Bistro rises to the occasion
Phenix Bistro has arisen from a combination of two businesses — a cafe and a bistro — run by the husband-andwife team of Gary Mcconnell and Brittney Barnhart on Gay Street Downtown.
The bistro (which uses the French spelling of the resurrecting bird) serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, as well as coffee, tea, smoothies and house-made pastries. Breakfast is served all day, every day. The coffee menu includes brewed coffee and espresso drinks, while the tea menu spans more than 40 selections. Pastry options rotate daily.
The breakfast menu covers all the bases: waffles, pancakes and French toast for those who enjoy sweeter breakfasts; omelets, sandwiches and biscuits and gravy for those who What: Phenix Bistro
Where: 51 E. Gay St.
Contact: 614-372-5858, cafephenix.com
Hours: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekends
prefer savory. Although they’re on the lunch and dinner menu, the croque madame ($8.50) and croque le roi ($8.75) should qualify as breakfast, too.
The French toast ($5.95) is a good deal, with two thick slices of brioche halved diagonally. They’re fluffy, custardy and not very sweet. However, sweetness can be added through a choice of toppings such as maple syrup, whipped cream or berries.
The biscuits and gravy ($5.95) comes in a generous portion of two biscuits, fluffy but a little dense, that are sliced in half and covered in a peppered gravy that's undersalted but nothing a sprinkle of salt can't fix. The gravy should please any aficionado, even though the serving is unconventional: instead of the typical ground sausage mixed into the gravy, diners are served sausage links sliced into pieces.
Phenix Bistro is one of the few Columbus restaurants to serve an English breakfast ($8.95). The expected ingredients are there: two eggs cooked to order, bacon, sausage, baked beans, tomatoes, mushroom, onions and toast. Purists might nitpick the arrangement — pork belly instead of back bacon, no black pudding — but the dish is hearty and enjoyable, if a little underseasoned. Again, a sprinkle of salt helps.
The service is friendly and helpful in the family-run eatery.