Des Moines' best breakfasts

A.K. O'Connor's He-Man

Eat it: $8.50, A.K. O’Connor’s, 4050 Urbandale Ave. (Breakfast/brunch served 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays only.)
Info: 277-2227

Order the gluttonous He-Man because:

• You know that chicken-fried steak done right is a thing of beauty, a countrified comfort food, and you know that chicken-fried steak done wrong is an affront to all that is good in the world, yet you’re willing to take that risk at each new restaurant in an attempt to achieve that bliss the former promises.

• You, much like the titular cartoon character sharing this meal’s name, hath no fear of thy enemies, in this case a well-armed battalion of cholesterol and saturated fat.

• You look at the crowded dish — a misshapen, thinly pounded cutlet of fork-tender but oh-so crispy breaded steak, suffocated by a thick, rich gravy with large chunks of sausage swimming inside, crammed next to a fist-sized pile of crispy potatoes, four half-slices of toast (marble rye, must choose the marble rye), and three eggs — and see a Herculean challenge to clean your plate, leaving not a corner of toast or pool of yolk behind.

• You enjoy a good nap.

— Tim Paluch