Fill Up on Burritos, Bagels, and More at the Best Brunch Spots in Los Angeles
From old favorites to new hotspots, these restaurants are serving the best brunch in LA.
LA is continuing to rebuild its status as a brunch town. Before COVID-19, you could land in just about any LA neighborhood on the weekend and witness Angelenos brimming with the type of joy that only well-laid brunch plans could ensure. It was a much-missed experience, so when our restaurant industry began to come back, a certain sense of happiness accompanied it. But LA isn't one to rest on its laurels, and so the industry continues to evolve to maximize your brunch experience, whether you're looking for that perfect brunch destination to satisfy a group hang or a solo cocktail.
Bookmark this guide for all your LA brunch adventures, with options from Downtown LA to Santa Monica and beyond.
Pasadena
This pandemic-era restaurant comes courtesy of Vanessa and Thomas Tilaka Kalb (Flour+Water), who converted the Pasadena Fire Department’s former horse stable into a neighborhood dining destination with a charming interior and grab-and-go market, plus a lush outdoor patio with ceiling fans to keep the Pasadena heat at bay. Elevated American comfort food is the theme here, with dishes presented on unique floral plates that make items like Tater Tot Casserole and Pimento Omelet all the more appetizing. Along with mimosas and a full craft cocktail menu, Seasonal Fizz cocktails are on offer, pairing sparkling wine with in-season fruit. There’s also a riff on a Bloody Mary that’s called a Red Snapper, with house-made snapper mix, cheddar cheese, chicken salt, and your choice of spirit.
How to book: Resy
Culver City
Helmed by chef Akasha Richmond, this Culver City staple is housed in the historic Hull Building and features a New American menu with global influences translated through California ingredients. Brunch is served Saturday and Sunday from 10 am to 3 pm, with highlights like Tiramisu French Toast and Shakshuka, plus drinks like an Elderflower and Aperol Mimosa alongside traditional mimosas and Bloody Marys. Akasha also totes one of the best bottomless deals in town at just $20 for unlimited mimosas (90-minute limit with purchase of a big plate required). Chef Akasha has also curated her favorite pantry items in the restaurant’s marketplace, so you can grab the restaurant’s popular pastries or house-made jams to go.
How to book: OpenTable
Silverlake
The team behind Here’s Looking at You opened this all-day counterpart in Silver Lake in late 2019 and it quickly became a neighborhood favorite thanks to a creative comfort food menu. The restaurant recently expanded to offer dinner service, but its brunch menu still manages to draw in hangover-weary Angelenos with items like the ADB Breakfast Sandwich, with scrambled eggs, American cheese, strawberry jam, and bacon or sausage on a buttermilk biscuit. For the cocktail menu, they’ve got boozy milkshakes, Bloody Marys and Micheladas, plus craft cocktails like the ADB Painkiller with aged rum, chinola passion fruit liqueur, coconut cream, pineapple and orange juices, and a strawberry puree float.
How to book: Walk-ins are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.
West Adams
One of our essential Black-owned restaurants in LA, Alta’s dining space includes a light-filled interior with windows that overlook Adams Blvd, plus a gorgeous wood-paneled back patio with draping greenery and string lights. Chef Keith Corbin, a Watts native, delivers an all-day Cal-fresh and Southern-inspired menu with standouts that include a market veggie-filled “California” gumbo, Oxtails and Rice, and Fried Chicken served with Fresno hot sauce, but you’ll want to order the crispy Black Eyed Pea Fritters with spicy herb sauce and corn bread with a side of honey butter for the table. The bar program features LA-inspired creations like the Angeleno with Bourbon, Montenegro, cacao-spiced bitters, and Luxardo cherry.
