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Three eggs smothered in thick yellow sauce plus sliced avocado and hash browns. — Three-egg avocado eggs benedict at Waverly Diner.

19 Great Breakfast Options in Manhattan

Settle in with fluffy pancakes and Japanese breakfast sets or grab breakfast burritos and egg sandwiches to go

by Eater Staff Updated Feb 16, 2023, 11:49am EST

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Three-egg avocado eggs benedict at Waverly Diner.

| Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

by Eater Staff Updated Feb 16, 2023, 11:49am EST

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.

Restaurants are listed North to South.

Health experts consider dining out to be a high-risk activity for the unvaccinated; it may pose a risk for the vaccinated, especially in areas with substantial COVID transmission.

Read More

Salento

This small panaderia and cafe in Washington Heights remains one of the best places in Manhattan for Colombian pastries and assorted South American snacks. Swing by in the morning for the sweet-salty pandebono cheese bread, chicken-filled corn empanadas, and calentado, the traditional Colombian breakfast platter of rice and beans paired with a fried egg, chicharron, and an arepa.

Open in Google Maps

2112 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10032

Visit Website

A yellow corn empanada sits on wax paper in an outdoor garden — Chicken empanada.

Harlem Biscuit Company

It’s not unusual to encounter a line snaking out the door at this Harlem shop, and for good reason. Chef Melvin Johnson started Harlem Biscuit Company during the pandemic and quickly amassed fans for the shop’s buttery, flaky biscuits, sold alone and as the base for biscuit sandwiches, including the Langston, piled high with fried chicken, pickles, onions, and chile-garlic honey; or the Frederick, featuring a pork sausage patty, egg, cheese, and jerk honey.

Open in Google Maps

2099 Frederick Douglass Blvd, New York, NY 10026

Visit Website

A close-up photo of an unwrapped biscuit sandwich stuffed with fried chicken, pickles, and onion slices. — A biscuit from Harlem Biscuit Company.

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 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

Open in Google Maps

148 W 67th St, New York, NY 10023

Visit Website

A person holds a bottle of carbonated water and pours some of it into a brown drink with white foam on top and a red and white straw sticking out of the side. — A chocolate egg cream at Old John’s Diner.

Also featured in:

Five Acres

Five Acres recently opened for breakfast from 8 a.m. until 11 a.m., seven days. Via pastry chef Alessandra Altieri, there are cookies, cakes, giant frosted crullers, breakfast pastries, and a bread service from Patti Ann’s. Coffee from Parlor Coffee.

Open in Google Maps

Rink Level, 30 Rockefeller Plaza Suite 8, New York, NY 10112

Visit Website

A green-framed dining room with tables ready for customers. — Rockefeller Center’s Five Acres has just started serving breakfast.

Also featured in:

The 15 Hottest New Restaurants in Manhattan, March 2023

Spanish Diner

Chef Jose Andres’ Hudson Yards food hall, Mercado Little Spain, houses a full-service diner that offers a lovely breakfast starting at 11:00 a.m. daily, or at 10 a.m. on weekends. Pair eggs with rich morcilla or nutty jamon Iberico, or try a variety of classic Spanish tortillas.

Open in Google Maps

10 Hudson Yards, New York, NY 10001

Visit Website

A brightly lit dining room with an open kitchen space to the left and a dining area to the right with wooden tables and chairs — Spanish Diner at Mercado Little Spain.

Also featured in:

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.

Open in Google Maps

16 W 29th St, New York, NY 10001

Visit Website

A plate with sliced meat and cheese and satellite plates with other dishes. — Koloman’s Viennese breakfast is a whopper of a meal.

Also featured in:

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.

Open in Google Maps

103 E 19th St, New York, NY 10003

Visit Website

A round dark brown donut. — Maple cruller.

Also featured in:

Fairfax

At breakfast, settle into one of the leather couches or large armchairs for Old Bay tots, cheesy egg sandwiches, or avocado toast with cucumber, labneh, and za’atar. Served from 9 a.m. on weekdays.

Open in Google Maps

234 W 4th St, New York, NY 10014

Visit Website

A corner doorway surrounded by potted plants. — Fairfax mounts a full breakfast menu on weekdays, with brunch on weekends.

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 until 1 a.m.

Open in Google Maps

385 6th Ave, New York, NY 10014

Visit Website

An exterior of a corner diner in the Village. — The Waverly Diner.

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.

