Brunch skeptics have their place in the world, but here in New York, the cutesy breakfast/lunch mash-up is as much a religion as it is a tradition. Brunch appears to have been first proposed in 1895 as a lighter alternative to massive post-church lunchtime affairs. It “sweeps away the worries and cobwebs of the week,” its inventor presciently posited. And in the intervening 123 years, brunch has become the very midday extravaganza it was created to stymie. A satisfying brunch experience marries your crew to unlimited booze, and church is... your call.
A meal made for lingering, brunch is especially intoxicating during the fall -- a season that seems to do anything but linger. Leaves are changing, leather jackets are finally appropriate, and booths have yet to crowd with winter coats. There’s reason to celebrate: You’re drinking a hot beverage! It is socially acceptable to consume pumpkin! Whiskey is appropriate before noon! Toast to the crisp air, and settle in for some autumnal midmorning dining. These are the best places in NYC for brunch this fall.
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Best for churros: Oxomoco
Greenpoint
The chef behind buzzy St. Louis pizza joint Speedy Romeo leaves pizza and St. Louis in the dust at Oxomoco. The chic, design-oriented Mexican kitchen serves authentic Oaxacan plates from an old-school wood-fired oven: Griddle cakes are prepped to order with real-deal masa and Oaxacan chocolate, and horchata chia pudding arrives loaded with dried fruit and agave (though you can have your agave in mezcal form if you prefer).
Best for morning hummus: Miss Ada
Fort Greene
This bustling Fort Greene hub is invariably packed with locals, for good reason. The buttery sweet potato hummus alone is enough to attract a following. Ricotta waffles (chocolate tahini and maple), shakshuka (goat cheese, parsley, and challah) and the array of classic Yemeni pastries will certainly justify both the wait, and the lack of personal space resulting from the small restaurant's popularity.
Best for folks who really just want lunch: Vinateria
Harlem
This Harlem neighborhood joint is an excellent midday option for the brunch-opposed -- the Spanish-Italian menu boasts an equal number of creative Benedicts and hefty pasta dishes, with an all-occasions wine menu to pair. Whether you’re the eggs Florentine guy or the pecan-crusted chicken Milanese guy, you can always agree that there is no wrong time of day for a whole burrata. Plus, a strawberry limoncello mimosa never hurt anyone.
Best for pumpkin fare: Ruby’s
Nolita
At Ruby’s, you’ll find precisely the pre- and post-shopping crowd you’d expect Nolita to draw -- a generally fashion-forward crew of in-the-know diners. The spot’s colorful Aussie fare is healthy but not so healthy that it won’t cure your hangover. In lieu of pancakes, sample the ricotta hotcakes with honeycomb butter and banana, or lean savory with poached egg-topped spaghetti squash. And in a nod to the season, spring for a side of roasted pumpkin.
Best for ensuring you won’t run into anyone you know: Primrose Cafe
Clinton Hill
Sheltered from the area’s main drag, and tucked into what appears to be a residential building on a homey street in Clinton Hill, this dainty cafe hawks coffee, tea, and matcha in ceramic mugs. Offering a simple, solid menu furnished with pastries, no-fuss egg dishes, and yogurt bowls (along with beer and wine), the place is hard to dislike. It’s the sort of spot where you dream of establishing reliable banter with a barista who knows your name.
Best for Basque bites: Ortzi
Midtown West
From a James Beard Award-winning chef, Ortzi slings innovative Basque fare, cooked primarily in cazuelas -- traditional Spanish terra cotta pots -- spread across a sleek dining room in the LUMA hotel. Much like the food, Basque country straddles Spanish and French territory: Eggs Benedict rests on a decorative melange of Swiss chard and chorizo, braised short ribs arrive in the form of a bocadillo, topped with roasted mushroom and La Peral Fondue, and sangria is all but mandatory.
Best for morning absinthe: Maison Premiere
Williamsburg
Maybe you’ve lingered over absinthe and oysters at this beloved Williamsburg spot’s horseshoe bar, but have you ever arrived in time for brunch? Come by the back garden while it’s still warm enough, and sit beneath a canopy of interwoven flora. The greenery will filter the fall breeze as you nosh on brioche French toast with huckleberry compote, duck confit hash, and a little green fairy.
