The 14 Best Brunch Spots in New York City
On its surface, brunch is a perfect concept: all your favorite breakfast foods—bacon! eggs! pancakes!—that are too elaborate for a weekday morning, prepared just in time for you to finally roll out of bed. So how does something with such great potential seem to fall short so often? Maybe it's the gaggle of NYU students at the next table who are three Bloody Marys deep before noon. Maybe it's the homogenous menus, the jacked-up prices, or the expectation that you'll be willing to wait two hours for a half-decent eggs Benedict. But there are still some places out there where the dream of brunch is alive and well, and we've found them. Here are 14 options, hand-picked by Bon Appétit staff, worth getting out of bed for.
Photo by Andrew Knowlton1/14Prime Meats, Carroll Gardens
As a general rule, I don’t brunch (I won’t bore you with all the reasons why). But when I do, I do it at Prime Meats in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn. Why? Because my Bloody Mary comes packed with fresh horseradish and Aquavit. Because I can go simple (sausage, egg, and cheese sandwich) or all-out (dry-aged Cote de Boeuf for two). Because my two daughters can have another housemade pretzel with their house-smoked hot dogs while their old man pairs an early afternoon Old Fashioned with the New York Times. Because it’s not really brunch; it’s just a long, lazy, boozy weekend lunch at my favorite neighborhood restaurant on the planet. —Andrew Knowlton, deputy editor
Photo by Elliot Black2/14James, Prospect Heights
I've never been a brunch person, but James awakens some sort of breakfast-hungry monster that's clearly been hiding in my stomach. I put all of my bets in on the Concord Grapes Shrub—a fizzy tonic perfect for giving a tart kick to your morning… or late afternoon, if you’re anything like me. The menu is seasonal, and I’ve never witnessed a brunch partner complaining about not being able to find something delicious. My ideal morning at James can be summed up in three words: Lemon Ricotta Pancakes. —Erika Owen, associate director of audience development
Photo courtesy of High Street on Hudson3/14High Street on Hudson, West Village
I used to make weekend trips to Philly just to get the world’s greatest breakfast sandwich (that would be High Street on Market's fried bologna “Hickory Town”), so you can imagine my excitement when chef Eli Kulp opened a spinoff of the popular bakery-slash-restaurant right here in my hometown. Now what I save in Amtrak costs, I can spend on sandwiches like The Bodega or the Pastrami & Hash. On a sunny day, there's no better place to post up than High Street's casual, light-filled dining room. —Julia Black, associate web editor
Photo by Gentl & Hyers4/14Altro Paradiso, SoHo
I want to go to a brunch place that feels like lunch. That’s what I like about Altro Paradiso: It’s brunch for adults and not hungover 20-somethings. It’s a great mix of sweet and savory items, from eggy to Italian. The Chicken Milanese sandwich is phenomenal and the Pasqualina—a greens, ricotta, and egg pie—is mind-blowing. The sticky bun with hazelnut and chocolate is the best sticky bun in the city—maybe even the best baked good in New York. It’s as delicious and indulgent as you want brunch to be, but in a chic, sophisticated setting. —Adam Rapoport, editor in chief
Photo by Mel Barlow5/14Diner, Williamsburg
Diner is a restaurant that doesn’t treat brunch any differently. Too often, restaurants turn into totally different places during brunch, but here the mid-day menu feels very much derived from the ethos of the dinner menu. Things are still plated really thoughtfully and packed with really interesting ingredients. There’s always a scone and there’s always a burger. We always share. They write the menu directly on the table on paper, which is really nice. They’ve been doing that since the night they opened on New Year's Eve in 1999, when they didn’t have a printer. —Matt Duckor, executive producer
Photo by Alex Lau6/14Atla, NoHo
If AIM still existed (RIP) my screen name would be SaVoRyBrUnChLuVr1991. Eggs over waffles all day. And no place does savory brunch better than Atla. God bless a place that has mussels and chicken soup on their official brunch menu—not even listed under a separate lunch section! The flax seed chilaquiles and Arctic char tostada are particularly wonderful. There might be a short wait when you get there, but this is one of the few New York restaurants that is worth it. —Rachel Karten, social media manager
Photo by Julia Black7/14Peter Pan Donuts, Greenpoint