42 Grove St, New York, NY 10014

Visit Website

Bartenders dressed in white pour glasses of wine for customers who are sitting on barstools. — The bar at Buvette.

Also featured in:

Little Kirin

Just the place for a late-morning breakfast, since it opens at 11 a.m., with such wacky reconfigurations of the classic BEC as the SEC (Spam, egg, and American cheese) and the hangover cure (bacon, spam, egg, hash browns, etc.)

Open in Google Maps

81 St Marks Pl, New York, NY 10003

Visit Website

A piled-high egg sandwich with all sorts of crap in it. — The BEC variation called the hangover cure.

Downtown Bakery

When the morning calls for tamales, tortas, tacos or breakfast burritos, head to Downtown Bakery. The small shop run by Pueblan immigrants makes a particularly wide variety of cheesy stuffed burritos, including chorizo, steak, and veggies. The bakery — which really isn’t a bakery anymore, though it was an Italian one many decades ago — opens at 9 a.m. sharp every day.

69 1st Ave, New York, NY 10003

Visit Website

Two rolled flour tortilla tacos with sausage and yellow egg visible at the rolled ends. — Sausage and egg breakfast tacos.

Also featured in:

Flipper's

This Japanese import cracked a few eggs when it appeared in 2019, specializing in small, pillowy pancakes of extravagant height. They come in pairs with an opulent cloud of whipped cream, butter, and maple syrup. Composite breakfasts with eggs, bacon, french fries and other add-ons also available.

Open in Google Maps

337 W Broadway Unit A, New York, NY 10013

Visit Website

Two poached eggs on top of pancakes with salad in between. — Two poached eggs on pancakes at Flipper’s.

Also featured in:

Thai Diner

Ann Redding and Matt Danzer’s all-day spot attracts nocturnal diners with expensive shellfish platters, spicy laab salads, and aromatic curries. But in the morning hours, patrons come for fat slices of babka French toast, designed for drenching with salty condensed milk. There’s also a fine roti wrap stuffed with soft eggs, cheese, and with fragrant Thai sausages. Breakfast is served until 5 p.m. Open from 11 a.m. on weekdays, and 10 a.m. on weekends.

Open in Google Maps

186 Mott St, New York, NY 10012

Visit Website

A spread of dishes shot from overhead, including verdant cabbage rolls, phat Thai noodles with pink head-on shrimp, fried chicken larb, and Thai tea pain perdu made from marbled babka — A spread of dishes from Thai Diner.

Also featured in:

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.

102 Suffolk St, New York, NY 10002

Visit Website

A snug cafe with high ceilings, a mirror, a single table, and a coffee menu written in cursive on paper. — The compact dining room at Davelle.

Also featured in:

The Best Dishes Eater NY Editors Ate in 2019, Mapped

Kopitiam

All-day Malaysian cafe Kopitiam made a splash with its reopening a few years ago, expanding its menu to include more savory options, too. The sunny, colorful space, owned by chef Kyo Pang, kicks off all-day breakfast service at 10 a.m. with dishes like kaya toast, half-boiled eggs with soy sauce and pepper, and fish ball soup. Don’t forget to pick up one of the wonderful sweets, like the pulut inti: morning glory sticky rice topped with grated coconut sugar.

Open in Google Maps

151 E Broadway, New York, NY 10002

Visit Website

Potted plants hang from the ceiling in a naturally lit dining room with bar stools, high-top counters, and exposed brick. — The dining room at Kopitiam.

Also featured in:

Golden Diner

Sam Yoo’s all-day establishment in Two Bridges continues to serve nourishing diner fare with eclectic Asian overtones. 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.

123 Madison St, New York, NY 10002

Visit Website

An fluffy egg sandwich with pieces of bacon and a thick hash brown patty rests on a diner plate. — An egg sandwich from Golden Diner.

Also featured in:

George's

Since the 1950s, George’s has been fueling the Fidi office crowd ahead of a day’s work. The no-nonsense diner is serving breakfast essentials like chocolate chip pancakes, corned-beef hash, waffles, and omelets. The familial staff and setting at George’s are hard to find elsewhere, and it opens most days at 7 a.m.

Open in Google Maps

89 Greenwich St, New York, NY 10006

Visit Website

The exterior of George’s with a large restaurant sign spelling out “George’s” displayed over the entrance. — George’s in FiDi.

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.

Open in Google Maps

96 South St, New York, NY 10038

Visit Website

A counter with high stools and a yellow neon sign above. — Where to get a vamped-up BEC.

