50 States, 50 Breakfasts

You won’t find Eggs Benedict at this restaurant in historic downtown Mobile, but you will find Eggs Mauvila, Café 615’s Southern take on the dish. In place of the English muffin: three fried, cheesy grit cakes topped with poached eggs, bacon, hollandaise sauce and handpicked lump crabmeat. Don’t balk at the price; considering all the crab you get, it’s practically a bargain. 615 Dauphin St.; cafe615mobile.com

The Eagley family prides itself on serving Paul Bunyan-worthy breakfasts at its three-story restaurant, and rightly so. The place serves 10 tons of reindeer sausage every year, much of it in orders of this omelet: a five-egger filled with the mild, peppery sausage and blanketed with cheddar cheese sauce. To get the respect of locals, you’ll have to clean your plate. Multiple locations; gwenniesrestaurant.com

A few years ago, chef Aaron May turned an old Phoenix Taco Bell into the first of two sunny breakfast spots and created a dish good enough to bear the restaurant’s name: The Over Easy. He tops toasted brioche with a fried egg, sautéed spinach and scallions, then drizzles it with a smoky gravy that soaks into the bread. It’s great just like that, but he scatters bacon all over the plate for good measure. multiple locations; eatatovereasy.com

This family-owned restaurant started serving breakfast — and only breakfast — in 1940, and The Pancake Shop’s namesake recipe hasn’t changed since. Regulars know to order the banana: Tiny bits of fruit are mixed into the batter, so there’s banana in every bite. The huge flapjacks are especially popular during horse-racing season, when jockeys and trainers stop in for a stack before heading to the nearby track. 216 Central Ave.; pancakeshop.com