Bisbee Breakfast Club

The Bisbee Breakfast Club opened in the sleepy town of Lowell (a part of Bisbee, down by the border) in 2005 and it has since been successful enough to open four locations in Tucson and one in Mesa.

The everyday clientele at the original location reflect the curious population of a community that has gone from mining town to hippie enclave to artist colony and is now becoming coveted sunbelt real estate. The Tucson BBCs have a more typical urban vibe.

The price is right: entrees are under $10; and for half that, you can enjoy one of the heartiest breakfasts ever: two jumbo oven-warm biscuits split and topped with sausage cream gravy seasoned with crushed chiles, black pepper, Tabasco sauce and sage. Gooey sticky buns, made weekends only, have earned legendary status.

The everyday menu includes broad, free-form wally cakes (pancakes with walnuts) and a juicy chicken-fried steak topped with the same peppery gravy used on biscuits.

It is not uncommon to follow breakfast with a lofty wedge of pie. Of the several we have sampled, the best is lemon cheese, a citrus-perfumed cross between lemon meringue pie and cheesecake, stacked upon a soft-as-cookie crust.

The new locations lack the eccentric charm of the original, and the food itself has lost a certain luster, seemingly prepared in a more formulaic way without the panache found in Bisbee. But even if the copies not as good, they do offer agreeable big portions of well-prepared coffee shop food. For locations, visit the BBC website.