One of the selling points of my sixth-floor walk-up apartment is that it's within walking distance of Peter Pan. This old-school donut shop is authentically itself in an oversaturated market of Instagrammable brunch spreads that seem to be taking over its corner of Brooklyn. The move here is to get the Bacon, Egg & Cheese on an everything bagel for now, and a maple donut for… later. Best eaten in McCarren Park, with a friend, a coffee, and a pair of sunglasses. —Emily Schultz, associate social media manager
Photo by Emily Eisen8/14Okonomi, Williamsburg
This is not your eggs Benedict and mimosa brunch spot—let's just make that clear off the bat. This is a quiet, serene enclave in, of all places, Williamsburg that serves one flawless set menu: a light and precise Japanese breakfast of miso soup, cooked fish, rice, pickled vegetables, and a fluffy omelet cube. You will have two important decisions to make: What preparation of local fish you prefer (your call), and whether you want to add uni and a soft-cooked egg to your rice (yes and yes). There are only two tables plus a few counter seats, so unless you're the first to arrive, be prepared to wait. Patience, like everything at Okonomi, is a virtue. —Julia Kramer, senior projects editor
Photo by Noah Fecks9/14The Bonnie, Astoria
I like to have a leisurely catch-up brunch with friends at The Bonnie, where we often end up sharing plates of their brunch appetizers: French toast sticks, loaded poutine-ish tater tots with chipotle aioli and bacon, and breakfast sausage pigs in a blanket. Tuck yourself into a corner booth in the side room surrounded by Victorian-era portraits and exposed brick walls to up the cozy vibe. Don't forget to try one of the inventive cocktail combinations, like amaro and brown butter bourbon or pamplemousse liqueur and ancho chile. Both the drink and food menus change so frequently that you can get away with never having the same thing twice. Oh, and Chef Nick Testa won Chopped, so get there before people start lining up. —Alyse Whitney, associate web editor
Photo courtesy of Earl's Beer and Cheese10/14Earl’s Beer and Cheese, Upper East Side
Head to 97th and Park Avenue to crush some tropical Other Half IPAs and devour the most ridiculous breakfast sandwich in the city. It’s called the TBD: a fried egg, New York state cheddar, Canadian bacon, and Vermont maple syrup, all squished between French toast brioche buns. I’d also strongly recommend crushing a few more rounds of beer, taking some photos in front of the woodsy-wall paper, exploring the bathrooms (one is plastered with pages from old bowling magazines), and hanging around for lunch. The Earl’s Taco is essential: braised pork shoulder, queso fresco, shaved cabbage and radishes, all wrapped in a giant scallion pancake. It’s obscene. Eat that, then go take a nap. —Alex Delany, assistant web editor
Courtesy of Colina Cuervo11/14Colina Cuervo, Crown Heights
I love this place so much I almost don't want to tell you about it. Everything there is great, but I have a hard time not ordering the ensalada de la casa. It's way better than the name describes: piles of quinoa, avocado, roasted vegetables, and tangy dressed greens—and I always take the option to add housemade chorizo, because isn't that what every salad secretly needs? —Amanda Shapiro, Healthyish editor
Photo by Mike Berlin12/14Jing Fong, Chinatown
Dim sum is my absolute favorite way to eat on a Sunday afternoon. The spare ribs, the steamed pork buns, the shrimp noodle rolls, the siu mai, the Chinese broccoli—I love it all. I’ve been to a lot of spots in NYC over the years, but Jing Fong on Elizabeth Street holds a top spot. The banquet hall-style dining room is the size of a square city block so you have to be assertive about flagging down carts, but that’s all part of the fun. —Claire Saffitz, senior food editor
Photo by Jonathan Bumble13/14Barney Greengrass, Upper West Side
There is one (and, as far as I'm concerned, only one) destination restaurant in my new neighborhood of the Upper West Side, and that is Barney Greengrass. This is classic Jewish deli to a T, from the brusque servers to the crowded tables to the decades of newspaper on the walls. Yes, there are bagels and eggs and all that, but what you're here for is the smoked fish: delicate sturgeon and house-cured gravlax and meaty whitefish. An order of just-this-side-of-greasy latkes for the table and a few black-and-white cookies to go, and you're set. The place gets crowded on weekends, but the tables turn quickly. —Julia Kramer, senior projects editor
Photo by Christopher Testani14/14Roberta’s, Bushwick
Pizza for breakfast is always a pro move, even if it's just last night’s slice toasted in a covered pan with a fried egg and chili oil on top. Splitting a pie at the now empiric Roberta’s, with its neighboring bakery’s sticky buns and dreams of hosting your own food-themed show on the radio network that broadcasts out of two shipping containers adjacent to the dining room is the pro-est move. —Tommy Werner, assistant video producer
