Food Friday Atlanta Edition: Gato Bizco

Last weekend Steve and I took a trip to see my favorite band The Dismemberment Plan play a show in Atlanta. We had a great time at the show and the next morning went looking for a good brunch place. The first place we tried had a 45 minute wait, and with our time frame to get home, just didn't work. A quick Internet search led us to the Gato Bizco Cafe, which was obviously fate for this cat-loving gal.

This place is tiny! There's only a handful of booths and some bar seating. When we arrived I put my name on the list and I was told 15 minutes, which was doable for us. We weren't waiting outside in the sunshine more than five minutes before they seated us at a booth. Under-promise and over-deliver is a surefire way to get people to love you.

The theme of this place is cats. (Gato Bizco means the cross-eyed cat in Spanish, in case you're wondering). There are cat trinkets and photos of cats everywhere- but not so much that it looks like a hoarder house. As a proud cat mama I wanted to throw up pictures of my babies on their walls!

Even the menu had cats on it! The food choices were rather limited, but solid. Our waiter was attentive and friendly. The service was on the slow side- which tends to be the norm anywhere during the crowded Sunday brunch rush. Gato is probably run by 20-something hipsters, which just added to my enjoyment. The place is an Internet meme waiting to happen.

Other reviews online raved about the sweet potato pancakes so Steve and I both ordered one pancake each to try. OH MY GOD- these were the best sweet potato pancakes I've ever had. They were light and fluffy and really did taste like sweet potatoes. This is a must-order if you're ever here- you won't be disappointed. The side of bacon was overcooked and very crispy. I'm the weird girl that likes her bacon to be fatty and floppy, not crisp in the slightest. I would say skip the bacon and get another pancake.

I ordered the huevos rancheros, which consisted of fluffy eggs and cheese inside corn tortillas with red and green salsa, black beans and a dollop of sour cream. I really liked the presentation of the dish. It was really good- but it was a lot of food. Inside the tortillas the egg ratio was slightly off- less eggs would have blended everything together nicely. Also, more sour cream please.

Steve's dish was the clear winner: an omelet inside a tortilla done up like a quesadilla. For this dish you get your choice of any of their omelets done quesadilla-style. I'm going to steal this great idea at home! Steve chose the Felix- ham, cheese, tomato, onion and fresh basil. It also came with both red and green salsa and a large amount of sour cream (some of which I stole). The grilled tortilla was so good and perfectly crispy; it really made this dish stand out. I love the idea of an omelet that you can pick up and eat like a sandwich!

I really liked this joint and highly recommend it. If I lived in Atlanta I would be eating sweet potato pancakes every weekend!