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PETE TITTL: Pismo-bound? Take time out for Spur

BY PETE TITTL, Contributing columniste-mail:
ptittl@bakersfield.com | Friday, Jul 16 2010 11:16 AM

Last Updated Friday, Jul 16 2010 11:16 AM

It's about that time of year when the roads between Bakersfield and Pismo -- specifically highways 99 and 46 -- get pretty thick with those escaping the triple-digit warmth. You might consider getting up a tad earlier on Friday morning and getting breakfast at the Idle Spur Cafe, at the intersection of 99 and 46 in McFarland.

The Idle Spur is a homey coffee shop that serves breakfast and lunch from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., with Basque dinners strictly on Friday nights at this point. We visited for both and I have to say the breakfast option is far better than your typical fast food on the run.

It's not easy to get there after you exit Highway 99, though there are helpful signs. Headed north, you exit, drive over the overpass, then turn left as if you were getting back on 99 going south. Turn right on the dirt road into the cattle auction ring and you'll see the place straight ahead. This is a small joint with all sorts of brands on the wall (burned into wood discs), dated décor and the kind of relaxed ambience where regulars feel OK getting their own coffee refills from behind the counter. (One warning: the place is so small it can get a little loud in there, as it did during dinner.)

Our breakfast visit was impressive: not gourmet food but decent American fare. My companion got a breakfast burrito ($7.25) while I selected one of the two omelets on the menu, the chili cheese ($9.95). Everything at breakfast was great, so it's hard to know where to start. The chili, with beans and finely ground beef, was a great homemade treat, and the ultra-thin omelet skin had a lot of it folded in. Get toast or biscuits and gravy and load up on the starch. The cheese is on top only, but that's all right.

I can also recommend the cowboy potatoes, made with purple onions and green peppers. The chunks of potato were soft inside, crunchy on the outside. They've mastered that simple trait of good breakfast potatoes.

My companion's burrito had a little bit of everything: fried eggs, cheese, crispy hash browns, bacon, sausage. Just looking at it after cutting it open was impressive: Everything was layered so pretty, like it was stacked up. It was served with a medium salsa that added a lot to the plate.

Our Basque dinner was OK, but I'm not sure I wouldn't just stay in town and go to Wool Growers or Benji's. However if I had a craving for Basque food on a Friday night on the trip to Pismo, I'd stop in.

My companion ordered the rack of lamb ($28.95) while I tried the New York steak ($24.95), one of four steaks on the limited menu (garlic chicken, tri-tip, scalone, cod and shrimp scampi were the other choices). It included the setup of cabbage soup, beans, salsa, French bread (hot, nice sourdough), pickled tongue, Spanish rice, tossed salad with vinaigrette, French fries that were not fresh cut and canned beans cooked with bacon and onion. The steak came topped with garlic butter on request, which was a nice touch, but the quality of the beef was not exceptional, considering the locale. What made the rack of lamb the better choice was the meatiness of the rack and the fresh sautéed mushrooms on top.

I do need to mention that the lunch menu features Angus beef hamburgers, steaks and spicy pan-fried pork chops. This is a meat lover's place, that's for sure.