Pay attention to the light fixtures, the mosaic tile floor, the bundles of carved corn stalks flanking the fireplace, the sheaves of wheat supporting a serving console—these details are all part of the historic setting that gives the Guenther House restaurant much of its charm. The 1860 house, once the home of the founders of the adjacent Pioneer Flour Mills, also now contains a gift shop and a period museum; together they constitute the destination designation the restaurant wouldn’t rate in a stand-alone setting.

Honest is perhaps the best term for the food—but honesty is not to be shunned. Breakfast, served all day, is the best bet (on weekends, be sure to get there soon after 8 a.m.), and it offers up simple pleasures such as very large and very fluffy biscuits drenched in hearty sausage gravy. Modesty suggests having them with a fruit plate, but honesty (again) would have one admit that an order of chunky fried potatoes is what you really want. Waffles, pancakes, and all the other indulgences that put McMuffins to shame are also available, along with specialty egg dishes such as the ubiquitous Benedict. The Guatemalan estate-grown coffee isn’t bad for a simple cuppa Joe—and the only decision you need to make is flavored or not. Not, of course.

Mixes for gravies, biscuits, waffles, and the like are unabashedly all available in the upstairs gift shop—along with Alamo pancake molds and waffle irons in the shape of Texas. Yup.