Bob's is a classic hole-in-the-wall, diamond in the rough, plate lunch haven. Located on Cooper in an orange brick building, Bob's is only open for breakfast and lunch but serves both from opening till close at 2pm.
Like a Waffle House menu, Bob's menu has two sides, one for breakfast and the other for lunch. On the breakfast side of the menu, classic breakfast items can be found including egg combination selections including steak and eggs, "hotcakes," reasonably priced omelets, and biscuit and white gravy plates for customers who have the palette for the traditional country dish.
My favorite breakfast meal at Bob's is a simple plate of two fried eggs over medium with homemade hash browns, white toast with jelly, and a side of bacon. What I had and loved to do with this dish is to take Bob's delicious homemade maple syrup and drizzle it over the whole entire plate. I highly recommend eating hash browns drizzled with syrup rather being doused with ketchup. Even as odd as it sounds to some, the sweet maple syrup so magically compliments the crispy, salty hash potatoes to perfection. I can't even eat hash brown without smothering them in syrup. I don't only anoint the hash browns with syrup, but also the eggs, toast, and bacon. As good as the the maple syrup tastes on salty bacon, its extra sweetness soaks into jelly smeared white toast that is then dipped into the egg yoke that floods the plate and is mixed with more syrup. This delicious homemade syrup truly ties this breakfast plate together. So give the syrup a try before snatching that ketchup bottle and giving your hash browns a tomato blood bath.
Now, what I really like about Bob's is its daily plate lunch specials. The lunch plate at Bob's come with one meat, three sides, and cornbread or rolls for under $7. Two different plate lunches and a country fried steak plate lunch is offered on the menu every day. Plate lunches at Bob's include meats such as fried chicken, fried fish, fried liver, beef tips in red gravy and noddles, baked chicken, and the stuffed bell pepper. Sides include delicious homemade coleslaw, new potatoes, mashed potatoes, corn, carrots, northern beans, baked macaroni, cinnamon apples, and apple sauce.
My utmost favorite plate lunch at Bob's is unquestionably the stuffed bell pepper that is served mainly on Wednesdays. Sometimes stuffed neatly, but mostly a delicious mess, the stuffed green bell pepper is stuffed with ground beef, onions, rice, and topped with red gravy. Though I thoroughly enjoy a Rocky and Carlos and a Di Christiana's stuffed bell pepper, I'd have to say that Bob's is my favorite. It may be because the pepper is sometime almost chopped up with the meat or that it's served with rice, but every time I ordered it, I never wanted to finish eating it. I wish that meal could last forever.
I can't publish this blog without mentioning my sister's favorite part about Bob's. The bread served with the plate lunches are a choice of homemade cornbread or homemade rolls. My sister is crazy about those rolls and I can't blame her. These rolls baked are in a cornbread pan and are slightly sweet but just barely enough so the fresh flavor and dense texture of homemade bread are complemented and just heavenly. A good slathering of butter on a Bob's roll just makes it complete.
As I mentioned, Bob's Barksdale truly is a diamond in the rough. When I say rough, I mean the booth seats are mended with duct tape, going to the bathroom is an adventure down a narrow hall, and the walls are covered with sports memorabilia, pictures of staff, family, and friends, and random art. If you live in Memphis or are just visiting, check out Bob's during the morning or around noon for a true home cooked southern meal.
The stuffed bell pepper with apple sauce, carrots, and new potatoes.
My friend, Jonathan, with the steak and eggs.
The fried chicken plate with mashed potatoes, baked macaroni, cinnamon apples, and rolls.
Beef tips in red gravy on noddles with coleslaw, broccoli, and new potatoes accompanied with a basket of homemade rolls.
The stuffed bell pepper with mashed potatoes, rolls, and northern beans, which tasted similar to white beans and rice. Third side item is not pictured, but was probably either coleslaw or apple sauce.
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