Best for soup: Marlow & Sons
Williamsburg
In a bold refusal to kowtow to the brunch industrial complex, Marlow & Sons divides its daytime menu into breakfast and lunch. Both are a bit spendy -- the beans on toast will set you back $18, and by-the-glass wines start at $14, but anywhere with chicken soup served at a $17 price point should be a serious cool weather consideration.
Best for your Instagram feed: Sisters
Clinton Hill
Built in the former home of a hardware store of the same name, this is the pretty, polished sister you never had. Up front, a sleek marble bar and neat file of tables are illuminated by natural light pouring from an A-line skylight. The small back room has its own bar and DJ booth. Come sundown, Sisters transforms into a splashy, vibrant dance bar, but by day, the place is a bubbling emporium of delicately plated egg dishes and brunch cocktails. Opt for photogenic smoked whitefish toast, with a decorative melange of sliced radish, avocado, and lemon, or stick with the savory pork belly-topped French toast.
Best heirloom tomatoes: Cookshop
Chelsea
Schedule a trip to Cookshop around what’s in season (two words: root vegetables). The place is best known for its attentiveness to seasonal produce. Fish is cured in-house, poultry is raised locally, and meat is grass-fed. The floor-to-ceiling windows and the sidewalk seating are merely a bonus. Start with fresh mixed berries and house-made almond butter, move on to brioche French toast with Santa Rosa plums and candied pecans, and top off your order with a plate of house-made Italian sausage.
Best for reminiscing about your semester abroad: Sauvage
Greenpoint
If you aren’t tossing back kirs at sidewalk cafes in the Marais district, Sauvage is the next best thing. The corner bistro looks out on McCarren Park through a tidy row of towering windows, where sunlight pours across delicate, rounded two-tops. The menu draws inspiration from the season’s best produce, boasting options like French toast topped with fresh peach, apricot, and creme fraiche. A killer Bloody Mary is garnished with thyme and watermelon radish.
Best Bushwick bushes: Forrest Point
Bushwick
True to its name, Forrest Point is Bushwick’s very own woodland territory. Once a gas station, the place is now a thicket of overgrown flowers and trees, sheltering many a packed table from the fall chill (a strange site in a throng of Bushwick warehouses). Choose from items like a gargantuan open-face BEC, and chili oil-dusted avocado toast -- and once it grows too chilly for al fresco dining, slide into the spot’s cabin-like interior for a decadent round of cast iron s’mores.
Best neighborhood secret: Esme
Greenpoint
Esme is a staple for G train hostages -- the crowd skews mostly local. Folks here seem to know each other, know the waiters, know which tables they like best. Once you’re seated in the sunny dining room, it’s hard to get up again, and steaming brunch plates like pork belly eggs Benedict with Tabasco hollandaise, and thick-cut Parmesan French toast topped with slow-poached eggs won’t make it any easier. On your way out, make nice with the hostess. Chances are you’ll be back for dinner.
Best for escaping the brunch scene: La Bonbonniere
West Village
Some weekends scream brunch, while others simply call for tolerable bottomless coffee, stiff white toast, and frill-free scrambled eggs. Take a detour from extravagant brunch cocktails and elaborate morning meats and hit La Bonbonniere, where you’ll dine in a cramped room lined with an array of thoroughly mismatched artwork (a signed portrait of Molly Shannon hangs beside a landscape of rural Peru). It’s the dive bar of diners, with an apathetic wait staff and a menu of unfussy basics -- and yet, the dining room remains packed, weekend after weekend.
Best (affordable) Michelin-starred spot: Narcissa
East Village
Brunch is a slightly more affordable time to sample Michelin-starred chef John Fraser’s Narcissa menu, where dinner includes a $32 half chicken. Seasonal, farm-to-table dayside bites like the crab soft scramble and egg-topped duck hash hover around $20. Your basic Bloodies and Bellinis are available alongside more daring cocktails like the Fly Me to Tulum: tequila, mezcal, pomegranate, and chili. If you can brave the sceney Standard-residing crowd, the food will measure up.
