Breakfast & Grill Cafe aims to be many things to many diners

The chicken pho at Breakfast & Grill Cafe costs $6.99. BRIAN SANDFORD/VIEW

Bean sprouts, basil and sliced lime are typical toppings for pho; unfortunately, the bean sprouts were a bit slimy. BRIAN SANDFORD/VIEW

The chicken fajita omelet costs $6.99. It was ready in about eight minutes.

A sign on the wall at Breakfast & Grill Cafe states that the restaurant’s seating capacity is 60.

It fell 59 diners short of that during two recent dining-review visits — one in the afternoon, the other shortly after it opened at 7 a.m.

To be fair, the latter visit occurred on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the day before spring-semester classes began across the street at UNLV. And there are benefits to being the only diner in a restaurant; there’s no competition for the wait staff’s attention, for example.

If Breakfast & Grill Cafe has a specialty, it’s surely the meal mentioned in its moniker. But if offers an unusual array of other dishes, including an organic veggie burger ($3.99), a yakisoba noodle bowl ($6.99), egg rolls ($3.99), chicken and waffle ($6.99) and the Vietnamese soup staple pho ($6.99 for chicken, $8.99 for spicy seafood).

The pho, unfortunately, is not a highlight. The broth wasn’t the clear, clean stock one would expect; it had the cloudy consistency of American chicken-noodle soup. Worse, the bean sprouts served as a soup topping were a bit slimy — no small problem, considering sprouts are supposed to give the dish its crispy freshness.

Breakfast was better, as the chicken fajita omelet was filling and took less than 10 minutes to reach the table. A side order of pinto beans ($1.50) would have augmented the Mexican-style dish, but the waitress returned after a few minutes to state that the restaurant was out of pinto beans.

The cafe’s decor, like its menu, seems to be aimed at being many things to many people. One side is decorated with huge photos of hamburgers and other fast-food items, while the other is painted with outlined images of downtown Las Vegas and … the Taj Mahal. The Taj Mahal? Well, the cafe does serve a yellow curry bowl ($6.99).

The cafe has Wi-Fi and, of course, bathrooms. Both require passcodes, a minor inconvenience.

Breakfast & Grill Cafe advertises its inexpensive meal options, with breakfast starting at $3.99 (for meat, two eggs and toast, or a bagel sandwich). It’s a reminder of the axiom “you get what you pay for,” and having a budget-dining option no doubt is helpful to many a student. And while the cafe doesn’t stack up well against neighboring restaurants that serve Vietnamese food, it has a niche as one of the breakfast options in the area available at 7 a.m.