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An oval shaped plate of food with sunny side up eggs, thinly sliced steak, a bowl with white rice, and bowl with an orange sauce
Brunch is served at Thai Diner.
Clay Williams/Eater NY

Where to Eat Brunch in New York City

Buttery pancakes, bottomless specials, and more ways to start your Sunday

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Brunch is served at Thai Diner.
| Clay Williams/Eater NY

Let’s be honest: When it comes to making plans for brunch, a meal that can sometimes require two extra-strength Advil, the last thing anyone needs is a fight about where to eat. There’s an endless number of brunch spots in the five boroughs, and while most are doubling down on fried-chicken sandwiches and stacks of pancakes, there are a handful of places spicing things up with genuinely interesting options, like colorful chilaquiles, beef noodle soup, Thai breakfast sandwiches, and bean-and-cheese tacos. Ahead, our favorite places to eat brunch in the city right now.

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.

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Archer & Goat

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The menu at this Harlem brunch spot combines its owners’ Ecuadorian, Puerto Rican, and Bangladeshi American backgrounds. Chicken vindaloo arepas and lamb neck curry are available all day, and on weekends, hot chicken sandwiches, date and pistachio french toast, and other brunch items join the menu. An hour of bottomless mimosas is priced at $25 per person with the purchase of an entree.

A plate stuffed with various different foods including orange pieces of fried chicken, red sliced strawberries, and white puffy biscuits.
Fried chicken and biscuits at Archer & Goat.
Tanay Warerkar/Eater NY

Dawa’s

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This restaurant in Woodside has two sides to its menu — “Himalayan inspired” and “American” — representing owner Dawa Bhuti’s heritage and New York upbringing, respectively. There are Himalayan dishes like pillowy momos, kewa datsi (a Bhutanese stew), and thentuk (Tibetan pulled noodles with beef), as well as some American brunch classics like pancakes, French toast, and a burger with Russian dressing. The mix-and-match possibilities make Dawa’s a standout option for brunch in Queens, with something for every mood.

If you haven’t been able to secure a reservation at this Greenpoint hot spot, a table at brunch might be easier to swing. The weekend menu is chock full of hits, like the numbing celtuce salad served at dinner, and new items like a five-spice Taiwan toast drizzled in honey and an egg and cheese-stuffed dan bing made from tater tots. The restaurant’s famed BDSM chicken, which sells out in minutes at night, might be the most elusive order in Brooklyn right now, but during brunch hours, it’s served as a sandwich that’s more readily available — and just as delicious.

A piece of toast is topped with nuts and what appears to be ice cream on a white plate.
Wenwen’s Taiwan toast.
Nat Belkov/Eater NY

Yellow Rose

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Tex Mex star Yellow Rose started as a takeout taco operation during the pandemic, finding fans with its stewed meats stuffed into homemade flour tortillas. Tacos with beans, cheese, potato, and chorizo are still king, but at brunch, they’re joined by kolaches (a sweet or savory Tex Czech pastry), glazed and sugared doughnuts, and bloody marys with pickled serrano.

Three doughnuts, one of them covered in chocolate, and a tamarind honey bun sit on a seafoam green and white checkered sheet of paper in an open doughnut box.
Yellow Rose only serves its doughnuts for brunch.
Alex Staniloff/Eater NY

Chez Ma Tante

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For brunch in north Brooklyn, there’s no better place than Chez Ma Tante. This popular neighborhood bistro, from the same team behind Le Crocodile and Bar Blondeau at the Wythe Hotel, takes its cues from French cooking with its menu of cheesy quiches and pig’s head terrine. Okay, yes, and those legendary pancakes: No meal here is complete without them, and they come two to an order with a crispy outer crust that’s not too sweet or dense.

