Wesner's Grill, The Oldest Restaurant in Benton County, Arkansas.

Breakfast, lunch and pie - hallmarks of our great diners here in Arkansas. Let's check out the oldest such establishment in the most northwestern of counties in our state, and have a bite of breakfast, too.

Susan's Restaurant in Springdale Feels Like a Diner Dream.

The white building alongside Sunset Avenue looks like a mid-century destination. The menu echoes the sentiment, with breakfast and lunch and pies galore.

24 Hour Truck Stop Delights at JJ's Restaurant on I-30.

What ever happened to the old greasy spoons, the roadside eateries where you could get breakfast or a burger any hour of the day? There's still one in operation between Malvern and Benton on Interstate 30. Let's stop in at JJ's Restaurant.

Quick Bite: The Veggie Burrito at Bobbi D's Southern Cuisine.

When you're on the run and want a quick, delicious breakfast that won't break the bank, Bobbi D's on 65th Street has the deal for you. Check this out.

Flipping Over to the B Side Again in Little Rock.

I can't say I've written about this B Side Bistro before. Sure, there was a restaurant of that name here at one point, and it was dear to me. What I encountered this time was pretty solid and showed lots of promise, but is it the same? Not in the least.

Americana Eats at Anne's Country Kitchen in Pine Bluff.

If you’re looking for comfort food in Pine Bluff, head out to the west side of town and enjoy a delicious breakfast or lunch at Anne’s Country Kitchen.

Wagon Wheel's Comfort Food Sustains in Greenbrier.

Arkansas, if it were to have just one sort of restaurant to represent it, wouldn't be shown as a barbecue joint. Nor would it be an Ark-Mex joint, or a Chinese buffet, a sandwich shop or drive-in.

If you were to pick one restaurant that bears the hallmarks of the overall average of all Arkansas restaurants, it'd look like the Wagon Wheel.

Quick Bite at The Filling Station in Eureka Springs.

I'm a sucker for a good breakfast.  You would be too, if you traveled like I did.  Heck, who needs travel to appreciate a fantastic meal of the day?

If you're looking for a reasonably priced place to grab a bite in the morning hours in Eureka Springs, you might go ahead and give The Filling Station a shot.

You Should Eat Breakfast at Sweet & Savory Cafe in Eureka Springs.

Eureka Springs is dotted with great restaurants, and with good cause. Though just 2000 people call the tiny Ozark burg their permanent home, around 100 restaurants manage to make ends meet and serve up delicious food with great regularity.

In the winter, though, many of those eateries close their doors and darken their windows.  After all, while the town quadruples and even quintuples in size during the late spring, summer and autumn months, January and February are considered a dead time (with the exception of Valentine's Day weekend) and there's not enough business to sustain them all.

Fortunately for locals and breakfast lovers alike, there's the Sweet -n- Savory Cafe. This new establishment, which threw open its doors in April 2014, serves up breakfasts and lunches at a reasonable price.  But don't let the typical diner-style attributes fool you -- Sweet -n- Savory Cafe is on the level of marvelosity you'd expect from a Eureka Springs dining establishment.

Before I go further, I should let you know that this is only half the review I intended. We so enjoyed our late morning repast a week ago that we made plans for a return visit to sample lunch.  Mother Nature intervened, dropped an inch of ice and five inches of snow on us and the Sweet and Savory Cafe wasn't open the day we had planned our return.  We will return.

Grav and I dropped in on a Friday morning to find a busy crowd within the restaurant's yellow-painted walls.  Bold locally-produced art was evident, and we were ushered to a table in the restaurant's eastward room, right next to a standing portable heater that was a blessing.  It was rather cold.

From the first glance at the menu, we were stunned.  We sometimes nod at menus over "Eureka Prices," slightly or moderately inflated rates for items undoubtably aimed at the tourist crowd.  There was none of that here.  Prices were actually lower than we expected, and we gleefully determined we'd try several things and not feel guilty.

One of the two very sweet young ladies waiting tables was working a group in the far corner.  She was warning them that there were just two slices of the quiche of the day, and before she could go into a schpiel about the ingredients thereof, both were claimed.

Our coffee came hot and fresh and with real cream, and after dithering a while we made our choices and went to waiting.  It was pleasant -- not too loud, not too rowdy and the chairs weren't uncomfortable.  Grav went off to shoot the interior and came back pointing his finger skyward and nodding his head. He'd discovered macaroons on the front counter and had reserved two for us. Okay, this was breakfast, but we were going to have dessert, apparently.

Thus continued our wait, as each of the other tables in the eastward

room were served.  Yes, they'd all come ahead of us, and we weren't bothered by that, but the sight of so many good looking plates was making me drool.  Big, fluffy omelets were passing, alongside mounds of bacon, crepes filled with fruit salad and bevies of biscuits.  The scent was salivation-inducing and it was all a bit heady -- but my coffee mug remained full and we sustained our cheerfulness.

And then, all of breakfast arrived at once, three plates of it, with accompaniments to each side.  We stared for mere seconds before pulling out the BACs (the big cameras) and going to work shooting and celebrating this repast we were about to encounter.

