Weekend tip: Brisket Benedicts at Dot Coffee Shop

I spent decades unmoved by the charms of the Dot Coffee Shop, the Pappas family's old-fashioned, 24-hour diner at Gulfgate, a couple miles down the road from me.

I only began to see the light—and to appreciate the gestalt of the very midcentury decor—when I superintended a top Houston breakfast roundup for the Chronicle last summer.

What I failed to note then, and what I feel compelled to trumpet now, is that the Dot's weekend brunch menu features a brisket eggs Benedict that is very fine, Houston-specific stuff.

They get the slices of smoky, charry-edged brisket from their nextdoor Pappas Bar-B-Q, from which I have purchased many a drive-thru beef sandwich. They pile it on a substantial buttermilk biscuit that has been griddle-toasted to a crisp sear. They add a pair of trembly, nicely poached eggs and drape a surprisingly graceful Hollandaise sauce on top. The only problem? The eggs are brushed with the sauce instead of smothered with it.

I longed for extra Hollandaise with which to mop up my side of hash browns (be sure to order them "extra crispy.") You'll need a big glass of fresh-squeezed orange juice to go along.

The brisket Benedict will set you back $14.95. I just wish I could order it any day of the week— instead of from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays only.

My dream would be to eat these eggs at 2 a.m. on a night when sleep wouldn't come, which happens more often than I'd like these days.