Scout not ready for prime-time breakfast

One of the strenghs that my friend and former colleague Leslie Kelly displays as a restaurant critic is her thoroughness. Even when she got to be too well known in Spokane to critique restaurants anonymously, she still made at least three trips to each spot, gauging food quality, range of menu choices, ambience and level of service. You may disagree with Leslie’s ultimate findings, but you couldn’t argue her process for getting there.

So I’m not going to too critical of Scout, the new restaurant that sits in the spot formerly occupied by Far West Billiard s. A couple of friends and I have been, for years, having Saturday-morning breakfasts, and we’re always looking for someplace new. I’d read a review of Scout, and it seemed a perfect spot: easy-to-find location, old-style ambience what with the wood floors and traditional bar, and interesting menu (including chicken and waffles for breakfast).

So, OK, let’s just say that from what I saw this morning, Scout as a Saturday-morning breakfast spot is still showing growing pains. For one thing, nice as she was, our server was clearly over her head. And though there were only about four tables to work, even that seemed too much. We got our coffees, and the blend was at least drinkable, but no warm-up came until just before we were ready to leave. Our food came quickly enough, though we never could find ketchup for our home fries. And my friend Pat never did get the order of toast he’d ordered.

Oh, and the chicken? We were told no gravy for at least 40 minutes. So much for the intriguing part of the menu.

Things are bound to improve. And as my friend Leslie taught me, no one trip offers a full view of what a restaurant has to offer. So if I do return to Scout, I’ll be sure to make another note. If nothing else, the location is promising.