The Root is the first place I wrote about after arriving in Little Rock more than three years ago, and it’s nice to know the eclectic café on the outskirts of downtown is still as good today as it was back then. It is, in fact, our best breakfast option in town … at least in my eyes.

The Root’s dominance of the often overlooked breakfast service continues to grow, even with a dining room the size of a small apartment, as well as long lines, a tiny kitchen, and limited menu items. To some degree, we even cherish these characteristics of The Root. The restaurant’s charming atmosphere is as “Little Rock” as you will find, and so too is the food, which is predominately locally sourced.

Quick … come up with another restaurant in Little Rock that is truly farm-to-table.

I bet you can’t.

This isn’t a knock on other places, nor am I getting on a soapbox about eating local. Delivering a true farm-to-table experience to consumers is costly, time consuming, and flat out difficult for a restaurant to pull off. I imagine The Root’s small menu helps with matters. Speaking of …the standout breakfast items include the biscuits and gravy, pancakes, vegetarian sausage patties, the ham, egg, and cheese biscuit with muscadine jelly, and eggs banh mi. Hey, ever had the tofu scrambler? Give it a try. How about a muffin with coffee?

With cooler temps finally arriving, it’s also an ideal time to partake in the café’s outdoor seating area. Trust me, it doesn’t get much better than having a cup of coffee with a fluffy pancake while taking in this wonderful fall weather,

If you’ve yet to eat at The Root, correct that error … because it’s still the best breakfast in town. And the lunch ain’t too bad either.