Best backyard: Le Fanfare
Greenpoint
Lemon-ricotta pancakes and pané frattau -- a Sardinian flatbread topped with pecorino and sunny eggs -- help make brunch at Le Fanfare an impressive affair. The interior is charming and cozy -- naked lightbulbs hang above wooden booths and checkered floors -- and if you’re lucky, a jazz band might just take the stage while you feast.
Best for villa dining: LaRina Pastificio & Vino
Fort Greene
Imagine entering your stone-tile villa, and gliding past shelves of vintage wines, before taking your seat at a bar built of reclaimed wood. Now imagine a little less and remember it isn’t yours, exactly, but rather a temporal escape you’ve paid to enjoy for like, two hours, max. This is LaRina Pastificio & Vino. The menu is small, but touches all the bases, with Nutella bread pudding for the sweet tooth, eggs studded with zucchini blossoms for the omelette loyalist, and gnocchi al pomodoro, for the one who just wants lunch, goddammit.
Best for Greenwich Village devotees: Dante
Greenwich Village
As Dante Alighieri once wrote, “beauty awakens the soul to act.” Was he inspired by an aesthetically pleasing poached egg? We may never know. One thing’s for sure -- you’ll have no problem acting on egg dishes, sourdough flatbreads, hazelnut granola, and Italian sandwiches at this downtown staple. The space is narrow and minimalist in design, but the close quarters are part of its charm. Also: It is never too early for a Dante Negroni.
Best for pedestrian-watching: Esperanto
East Village
This Brazilian Latin restaurant has been bringing ã ê í õ and ú to Alphabet City through South American and Caribbean flavors since 1999. Esperanto’s menu features ovos rancheros on crispy tortillas and cheesy breakfast burritos (served with home fries), as well as a lighter blended açaí fruit bowl. A $15 all-you-can-drink supplement will make you want to linger at your street-side table all day, but, alas, the special lasts but 90 boozy minutes.
Best for tequila at an inappropriate time of day: Gran Eléctrica
DUMBO
Tequila enthusiasts and bat advocates can finally share some common ground at this authentic Mexican restaurant located in one of Brooklyn’s confirmed tourist districts. The bar serves certified “bat friendly” spirits, meaning the makers allow the not so cuddly creatures to nosh on a percentage of their agave crops every year. It’d be a shame to waste this place on Brooklyn Bridge gawkers; post up in the cavernous dining room (once it’s too cold for backyard seating) and dig into chilaquiles, tacos, and Bloody Marias.
Best for an Italian feast: Uva
Upper East Side
The proper brunch at Uva is synonymous with a Sunday meal in Italy -- a stretch of day with no foreseeable end, a mosaic of colorful plates scattered on the table, and an uncompromising generosity of spirit (aka sharing bites of your pancake with the tablemate who chose egg whites instead). Uva serves an Italian country-style brunch, and the restaurant’s reputation as a top-notch wine bar is deserved. The menu is lengthy, but standouts start on the first page: Think hot focaccia filled with Nutella cream, and strawberry/mascarpone pancakes. Then stop thinking and get your culo over there.
Best for gluten-opposed imbibers: Brooklyn Cider House
Bushwick
Embrace the whole autumnal shtick with copious amounts of apple cider -- but alcoholic -- at this cidery housed in a former warehouse. As you imbibe, warm up to popular dishes like the Hangover Helper (Spanish chorizo with eggs, baguette, and fried potatoes), or rib-eye steak and eggs, which are good enough even without all those sour proprietary ciders.
Best for fans of Little House on the Prairie: Loosie's Kitchen
Williamsburg
Stationed beside sister bar Loosie Rouge, Loosie’s Kitchen is like a little white treehouse. The narrow space gives way to a small patio, featuring minimal seating and a plant-filled bathtub. The space is flooded with light, spilling over mismatched chairs and tables where heaping plates of home-style comfort food await. Cure your weekend hangover with a plate of warm cornbread, topped with five-day-cultured butter and tomato-bacon jam, move on to fried chicken and waffles doused in spicy syrup, and finish with a pile of warm beignets with whipped Nutella.
