BRKFST in Scottsdale: Portuguese Sausage Breakfast Sliders and Hawaiian Sweet Bread French Toast

When a new spot opens in town, we can't wait to check it out — and let you know our initial impressions, share a few photos, and dish about some menu items. First Taste, as the name implies, is not a full-blown review, but instead a peek inside restaurants that have just opened, sampling a few items, and satisfying curiosities (yours and ours).

Restaurant: BRKFST
Location: 4363 N. 75th Street, Scottsdale
Open: About a month
Eats: Breakfast, lunch
Price: About $15/person

If you're under the age of about 30 and have lived in the Valley for a substantial amount of time, then chances are you'll remember American Junkie, the Scottsdale nightclub that slung overpriced drinks to well-dressed young people from 2008 until fall of last year. Well, now that space has been taken over by a restaurant — but not just any restaurant. American Junkie's former home has been taken over by a breakfast restaurant that's also a nightclub exactly three nights a week.

The name is about as intuitive as the combination of bottle service and eggs Benedict. It seems the owners wanted to be simple with the moniker, but also also edgy. That's why we imagine they took the concept, "breakfast," and removed all the vowels. Voila, BRKFST. 

On the menu you'll find basic breakfast staples such as scrambles and a fruit parfait, but BRKFST also several dishes with a decidedly Hawaiian/pan-Asian lean. There's Loco Moco, a classic breakfast dish in islands, as well as Korean Chicken and Waffles and a platter of Portuguese sausage and eggs. 

You could probably replicate the Breakfast Sliders ($10), which feature Portuguese sausage, eggs, and cheese, inside fluffy Hawaiian sweet rolls, at home. But that would require having a fridge stocked with both Portuguese sausage — these slightly spicy pork links are seriously delicious and quite popular for breakfast in Hawaii — and King's Hawaiian sweet rolls. As we do not currently have either of those things in our fridge, we were happy to be able to have them at a restaurant.

Unfortunately the accompanying side of lukewarm roasted potatoes, onions, and bel peppers left much to be desired. The mixture tasted like it'd been sitting in a bin in the kitchen for quite some time before being spooned onto our plate with little regard to temperature or taste. 

The Hawaiian French Toast ($6) was a good idea executed poorly. The thick slices of sweet bread weren't left in the eggs long enough, resulting in a dry French toast that was just crispy on the outside. The two slices of bacon served on the side might have been sitting around even longer than the roasted potatoes.

From the lunch menu we tested the Brkfst Chicken Sandwich ($13), which includes a panko-covered chicken breast, pickles, and Sriracha ranch. The chicken breast delivered on being both moist inside and crispy outside and the Sriracha ranch, though messy, was impossible not to like. Consider that it was also served on a King's Hawaiian sweet bread bun, and you'll understand how this was our favorite dish of the meal. The generous pile of fries was nothing to write home about and came sprinkled, for some reason, with green onions. 

We asked our (friendly and very competent) server if the restaurant really turns into a club at night — as opposed to just being a restaurant that also serves booze and stays open late. He assured us they do clear the tables out of the place after 9 p.m. on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday and do it up like a serious clubbing spot. 

He also told us the restaurant plans to continue tweaking the menu in the future; we hope they'll keep the Hawaiian-ish theme but get rid of those terrible potatoes. 
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