Back to Basics: Classic Brent’s Menu Returns

Simple and good food. For Brent’s, it’s the winning formula they believe will lead to their long-term success.

That’s the word from the owners at the classic Fondren diner, who says they have listened to their customers and have brought back the restaurant’s classic menu.

“We’ve listened loud and clear,” says co-owner Amanda Wells, sitting in her favorite “front window counter” spot. “We’ve kept some new things that people loved, but we’re also bringing back things people missed. We want Brent’s to still be Brent’s.”

The first thing to return? Breakfast. Classic diner options like eggs any way, pancakes, grits, sausage, bacon and hashbrowns will be available Monday — Saturday, 6:30am — 10:30am (see the menu here).

“People have asked for the pimento cheese omelet, so that’s there,” Wells explains, pointing to a menu. “We are also doing a buttermilk biscuit with a crispy, fried chicken tender.”

Sunday brunch stays in the mix but is a step up. “It’s a little more, I hate to say ‘fancy,’ but different,” Wells says of the more ‘modern diner’ fare. “But you can still get a burger or patty melt.”

When a remodeled Brent’s reopened this past July, a more complex menu was time and labor intensive on the kitchen. The “new,” classic menu is in the wheelhouse of this decades-old diner and will allow for an easier in and out.

“We may have overcomplicated things,” co-owner Jonathan Shull laughs. “That adds time to a ticket. I was in here the other day at lunch and the average ticket time was eight minutes.”

Recent lunch menu additions like the lamb burger will stay and the “new” burger will, too, using freshly ground, local beef and made-in-house buns. Want a tuna melt, using the original recipe? It’s back, joining the egg and olive sandwich, made with local eggs. The club sandwich has returned and so has the Philly cheese steak – as a special – made with slow smoked brisket.

Locally roasted Bean Fruit Coffee and Sneed’s Farm honey add to the list of quality ingredients, along with house made ice cream and milk shakes (which will be served for to-go orders in, yes, larger cups.)

Come for dinner, where you’ll find the same menu as lunch, including popular soda fountain treats. There may be specials on weekends, but for now, classic is key.

Co-owner Nathan Wells says the past few months have been humbling. “We tried, but it was too much,” he reasons. “That’s the reality – people wanted Brent’s, so that’s what we’ll give them.”

Shull reiterates their number one goal, to make customers happy. “You have to figure out what works and what doesn’t. This is our neighborhood diner and that’s what it needs to be. That’s our focus.”

Brent’s is open Monday — Saturday 6:30am — 9pm (closed Monday nights) and Sunday, 10am – 3pm.