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Original Perry's Coffee Shop is a family-style restaurant that caters to the taste of locals, and truck drivers, and has been a Sacramento landmark for many years. It's family-oriented restaurant, which features a wide menu selection, a folksy dining area, comfortable atmosphere, great food at reasonable prices, served by some of the most efficient and friendly staff that we've ever had the pleasure to encounter during our quest to enjoy the best breakfast cuisine that Sacramento has to offer.
Left: The exterior of Original Perry's is blurred, due to raindrops hitting the lens of my digital camera. Right: The kitchen is to extreme right of the photo, and the bar is near the center, as the attentive servers feed the many hungry diners. The owner of Original Perry's, Mr. Perry, grew up in Mason, Iowa, and moved out to California, and started Original Perry's in Sacramento, and has been going strong ever since. Since he came from the Midwest, Original Perry's menu has a strong Midwestern influence, particularly in the Iowa Style Pork Loin breakfast that four of today's diners were to enjoy. More on that later. Original Perry's Coffee Shop has received rave reviews from truckers and local diners, and has been featured in Sacramento Magazine a few times. It's a favorite of the locals, and is usually jam-packed, especially on weekends. On Saturday, April 14, 2007, we had the pleasure to enjoy the company of the core members, plus returning member Gayle Martin, and new members George, Gayle's husband, and another friend and co-worker Jeff Brown. David, Dan and I all worked Saturday, so traffic is non-existent on a Saturday morning, we had decided to go to Original Perry's, as we'd heard about the Iowa Style Pork Loin breakfast, and we'd been talking about visiting Perry's to sample said fine cuisine for the past few weeks. So when we got off work Saturday morning, we all went home, got our spouses, and met for breakfast at Original Perry's.
Left: A peek past the breakfast bar into the kitchen, where you can see food lined up and ready to go. Right: You always know the correct time when you're enjoying the fine cuisine at Original Perry's Coffee Shop, especially, "Perry's Time," the clock to the left of the array. When you walk in the front door, you're greeted by a friendly gentleman, who welcome you with a smile, and who will seat you. Since there were eight of us today, we had to wait about five minutes to get two booths next to each other, as Perry's is a busy place at 0900 on a Saturday morning. As we were walking towards our table, I noted the counter, complete with stools, the large window to the kitchen behind it, the plates of food ready to be delivered to hungry diners, the gleaming, stainless kitchen appliances and utensils, and the busy kitchen and serving staff. Above this beehive of activity, I couldn't help but to notice the four clock, with one clock for each U.S. time zone and labled as such, except the clock representing Pacific Time Zone was labeled "Original Perry's." The decor isn't elegant, but its clean and comfortable, and really makes you feel at home. We were seated at two booths, across the isle from each other, and were immediately presented menus and coffee cups, followed by delicious coffee from a bottomless coffee pot. Our waitress, Denise, is a 10-year veteran of Original Perry's, and she treated us like family, as she's a warm and friendly person, and an efficient waitress. I started chit-chatting with her, and learned that she had been featured as a cover girl, for an article published by Sacramento Magazine about Original Perry's, which is posted on the wall, near the front entrance.
Left: Our fantastic waitress Denise performs a gymnastic manoever to serve Bev her breakfast. Right: Jeff intently watches core breakfast club member David saturate his Iowa breakfast with salt and pepper. Ordering from Original Perry's extensive menu could be somewhat challenging, as the menu features a wide selection. In keeping with the restaurant's format, the menu seems to cater to locals, families and truckers, and includes an outstanding array of good ol' American classics, also known as "comfort food." However, since we'd been talking about the Iowa breakfast for so long, Dan, David, George and the author ordered the Iowa-Style Pork Loin breakfast, and Gayle, Jeff, Bev and Sharlene ordered lesser items from the menu. Even though Original Perry's Coffee Shop was jam-packed, our meals arrived in a very timely manner, and during the time before our meals arrived, our coffee cups never got below half-empty, due to the attentive, but not intrusive service of the restaurant staff. Naturally its fun being in a place like Perry's when you're surrounded by good friends and fine conversation. It took Denise four trips to deliver all of our meals, including side dishes such as plates of toast and biscuits and gravy. So just what is an Iowa-style Pork Loin breakfast? You receive two pieces of pork loin, with a total weight of around 8 or 10 ounces battered, and fried like a chicken-fried steak. The two pork loins are placed on top of the gravy! The meat is so tender that you really don't need a knife to cut it. Included on the plate are three eggs, cooked to order, (in my case, over easy,) a slab of hash brown potatoes, crispy and chewy, but not greasy, and a cup of applesauce. Next to the plate is a smaller plate, with a couple of crispy biscuits, and creamy pork gravy, containing chunks of pork. You get all of this for $8.95, and it tastes soooooo good, that it will bring tears to your eyes. If this is typical of Iowa breakfast cuisine, I should consider moving to Iowa.
Left: Gayle, at the left of the photo gestures, as her husband, George, across from her, concentrates on his Iowa-style breakfast. Right: The author, his wife Sharlene, Bev, and Dan, all core Breakfast Club members, pose for the camera, as friendly Denise takes the photo. Note that we've already been served our delicious breakfasts. Thanks Denise, for taking the photo of us. I can't describe how delicious the Iowa-style breakfast is, except to say we'll be back again, despite the 25-mile drive from our home located at the northeast corner of the greater Sacramento area. You simply must eat an Iowa Style Pork Loin breakfast at Original Perrys! The other members of our breakfast club raved about their meals, citing quantity, quality, attractive presentation, and fast, friendly, efficient service. All eight of us raved at every aspect of Original Perry's, as we all agreed that this is a wonderful place to eat. When you consider the quality of the food, the attractive presentation, and the efficient and very friendly service from our talented waitress, Denise, the bill of less than $80.00 for eight people, enjoying and hour and a half of good food, and fine companionship, is a small price to pay. We were so impressed with Denise that we left her a $20.00 tip, as her fine service, friendly conversation, not to put up with some of my wry banter, made the gratuity we left her worth every penny.
Photo: Here's a closeup photo of an Iowa-style breakfast. I've never been to Iowa, but now I know how to enjoy breakfast in the Hawkeye state. Trust me, this breakfast is filling and yummmmmmy! Since the primary mission of Original Perry's is a truck stop coffee shop, the restaurant is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and breakfast is served anytime. That's a huge plus, for members of the Sacramento Breakfast Club. We can't give a breakfast a higher rating than the Iowa-style breakfast we enjoyed at Original Perry's. We'll be back. Highly recommended by the Sacramento Breakfast Club. Original Perry's Coffee Shop
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