A stack of thick pancakes with butter melting on top.
Order the pancakes at Chez Ma Tante.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Ho Foods

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Choose breakfast from small menu that includes homemade soy milk, scallion pancake with egg, chile wontons, radish cake, garlicky cucumbers, zia jiang noodles, or a breakfast set for two with just about everything. Every single item will likely knock your socks off, as will dinner at this super special, very small venue from Richard Ho.

Beef noodles soup, with noodles artfully wrapped around chopsticks, from Ho Foods
The beef noodle soup at Ho Foods.
Dan Ahn/Ho Foods

Thai Diner

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Breakfast is served until 5 p.m. at Thai Diner, making it perfect for a cobbled together, last-minute brunch. The breakfast sandwich — egg, cheese, sausage, and Thai basil wrapped in a roti — might as well have a fan club, and the Thai tea babka french toast comes with sides of condensed milk and tea butter for dunking. Despite its popularity, it’s almost always possible to get a table here, with seats spread across booths, a counter, and an enclosed outdoor setup.

A roti egg sandwich sits on a decorative plate over a white placemat; a brown countertop extends the length of the photo
Thai Diner’s roti egg sandwich.
Gary He/Eater NY

Edith's Eatery & Grocery

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Edith’s Eatery & Grocery opened in Williamsburg last year, bringing a Jewish restaurant, bakery, delicatessen, and grocery store to the neighborhood all in one. For the purposes of this guide, it’s also a pretty pleasant place to sit down with a plate of pastrami and eggs or cheesy syrniki pancakes during brunch. Be sure to take a lap through the restaurant’s grocery area, whose shelves are “lined like a museum” with international ingredients and snacks.

Kahvalti, a Turkish term for breakfast, made with two eggs, merguez sausage links, and salad.
The kahvalti, a Turkish term for breakfast, comes with two eggs, merguez sausage links, and salad.
Molly Tavoletti/Eater NY

For All Things Good

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All-day cafe For All Things Good opened in Bed-Stuy during the pandemic and immediately found fans with its take on vegetarian Mexican cooking. Two years later, the restaurant now has a second location in Williamsburg, where customers can order cheesy gordita breakfast sandwiches, mini tlayudas drizzled with salsa macha, and other dishes found at the original. New the menu in Williamsburg is a breakfast tetela, served with avocado and a runny egg in a pool of salsa roja.

A sunny-side up fried egg sits over a memela with avocado in an overhead shot; the memela is surrounded by assorted dishes including tacos on blue corn tortillas and a cup of horchata
Memelas, flautas, tetelas, and other dishes at For All Things Good.
Gary He/Eater NY

Okonomi

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With breakfast served every day from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., brunch, breakfast, whatever you choose to call it, can be had just about any day, any time. Choose between a standard $30 set or a large $35 set, plus add-ons which might include dishes like roasted fish, tsukemono, uni, or ikura. Okonomi is the daytime version of what’s Yuji Ramen at night.

Golden Diner

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Samuel Yoo, an alum of Momofuku Ko and Major Food Group, opened this throwback diner in Two Bridges in 2019. Four years later, it still does the trick. Plop down on a green swivel stool at the counter and order from a menu that lists breakfast burritos, Modelo beer, honey butter pancakes, and Thai tea tres leches cake.

A burger, an egg sandwich, and a can of Modelo beer share a small table.
Breakfast sandwiches, beer, and Golden Diner’s legendary pancakes.
Luke Fortney/Eater NY

Baby Blues Luncheonette

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Happen to be in Williamsburg with some time to kill before brunch? Put your name down at Baby Blues. This modern diner with Greek twists opened on Montrose Avenue last fall, but the secret is already out: The restaurant is walk-in only and there are only a handful of tables, so don’t be surprised to be quoted an hour wait at peak brunch times. Once inside, lemony Greek potatoes, fig jam toast, and HLT (halloumi, lettuce, tomato) sandwiches await.

