Big Ed’s City Market

One of the hallmarks of Roadfood’s Glee Club is its propensity for finding fabulous breakfast spots. Big Ed’s City Market was our Saturday morning choice when the group descended upon North Carolina’s capital city this winter. This is just good Southern cooking, and the line out the door confirmed the perceived quality of the food. With a limited number of excellent breakfast spots in the Triangle, Big Ed’s aims to please in a big way.

While many patrons were digging into the usual suspects—fluffy omelets, country ham & eggs, grits & red-eye gravy—we chose a few old-timey treats. We’ve long wanted to try brains & eggs, an entrée no longer common on Southern menus. To be fair, their salty, livery taste is an acquired one, as is fish roe & eggs. The ultra-briny roe adds a sense of the sea to anything it touches, but to our primitive palates, it will remain a delicacy on someone’s plate, thank you. These dishes were fun to sample, and now we can happily check them off our Roadfood bucket list.

Stick with the standards here: egg plates with familiar meats, amply portioned and hearty. The plate-sized hot cakes were divine, as was the peppery sawmill gravy and homemade buttery biscuits. We appreciated two types of sausage, patties and smoked links, and the latter were clearly superior, reminiscent of those delectable links from Wink’s in Salisbury. Even the optional pork tenderloin and fatback were welcomed respites from the norm. The serving staff is jubilant and hilarious, which makes every meal a memorable experience. Lunch sandwiches and meat-and-three plates are served only from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m., but breakfast is served anytime. Big Ed’s is open Monday through Friday, 7 a.m.- 2 p.m., Saturday 7 a.m.-noon, and closed Sunday.