How to book: Resy
Downtown LA
This new queer-centered cycling cafe comes courtesy of chef Erin Detroit Vesey, who was inspired to recreate the community she experienced during AIDS/Lifecycle’s 545-mile bike ride from San Francisco to LA. We’d say she’s made good on her mission, as the all-day spot has quickly become a neighborhood favorite with weekly drag dinner shows and organized bike rides. The comfort-enhanced menu spans breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with standout items like a Vegan Breakfast Burrito, and Pork Belly Tacos with sweet potato hibiscus hash. Detroit Vesey’s is proudly alcohol-free, with mocktails like Beachland Ballroom, with Seedlip Spice 94, Tepache, lime juice, and a spiced rim, plus coffee drinks, sodas, and smoothies.
How to book: Walk-ins welcome.
Santa Monica
With an eclectic interior that feels like staying in a countryside B&B and a hidden patio where lights drape from trees among potted plants, Fia is a place you want to keep coming back to. For brunch, Executive Chef Brendan Collins simplifies things into a three-course, prix fixe affair, where a basket of pastries are presented for the table and bottomless mimosas or margs come with the $59 price tag. The hardest decision will be landing on an entree, with options like a Maine Lobster Croque Madame competing with a Black Truffle Cheesy Scramble and Southern Fried Chicken with biscuits. Add the $7 banana split if you want to top it off with something sweet.
How to book: OpenTable
Arts District
After wowing Chicago diners (as well as the judges on Top Chef), chef Stephanie Izard brought her midwest Girl & the Goat restaurant to the West Cast last year, landing in a luscious, plant-filled space in the burgeoning Arts District. The menu is globally inspired with a focus on seasonal California ingredients, with brunch offering decadent dishes like Everything Crumpets and Cured Smoked Salmon with tzatziki cream cheese and a fried egg salad, and a Potato Crepe with Vietnamese-style sausage, MontAmore cheese, sweet and sour sauce, and pickled veggies. Drinkwise, a rotating list of craft beers, global selection of wines from small producers, and fun craft cocktails round out the menu.
How to book: OpenTable
Manhattan Beach
This neighborhood newcomer and one of our fave women-owned spots features a daytime menu of globally-inspired items with a full coffee bar, selection of pastries, and a mix of sweet and savory dishes. Tuck into panko-fried chicken and waffles topped with truffle honey butter, a loaded bagel with Scottish smoked salmon smeared with scallion cream cheese and a slice of avocado, or mixed berry brioche French Toast. Interstellar’s beverage menu stands out with a sake list, plus craft cocktails like a Pink Mimosa with pink guava juice and extra-dry prosecco, and a Spicy Bloody Mary with applewood smoked bacon and jalapeno. There’s also a menu “For the Pups” featuring Wagyu beef or chicken with market veggies and fruit.
How to book: Resy
Los Feliz
Your favorite Los Feliz sidewalk cafe offers a prime spot for people-watching along Hillhurst Blvd and possibly the earliest brunch in town beginning at 9 am and extending through 3 pm every Saturday and Sunday. The obvious choice from their brunch menu is the Breakfast Pizza with a sunnyside up egg, speck, mozzarella, and tomato sauce, though their Buckwheat Polenta with sauteed kale and onions and topped with a fried egg is a close runner-up. Rounding out your brunch options are an Egg Sandwich with Wild Boar bacon, Eggs Bruschetta, and Ricotta Cheese and Blueberry Pancakes. The brunch cocktails include bottomless prosecco ($30) or mimosas with OJ or grapefruit juice ($35), plus Little Dom’s Bloody Mary and an Aperol Spritz.
How to book: Resy
Manhattan Beach
Michelin-starred chef David LeFevre basically ignited the food world in Manhattan Beach, and his first outpost is still the best brunch spot in the South Bay. The brunch menu takes a departure from their dinner menu where small plates dominate, instead focusing on comforting and filling dishes like a benedict on a bacon cheddar biscuit with arugula, prosciutto, and hollandaise; truffle-honey laced fried chicken with kohlrabi slaw; and a massive chimichanga packed with scrambled eggs, chipotle chicken, pepper jack cheese, black rice, plantains, and spiced with salsa verde. Handcrafted brunch cocktails include Reina Albahaca, a sangria with pisco, Noval Black, ruby port, orange, garnacha, and basil, plus a rye-inspired Bloody Mary called Blood & Smoke.
