Toni's has had work done. In the weeks you spent driving past its empty parking lot, afraid the closure of the one spot in Arcata that was always open might be forever, the truck stop swapped out its humble decor for glass, stainless steel and enough barn wood to make an actual barn.

On a pre-Thanksgiving visit to Toni's 24-hour Restaurant (1901 Heindon Road), there was a bit of a pile-up at the counter, where customers in line to order and pick up heavy pans of berry cobbler backed up into folks coming in the door. Credit cards are now accepted so if cash on hand was the only thing that was holding you back from the comically long list of shake flavors, beware.


But she's still the same old girl on the inside, serving heaping plates of legit truck stop/carhop classics. That means those three little words that make one's heart flutter: breakfast all day. The linguiça cheese omelet ($10.49) is a thin blanket of egg draped over fried, spool-sized hunks of the smoky, red Portuguese sausage. The hash browns on the side are pressed flat and crispier than you can ever achieve at home so let go of that goal and enjoy.

The chicken fried steak ($11.99) is homemade, the beef pounded with a tenderizer just shy of turning to sausage, coated and fried to a salty, peppery crust and doused in creamy, lumpy sausage gravy. Not a bad idea to order it with buttery, thin sheet of scrambled eggs cooked on the flat-top grill, those hash browns and a cut biscuit that's more cakey than flaky, like a savory scone.

There on the top shelf of the fancy new dessert case are the cupcakes ($2.38). Smaller and prettier than the big plastic-wrapped ones that first hooked us, they remain just as tasty. Fluffy chocolate and vanilla buttercreams top classic devil's food and give good nostalgia. The cookies and cream one — both in cake and frosting — hits that Oreo craving but is strictly for the sweetest of teeth.