At FarmHouse Cafe & Bakery, the route to breakfast begins at the bakery display. Breads, rolls, pies and other baked goods greet you before the menu gets involved, which is a pleasant bit of temptation for anyone who came in thinking they would just have eggs.
The cafe has the comfortable, familiar rhythm of a place built for a substantial meal: booths for families, counter seats for a quicker stop, and a broad list of breakfast, brunch and lunch choices. The food is straightforward in the best sense—generous plates, classic preparations and enough variety that a table can go from pancakes to a skillet without anyone having to compromise.
The cinnamon roll decision
The signature cinnamon rolls are not a side thought here. They are big, fresh and full-flavored, substantial enough that sharing one across the table is often the sensible move. Of course, sensible and tempting are not always the same thing at breakfast.
They come with white icing, caramel or no topping at all. The plain version has an especially practical appeal for anyone curious about the Nebraska pairing of chili and cinnamon rolls; it can serve almost like a sweet, soft stand-in for crackers alongside a bowl of chunky, moderately spicy chili.
One breakfast combination even puts a cinnamon roll beside a skillet, a pairing that tells you exactly how FarmHouse approaches the morning meal. This is not a place where a pastry has to wait until after the entree.
A breakfast menu made for appetites
Omelets, eggs, pancakes, sausage, hash browns, toast and skillets make up the sturdy center of the breakfast menu. Portions tend to be large enough to invite sharing or leave something to take home, especially when a cinnamon roll has already made its way onto the table.
The Gardener's Omelette is a good choice for a classic breakfast plate with a little more color, prepared with the fresh, well-cooked quality that diners want from an omelet. Poached eggs, bagels with cream cheese, blueberry muffins and blueberry pancakes offer smaller turns within the same old-fashioned breakfast territory.
Sausage gravy has its own following. It is rich and flavorful rather than thin and forgettable, and hot sauce can be added for diners who want a little more kick with their biscuits-and-gravy style breakfast.
For younger eaters, the menu has easygoing standards such as pancakes, eggs and sausage. Booth seating gives family meals room to spread out, including the inevitable extra plate brought on by an oversized roll.
Lunch arrives with gravy
FarmHouse continues well past breakfast with daily specials and lunch-style comfort food. Chicken-fried steak, chicken pot pie, fried chicken, sandwiches, nachos and pasta sides give the menu a broad, home-style range.
Chicken-fried steak has appeared as a particularly filling special, with golden-brown breading and flavorful gravy. One generously built plate brought together bacon, a blueberry muffin, corn and mashed potatoes under gravy—less a light lunch than a complete afternoon plan.
The chicken pot pie comes warm and is served with salad and other sides, while the chili offers a heartier bowl option. These are the dishes to consider when breakfast has passed but the desire for diner food has not.
A room for different kinds of meals
The dining room is cozy, clean and well organized, with a casual welcome that works for a solo counter breakfast as readily as a family gathering. In addition to booths and general indoor seating, there is a bar area and a private dining room.
That range of seating gives the cafe more flexibility than a simple roadside breakfast counter. A couple can settle in with coffee and a roll, while a larger group has room to tackle a table full of omelets, pancakes and sides.
A built-in browse next door
FarmHouse is attached to Mangelsen's, which adds an unusually useful extra stop to the visit. During a busy brunch or weekend period, when there may be a wait for a table, there is somewhere nearby to wander rather than simply stand around watching the host station.
It also helps when a group arrives with mixed levels of breakfast enthusiasm. One person can look over the bakery choices, another can browse next door, and the eventual meal still brings everyone back together over the same table.
Save room for the bakery counter
The bakery display is worth revisiting after the meal, particularly if the cinnamon roll at the table disappeared faster than expected. Additional rolls and pies are available to take home, extending the stop beyond one plate of breakfast.
The bakery's helpful, accommodating spirit has also shown up in special-order moments, including a last-minute Christmas Eve carrot cake request that was worked out despite an initial order mix-up. It is a nice indication of care, though custom bakery needs are best treated as something to ask about rather than assume.
A few useful expectations
There is a large free parking lot, a welcome convenience when meeting family or making the cafe one stop in a longer day out. The main practical question is not usually where to park, but how much food to order at the outset.
The menu follows a traditional comfort-food path rather than a specialized gluten-free one, so diners needing strict gluten-free meals will want to keep that in mind. For everyone else, a shared cinnamon roll and a plate of hash browns is a very workable place to begin.