Just a short year after opening his third Big Bob's Burgers, this time off 1604 and Lockhill Selma, chef/owner Bob Riddle is turning his attention to breakfast. No, the San Antonio area won't be #blessed with an all-new, all-breakfast joint anytime soon, but diners can now enjoy a good ol' American breakfast at Big Bob's Downtown (100 N. Santa Rosa St., 210-227-2627) on the ground floor of The Vistana.
Riddle, who opened the Hildebrand location in 2011 after closing the original Big Bob's is back in the kitchen. Don't expect wild items on this menu. Like his other joints, Riddle is just aiming for solid, no-fuss tasty food. Items include three-egg omelettes — with choice of ham, cheddar, onion, peppers, bacon, tomatoes, sausage, mushrooms or a combination thereof — for $7.99; a breakfast plate ($5.99) with two eggs your way, hash browns and toast or biscuits; short stack ($4.49) or regular stack ($5.99) of pancakes; French toast ($5.99); and biscuits and gravy ($4.99). Breakfast sandwiches start at $2.49 for a sausage biscuit and peak at $5.99 for a Big Bob's Breakfast sandwich with scrambled eggs, ham, avocado, bacon and Swiss cheese. The rest of the menu is a mix of yogurt and other morning-type bites and drinks.
Note, breakfast is served Monday through Saturday from 5 to 10 a.m., so don't roll in like I did at 10:10. Riddle graciously allowed me to order.
The omelette was filled with diced sausage cubes and fresh-grilled bell peppers and paired well with the seasoned hash browns (and no, Riddle won't share his secret ratio, but it's the same as his burger seasoning, so there's that). The pancakes are nicely grilled and fluffy, but the highlight was definitely the sausage biscuit with egg, which was buttery and fluffy and made me remember trips to McDonald's as a kid (that, let's be real, I can't start replicating now).
Your mind won't be blown with some new gastronomical masterpiece, but that's not Riddle's goal. Instead, you're going to leave with a belly full of tasty fare, a minimal dent on your wallet and plenty of fuel for the remainder of your day. Put down that bowl of Grape Nuts and go.