And what a repast.  Grav had chosen biscuits and gravy, and the big hand-sized fluffy lumps were accompanied by a full bowl of sausage gravy. What's more, the dish was enough for someone

to eat as a single breakfast, and yet cost just $3.25. Incredible.

Grav said the sage-inflected sausage in the creamy gravy base were substantial, and the biscuits were perfect.  I can agree with him on those -- they were fluffy and a little buttery and rightly hot from just coming out of the oven.

They were so much that Grav actually gave me

most of the pancakes.  Or, I should say, "flannel" cakes.  Now, I've had my share of gluten-free this and that, and usually there's a sad air of disappointment over the whole affair.  Not here. The pancakes, which came three six-inch rounds to an order, were made from a combination

of rice flour and tapioca, decadently spiced with nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger and perhaps a bit of clove, and they were both velvety and impossibly light. I thought they tasted like the lightest gingerbread I'd ever consumed, while Grav went on about the pumpkin spice flavor.  Best of all, there was the option that I took, for real Vermont maple syrup to go along with the real butter offered, for something absolutely fanciful and still very, very filling.

Still, that wasn't all we enjoyed.  There was one dish that, from the moment I spotted it on the menu, I knew had to go in my mouth.  That dish was of the seafood crepes.

Oh golly.  Offered with either hashbrowns or grits, this was a pair of delicate rolls packed with shrimp and crabmeat in a Bechemel sauce.  I cannot quite express how velvety and rich this was.  We chose to split one to each of us, and after Grav finished the dish off he

scraped his fork along the surface for more of the rich filling.  I thought he was going to lick the plate. He confessed the thought had crossed his mind.

And then the macaroons arrived.  I was already quite sated after the crepe and two of the pancakes and had already called for a container to take the remaining round home, and here come these two morsels.  Now, if you've had a Mounds bar, you probably have an inkling of

what a dark chocolate drizzled macaroon is like to the taste.  These weren't even close.  The toasted, moist bundles of coconut were rich but not overly sweet, pliant but not chewy, crisply edged but not dry.  They were so perfect I almost ate all of mine.  Sheer willpower and the encouragement of the waitress who suggested home consumption without any compunction is all that kept me from injuring myself on the thing.

We were never rushed, which is why we didn't actually leave before 11:30.  I should have taken a photo of the lunch menu, darn it -- but I do recall so many good things, such as a seafood melt sandwich, burgers, a savory cheesecake and a daily plate lunch special.  In fact, Sweet -n- Savory Cafe seemed so much like a better version of the classic diner or cafe, right down to the prices, that anywhere else it'd be a standout jewel.  Eureka Springs offers so much competition, and frankly from the road the Sweet -n- Savory Cafe looks a bit plain.  But go inside.  Go eat.  And then tell your friends.

You'll find the Sweet and Savory Cafe on the east side of town on US Highway 62, across from the Pine Mountain Theater.  It's open every day except Wednesday (and of course, when the weather is terrible) for breakfast and lunch.

Sweet -n- Savory Cafe
2076 East Van Buren
Eureka Springs, AR 72632
(479) 253-7151
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Morning Wake-Up: Begin at B-Side, Little Rock.

It’s hard to believe that B-Side is only about two years old. That’s right — the little breakfast enterprise built next door to Lilly’s DimSum only opened in early 2010, but it’s already carved its own niche. On the weekends, it’s standing room only. Every single table in the place is packed from the 8 a.m. opening to the 2 p.m. close.

On the weekdays, though — you hit it right and it’s a special quiet place, a place of breakfast-time contemplation, a place to dine on fine breakfast foods amidst art and soft music, a place to escape.

I can talk about so many of the items on the menu, and I have. My favorite: Chicken and Waffles ($11), a couple of boneless chicken thighs fried and served up with golden waffles. The waffles on their own are so good, even, golden and crispy and substantial. You can get just the waffles for $5.75.

I always tend to show up with someone who wants Biscuit Mountain ($11.50), that big stack of egg, gravy, bird’s nest potatoes and sausage patties on top of soft pliant biscuits. I must have photographed the dish half a dozen times.

The orange juice is always good, too — though from time to time I get a seed. That’s all right — yes, I’ll gladly pay $3.50 for some fresh squeezed orange juice that really tastes fresh squeezed. B-Side is the one place I’ve gone where the juice itself is so good it makes the mimosa application superfluous — though if you want a mimosa, it’s $4 and effervescent.

The menu has been updated with new items and changes to a few old items. For instance you can now order a half-order of beignets for $4, get a Crabcake Benedict ($14) with home fries and something called the Mad Scramble ($10) — described as roasted potatoes, onions, bacon pieces, Cheddar cheese, and scrambled eggs folded together. If it didn’t have sausage in it I’d totally do the Shrimp and Grits ($12) — smoked Gouda grits smothered in sausage, red pepper, chorizo, gravy and onions with five large shrimp. It all sounds good.

