Winner: Blue Plate Cafe

The décor is simple at Blue Plate Cafe’s Poplar location — the “mother ship,” as owner Mike Richmond calls it; blue and white plates on sunny yellow walls. The food is simple, too — large platters of eggs cooked to order, crispy bacon, creamy grits and to-die-for hash browns. “Everybody can serve bacon and eggs; it’s just a matter of how you do it,” says Richmond, who points to a friendly staff and good value for the money as keys to the success of his three-restaurant home-cooking kingdom.

Downtown: 113 Court Square, 523-2050. East Memphis, 5469 Poplar, 761-9696. Bartlett: 2921 Kirby Whitten, 213-1066. Open Monday — Saturday 6 a.m. — 8 p.m.; Sunday 8 a.m. — 3 p.m.

Finalists: Brother Juniper’s, Perkins