Best for morning pasta: Colonie
Brooklyn Heights
Known for locavore dishes year-round, Colonie recalibrates its farm-forward menu by the season. Stop in for cacio e pepe (scrambled eggs with mascarpone and toasted filone), or buttermilk pancakes with whipped creme fraiche and strawberry-rhubarb preserves, before taking an autumnal stroll in nearby Brooklyn Bridge Park.
Best for masala: Baar Baar
East Village
After successful turns in New Delhi, London, and San Francisco, chef Sujan Sarkar puts a modern spin on classic Indian dishes at his NYC gastro bar. Expect fried duck eggs with tandoori mushrooms and chili chutney, chicken liver masala, and rajma curry with pulled pork vindaloo or jackfruit. Come in on a Sunday for live music from rotating musicians like Pawan Benjamin.
Best for families: Buttermilk Channel
Carroll Gardens
At Buttermilk Channel, you won’t waste a moment of your precious brunch apologizing for your squealing child. The crowded, rustic dining room is broad and sturdy, and the endless thrum of chatter and clanking plates will drown out any pesky tantrums. Either that, or the other kid having a tantrum will make yours look less bad. The place is a neighborhood mainstay, as evidenced by the locals who continue to make it a brunch go-to, even after they’ve procreated. Take a seat at the lengthy communal table, and dive into a Bloody Mary and a plate of fried pork chops with Cheddar waffles -- and tack on a stack of fat buttermilk pancakes for the little ones.
Best for time travel: Vinegar Hill House
Vinegar Hill
Situated in the narrow sliver between Brooklyn Navy Yard and DUMBO, you’ll rarely hear this neighborhood’s name referenced outside of its eponymous restaurant. Farmhouse shtick is amplified by mismatched tables and chairs, distressed walls, and weathered wood. Wholesome dishes like dense sourdough pancakes, French omelets, and Cheddar grits pair equally well with a mug of bottomless La Colombe coffee, or a Bloody Mary -- and even better with both.
Best horticulture: Llama Inn
Williamsburg
Peruvian fare may not be the obvious brunch choice -- which is exactly what makes it such a good one. At Llama Inn, brunch begets beef tenderloin served with fried egg and banana, or soft, meaty omelets speckled with pickled chiles and Chinese sausage, all served in a room that better resembles a greenhouse than a restaurant. Chef Erik Ramirez slings innovative seasonal fare from the spot’s open kitchen, while bartenders at the central circular bar prepare wild cocktails like the Llama del Rey with pisco, red wine, grilled pineapple, and pink peppercorn.
Best for live jazz: Dirty French
Lower East Side
Tucked in the bottom of the Ludlow Hotel, Dirty French is yet another buzzy culinary success by Major Food Group (Carbone, Santina, Sadelle’s). A dazzling array of contemporary French dishes are served in a classically beautiful dining room -- with a twist. An enormous vintage mirror covers nearly an entire wall, an ink-stained French flag hangs above the bar, and the servers all wear Air Jordans. The “Dirty French” neon sign glows a pink by the front door, and much like the aesthetic, the food is a twist on traditional, stuffy French fare. Classic dishes like Parisian crepes are topped with ahi tuna, and chevre is served with pear and sunchokes. The food needs no accompaniment, but every Saturday from 12-3pm, the place livens up with a special brunch performance by a New Orleans-style jazz band. Be sure to make a reservation -- there is rarely room for walk-ins.
Best for breakfast tacos: Gueros Brooklyn
Crown Heights
Prepared by an assembly line of expert chefs, the breakfast (and anytime) tacos at this sunny Crown Heights cafe are the ideal savory breakfast meal. Customize your tacos with buttery scrambled eggs, chorizo, refried beans, and avocado (among other options), all of which come piled atop a warm, house-made corn tortilla -- or opt for one of the spot’s signature creations like the fried avocado and jalapeño taco with pico de gallo. They’re less than $5 apiece, so you’ll surely want to try a few.
