Beside US-75, behind some bushes and a Best Western sits a shotgun diner with a mentality stuck between a Café Brazil and an eclectic burger joint.
Buzzbrews may be a place that is overlooked when you’re heading north on Central Expressway, but after having a meal here, it may catch the corner of your eye every time you drive by.
With a menu overloaded with breakfast items, it is a good thing that they have a variety of 20 different coffee beans hanging above their counter. Below the suspended canisters sit coffee dispensers for customers to mull over, select and pour themselves.
If that is not enough to show their caffeinated dedication, a laminated “Brew Menu” sits on each table, offering lattes, steamers and espresso. With flavors ranging from Highland Butterscotch to Persian Lime, an energetic wannabe 20-something behind the counter is ready to suggest his favorites.
The Granny’s Snicker Doodle steamer that was listed had me excited. The simplicity of the buttery cinnamon, sugar snicker doodle cookie never disappoints me, so how could a caffeinated version in a cup not do the same?
The small diner answers this question by making a latte that falls just below the bar set by the cookie. Though the cinnamon-flavored comfort relieves you from the over-zealous air conditioner, there is nothing truly special about this beverage.
But apparently, a few secrets lie behind the blue counter. The Classic Crème Brulee is a favorite to some employees. With the amount of indulgence in this over-sized coffee cup, the Italian cake on display may lose its appeal.
As any 24-hour restaurant should, Buzzbrews serves breakfast all day and all night, which may be one reason people curl up in booths with laptops late on a Thursday night (At the least, it’s the Wifi).
French toast (or griddle toast, as the Buzz crew calls it), does not quite get its justice, getting placed below the appetizers and “Quickie Breakfast” sections.
Though overloaded with nuts and powdered-sugar, the griddle toast is better than a number of attempts around town. A coat of cinnamon tops the bread that manages to be dense enough for the batter, but not dry enough to fit with the French toast standard in Dallas.
Scramblers and crepes are a section of the menu worth both perusing and pursuing. The “Bluto” is a delicious and dangerous combination of bacon, onion, jalepeno and cheese. Offered as an omelet or stuffed in a crepe, this plate has more egg than it can handle. But the sausage mixed in provides enough flavor to compensate for the greasy feeling that is both poor for your heart and satisfying to your stomach.
The list of sandwiches has opportunities to indulge with every item. Though the burger and BLT caught my eye, the waiter, who will not hesitate to call a pretty girl “baby,” said that their grilled cheese is a top order in the joint.
The bread is a bit over-buttered, but toasted to a perfect golden brown. While it is adequate, it is really the inside that makes this sandwich a favorite for my server and his customers.
A grilled cheese sandwich that they call “Farmer’s Fantasy” mixes cheddar, Swiss and blue cheese into a melted mess topping a tomato between the toasted bread. A crisp slice of pickle, a wedge of pineapple and a bag of Sun Chips make this an ideal lunch or late-night fourth meal.
The first bite could be a cheesy flashback to childhood without the tomato soup. Unfortunately, a bit of inconsistent blue cheese can bring a different feeling—one that not even the power of bacon can overcome on this plate.
Whether or not you are full after a plate of pancakes or a burger and chips, the cakes displayed on the counter are tempting enough to push your stomach’s capacity.
The carrot cake flavor is trailing red velvet in many cupcake stores, yet the cake is not always executed perfectly. While moist carrot cake can be found in many establishments, few are up to par with this icing. A buttery cream cheese is simply all you need with this spiced desert, and thankfully, Buzzbrews knows it.
The Kahlua cake seems like the best choice for the chocolate-lover at your table, but this baked good’s consistency reaches the point of soggy. The baker in the diner has the Kahlua-cocoa ratio down, avoiding an over-powering Kahlua disaster, but until this desert can be easily eaten with a fork, another cake takes the top spot.
The Italian Cream cake may sound simple, but the nuts in the cake and the coconut on the icing take this dessert beyond a European white cake. This is the best that Buzzbrew’s has offered lately, and is worth the difficult control of not eating all of your BLT.
