I adore french toast, a holdover from childhood, and the three hefty slices at Buns on the Run were made exactly the way they ought to be made, slightly crusty and toasty on the outside, almost custardy within. Buns on the Run, two years old this month, was founded by Cooper-Young residents and old friends Sharron Johnson and Pam Hardin, who have known each other since their children were in kindergarten. They opened the restaurant in a duplex bungalow on Elzey as a carry-out bakery and then expanded to breakfast and lunch in March 1998. The operation is strictly hands-on, with everything from soup to dessert made from scratch in the kitchen. Breakfast also includes eggs any style, pancakes, crepes stuffed with cream cheese and topped with either lingonberry butter or blueberry compote, quiche and various side items.
Lunch offers meat specials with a selection of vegetables, daily soups, salads and sandwiches.
Both soups I tried were excellent. Chicken and dumplings are exemplary. If you're irritated by versions that give you huge, doughy, tasteless dumplings and scarcely any chicken to write home about, rest assured that the Buns on the Run rendition brings a large bowl filled to the rim with almost equal parts tasty dumplings and tender chicken in a flavorful broth. Vegetables were more problematic. And three-bean salad seemed a bit tired.