Best for special occasions: Buvette
Greenwich Village
Dollhouse-like charm and quaint Parisian character make Buvette very much at home on the corner of cobbled Grove Street. The wait may be long, but once you’ve been seated in the narrow “gastroteque,” go for the prosciutto egg plate. The eggs are scrambled with the bistro’s espresso machine wand, topped with grated Parmesan, and served with paper-thin slices of house prosciutto on toasted baguette. Between the unrivaled quality of the food, and Buvette’s irresistible interior, this is a prime spot for a date.
Best for picky eaters: Shopsin's
East Village
Kenny Shopsin -- one of the most distinctive characters in the New York food scene -- passed away this year, but his eponymous restaurant remains. Head to the Essex Street Market eatery and peruse the behemoth menu before settling for a peculiar array of Polish kielbasa, “taco-fried steak,” and the famed Shopsin’s “slutty cakes” (enormous pancakes stuffed with pumpkin and peanut butter). It won’t be quite the same without Shopsin himself roaming the floor, scowling from beneath his Mets cap, but if you’ve got a particularly fond memory of Shopsin swatting a fly on your table, you’re invited to email the family.
Best for crippling hangovers: Veselka
Lower East Side
This is the place when all you want are carbs, glorious carbs. The casual, booth-lined Ukrainian diner is like a big comforting cuddle, serving up steaming omelets, golden potato pancakes, and most importantly, heaps of cheese-stuffed pierogi. Breakfast and lunch items are available all day -- so hot latkes will be ready and waiting, no matter the hour: Veselka is just as good at 4am after a night out as it is at noon the next day.
Best for live gospel music: Red Rooster
Harlem
Marcus Samuelsson’s Harlem comfort food spot is worth a trip uptown on a weekend afternoon for the cornbread alone: warm and spicy, with honey butter and tomato jam. Leave room for delicacies like fried chicken and waffles, caramelized apple-topped French toast, and shrimp and grits. The fabulous gospel music, with two performances each Sunday in the adjoining subterranean Ginny’s Supper Club, nearly outshines the food.
Best for fancy brunch cocktails: Fort Defiance
Red Hook
There’s more to Red Hook than flat-pack furniture and Swedish meatballs from Ikea. The waterside Brooklyn neighborhood is also home to a surprising number of excellent restaurants -- and when it comes to brunch, Fort Defiance is king. You won’t typically have to wait in line, but it would be rare to find the place with many empty tables. And while the bar serves a serious cocktail roster well into the night, the brunch beverages are arguably the most impressive (try the King Bee with Darjeeling-tea-infused honeycomb vodka, lemon, and cava). Pair that with a plate of poached eggs and collard greens over chili-cheese skillet cornbread, and you’ve got yourself a balanced meal (of sorts).
Best for classic Jewish fare: Russ & Daughters
Lower East Side
Russ & Daughters is equal parts cafe and cultural institution. In a city stocked with Jewish food, it’s no small feat that the Lower East Side eatery has built itself a standout reputation. Aesthetically, it’s modern -- but the food is certainly not. The kitchen honors the age-old tradition of matzo ball soup and herring spread, and waiters in white lab coats serve classic knishes and babka French toast. Under no circumstances should you leave without inhaling a faceful of latkes and house-smoked lox (served on a board with bagels and schmear, naturally).
Best dive bar brunch: The Commodore
Williamsburg
New York offers a dive bar for every occasion -- dancing, pounding pickle-back shots, hearing live music, and, apparently, eating brunch. At the Commodore, you can order crispy fried chicken and biscuits drizzled with honey butter and hot sauce, and wash it down with a Shiner, all in the venue where you shotgunned a Bud Light last night. The no-frills brunch menu is full of staple comfort foods, plated in sizable portions, with none of the pretense that often accompanies this sacred meeting of the meals. Stick around afterwards for more cheap beers at the bar.
