Blue Ribbon Cafe & Bakery in Emmett is not just a diner. Part of the magic of their food is the high quality baked goods they make from scratch. In fact, most of the items are made from scratch and created on-site, like Terry’s Buffalo Chili. Located near the center of Emmett, a nice destination for an afternoon drive, the Blue Ribbon Cafe & Bakery sources local ingredients wherever possible and is the kind of place you love to go back to for fresh flavors and delicious food. They are open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
My waitress was Angie, who told me about the Blue Ribbon Cafe & Bakery and how they loved local ingredients. For lunch and dinner, they have a large menu, with lots of burgers, sandwiches and salads, Sandwiches include a Philly Cheesesteak, Grilled Santa Fe Turkey and an array of fresh deli sandwiches. Entrees include chicken fried steak, smoked pork loin and broasted chicken dinners. Since Blue Ribbon Cafe is also a bakery, bread and rolls are baked on-site.
Coming in at lunch time, a burger sounded like just the thing to enjoy. Being a big fan of chili, it was hard to resist their version of a chili burger. They do theirs as an open-faced chili burger, often known as a “chili size”. What makes the chili burger really special is the chili. Terry’s Buffalo Chili is made at the cafe, with the hearty ground buffalo yielding a meaty, rich taste. The burger itself was nicely cooked to a medium, with some traces of pink as requested. Chopped onions and cheddar cheese provided a nice topping for the hearty burger.
Of course fries were available as a side, but I opted for an order of onion rings, which were crisp on the outside but with nice, soft tasty onion inside. My guest opted for the fries with her burger so we had a chance to enjoy them also. Her Mushroom Swiss Burger was also nicely done with plenty of fresh sauteed mushrooms topping it. The bun was very nice and held together well with the burger’s contents.The hearty steak fries were well seasoned and cooked just right.
The burger and onion rings were very filling, but temptation yielded a question about baked goods. Any place that calls itself a bakery is fair game for the question “Is your pie baked here?”. As it turned out, not only were the pies baked fresh in the morning, but Angie was actually the baker too, coming in early in the morning to do her baking. One of the choices she gave was a cherry pie. As it turned out, not only was the pie crust baked by her, but she made the filling from fresh, local cherries.
The pie was really delicious, served cold and without any ice cream to take away from the fresh taste of the cherries and the flaky crust. It is easy to see (as well as taste) that the Blue Ribbon Cafe & Bakery takes the “Bakery” part seriously. While many places bake their cherry pies with canned filling, the filling in this pie was on a whole different level. Angie explained the process in making the filling; and while time-consuming, it was certainly worth the time to make such a delicious pie.
The breakfast menu at the cafe features eggs done many ways. Frittatas, country breakfasts and omelettes are good choices for egg lovers. In addition, there are pancakes, French Toast plates, crepes and biscuits and gravy. Seeing that is great incentive for a breakfast visit since the biscuits have to be baked wonderfully. Of course, there is a Chicken Fried Steak Breakfast, served with a sausage gravy.
The Blue Ribbon Cafe & Bakery is located in Emmett, a nice destination for a day’s drive from Boise. Emmett is also known for its yearly “Show and Shine” Car Show, which finds hundreds of cars coming to the park for the day. Everything from a 1910 Dodge to a 1967 Corvette can be seen there. If you are a car fan, it is well worth the 45 minute to an hour drive to Emmett for the show and a nice meal or two at the Blue Ribbon Cafe & Bakery. It is not necessary to wait for the show however to just drive up to enjoy a fresh, delicious meal made with locally-sourced ingredients. The Blue Ribbon Cafe and Bakery does this extremely well and is worth the drive for a truly fine meal.
Blue Ribbon Cafe & Bakery
515 S. Washington Avenue
Emmett, ID 83617
Phone (208) 365-3290
Blue Ribbon Cafe & Bakery Facebook Page