A hand holding a fork impales a small sliver of potato next to a colorful salad with tomato, feta, and other ingredients.
Lemony potatoes and big salad.
Luke Fortney/Eater NY

Colonia Verde

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Brunch brings breakfast tacos and duck chilaquiles to the menu at Colonia Verde, a Latin American restaurant in residential Fort Greene that’s set a few feet below street level. Step down, or through the restaurant into the quaint backyard, and order from a short menu with steak and eggs and calentado, a Colombian breakfast the restaurant makes with duck fried rice and scrambled eggs.

Peaches Restaurant

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This reliable Bed-Stuy restaurant churns out an all-day brunch menu anchored by fried chicken, seafood, and Southern sides. There’s steak with eggs, chicken with toast, catfish with grits, and plenty of other pairings sure to scratch a brunch craving. Non-brunch staples like crab cake sandwiches and shrimp po’ boys are served all day.

Three pieces of flakey, fried chicken rest in a red-and-white checkered napkin in a takeout basket.
A basket of fried chicken from Peaches Hot House.
Clay Williams/Eater NY

Leland Eating and Drinking House

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Situated on a residential side street in Prospect Heights, Leland Eating and Drinking House has a dining room made for brunch. Locals gather with their kids and clothed pets at spread-out tables, or a busy bar counter, in a space flooded with natural light. It’s the perfect stage for satisfying dishes like pork shank hash and babka french toast, served until 4 p.m. on weekends. To start, try the sourdough cinnamon bun, an exceptionally citrusy baked good that happens to be vegan.

Fort Defiance

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Brunch is served until the modest hour of 3 p.m. at Fort Defiance, a Red Hook restaurant and bar that opened down the street in 2009, and relocated during the pandemic, pivoting to also become a general store. The menu is short and sweet, listing huevos rancheros, chicken fried steak, a banh mi sandwich, and a few other dishes. Sides include fries, hash browns, buttermilk biscuits, and sourdough toast. After more than a year of awaiting a liquor license, as of last summer, the back bar area also serves cocktails like the Irish coffee.

Tom’s Restaurant

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The lines that stretch out the door of Tom’s Restaurant aren’t as bad as those at, say, Bubby’s or Clinton Street Baking Co. in Manhattan. They move quicker, for one, but also don’t be surprised to find an employee of the restaurant passing out orange slices or something else to chew on while you wait. The Prospect Heights diner has been family owned since 1936, serving classic diner fare — egg creams, corned beef hash — that probably won’t blow your mind, but might just cure your hangover.

Archer & Goat

The menu at this Harlem brunch spot combines its owners’ Ecuadorian, Puerto Rican, and Bangladeshi American backgrounds. Chicken vindaloo arepas and lamb neck curry are available all day, and on weekends, hot chicken sandwiches, date and pistachio french toast, and other brunch items join the menu. An hour of bottomless mimosas is priced at $25 per person with the purchase of an entree.

A plate stuffed with various different foods including orange pieces of fried chicken, red sliced strawberries, and white puffy biscuits.
Fried chicken and biscuits at Archer & Goat.
Tanay Warerkar/Eater NY

Dawa’s

This restaurant in Woodside has two sides to its menu — “Himalayan inspired” and “American” — representing owner Dawa Bhuti’s heritage and New York upbringing, respectively. There are Himalayan dishes like pillowy momos, kewa datsi (a Bhutanese stew), and thentuk (Tibetan pulled noodles with beef), as well as some American brunch classics like pancakes, French toast, and a burger with Russian dressing. The mix-and-match possibilities make Dawa’s a standout option for brunch in Queens, with something for every mood.

Wenwen

If you haven’t been able to secure a reservation at this Greenpoint hot spot, a table at brunch might be easier to swing. The weekend menu is chock full of hits, like the numbing celtuce salad served at dinner, and new items like a five-spice Taiwan toast drizzled in honey and an egg and cheese-stuffed dan bing made from tater tots. The restaurant’s famed BDSM chicken, which sells out in minutes at night, might be the most elusive order in Brooklyn right now, but during brunch hours, it’s served as a sandwich that’s more readily available — and just as delicious.