Also featured in:

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Salento

2112 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10032

This small panaderia and cafe in Washington Heights remains one of the best places in Manhattan for Colombian pastries and assorted South American snacks. Swing by in the morning for the sweet-salty pandebono cheese bread, chicken-filled corn empanadas, and calentado, the traditional Colombian breakfast platter of rice and beans paired with a fried egg, chicharron, and an arepa.

Open in Google Maps

2112 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10032

Visit Website

A yellow corn empanada sits on wax paper in an outdoor garden — Chicken empanada.

Harlem Biscuit Company

2099 Frederick Douglass Blvd, New York, NY 10026

It’s not unusual to encounter a line snaking out the door at this Harlem shop, and for good reason. Chef Melvin Johnson started Harlem Biscuit Company during the pandemic and quickly amassed fans for the shop’s buttery, flaky biscuits, sold alone and as the base for biscuit sandwiches, including the Langston, piled high with fried chicken, pickles, onions, and chile-garlic honey; or the Frederick, featuring a pork sausage patty, egg, cheese, and jerk honey.

Open in Google Maps

2099 Frederick Douglass Blvd, New York, NY 10026

Visit Website

A close-up photo of an unwrapped biscuit sandwich stuffed with fried chicken, pickles, and onion slices. — A biscuit from Harlem Biscuit Company.

Old John's Diner

148 W 67th St, New York, NY 10023

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 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

Open in Google Maps

148 W 67th St, New York, NY 10023

Visit Website

A person holds a bottle of carbonated water and pours some of it into a brown drink with white foam on top and a red and white straw sticking out of the side. — A chocolate egg cream at Old John’s Diner.

Five Acres

Rink Level, 30 Rockefeller Plaza Suite 8, New York, NY 10112

Five Acres recently opened for breakfast from 8 a.m. until 11 a.m., seven days. Via pastry chef Alessandra Altieri, there are cookies, cakes, giant frosted crullers, breakfast pastries, and a bread service from Patti Ann’s. Coffee from Parlor Coffee.

Open in Google Maps

Rink Level, 30 Rockefeller Plaza Suite 8, New York, NY 10112

Visit Website

A green-framed dining room with tables ready for customers. — Rockefeller Center’s Five Acres has just started serving breakfast.

Spanish Diner

10 Hudson Yards, New York, NY 10001

Chef Jose Andres’ Hudson Yards food hall, Mercado Little Spain, houses a full-service diner that offers a lovely breakfast starting at 11:00 a.m. daily, or at 10 a.m. on weekends. Pair eggs with rich morcilla or nutty jamon Iberico, or try a variety of classic Spanish tortillas.

Open in Google Maps

10 Hudson Yards, New York, NY 10001

Visit Website

A brightly lit dining room with an open kitchen space to the left and a dining area to the right with wooden tables and chairs — Spanish Diner at Mercado Little Spain.

Koloman

16 W 29th St, New York, NY 10001

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.

Open in Google Maps

16 W 29th St, New York, NY 10001

Visit Website

A plate with sliced meat and cheese and satellite plates with other dishes. — Koloman’s Viennese breakfast is a whopper of a meal.

Daily Provisions

103 E 19th St, New York, NY 10003

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.

Open in Google Maps

103 E 19th St, New York, NY 10003

Visit Website

A round dark brown donut. — Maple cruller.

Fairfax

234 W 4th St, New York, NY 10014

At breakfast, settle into one of the leather couches or large armchairs for Old Bay tots, cheesy egg sandwiches, or avocado toast with cucumber, labneh, and za’atar. Served from 9 a.m. on weekdays.

Open in Google Maps

234 W 4th St, New York, NY 10014

Visit Website

A corner doorway surrounded by potted plants. — Fairfax mounts a full breakfast menu on weekdays, with brunch on weekends.

Waverly Diner

385 6th Ave, New York, NY 10014

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 until 1 a.m.

Open in Google Maps

385 6th Ave, New York, NY 10014

Visit Website

An exterior of a corner diner in the Village. — The Waverly Diner.

Buvette

42 Grove St, New York, NY 10014

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.

42 Grove St, New York, NY 10014

Visit Website

Bartenders dressed in white pour glasses of wine for customers who are sitting on barstools. — The bar at Buvette.

Little Kirin

81 St Marks Pl, New York, NY 10003

Just the place for a late-morning breakfast, since it opens at 11 a.m., with such wacky reconfigurations of the classic BEC as the SEC (Spam, egg, and American cheese) and the hangover cure (bacon, spam, egg, hash browns, etc.)

