Let’s be upfront about this one… You gotta love Liberty Valance because of the theme. John Wayne, Roy Rogers, the wild west; for cryin’ out loud, there’s a stage coach in the building. Well not a real one but if you hit this place before your first cup of Joe, you won’t know the difference.
Liberty Valance (no apparent web site) is certainly an experience, and it’s truly local although you will find it on most of the tourist restaurant guide web sites. This was my second visit to the restaurant located off of Forest Hill Avenue and most customers appeared to be from the neighborhood ready to read their morning paper.
And so too was I. At Liberty Valance you won’t feel rushed and you are pretty much left alone unlike many a breakfast joint whose sole purpose is to move you out just as fast as the coyote’s road runner traps unravel in a cartoon. As a matter of fact, if you need jam or a spare napkin, better ask for it when your food comes because you may not see your server while you ingest your meal.
On this visit I decided to have a standard outlay of eggs and pig. Of course I had to try a little side of sausage gravy with a biscuit too. Just a taste. If you recall from another post the phrase “clean breakfast”… Liberty Valance doesn’t serve clean breakfasts. The food is designed to be heavy and is ideal for curing the impurities of the previous evening. Be prepared.
Also be prepared for the lighting in the restaurant. I don’t think sunlight penetrates any crack in the building. It’s pretty dark. Not sure if that’s by design. But sleepy eyes will like this place.
It also explains the darkness of our picture, somewhat. There’s not too much light to capture any color in the food. “Somewhat” = the food doesn’t have much color either. A problem if you prefer your breakfast to be springing off a plate.
I have to admit my breakfast here on this date was below par. I like the sausage. The grill marks are unique and the meat had good flavor. The eggs on the other hand came from China I think. No taste, no color, the texture was poor – not a good egg day and that should have been the star of the meal.
I decided to venture down the potato cakes path instead of the breakfast potatoes. The cakes are basically shredded potato with onion and some seasoning, deep fried. Yea, heavy. Good flavor but way too greasy for my taste.
The sausage gravy was ok. I liked the large bits of meat in the gravy and over the biscuit it seemed to work. I don’t think the biscuits are homemade. If they are the dough must be pounded into submission by Helga the biscuit beater. Not the nice rise-n-shine TLC biscuits one would hope for.
Overall, the experience and the ability to read the paper in piece with hot coffee gives Liberty Valance good marks. This isn’t the place for the food however. Oh we’ll be back because there’s always an occasion for a heavy breakfast. Today though…
LAN Breakfast Review: 3 out of 5 stars.
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