Nearly everyone has seen The Breakfast Club, the classic John Hughes movie from the 1980s, but far fewer remember the band Breakfast Club. Although Madonna served briefly as the group’s drummer, Breakfast Club is best known for its one hit, “Right on Track.” Nearly four decades later, there’s a restaurant called BC Breakfast Club at CityScape and, just like the 1987 song, it’s right on track — light rail track, that is. This particular Breakfast Club is just a block or two from the light rail platforms of both the A and B lines at the Downtown Phoenix Hub.
The CityScape Breakfast Club is an added location for a restaurant that originated in Scottsdale. Like most establishments at CityScape, it’s difficult to locate. Although the address says Jefferson Street, the restaurant is most easily reached via Central Avenue or First Street. From either one, take the stairs or escalator up to the second story outdoor plaza. A small triangular building serves as a grab-and-go store, but the full service restaurant is on the south side of the plaza. Bike racks are found along First Street and also outside the entrance to the EOS Gym.
If the weather is at all pleasant, it’s often best to request to eat outdoors on the patio, which sits in the elevated heart of the eastern parcel of CityScape. There are umbrellas and the trees and the tall buildings on both sides of the patio provide abundant shade. Otherwise, the dining room is serviceable if not particularly distinctive. The decor is muted earth tones — clean, comfortable, and spacious with the inevitable neon sign for selfies added during a recent renovation. There’s also a large semi-circular bar counter that’s perfect for solo diners.
As its name implies, BC Breakfast Club is all about morning: eggs, pancakes, waffles, and French toast dominate the menu. The “Quick Start” meals at the top of the menu emphasize approachable breakfast sandwiches and simple combinations such as eggs, toast, bacon, and fruit. There are several selections of omelettes and eggs benedicts, including an indulgent poutine omelette with shoestring fries, cheese curds, and gravy. A southwestern section of the menu accentuates regional touches such as with pork chili verde, pico de gallo, and chorizo.
Among the less egg-centric dishes, pancakes come not only in a light, airy standard version, but also seasonal variations with additions such as a lemon glaze and poppy seeds. French toast made from brioche is best when ordered in its “BC” signature form, which begins with flour half slices and adds a generous layer of fruit and nuts above it all. The waffles, although available plain, are also served in two gussied-up varieties, one a churro waffle with a crisp texture, caramel, and cinnamon and another with fresh strawberries, cream, and bits of shortcake.
Breakfast meats include the obvious front-runner, bacon, not only in traditional thin slices but also in a thicker slab format with rotating flavors like a jalapeño glaze or a special “Elvis” variant with a peanut butter drizzle. Pork and chicken sausage patties are both satisfying alternatives, Breakfast potatoes are available as hash browns, julienned and served in a criss-cross fashion with just a slight bit of grease, and potatoes O’Brien, essentially home fries with peppers and onions. French fries come in standard, truffle parmesan, and sweet potato versions.
Since BC Breakfast Club’s hours extend into the early afternoon, there’s a sizable lunch menu available with soups, sandwiches, salads, and sides.The salads are big, entree-sized bowls. The Southwest Salad is a hearty mix of greens with grape tomatoes, cotija cheese, black beans, corn, jicama, grilled chicken, watermelon radishes, and tortilla strips all coated in a slightly spicy dressing applied in the just right quantity. The hummus bowl is not really a bowl but instead a plate of crisp pita with a central bed of hummus, grilled chicken, pepper, tomatoes, and onions.
Sandwiches at Breakfast Club include two types of fried chicken on a brioche bun, one spicy with hot honey and one mild. In each case, the poultry is thinly pounded like katsu or schnitzel and coated with a salty and savory seasoning. Wraps involve tortillas tightly encasing sandwich fillings like finely chopped turkey, bacon, and lettuce in a traditional club mix of ingredients. The Cobb wrap blends tangy bleu cheese and warm blackened chicken that contrasts with cooling iceberg and tomatoes. The only traditional Cobb ingredient missing is hard-boiled egg.
A satisfying meatless sandwich is prepared with nine grain bread, with a blend of avocado cucumber, mushrooms, tomato, sprouts, cream cheese, and red onion between the slices. Additional choices include Cuban and club sandwiches with ham. All the sandwiches are paired with a pickle and a choice of side. Those choices include lean basics such as cottage cheese or a side salad, as well as richer choices like all the fries and potatoes from the breakfast menu. If nothing else is specified, the default choice is house-made waffle-style potato chips.
Beverages include a tart house-made lemonade, coffee, tea, and espresso drinks, and fresh squeezed or extracted juices including a blend of carrot, apple, and ginger. The restaurant also has a liquor license and pours mimosas, bloody Marys, and other morning cocktails — more for leisurely weekend diners than weekday customers returning to their offices. The band Breakfast Club broke up long ago and recently reunited, while the Breakfast Club movie has endured for decades. Downtown diners can hope the restaurant BC Breakfast Club stays “right on track..”
2 E. Jefferson St., Phoenix AZ 85004
http://www.breakfastclub.us
PHX Rail Food 