Monday, February 16, 2009

Gay List Daily’s brunch of the month: Jorge’s Tex-Mex Café

By Staff of Gay List Daily

After going all “Maximum Sobriety” on you with January’s Brunch of the Month pick, we’re proud (hmmm, maybe that’s not the right word) to be back off the wagon and in hot pursuit of a Sunday afternoon filled with foggy memories, spilled secrets and awkward apologies.

At Jorge’s Tex-Mex Café in One Arts Plaza, Sunday brunch is just what we need to get our groove back. And there are three reasons why it should be on your calendar this weekend, too.

1. Cheap, like your mother’s perfume. Their breakfast menu tops out at a budget-friendly $9. And for that low, low price, you get your entrée, beans, potatoes, bacon and tortillas.

2. Boozy Juice. Quantity never beats quality, but in the case of Jorge’s bottomless mimosas, the two are equal players. Featuring fresh-squeezed orange juice, the never-ending cocktail is not only delicious, it’s also a mere $6 with purchase of an entrée. We’ve spent that for a tiny glass of plain OJ at breakfast before, so this is like getting paid to imbibe.

3. Watery Mouths. Everything we tried was delicious, and we sampled nearly everything we could stuff in our faces.

But our hands-down favorite is the Tejano Benedict, which finds us waiting outside Jorge’s early every morning scratching at the doors to open like that crazy lady in the old Mervyn’s commercials.

And for anyone who fondly remembers the Firehouse on lower Greenville in one of its many previous lives, you’re likely still craving their fantastic Filet Mignon Eggs Benedict. For years we’ve searched and have never found a worthy replacement. Until Jorge’s.

Not only is the menu description of “traditional Eggs Benedict” completely inaccurate and misleading, but a downright shame because we think more people would sample this dish if they knew the truth. So we’re here to wave our big brunch flags and give it proper recognition.

In place of filet mignon, there is a hearty portion of fajita steak. After that, it’s by-the-recipe-book Eggs Benedict with toasted English Muffins, fluffy poached eggs and velvety hollandaise, but the combination of traditional with a Tex-Mex twist is in need of top billing on the menu, not a modest spot at the bottom of the list.

Jorge’s brunch crowd is poised to explode now that the weather’s getting nicer and its 80-seat patio beckons the sun-worshiping masses, but for now, it’s one of our favorite undiscovered downtown brunch gems.

Think of this knowledge as our belated Valentine’s gift to you. De Nada.

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