and eggs in the sturdy, fork-ready style of breakfast that can carry a person well into the afternoon.

The Boise Basin omelet is another substantial order. It comes filled with bacon, green peppers and onions, then is served with potatoes topped by fried okra and pico de gallo, plus a biscuit on the side.

That plate can also be paired with sausage gravy, which gives the potatoes and omelet another rich, old-school breakfast option. Fried okra is an especially welcome curveball here; it keeps the plate from reading like an ordinary diner omelet.

Other familiar brunch territory includes shrimp and grits, French toast, the Benny Hill and macaroni and cheese. The broad mix makes it easier for a table to go in different directions without anyone having to abandon the bacon-focused theme entirely.

Warm beignets arrive dusted with powdered sugar and accompanied by raspberry jelly. They make a particularly good shared order after something salty, and the jelly gives the plate a bright, fruity break from all the smoke, spice and savory richness elsewhere on the menu.

A large cinnamon roll topped with bacon provides a more dramatic sweet-and-salty detour. It is not a subtle item, nor should it be. Bacon on a cinnamon roll is a declaration that brunch can relax a little.

Bacon-and-cheddar scones offer another route for people who want baked goods without going all the way to dessert. French toast is there for traditionalists, while oatmeal gives the menu a quieter, simpler option.

Coffee drinkers can pour their own at the counter, a small convenience that suits the quick-moving format. Cold-brew choices have included vanilla iced cold brew, a useful option on a warm Boise morning when a steaming mug is not the obvious answer.

The beverage list has room for a morning margarita, too, should brunch call for something less conventional. It fits the restaurant's general willingness to have fun with the first meal of the day without turning the menu into a novelty act.

On the side, fries have appeared with bacon dust, adding one more smoky flourish to a plate that might not otherwise have needed it. Hush puppies are another option, and they make sense beside dishes such as shrimp and grits or as an extra nibble for the table.

Inside, the seating ranges from large wooden tables for families and groups to more intimate high-tops and bar seats. The arrangement gives the room a sociable, lived-in feel rather than the tight choreography of a formal brunch dining room.

A private back room has been used for a breakfast gathering of 14, another sign that the restaurant can handle more than a quick meal for two. The menu also lends itself to groups: one person can order a full hash while somebody else orders bacon shots and another commits to beignets.

Service follows the counter-order model, but the food still comes to the table. That combination keeps the visit relaxed: the initial decisions happen up front, then the table becomes the place for catching up, comparing bacon flavors and considering whether the cinnamon roll was necessary. It probably was.

Outside, the patio uses oversized orange umbrellas to shade spaced tables and give the seating area some shelter from the street. It is a sunny alternative to the wooden tables and high-tops indoors, particularly for a longer brunch that involves both a savory plate and a sweet follow-up.

The patio has accommodated diners traveling with a dog, though outdoor arrangements can change. Its useful appeal is simple: sit down, order the flight, let the table fill with potatoes, biscuits, beignets and small glasses of bacon, and take the morning at a comfortable pace.