But what do I keep coming back to? The dang Frittata of the Day ($9.75), a big pie slice of almost custardy frittata that comes in a different variety every day. My favorite of all of these has been the Mushroom and Onion Frittata — though the Spinach, Tomato and Mushroom variety I had on my latest visit was pretty darn good. It’s served up with a buttered and toasted English muffin, jelly, fresh fruit and a delectable spicy mayo somewhat reminiscent of the Japanese spicy mayo you get with sushi. The whole platter will stick to your ribs.

No matter what I get, I always have to order the Gouda Grits ($3). Every time. Every single time. I have actually gone in and ordered this little dish with nothing but water when my belly was sore. Almost as restorative as a good curry. They’re soft, creamy grits with an overabundance of smoked Gouda, and oh so good. When people ask me about B-Side, it’s the one dish I mention first every time.

I think it’s safe to say that B-Side has made it through the pass/fail test of the restaurant market around here. The weekend crowds show there was a significant need for a non-chain medium-range breakfast place in Central Arkansas. I suppose I’ll see you there sometimes?

B-Side is open Wednesday through Sunday 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Check out the Facebook page or call (501) 716-2700.

The cutest breakfast place you never heard of: Jenny Lind Country Cafe.

This has been the year of breakfast. Everywhere I’ve gone, breakfast. Everything I’ve thought about, breakfast. Well, maybe not — there’s been bits of Highway 7 and such to consider. There have been so many breakfasts that I’ve even missed out on having, well, breakfast. You’ll find out why next week.

Breakfast in Alma, at D's Family Restaurant.

Alma and Van Buren both have a D's Restaurant, a great place to catch breakfast and a cuppa joe. Here's the experience Grav and I had on a November morning at the Alma location.

Plates Loaded, a Swing and a Home Run at Home Plate Diner in Bryant.

This 50s-style teal-and-chrome diner on the west side of Bryant can bunt on a few things, but when it comes to breakfast, a couple of items knock it out of the park.

Breakfast at Stoby's

Folks know Stoby's by its cheese dip.  That cheese dip is everywhere.  And it's good.  But that's not all there is to the restaurant.  In fact, there's a lot more than just the Stoby sandwich, too.  There's a whole lot of food on the menu.

My favorite meal at Stoby's is breakfast.  Now, usually I go for The Northerner ($6.49), corned beef hash and two eggs with a biscuit and hash browns.  I've just about become predictable with that, stopped looking at the menu years ago because I just knew what I wanted.  It was the same when I went to school at Arkansas Tech in the early 90s, the same when Stoby's opened up briefly while I was living in Jonesboro.  And it's the same when I can make my way up to Russellville in the morning hours.  Until now.

You see, I'm trying out new things, because if I know more of the menu of a place then I can share it with you.

I could already tell you about the fabulous biscuits, moist and a little cakey, soft and hot.  I could already sing the praises of Stoby's housemade strawberry jam, which comes served up in a squirt bottle for easy application along with a bottle of squirt Parkay.  The biscuits are just salty enough to make your mouth water; the jam reminiscent of homemade strawberry compote for shortcakes, that bright red that almost doesn't seem natural.  Yeah, I could tell you all about those.

But I decided to give the Ole' Omelette ($5.80) a try.  I mean, how could you go wrong with Stoby's chili, cheese and such.  I was well pleased.  The chili and the cheese do fine together with the egg, in a stick-to-your-ribs sort of way.  Paired up with a hearty bowl of grits, and you have a meal that won't leave you craving lunch.

So, I can't pass up talking about the cinnamon rolls, one of the best bargains you'll find in Russellville.  For a buck-85, you get this fresh baked confection of rolled dough and cinnamon, topped with a gooey frosting and pecans.  That and a cup of coffee is really all I need in the morning, but of course I always order more.  Sometimes I just get a cinnamon roll to go to much on later.  They're made across the parking lot over at PattiCakes, the bakery run by the same folks.   You know, the place with the fudge.

I've been talking all about the Russellville location -- mostly because that's where my heart lies as far as Stoby's goes.  I was happily introduced to the rail depot-encased restaurant when I was in college and it's still a big favorite of mine.  But if you don't want to drive that far, you can go to the Conway location.  The food's just as good.

You'll find the Russellville Stoby's on Parkway (wow, seems weird not to call it "D Street") a block west of Arkansas.  In Conway, it's on Donaghey north of UCA.  Oh, heck, just go look at the website.

Cuppa Cuppa Burnin' Love at the Satellite Cafe.

This restaurant has closed.

I've been doing a little early morning research as of late... after a reader suggested that I don't get out and do breakfast enough.  Well, dear readers, I hope to fix that this week with a selection of blogs on several Central Arkansas breakfast locations.

I have lamented the fact that the chains seem to be winning at breakfast, simply because of the sheer number of available drive-thru windows for morning commuters.  Sitting down to enjoy the first meal of the day?  Well I hope to help you out.

A Temple To Comfort Food - Anne's Country Cafe in Pine Bluff.

There are some restaurants that have kitchy relics of the past plastered on the walls. There are some that claim to have good Southern food. There are even those that claim they’re down home good.

Ann’s Country Café doesn’t say any of that. It doesn’t have to.