A piece of toast is topped with nuts and what appears to be ice cream on a white plate.
Wenwen’s Taiwan toast.
Nat Belkov/Eater NY

Yellow Rose

Tex Mex star Yellow Rose started as a takeout taco operation during the pandemic, finding fans with its stewed meats stuffed into homemade flour tortillas. Tacos with beans, cheese, potato, and chorizo are still king, but at brunch, they’re joined by kolaches (a sweet or savory Tex Czech pastry), glazed and sugared doughnuts, and bloody marys with pickled serrano.

Three doughnuts, one of them covered in chocolate, and a tamarind honey bun sit on a seafoam green and white checkered sheet of paper in an open doughnut box.
Yellow Rose only serves its doughnuts for brunch.
Alex Staniloff/Eater NY

Chez Ma Tante

For brunch in north Brooklyn, there’s no better place than Chez Ma Tante. This popular neighborhood bistro, from the same team behind Le Crocodile and Bar Blondeau at the Wythe Hotel, takes its cues from French cooking with its menu of cheesy quiches and pig’s head terrine. Okay, yes, and those legendary pancakes: No meal here is complete without them, and they come two to an order with a crispy outer crust that’s not too sweet or dense.

A stack of thick pancakes with butter melting on top.
Order the pancakes at Chez Ma Tante.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Ho Foods

Choose breakfast from small menu that includes homemade soy milk, scallion pancake with egg, chile wontons, radish cake, garlicky cucumbers, zia jiang noodles, or a breakfast set for two with just about everything. Every single item will likely knock your socks off, as will dinner at this super special, very small venue from Richard Ho.

Beef noodles soup, with noodles artfully wrapped around chopsticks, from Ho Foods
The beef noodle soup at Ho Foods.
Dan Ahn/Ho Foods

Thai Diner

Breakfast is served until 5 p.m. at Thai Diner, making it perfect for a cobbled together, last-minute brunch. The breakfast sandwich — egg, cheese, sausage, and Thai basil wrapped in a roti — might as well have a fan club, and the Thai tea babka french toast comes with sides of condensed milk and tea butter for dunking. Despite its popularity, it’s almost always possible to get a table here, with seats spread across booths, a counter, and an enclosed outdoor setup.

A roti egg sandwich sits on a decorative plate over a white placemat; a brown countertop extends the length of the photo
Thai Diner’s roti egg sandwich.
Gary He/Eater NY

Edith's Eatery & Grocery

Edith’s Eatery & Grocery opened in Williamsburg last year, bringing a Jewish restaurant, bakery, delicatessen, and grocery store to the neighborhood all in one. For the purposes of this guide, it’s also a pretty pleasant place to sit down with a plate of pastrami and eggs or cheesy syrniki pancakes during brunch. Be sure to take a lap through the restaurant’s grocery area, whose shelves are “lined like a museum” with international ingredients and snacks.

Kahvalti, a Turkish term for breakfast, made with two eggs, merguez sausage links, and salad.
The kahvalti, a Turkish term for breakfast, comes with two eggs, merguez sausage links, and salad.
Molly Tavoletti/Eater NY

For All Things Good

All-day cafe For All Things Good opened in Bed-Stuy during the pandemic and immediately found fans with its take on vegetarian Mexican cooking. Two years later, the restaurant now has a second location in Williamsburg, where customers can order cheesy gordita breakfast sandwiches, mini tlayudas drizzled with salsa macha, and other dishes found at the original. New the menu in Williamsburg is a breakfast tetela, served with avocado and a runny egg in a pool of salsa roja.