Open in Google Maps

81 St Marks Pl, New York, NY 10003

Visit Website

A piled-high egg sandwich with all sorts of crap in it. — The BEC variation called the hangover cure.

Downtown Bakery

69 1st Ave, New York, NY 10003

When the morning calls for tamales, tortas, tacos or breakfast burritos, head to Downtown Bakery. The small shop run by Pueblan immigrants makes a particularly wide variety of cheesy stuffed burritos, including chorizo, steak, and veggies. The bakery — which really isn’t a bakery anymore, though it was an Italian one many decades ago — opens at 9 a.m. sharp every day.

69 1st Ave, New York, NY 10003

Visit Website

Two rolled flour tortilla tacos with sausage and yellow egg visible at the rolled ends. — Sausage and egg breakfast tacos.

Flipper's

337 W Broadway Unit A, New York, NY 10013

This Japanese import cracked a few eggs when it appeared in 2019, specializing in small, pillowy pancakes of extravagant height. They come in pairs with an opulent cloud of whipped cream, butter, and maple syrup. Composite breakfasts with eggs, bacon, french fries and other add-ons also available.

Open in Google Maps

337 W Broadway Unit A, New York, NY 10013

Visit Website

Two poached eggs on top of pancakes with salad in between. — Two poached eggs on pancakes at Flipper’s.

Thai Diner

186 Mott St, New York, NY 10012

Ann Redding and Matt Danzer’s all-day spot attracts nocturnal diners with expensive shellfish platters, spicy laab salads, and aromatic curries. But in the morning hours, patrons come for fat slices of babka French toast, designed for drenching with salty condensed milk. There’s also a fine roti wrap stuffed with soft eggs, cheese, and with fragrant Thai sausages. Breakfast is served until 5 p.m. Open from 11 a.m. on weekdays, and 10 a.m. on weekends.

Open in Google Maps

186 Mott St, New York, NY 10012

Visit Website

A spread of dishes shot from overhead, including verdant cabbage rolls, phat Thai noodles with pink head-on shrimp, fried chicken larb, and Thai tea pain perdu made from marbled babka — A spread of dishes from Thai Diner.

Davelle

102 Suffolk St, New York, NY 10002

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.

102 Suffolk St, New York, NY 10002

Visit Website

A snug cafe with high ceilings, a mirror, a single table, and a coffee menu written in cursive on paper. — The compact dining room at Davelle.

Related Maps

Kopitiam

151 E Broadway, New York, NY 10002

All-day Malaysian cafe Kopitiam made a splash with its reopening a few years ago, expanding its menu to include more savory options, too. The sunny, colorful space, owned by chef Kyo Pang, kicks off all-day breakfast service at 10 a.m. with dishes like kaya toast, half-boiled eggs with soy sauce and pepper, and fish ball soup. Don’t forget to pick up one of the wonderful sweets, like the pulut inti: morning glory sticky rice topped with grated coconut sugar.

Open in Google Maps

151 E Broadway, New York, NY 10002

Visit Website

Potted plants hang from the ceiling in a naturally lit dining room with bar stools, high-top counters, and exposed brick. — The dining room at Kopitiam.

Golden Diner

123 Madison St, New York, NY 10002

Sam Yoo’s all-day establishment in Two Bridges continues to serve nourishing diner fare with eclectic Asian overtones. 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.

123 Madison St, New York, NY 10002

Visit Website

An fluffy egg sandwich with pieces of bacon and a thick hash brown patty rests on a diner plate. — An egg sandwich from Golden Diner.

George's

89 Greenwich St, New York, NY 10006

Since the 1950s, George’s has been fueling the Fidi office crowd ahead of a day’s work. The no-nonsense diner is serving breakfast essentials like chocolate chip pancakes, corned-beef hash, waffles, and omelets. The familial staff and setting at George’s are hard to find elsewhere, and it opens most days at 7 a.m.

Open in Google Maps

89 Greenwich St, New York, NY 10006

Visit Website

The exterior of George’s with a large restaurant sign spelling out “George’s” displayed over the entrance. — George’s in FiDi.

Tin Building

96 South St, New York, NY 10038

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.

Open in Google Maps

96 South St, New York, NY 10038

Visit Website

A counter with high stools and a yellow neon sign above. — Where to get a vamped-up BEC.

Related Maps

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