Best for befriending your waiter: Diner
Williamsburg
Stationed in a tiny Pullman car beneath the Williamsburg Bridge, this cozy eatery has been a Brooklyn staple since the ’90s. Once you’ve been seated, your server will sit down at your table to tell you about the specials (there’s not much space in the aisles), and scribble them onto your paper tablecloth, lest you forget. Once the novelty of the setting and service wears off, classic sweets and egg dishes from the daily-updated menu speak for themselves.
Best for a fat stack of pancakes: Sunday in Brooklyn
Williamsburg
If you’re gluten-opposed, we suggest you maintain a healthy distance from Sunday in Brooklyn. You’re all but obligated to start your meal with some of the maple Cheddar biscuits, or one of the cinnamon-sugar-drowned buns. But the house specialty is the pancakes: a supersized tower of absurdly fluffy discs drenched in a rich, hand-whisked maple praline syrup. Plenty of other plates are well-worth sampling (e.g., biscuits in breakfast sausage gravy or the house-smoked salmon with rye sour cream, onion, pickled vegetables, and whole wheat toast), but you'd be remiss to survive the three-hour wait only to skip out on the pancakes.
Best for reading at the table: Brunswick Cafe
Windsor Terrace
For all the coffee shops in New York, it can still be difficult to find a good place to read and eat (assuming you’re actually trying to read as opposed to using a Joan Didion paperback to pick up girls). At Brunswick, a tiny brick-lined Australian spot just off of Prospect Park, you’ll find your solution. While the front of the place is primarily a to-go pastry/coffee counter, the heated back patio space is flooded with natural light and makes the ideal spot to sit and work or read. The food is impressive (see the Cheddar chive biscuit egg sandwich for details), the coffee is excellent, and the friendly Aussie waitstaff will gladly leave you to enjoy your book, even at busy times.
Best Moroccan food: Cafe Mogador
Williamsburg & East Village
Mogador has been doing comforting Moroccan dishes in the East Village since the ’80s, and still the place has no trouble drawing a devoted brunch crowd (even with its new Williamsburg location). If you’re tired of scrambled eggs and avocado toast, mix things up with spicy poached egg shakshuka, served steaming in its skillet. The brick-lined bistro is filled with low-hanging lanterns, ornate carpets, and notably chic waiters -- and by NYC brunch standards, it’s reasonably priced. Each brunch dish runs to $19, with home fries, a salad, juice, and coffee or tea included.
Best for dining in a secret garden: House of Small Wonder
Williamsburg
It’s hard to imagine a hideaway quite so charming as House of Small Wonder. True to its name, the place is a little haven from all-things-city, lined with ivy and wood panels, and decked out with dozens of hanging plants. The cash-only venue has a winding spiral staircase, a greenhouse-glass ceiling, and a series of personal and communal tables. The eatery serves a peculiar mix of classic brunch plates (croque madame and croissant French toast among them), and offbeat Japanese dishes. Order the sashimi zuke don -- the fish of the day, with sweet mushrooms and egg over rice -- but be sure to get there early, as supply is limited and demand is high.
Best for brunch if you're not paying: The Penrose
Upper East Side
If you’re eating on the Upper East Side, odds are your parents are in town. And while the area may not exactly be rife with trendy restaurants (or young people), there is some excellent food to be had. Head to the Penrose on Second Avenue and start off with drink at the bar while you wait. The cocktail menu is excellent, replete with eye-openers like the like the cold brew negroni (cold brew, Campari, and sweet vermouth), and most importantly, a selection of four distinct Bloody Marys -- it’s polite to try them all, of course. The brunch menu itself is stocked with creative egg dishes, like a smoked salmon BLT on sourdough.
Best for romance: Joseph Leonard
West Village
To impress a date, always go for Joseph Leonard. The intimate West Village eatery is nearly always packed, but the wait is tolerable. The crowd -- a spread of well-to-do locals -- is mild-mannered and warm, and the wait staff is just as convivial. You get the sense, while eating here, that both the service and the clientele are part of the same glowing West Village social circle. The bucolic space features a blonde wood bar, vintage suitcases stacked in the corners, and framed photographs lining walls of exposed brick. The food is equally rustic. Order some coffee, a heavily garnished Bloody Mary, and a weighty plate of grits and greens.