A sunny-side up fried egg sits over a memela with avocado in an overhead shot; the memela is surrounded by assorted dishes including tacos on blue corn tortillas and a cup of horchata
Memelas, flautas, tetelas, and other dishes at For All Things Good.
Gary He/Eater NY

Okonomi

With breakfast served every day from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., brunch, breakfast, whatever you choose to call it, can be had just about any day, any time. Choose between a standard $30 set or a large $35 set, plus add-ons which might include dishes like roasted fish, tsukemono, uni, or ikura. Okonomi is the daytime version of what’s Yuji Ramen at night.

Golden Diner

Samuel Yoo, an alum of Momofuku Ko and Major Food Group, opened this throwback diner in Two Bridges in 2019. Four years later, it still does the trick. Plop down on a green swivel stool at the counter and order from a menu that lists breakfast burritos, Modelo beer, honey butter pancakes, and Thai tea tres leches cake.

A burger, an egg sandwich, and a can of Modelo beer share a small table.
Breakfast sandwiches, beer, and Golden Diner’s legendary pancakes.
Luke Fortney/Eater NY

Baby Blues Luncheonette

Happen to be in Williamsburg with some time to kill before brunch? Put your name down at Baby Blues. This modern diner with Greek twists opened on Montrose Avenue last fall, but the secret is already out: The restaurant is walk-in only and there are only a handful of tables, so don’t be surprised to be quoted an hour wait at peak brunch times. Once inside, lemony Greek potatoes, fig jam toast, and HLT (halloumi, lettuce, tomato) sandwiches await.

A hand holding a fork impales a small sliver of potato next to a colorful salad with tomato, feta, and other ingredients.
Lemony potatoes and big salad.
Luke Fortney/Eater NY

Colonia Verde

Brunch brings breakfast tacos and duck chilaquiles to the menu at Colonia Verde, a Latin American restaurant in residential Fort Greene that’s set a few feet below street level. Step down, or through the restaurant into the quaint backyard, and order from a short menu with steak and eggs and calentado, a Colombian breakfast the restaurant makes with duck fried rice and scrambled eggs.

Peaches Restaurant

This reliable Bed-Stuy restaurant churns out an all-day brunch menu anchored by fried chicken, seafood, and Southern sides. There’s steak with eggs, chicken with toast, catfish with grits, and plenty of other pairings sure to scratch a brunch craving. Non-brunch staples like crab cake sandwiches and shrimp po’ boys are served all day.

Three pieces of flakey, fried chicken rest in a red-and-white checkered napkin in a takeout basket.
A basket of fried chicken from Peaches Hot House.
Clay Williams/Eater NY

Leland Eating and Drinking House

Situated on a residential side street in Prospect Heights, Leland Eating and Drinking House has a dining room made for brunch. Locals gather with their kids and clothed pets at spread-out tables, or a busy bar counter, in a space flooded with natural light. It’s the perfect stage for satisfying dishes like pork shank hash and babka french toast, served until 4 p.m. on weekends. To start, try the sourdough cinnamon bun, an exceptionally citrusy baked good that happens to be vegan.

Related Maps

Fort Defiance

Brunch is served until the modest hour of 3 p.m. at Fort Defiance, a Red Hook restaurant and bar that opened down the street in 2009, and relocated during the pandemic, pivoting to also become a general store. The menu is short and sweet, listing huevos rancheros, chicken fried steak, a banh mi sandwich, and a few other dishes. Sides include fries, hash browns, buttermilk biscuits, and sourdough toast. After more than a year of awaiting a liquor license, as of last summer, the back bar area also serves cocktails like the Irish coffee.

Tom’s Restaurant

The lines that stretch out the door of Tom’s Restaurant aren’t as bad as those at, say, Bubby’s or Clinton Street Baking Co. in Manhattan. They move quicker, for one, but also don’t be surprised to find an employee of the restaurant passing out orange slices or something else to chew on while you wait. The Prospect Heights diner has been family owned since 1936, serving classic diner fare — egg creams, corned beef hash — that probably won’t blow your mind, but might just cure your hangover.

Related Maps