The 12 Best Brunch Spots In NYC
Nov. 12, 2015, 2:35 p.m.
Brunch is one of our nation's most divisive meals, but we're all going to have to eat it at one point or another.
Brunch is our nation's most divisive meal, but even if you don't relish spending a small lifetime on line while fellow diners choose the perfect Instagram filters for their Eggs Benedict, this midday weekend feast will still siphon $20+ from your wallet at some point in your city-dwelling life. With that in mind, we've compiled a list of the most promising brunch spots in the city, and some of them are almost affordable! Here are our favorites; always, leave yours in the comments.
GOOD ENOUGH TO EAT: For those who don't feel quite like dying by combat for a table at nearby Jacob's Pickles, adorable UWS brunch spot Good Enough to Eat has been serving exemplary pancakes and egg dishes for hungry neighborhood brunchgoers for more than three decades now. Highlights include the Lumber Jack, a towering feast comprised of two pancakes, two strips of bacon, and scrambled eggs; the Lumber Jill, a similar dish with eggs, sausage, strawberries, and silver dollar pancakes; and, well, any other pancake dish, frankly. Though you will have to wait for a table here (as the Rules of Brunch demand), waits are a bit shorter since Good Enough to Eat moved to bigger digs on Columbus in 2013, so there's a good chance you'll get fed before the sun sets.
Good Enough to Eat is located at 520 Columbus Avenue between 85th and 86th Streets on the Upper West Side (212-496-0163, goodenoughtoeat.com).
FORREST POINT: Forrest Point's a relative newcomer to Bushwick's burgeoning brunch scene, having debuted in the neighborhood just last year. And though nothing will quite replace killing a hangover with Tandem's kale salad and Bloody Marys in my formerly Bushwick-dwelling heart, brunch here is pretty, pretty good, especially if the weather's still solid enough to sit outside. Opt for the brunch prix fixe special, which runs $17 and comes with your choice of main, home fries, coffee and a breakfast cocktail—as for food, the fiery chilaquiles are particularly good, as is the pork, rice, beans, and egg-stuffed breakfast burrito, or the cast-iron cheeseburger if you prefer to start your day off with a fine hunk of ground beef.
Forrest Point is located at 970 Flushing Avenue in Bushwick, Brooklyn (718 366-2742, forrestpoint.com).
LODGE: Williamsburg is overserved by popular brunch spots, and though some eateries (Rye, St. Mazie, The Rabbithole) boast richer breakfast dishes, sometimes the simplest, most heavily Bloody Mary-ed brunch is best. First and foremost, Lodge offers a 2 for 1 deal on the aforementioned stellar Bloody Marys or mimosas, which isn't quite as lethal as an AYCD deal, but'll lubricate you enough to keep the Sunday blues from setting in. Plus there's, you know, food—non meat eaters can feast on tofu scrambles and stellar veggie burgers, while carnivores would do well to check out the poached egg-topped chorizo corncakes or shrimp and grits, which blessedly come with bacon. This sidewalk seating is mellow, and you can also eat at the bar under the antler chandelier if the wait is too long for a table (it usually isn't a long wait, and there's never a wait if you roll up before noon).
Lodge is located at 318 Grand Street between Havemeyer Street and Marcy Avenue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn (718-486-9400, lodgenyc.com).
BRUCIE: Known for its elegantly-crafted Italian comfort food, this cozy Cobble Hill trattoria serves a small selection of unique breakfast dishes every Saturday and Sunday from the hours of 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.. Brucie tinkers with brunch mainstays using standard Italian ingredients you might normally expect to find nestled in pasta, and recipes are subject to change. Their scrambled eggs are made with eggplant, romesco, and ricotta, while their soft boiled version comes with summer caponata, tahini, and “all the herbs,” all of them. The odd sweet bruncher will have no trouble indulging their habit with a heavenly sugar and dairy-drenched French toast or waffle.