How to book: OpenTable
West Hollywood
With two brunch menus—one complete with items you’d expect like a Breakfast Pizza, pancakes, and American Wagyu Steak and Eggs, while the other exclusively features vegan options—Norah is more than prepared to satisfy even the pickiest palette. The drink menu features a lengthy wine list and refreshing cocktails like a Passion Fruit Margarita and Lady Bunny, a cocktail with vodka, pressed carrot, ginger, lemon, and lime that we’re pretty sure acts as their version of a Bloody Mary. Whatever you do, order the cast iron cornbread with rosemary-honey butter and a half-dozen of that day’s oysters to get your brunch started off on the right foot.
How to book: Resy
Downtown LA
One of our can’t-miss dining experiences in LA, Perch offers a 16-story view of Los Angeles, plus French-inspired dishes and cocktails, on its rooftop. Brunch is served from 10 am to 4 pm on Saturday and Sunday, with hors d’oeuvres like Baked Brie and Truffle Cheese Frites, plus large-format dishes like Huevos Rancheros and a Crab Benedict. There’s also the option to do a three-course prix fixe brunch with the most popular plates for $40. Mimosas, Bloody Marys and Marias, and bellinis are on offer, but we recommend groups opt for a pitcher of sangria with seasonal fruit (for just $31) to get the most bang for your buck.
How to book: OpenTable
Baldwin Hills
Only available on Sundays until 4 pm, Post & Beam’s brunch is worth planning ahead for. Whether seated in their comfortable dining room with columns and dark wood accents or on the relaxing patio that’s backed by a blooming plant wall, you’ll quickly understand why Post & Beam was recognized as a semifinalist for Most Outstanding Restaurant in the 2022 James Beard Awards. The brunch menu offers hearty options like Braised Oxtail Hash as well as lighter dishes like a Farmers Market Scramble with cage-free eggs and breakfast potatoes. Also of note are the Shrimp and Grits with scrambled eggs and smoked bacon, and Fried Chicken Thigh and Buttermilk Waffle. Libations like Bloody Marys and bottomless mimosas are available, as well as a Bellini that’s sweetened with Napa Valley peaches.
How to book: Resy
Mid-City
Chefs and owners Walter and Margarita Manzke are responsible for whetting Angelenos’ appetite for French-inspired delicacies with this all-day restaurant that’s housed in a historic building originally erected by actor Charlie Chaplin. They’ve since expanded on the trend with the recent opening of Bicyclette and Manzke restaurants, but Republique remains a favorite for weekend brunches that feature seasonally changing dishes as well as Margarita’s famous pastries. The menu spans veggie-friendly items like a pupusa stuffed with mushrooms, zucchini blossoms, black beans, and Oaxacan cheese, that’s topped with a fried egg and avocado, as well as hangover-busting dishes like a Croque Madame with house-cured ham, gruyere cheese, baby green salad, and a fried egg. Carafes of mimosas and sangria are on offer, as are brunch cocktails like Bloody Marys and a Papa Hemingway Spritz with grapefruit aperitif, rum, passion fruit, maraschino, lime, and soda.
How to book: OpenTable
Venice
With indoor and outdoor seating options that include Venice Boardwalk-adjacent tables, a kitschy interior space with a record player and vintage furniture, and a light-filled back patio with hanging lanterns and pops of plant life, it’s easy to lose an afternoon at The Waterfront—made easier by the fact that brunch extends until 4 pm. You’ll find spritzes, frozen cocktail options, wine by the bottle and glass, and draft as well as canned beer, plus mimosas on draft and an Adobo Michelada that pairs a lager with chipotle, pineapple, and lime. For food, you can tuck into all-day classics like a pretzel with queso, hot wings, and grilled shrimp tacos, or opt for brunch specials like Wild Mushroom Eggs Benedict, Bagel and Lox, and a selection of pot pies.
How to book: Resy