24th Street Cafe

Bakersfield · Café · $$

A restaurant has stood on this corner of 24th Street since the 1950s, and Mark Huggs took it over in 1987 without redoing much: the counter is still aqua, the booths still vinyl, the pies still in the case by the register. Breakfast is the reason, specifically a chicken fried steak with pepper worked into the batter and biscuits cut square rather than round. Ask about the Cajun seafood omelette and the servers will push it, and they are right to.