Best for bottomless mimosas: Baby's All Right
Williamsburg
Here’s the thing about bottomless brunch: a lot of the time, the absurd quantity of alcohol is merely a tactic to distract you from the nigh-inedible food. Even so, there are places in the city well worth the fee for a limitless mimosa tap, with food that isn’t totally repulsive. Our pick is Baby’s All Right. The popular Williamsburg dance bar may seem an unlikely spot for a midday meal, but the place will surprise you. The food is respectable -- think scrambled eggs with chorizo and avocado, and pork belly-topped eggs Benedict. The mimosas aren’t excessively sugary, and a live DJ will spin while you eat, to ensure that you won’t lose day-drinking morale. In fact, you may enjoy the ambiance so much that you wind up staying well into the night (you wouldn’t be the first).
Best for rehashing last night: The Bonnie
Astoria
While sustenance is certainly a factor, the best part of brunch is often recounting the misadventures of the night before. At The Bonnie, you and your chosen mid-morning company can feast on indulgent shared plates like French toast sticks and waffle-battered sausage bites, while attempting to make sense of yesterday’s debauchery. The menu is Southern, with a focus on modern, nuanced comfort food, and while the restaurant is open-plan and typically lively, it’s never too loud for a conversation. You’d be remiss to sit through a meal without trying the BEC bites -- corn-meal-crusted bacon, egg, and Cheddar balls. There’s no hangover they can’t cure.
Best for all things pickled: Jacob's Pickles
Upper West Side
Naturally, the house-made pickles here are the draw, but they aren’t the only briney delicacy on offer. There are pickled eggs, beets, carrots, tomatoes, and all varieties of cucumber -- and they’re all exactly what your biscuit breakfast sandwich needs (try some fried pickles on the side). This place is a New York establishment through and through, serving greens from the Union Square Market, and fresh cuts of meat from a butcher in Queens.
Best hair of the dog: Enid's
Greenpoint
Not all brunch cocktails are made equal. While New York offers plenty of bottomless mimosa packages and fancy daytime cocktail menus, sometimes all you want is a classic Bloody Mary, served fast and simple. That’s where Enid’s comes in. If tomato juice and Tabasco isn’t your thing, go for the Reviver -- a mix of spicy fresh ginger, vodka, grapefruit, and lime, sure to snuff the hangover doing somersaults around your skull. Pair your beverage with a heaping plate of biscuits and gravy, huevos rancheros, or steak and eggs, and be sure to return at night, when the tables are pushed aside and the dining room transitions into a rowdy, eccentric dance floor.
Best for New York bagels: Ess-a-Bagel
Stuytown/Midtown East
The New York bagel is a truly remarkable thing. You are entitled to no opinions other than this. To call yourself a New Yorker is to hold a truly religious belief in the sacred quality of the bagel. In spite of all the brunch hype in this city, there are few mid-morning eats quite so satisfying as a bagel with cream cheese -- and they don’t come any better than those at Ess-a-Bagel. Whether you’re looking for some classic schmear; a bacon egg, and cheese; or a lox-stuffed breakfast sandwich, this place will deliver -- and for a fraction of the price of a sit-down brunch.
Best for excellent coffee: Alpha Dominche Extraction Lab
Sunset Park/Industry City
Alpha Dominche is not a just coffee shop, but rather a coffee lab. If you’re looking for a simple morning pick-me-up, this is not your place. Beans are hand-picked from small-scale Panamanian farms, milk and sugar are frowned upon, and the menu is limited to drip coffee. Whether you select the $4 Toby’s Estate blend, or taunt your grandparents’ ghosts with an $18 Ninety Plus Gesha Estates brew, your coffee will be prepared in an enormous glass vessel called a Steampunk Brewer. You’ll want to sip it deliberately (like a fine wine), as it’s likely the most carefully processed cup of filter coffee you’ve ever had. Once you’ve savored your opulent cup of joe, hit any number of the top-notch food establishments next door in the Industry City food hall for some sustenance.
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