This new Surf City restaurant started by Pete Truxaw, co-founder of Salt Creek Grille of Dana Point, and his partner Ryan Tombrello has been hammered by food critics, amateur and professional. But there's no denying the Southern-comfort-food-themed joint has at least one culinary winner going for it: the warm, homemade bacon biscuits served all day. Craggy on top like drop biscuits, they gently break apart in the middle like the doughy and delightful Pillsbury variety. Flecked throughout the dough like buried treasure are chunks of smoky bacon, proving yet again that everything is better with that section of hog rolled into your consumable vessel. Mama's On 39's biscuits can be dunked in an accompanying bowl of honey butter, smothered in white gravy or stuffed with other breakfast ingredients for a slider. But just tearing off unadorned slabs and throwing them in your mouth is enough to put a smile on the face of even the harshest critic. $$
