Not just relegated to weekends anymore, brunch is a staple of American dining culture and a particularly popular phenomenon in San Diego. Whether you’re hunting for smashed avocado toast with bottomless mimosas or creative egg dishes, this curated list of spots around town will make choosing where to brunch an easy decision with tasty food, strong coffee, and maybe a few cocktails.
Read More10 Compelling Brunch Spots to Check Out in San Diego
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Piper
The coastal restaurant’s weekend brunch, featured Saturday and Sunday from 7 a.m. to noon, is a buffet-style format featuring a fried chicken and waffle bar and a build-your-own toast bar along with dishes that include sweet and savory breakfast pastries, French toast, salads, crepes, and frittatas.
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Alejandra's
The chic Mexican cantina offers brunch every Saturday and Sunday between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Classics like chilaquiles and huevos rancheros share billing with horchata pancakes and a breakfast twist on chicken and steak fajitas paired with brunch cocktails that include a Mexpresso Martini and spicy Bloody Loca.
Pandora's
Brunch is almost daily affair at this Leucadia cafe where the daytime menu includes egg-filled khachapuri, porchetta with an over-easy egg, lemon-poppy cakes, and crepes along with egg-topped pizzas like a pie inspired by a croque madame and a chorizo and potato pizza.
Waverly
Cardiff’s all-day cafe, which is also one of the better spots in North County to grab a cocktail, boasts a menu that covers breakfast cravings with funfetti pancakes, Turkish poached eggs, and avocado toast but also extends to creative salads, rice bowls, and chef Brian Redzikowski’s double-double burger with tomato confit and caramelized onions.
Shorehouse Kitchen
After a morning at La Jolla Shores, refuel on the restaurant’s sunny patio with carnitas chilaquiles, poached egg-topped parmesan and cream cheese risotto cakes, or a salted caramel waffle topped with bananas and candied walnuts paired with a bellini or a coffee cocktail. The pet-friendly spot even has a menu for dogs.
Little Lion
This Point Loma charmer does daytime brunch Wednesday through Sunday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., pouring mimosas and sangria alongside a menu that might fulfill any possible craving. Options range from a crab cake egg Benedict, shakshuka, and avocado toast to Belgian waffles, soyrizo tacos, and Nashville hot chicken sandwiches.
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Parc Bistro Brasserie
From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, the restaurant serves bottomless mimosas to linger over alongside a robust brunch menu that spans the gamut from sweet and savory crepes to salads, omelets and Benedicts, and brioche French toast and heartier plates like fried chicken with a Belgian waffle and steak and eggs with peppercorn sauce.
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Books & Records
Every Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Bankers Hill restaurant is dedicated to brunch, with a DJ providing entertainment on Saturday and New Orleans-style live jazz on Sunday. The menu includes gnocchi topped with a poached egg, duck chilaquiles, and mini scallop po’ boys along with banana bread pudding bites and cocktails like the appropriately named Sunday Morning made with rye whiskey, scotch, maple syrup, and house bitters.
Little Frenchie
Offered daily between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., brunch at this Coronado bistro includes baskets of housemade pastries and classics like omelets, crepes, and Benedicts along with egg-topped croque madames and jambon beurre sandwiches. Indulge in a French chocolat chaud served with chantilly cream or sip on a spritz.
Sunday Breakfast Society
Served from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily, brunch is the main event at this Instagrammable spot in Chula Vista where guests can order fluffy souffle pancakes and trendy mini pancake cereal along with Mexican dishes like breakfast tacos and chilaquiles topped with birria or crispy vegan chicken.