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The banner on the outside of the restaurant reads Voted "Best Breakfast in Roseville." If you're a connoisseur of a fine breakfast, how could you resist checking out a place that so proudly flaunts its breakfast menu? Voted "Best Breakfast in Roseville...?" By who? That's a pretty big statement! The Sacramento Breakfast Club couldn't resist the challenge, and on Friday, August 3, 2007, we had the chance, as a scientific experiment, to see if the Country Gables Café really does serve the best breakfast in town.
Photo: Country Gables is located in an upscale strip mall, not far from "Old Town" Roseville. Every day, in order to keep the "Battle of the Bulge" defeated, I take a 4 to 6 mile walk, and once a week or so, my travels take me by Country Gables, as its located only a couple of miles from my house. Naturally the banner proclaiming their breakfasts are the best in Roseville really got my attention, as another sign that advertised weekday breakfast specials for $4.95, but there were a couple of other items that looked very interesting as well. I noted that Country Gables Café features outdoor dining on a lovely, shady patio, decorated with many potted flowers, and I also took note that the café always seems to be very busy during the traditional breakfast hours. No, there aren't any big rigs parked in the vicinity, as Country Gables is miles from the nearest Interstate, but it always seems to draw a large crowd of local residents, and that's a sure sign that its a place that deserves our visit.
Photo: The attractive outdoor seating. Note the beautiful potted flowers and plants.
Photo: The main dining room. Note the pleasing oak and green waistcoating. The kitchen is to the left, behind the counter. We arrived a little late for the $4.95 breakfast specials, as it was after nine in the morning, but that wasn't a traumatic issue. We were greeted by Brandi, who's job it is to greet customers, seat them, present menus, and keep their coffee cups full. Since there were five in our party, we had to wait a few minutes while a table was prepared for us; during the wait, I amused myself by taking a few photos. When our table was ready, we near a window in their "L-shaped" dining room. Brandi brought us menus, took our drink orders, and left us to ponder the extensive breakfast menu that Country Gables features.
Photo: Besides keeping coffee mugs full, one of attractive Brandi's jobs is to make the coffee. I guess you could call her the "coffee girl..." Country Gables Café's breakfast menu is huge, and includes practically every common breakfast item, and some not-so-common item's like a San Francisco scramble. They also have a senior menu with reduced portions, priced a couple of bucks cheaper than the regular menu items. There is something for everyone on Country Gables menu, including many vegetarian items to keep the P.E.T.A. lovers happy. Despite the fact that Country Gables has lots of scrambles, which I go crazy over, I couldn't resist their Italian sausage Combination Breakfast, that also included homestyle potatoes, eggs, with biscuits and gravy on the side. Davis chose the Country Scramble, as he's a huge fan of scrambles, Dan chose a Mexican omelet, Bev ordered a plain omelet, and Sharlene chose a half waffle, bacon and scrambled eggs from the Senior menu.
Photo: Marie brings our order to us with a smile. That's my breakfast she has on top! Country Gables Café employs very talented staff, and we enjoyed the company of Marie, who served as our waitress and happily took our order. I ordered bell peppers and diced onions with my homestyle potatoes, and she was glad to make a note of my desires. After she'd taken our orders, I asked her how Country Gables had earned the title "Voted Best Breakfast in Roseville," and she told me that the local newspaper, the bi-weekly The Press-Tribune conducted a survey about fine places to enjoy breakfast in Roseville, and the readers nominated Country Gables twice, in 2007 and 2006. She said that all of the staff are very proud to have achieved the award, and they're doing everything they can to win the vote in 2008. Quite interesting. The decor of Country Gables is very clean, simple and modern, and the color scheme is pastel. Booths, tables, chairs and some of the waistcoating is made of medium oak, and some of the waistcoating is painted green. The walls are off white, and are decorated with photos, paintings, and small shelves with hold artificial flowers and other knick-knacks. Its very tasteful and attractive, and promotes a relaxing effect. But if you're the outdoor type, you can dine outside on their shady patio, that features potted flowers and plants everywhere. Somebody who works at the restaurant must have a green thumb, and the flowers are beautiful.
Photo: Marie tops off our coffee mugs as we begin to eat our breakfast. I'm not quite ready to start, as I'm the guy behind the camera. Our breakfast arrived after only a few minutes, and in the meantime, Brandi kept our coffee mugs full. Our orders arrived hot from the kitchen, prepared exactly as ordered, and featured a delicious smell and an attractive presentation. I always order eggs over easy, and if the yokes are "medium" or broken, I'll send the eggs back, buy my eggs were cooked perfectly. My homestyle potatoes included the peppers and onions that I'd ordered, and the Italian sausage was cooked medium, as per my request. The biscuits and gravy arrived on a side dish, and the biscuits were light and fluffy, and the gravy was very meaty, with lots of little pieces of sausage. All other members of The Sacramento Breakfast Club made similar observations.
Photo: My Italian sausage Combination Breakfast, with the order of biscuits and gravy on the side. Now the question: Does Country Gables Café really serve the best breakfast in Roseville? Although Country Gables serves an outstanding breakfast at an attractive price, with attention to detail, offering superior taste, service and presentation, I can't nominate any restaurant for the title of "best," as I haven't sampled breakfast at every restaurant in Roseville, and if you've read on this web site some of our past breakfast adventures, you'll probably note that we'd be hard-pressed to give any restaurant the title of "best." So before I can really answer that question, I guess we'll have to dine at every restaurant in town, which could take a while. So don't hold your breath. Country Gables Café is highly recommended by members of The Sacramento Breakfast Club. Country Gables Café Update May 19, 2009: Around 09:00, Monday evening, May 18, 2009, a devastating fire broke out in Country Gables Café and the adjacent N.Y. Pizza restaurant. The blaze quickly went to four alarms, and it took crews from eight engines and two ladder trucks to bring the blaze under control by early Tuesday morning.
Photo: Tuesday morning, May 19, 2009, looking at the burnt-out facade of Country Gables Café from the sidewalk along Washington Street. The devastation is complete.
Photo: The entrance to the restaurant from the patio is to the right of the photo, and the burned-out patio is to the left. Note that the roof has totally collapsed. While inside the burning building, the fire crews noticed an unusual amount of flames coming from the roof, which can be a precursor of a roof collapse, which caused the crews to evacuate the building, and fight the fire from the outside. Shortly after the crews evacuated, the roof collapsed.
Photo: Close-up of the burned-out dining room. The building was already surrounded by chain link fence, so it was difficult to get decent photos.
Photo: Looking at the main entrance to the restaurant from the parking lot. Compare this photo with the lead photo in this article to really appreciate the devastation. Sadly, the restaurant was a total loss. As of this writing, the origin of the fire has not been determined. Thankfully, there were no injuries. Country Gables Café will be missed, and it is the wish of the editor that they will rebuild as soon as possible. Copyright(c) 2009 eRench Productions, Inc. All rights reserved. We've been on the web since December 22, 2002.
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