Mercury Dining Room & Rail

This heart-of-downtown gathering spot is part of the Blue Plate Restaurant Co., which knows its way around breakfast, since it operates a half-dozen popular restaurants across the Twin Cities. The varied menu covers all kinds of ground, veering from basics (enormous buttermilk pancakes, eggs-any-style with toast, a straight-up Benedict) to livelier fare that includes a Denver-style frittata, tender biscuits buried under pork sausage gravy, a rib-sticking meatloaf hash and a feisty a.m. tostada with chorizo, black beans, guacamole and scrambled eggs. Doors open at 7 a.m. weekdays and 8 a.m. weekends.