Travel Bites: Brunch at Ida Claire, Dallas, TX

Every July, my college classmates open up their home and host an Adult Swim party at their home in the Dallas area.  We travel to Dallas to participate in this adult only pool party from sun up to sun down one Saturday every July. I mean from 1 pm until the last person leaves or goes to sleep. lol One of my buddies Vern mentioned doing brunch the previous evening and to call him Saturday morning so we can get all of our nutrients in before this sun fest of libations and college fun at the pool party.  Well, duh, of course my partner in crime(not in real life crime) Deidra and I were up to brunch. We called Saturday morning, left a voice mail, “VERN–IT’S B..BRUNCH!” He immediately called back, said, “Let’s meet at Ida Claire‘s–meet you all at 10:30.” It was 9:50 am at this time.  Guess what, he made it on time and actually beat us there.

The Inside

From the main picture above you can see on a Saturday morning at 10:30 am Ida Claire’s is poppin. I love the natural light that shines in to make any brunch a happy one as well as the natural wood colored tables and the awesome plates.  The decor was just perfect to me. I just adore the “Guns and Roses” bathroom door theme.  I think it was my favorite part! If you stare hard enough in the far right side of the main picture, the guy in the blue shirt is our main man Vern.  Vern is our “Norm” from the TV sitcom Cheers,  so when Vern said he’d heard great things about the food, of course we were going to trust that we would enjoy it.

The Food

• Deidra ordered the Low Country Breakfast: Bone in ham steak, eggs, biscuits, and black pepper gravy, sweet potato has and seasonal fruit. Deidra opted out of the biscuits and added scrambled eggs.  I tried her ham cause I love a bone-in-ham–it was bomb–not grilled to death–juicy and easy to cut
• Vern went with the Waffle Benedict: Braised short rib, Hollandaise, over waffle squares, served with seasonal fruit. That braised short rib was amazing–flavorful, moist and tender.. on top of a waffle, even better.
• I couldn’t decide so I made my own plate a la cart: farm raised eggs, bacon, parmesan grits and a biscuit. The grits–I literally could have bathed in them–I needed to add nothing –which makes sense because parmesan cheese is so salty any way and I didn’t need pepper.  I let Vern try mine and they were so good, he ordered a side.  The biscuit was fluffy and buttery but was really set off by house jam that actually had peppery bits of apple instead which made it a melody of flavors in my mouth and made my tummy happy.

I am definitely planning to return to Ida Claire’s on my next visit because I have got to try the Sweet Potato Chip Duck Confit.  If you’re in Dallas this spot should be on your list of food destinations.  It is definitely the “B’s Knees!” (see I’m B..get it B’s knees like the phrase “It’s the Bee’s Knees” which means it’s great? Haha?! No?! Well whatever I thought it was funny!)

Ida Claire
5001 Belt Line Road
Dallas, TX  75254