While Brucie isn’t yet plagued by crowds, the small space fills up quickly. Snag a backyard spot during the warmer months, or sit at one of their window stools and watch the latecomers suffer. (Roxie Pell)
Brucie is located at 234 Court Street at Baltic Street in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn (347-987-4961, brucienyc.com).
GREENPOINT FISH & LOBSTER CO.: Fish may not be what you think you want to eat first thing in the morning, but the mouthwatering marine animal brunch options on offer at Greenpoint Fish are proof that you are wrong. While lesser bruncheries are too cowardly to attempt integrating anything more adventurous than salmon into their dishes, this seafood market-slash-raw bar will jolt you out of your omelet rut with truly unconventional creations like the Fried Oyster Breakfast Taco ($13) and Smoked Bluefish Hash ($16). Greenpoint Fish is a self-proclaimed “seafood market where customers can come in and feel confident that everything offered is sustainably sourced,” no small feat considering the questionable origins of pretty much any fish for sale anywhere. A couple of boozy supplements like the beer-and-OJ “Man-mosa” ($7) fortunately forego fiddling with any playful nautical infusions. (Roxie Pell)
Greenpoint Fish is located at 114 Nassau Avenue between Eckford and Leonard Streets in Greenpoint, Brooklyn (718-349-0400, greenpointfish.com).
CHAVELA'S: This Mexican eatery serves one of the most surefire hangover cures in town, in the form of chilaquiles, mole or salsa verde-soaked tortillas served on a heaping platter of fried eggs, cheese, cream and refried beans. The whole shebang is part of Chavela's' $12.95 weekend brunch deal, with entrees like Eggless Plato Don (chilaquiles, potato hash, refried beans, veggies, guacamole, pico de glasso, queso fresco and tortillas); huevos rancheros; and breakfast enchiladas come with Mexican sweet bread and coffee, tea or juice. Naturally, you will have to wait a bit before you can enjoy this fiery feast, but once you indulge you will never be able to have boring old Eggs Benedict again. NEVER.
Chavela's is located at 736 Franklin Ave between Park and Sterling Places in Crown Heights, Brooklyn (718-622-3100, chavelasnyc.com).
QUEENS COMFORT: This Astoria spot's got the word "Comfort" right in its name, so it should come as no surprise that its brunch menu is stocked with body-warming, down-home dishes with a twist. Some favorites include the "Hobbits Salty Park" Benedict ($16), made with bacon, fig jam, brie cheese and eggs; the fried green tomato benedict ($16) served with a flaky buttermilk biscuit; Nutella and banana stuffed brioche french toast ($14), and the "Pig Mac," a fried pork tenderloin sandwich served on a challah bun with fries. The list goes on and on, though, and no brunch option is a miss here. Brunch here and you won't have to eat again for three days.
Queens Comfort is located at 4009 30th Ave in Astoria, Queens (718-728-2350, queenscomfort.com).
SUGAR AND SPICE BAKE SHOP: This City Island bakery does a splendid brunch, serving up egg dishes, sandwiches and other entrees like huevos rancheros ($17), grilled chicken and gruyere ($15), a shrimp and avocado omelet ($16) and cinnamon raisin French toast ($12). Best of all, Sugar and Spice is BYOB, so you can tote your own bottle of champagne for mimosas and other morning drinks—just note there's a small corking fee, and try not to fall into the Long Island Sound.
Sugar And Spice is located at 536 City Island Ave in City Island in The Bronx (718-885-9229, sugarandspiceonline.com).
SHOPSINS GENERAL STORE: As long as you can stomach a Rain Room-esque line, cranky staff and infamously volatile chef Kenny Shopsin at brunchtime, this eensy little eatery cloistered away in the corner of Essex Market will become your go-to spot in times of extreme hunger. Shopsins' menu resembles the Daily Prophet, with its one bazillion items crammed onto two pages, and the food is just as damn magical. The mac 'n cheese pancakes are a must, as are the thick, international-themed slutty cakes (they come with a flag!), the Blisters On My Sisters egg scramble, the unabashedly non-PC Jewboy, Jihadboy and Indianboy sandwiches AH JUST ALL OF THE THINGS.
