Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It’s also a meal when many New Yorkers are least likely to visit a restaurant — which is a shame because so many restaurants in this city do amazing things before noon. And, now, with rising prices, it’s the most economical meal of the day. So whether scarfing a modern Japanese breakfast, a paper bag filled with Colombian cheese breads, egg-stuffed burritos, bagels and lox, Chinese dim sum, or outrageously good banana pancakes, here's where to start a day in Manhattan off right.
Read More16 Great Breakfast Options in Manhattan
Settle in with fluffy pancakes, egg sandwiches, and Japanese breakfast sets.
Ponty Bistro
With its selection of French food with an African flair, Ponty’s is a tribute to Harlem’s West African influence. Open for breakfast through dinner, dishes vary from luncheonette fare (omelets and burgers) to those with more global influence (Sengalese fish or chicken yassa and lamb merguez couscous). The bright interior — with sun streaming through the floor-to-ceiling windows onto marble-top tables — is especially inviting.
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Old John's Diner
Upper West Side restaurant Old John’s Luncheonette was brought back to life as Old John’s Diner, a revamped take on the seven-decade-old neighborhood staple. Find breakfast diner classics like ham and cheese omelets, egg creams, and chocolate chip waffles available every day from 7 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Russ & Daughters
The newest location of Russ & Daughters that opened in July 2023 is 4,500 square feet and located on the edge of Hudson Yards. Inside, there’s a seated counter, an open kitchen, and online ordering for takeout and delivery. There’s smoked and cured salmon as well as herring other fish as well as bagels and bialys. Consider the borscht or matzo ball soup, too. Opens at 8 a.m. daily.
Koloman
Koloman, an Austrian newcomer just off the lobby of Nomad’s Ace Hotel, offers a full breakfast menu that includes fluffy croissants and other assorted cakes and pastries made in-house, eggs with side meats that include double-smoked bacon and bratwurst, palatschinken (sweet crepes), French toast, and a full Viennese breakfast that piles meat, cheese, a soft-boiled egg, and other goodies on a series of plates.
S&P
Eric Finkelstein and Matt Ross, the owners of Court Street Grocers, are behind S&P, a restaurant located in the former home of Eisenberg’s, one of Manhattan’s last old-school lunch counters that closed during the pandemic. For breakfast from 8 a.m. to noon weekdays and all day weekends, there’s pork roll egg and cheese; matzo brei; a Denver omelet; and the Lil’ Shonda, with scrambled eggs, pastrami, muenster, pickled tomato on rye.
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Daily Provisions
The breakfast menu at this multi-branch institution may not have a ton of variety, but with the handful of options, it’s impossible to go wrong. Bacon, egg, and cheese sandwiches arrive hot and melty on pillowy brioche buns and the cafe’s legendary crullers are refreshed often with seasonal flavors: maple and cookies-and-cream are favorites.
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Waverly Diner
Waverly is now four decades old, and vying to be New York City’s best known diner. Egg breakfasts are picturesquely served sizzling in a skillet, and will likely include the restaurant’s hash browns — made, as few diners now do them — from freshly shredded potatoes darkly browned. Pancakes, omelets and other breakfast fare are offered in abundance. Open 7 a.m. until 11 p.m. weekdays except Thursday, until midnight, and Friday and Satruday, until 1 a.m.
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Buvette
The eggs at chef Jody Williams’s Grove Street charmer are cooked with the steam wand on the espresso machine, normally used to make a cappuccino — and they’re perfect. Starting at 8 a.m. daily, diners have the option of topping them with either smoked salmon or prosciutto. A waffle sandwich and plenty of pastries are also available at this petite restaurant.
Veselka
This Ukrainian East Village classic serves breakfast all day, every day, with dishes as plain as oatmeal and a fried egg sandwich. It also features hearty fare like omelets, waffles, and the weekday breakfast of four pierogies with two eggs; bacon, sausage, or kielbasa; and a side of beet-horseradish salad, with coffee.
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Revelie Luncheonette
This tiny jewel box of a restaurant from the family behind Raoul’s offers newfangled luncheonette fare, including pain perdue with caramelized apples, lemon pancakes, boudin blanc and eggs, or an omelet with French ham and Comte.
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Bubby's
This Tribeca stalwart around for over 30 years, opens at 8 a.m. every day, serving an array of comfort-food classics, from pancakes and grilled cheese and tomato to biscuits, bagels, and burgers. Note it’s kid friendly, too.
Davelle
Open at 8 a.m. during the week and 9 a.m. on weekends, this stylish but sparse Japanese cafe serves breakfast toasts. Choose from pretty options like honey lemon, ham and egg, spicy cod roe, and cheese curry, along with a catalog of hot-chocolate drinks in winter.
S Wan Cafe
Named after its proprietor, S Wan is a low-key walk-down space on Eldridge just south of Grand, one of a handful of new cha chaan tengs (tea restaurants) that appeal to a broad range of diners. The room has a row of small tables along each wall and its principal feature is a giant menu printed in Chinese and English, listing among dozens of dishes a series of Hong Kong-style breakfasts designated with capital letters. In one order, the eggs were cooked over easy, diner style, so the yolks flowed yellow when cut into. The biggest surprise were the waffles, which were Eggo sized, spread with peanut butter, and sprinkled with white sugar. This breakfast ($8) had an undeniable homey quality, as if assembled in one’s own kitchen in a hungover blur.
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Chang Lai Fishballs Noodles
On the same block where lines round down the block for a taste of Mei Lai Wah’s famous pork buns, is a breakfast option where there’s no wait. Chang Lai Fishballs Noodles, originally a locally beloved food cart, relocated to this permanent takeout spot this summer — and it’s been a morning staple for us ever since. There are just a couple of counter stools here but it’s well worth your time and wallet. Go for the curry fishballs over rice noodles and ask for all the sauces.
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Golden Diner
Sam Yoo’s all-day establishment in Two Bridges continues to serve nourishing diner fare with eclectic Asian overtones (even with the lines). Starting from 10 a.m., Yoo sends out creations like green-tea coffee cake, Thai tea tres leches cake, breakfast burritos, honey-butter pancakes, vegan nachos, and a monster of a hash-brown egg sandwich on a Chinese-style scallion bun.
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Tin Building
By the south entrance to this food court and market project from Jean-Georges Vongerichten, you will find a counter called Double Yolk selling multiple variations on the bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich. The roll is a brioche or an English muffin rather than a kaiser, and the other optional ingredients are similarly premium — things like smoked salmon, guacamole, roasted mushrooms, and Calabrian chile vinaigrette.
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