Candi’s for Breakfast is a quirky place, partly because it’s located in the Irwin Street Market. The multiuse artist and food vendor complex at the edges of Inman Park and the Old Fourth Ward has been home to myriad starry-eyed and short-lived entrepreneurial enterprises, selling everything from fancy tea to flowers and gift baskets.
Candi land
The newest tenant is Candi Hawkins, who left a graphic design job to pursue her dream of owning a restaurant. Though her namesake breakfast business has been open only since January, Hawkins already has created a buzz with her buttermilk biscuits.
Except for Jake’s Ice Cream, Candi’s now occupies most of the Irwin Street building. That means that even on busy weekend mornings, there are usually plenty of empty tables scattered around the flea market maze of living room-like spaces. The sunroom area in front is particularly pleasant, with windows that look out on pink roses and star jasmine.
Biscuit bliss
Candi’s menu is based around biscuits, made with a simple blend of Crisco, lard, self-rising flour and buttermilk. They bake up big and firm but crumbly with a buttery shortcake flavor. Order them with some of Hawkins’ imaginative homemade jams, such as chocolate-cherry, mango-ginger or blueberry-pear.
But Candi’s signature dish is the stuffed biscuit ($6). It’s a concoction that resembles a calzone. But Hawkins based it on the kolache -- a filled pastry from Eastern Europe that’s popular in parts of Texas and Oklahoma. Hawkins seasons her biscuit dough with herbs and spices, rolls it out and enfolds it with a choice of meats, cheeses and vegetables. Of course, she makes sweet stuffed biscuits, too.
The made-to-order process can take 20 minutes or more, as servers are quick to point out. One morning, a stuffed biscuit with sausage, mushrooms, spinach and provolone cheese arrived after a 25-minute wait. It’s a mystery why it takes so long. But there’s no doubt about the result -- a hearty-savory delight that’s a little bit different.
For breakfast
The remainder of the menu covers all the breakfast basics, including omelets, French toast and combo platters, cooked and served in a down-home manner you'd expect at Grandma’s house.
Pancakes ($4) and waffles ($3.50) are variations on the biscuit recipe, mixed with a bit of sugar, vanilla and cinnamon. Southern Benedict ($6.50) tops biscuits with ham, fried eggs and hollandaise sauce. Like almost everything at Candi’s, the Mississippi Slam ($6.50) is a bargain, with a choice of pancakes or a waffle, two eggs any style, bacon, ham or sausage, and a drink.
At a glance
Candi's for Breakfast, 660 Irwin St., 678-614-7775
Signature dish: Stuffed biscuit
Entree prices: $3.50-$6.50
Hours: 7 a.m.-2 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays; 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturdays-Sundays
Credit cards: Yes
Online: www.facebook.com/candisforbreakfast
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