If you feel like you can take on a meal befitting a small kingdom, the $29 Happy Breakfast Trays will pile all sorts of delicious scrambles and chorizos and pancakes on your plate. And though the Shopsins crew is notorious for only permitting one meal per person, they've since eased up with a $39 two-person breakfast deal for someone willing to split a feast.
Shopsins General Store is located in Essex Street Market, 120 Essex Street on the Lower East Side (212-924-5160, shopsins.com).
CALLE OCHO: In my limited experience, the actual food served at AYCD brunches is only edible because I've had so many mimosas I'm unable to tell the difference between eggs and small pieces of rubber, and then end up in a ball pit. But though Calle Ocho boasts a generous AYCD brunch deal, their food does not suffer that sad fate.
Every brunch here is accompanied by complimentary sangria, which comes in a wealth of flavors and is served in 20 ounce glasses. You are permitted to enjoy that sangria for the duration of your meal, though they will know if you draw that meal out for an exceptional period of time. Do note that brunch at Calle Ocho is not necessarily cheap—tasty dishes like Latin Benedict, made with poached eggs, housemade pork and duck sausage, arepas and a chipotle hollandaise—do run around $18 to $26, though if you're dining with a buddy, you could opt for the $32 Gallitos platter (soft tacos, scrambled eggs, chorizo, Calle Ocho home fries), which serves two. But a) the food is exquisite, making it well worth a higher price tag and b) FREE SANGRIA. Make a reservation and eschew all other plans for the day.
Calle Ocho is located at 45 West 81st Street between Columbus Avenue and Central Park West (212-873-5025, calleochonyc.com).
AMY RUTH'S: Harlem soul food joint Amy Ruth's has been serving up tasty home-cooked grub for over a decade now, and its heaping plates of collard greens, fried chicken and other Southern-style offerings just get better with time. For brunch, you can't go wrong with one of Amy's waffle dishes; the Rev. Al Sharpton ($13) is a hearty classic chicken-and-waffle entree, or you can try the fried-catfish-and-waffle Rev. Thomas Johnson dish ($16) for something unique.
Vegetarians can avoid all that chicken with fruit-topped waffles, like the Guy Woods & Shay Barnett ($12), made with cinnamon, bananas and pecans, or the sauteed apple-topped Bishop Charles Reed ($11). If you're not down with waffles, Amy's got a number of daily entrees too, like the $15 President Barack Obama (fried, smothered, baked or barbecue chicken) or the fried shrimp, catfish & crab cake Dr. Walter Delph platter ($24) that could suffice as a particularly hearty brunch meal, if you think you can handle it.
Amy Ruth's is located at 113 West 116th Street between 7th and St. Nicholas Aves in Harlem ((212) 280-8779, amyruthsharlem.com).
CAFE MOGADOR: I prefer to spend my weekend meals/all meals eating bagels on my couch, but when I am forced to go to brunch, this Moroccan-style chainlet is worth the wallet-gouging and infernal wait time. Mogador offers standout dishes like the savory goat cheese, tomato and spinach omelette ($16.50) and the fiery Moroccan Benedict ($16.50). The newer Williamsburg outpost doesn't serve the omelette, inexplicably, but you can still opt for their hollandaise-sauce drizzled Eggs Florentine ($16.50) served with homefries and a salad. Mimosas, blood-orange mimosas and Bloody Marys run $8.
Cafe Mogador is located at 101 St. Marks Place between 1st Ave and Ave A in the East Village (212-677-2226, cafemogador.com): and at 133 Wythe Ave between North 7th and North 8th Streets in Williamsburg, Brooklyn (718-486-9222, cafemogador.com).