Johnny Rebs’: A Breakfast Outing With Southern Style

* It’s Sunday, and there are so many crepes and omelets from which to choose. Here’s a sampler of Sunday Brunch destinations in Orange County, culled from recent stories. Other reviews can be accessed at https://www.calendarlive.com/go/ discover.

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I’ve never been a big fan of Southern-theme restaurants, with their misspelled menus and hee-haw decor. It seems an unfair slap at Dixie. But one thing you can say for them is that they know how to sling grits and grease. Johnny Rebs’ in Orange has one of the tastiest Southern-style breakfasts in Orange County. If you don’t mind a few peanut shells on the floor and some corny signs on the wall, this cheery spot fills the bill for a Sunday outing.

It’s not just the down-home theme that sets Johnny Rebs’ apart from other good breakfast spots. The country cooking here comes straight from Southern recipes, and everything is made from scratch. The huge menu includes excellent buttermilk biscuits, fried catfish and eggs, barbecue pork, chicken-fried steak, grits, country ham and smokehouse bacon. We are talking hearty breakfasts here.

Our small group ordered a large selection of side dishes, including tasty country potatoes (“Yankee spuds”) with onions, mushrooms, tomatoes and avocado (the latter surely a concession to California tastes); buttery grits; biscuits with smoky country gravy and a side of fried catfish. We also enjoyed huge platters of eggs with the barbecued pork, country-fried steak and ground-beef patty, although none of us cleaned our plates. The delicious country-fried chicken was voted best of the bunch. Johnny Rebs’ is a meat-lover’s place. Most of the omelets, biscuit sandwiches and egg dishes come with bacon, ham, sausage, beef or pork. But several plates can be prepared with vegetables and cheese instead.

Johnny Rebs’, 2940 E. Chapman Ave., Orange. (714) 633-3369. Sunday breakfast served 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Prices average $6.

* A new Sunday Brunch review will run next Sunday in the Orange County Calendar.