This list is like your favorite brunch – a smorgasbord of eats to satisfy just about any taste. Whether you like breakfast or lunch, European or Southern, high-falutin’ or hangover-soothing, we’ve got your meal ticket. We scoured our fair city (or maybe we polled a mess of readers on Facebook) to bring you a list of 20 places to brunch in the Queen City. Don’t say we never gave you anything.
- Kimberly Lawson
- Breakfast pizza from 300 East
Upstream
6902 Phillips Place Court
704-556-7730
Brunch Hours: Sundays 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
Upstream is known for its seafood-centric menu. $24.95 buys you access to the brunch buffet featuring a shellfish station, sushi, omelets, pastries and plenty of salty breakfast meats.
The Liberty
1812 South Blvd.
980-225-9167
Brunch Hours: Sundays 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
The Liberty serves a full brunch menu featuring French scrambled eggs, a proper English breakfast with bangers, shrimp and grits and other composed menu items ranging between $10-$12 on average.
Bistro La Bon
1322 Central Ave.
704-333-4646
Brunch Hours: Saturday & Sunday 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m.
Bistro La Bon switches it up on the weekend. Sit down to a sophisticated menu, live jazz and imbibe from the Bloody Mary bar starting at 10 a.m. on Saturdays. Order off menu and indulge in Pyttipanna, a Swedish hash plate. On Sundays, enjoy a slightly different experience: $20 All You Can Eat brunch buffet. No jazz or Bloody Mary bar, but there’s bellinis, mint juleps, Irish coffees and Bloody Marys to drink starting at noon.
Block and Grinder
2935 Providence Road
704-364-2100
Brunch Hours: Sundays 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
B+G recently jumped into the brunch game, and it’s coming out swinging. Steak and eggs, duck hash and challah french toast along with other brunch favorites.
Heist Brewery
2909 N. Davidson St.
704-375-8260
Brunch Hours: Sundays 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
Heist is serving brunch buffet-style with a waffle station, hot wings and caramelized pineapple along with more traditional selections like sausage gravy and biscuits. $12 bottomless mimosas and Bloody Marys after noon. $16 all-you-can-eat.
5Church
127 N. Tryon St.
704-919-1322
Brunch Hours: Saturday & Sundays 11 a.m.-4 p.m.
Go nurse your hangover in style at 5Church. There’s an oyster po’boy, Belgian waffles, corned beef, and crab cakes. $12 bottomless mimosas and $10 bottomless Sangria. OK, maybe a little hair of the dog instead.
Nan & Byron’s
1714 South Blvd.
980-224-7492
Brunch Hours: Saturday & Sundays 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
Get in on Nan’s smorgasbord featuring a shellfish platter, smoked salmon, vanilla french toast, meatloaf and other brunch favorites. $21 per person, $11 for kids 12 & under. An a la carte menu featuring burgers, Benedicts and other breakfast basics is also available.
Soul Gastrolounge
1500-B Central Ave.
704-348-1848
Brunch Hours: 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
If your brunch style involves phat beats, Soul Gastrolounge is the place. The vibe is chill and the dishes are creative. Scrambled egg pierogies, french toast panini and sing-a-long songs on blast. Cocktails too, after noon.
Fern
1323 Central Ave.
704-377-1825
Brunch Hours: Saturday & Sundays 10:30 a.m.-3 p.m.
Vegans and vegetarians have a solid place to brunch every weekend at Fern. Brunch offerings include the Fern version of “chicken” and waffles made with chicken fried tofu. Also, $1 Vegan Bloody Marys.
Halcyon
500 S. Tryon St.
704-910-0865
Brunch Hours: 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
Clean yourself up and head to Halcyon, where the upscale brunch menu includes seafood bouillon, a game sausage reuben, banana pecan french toast, pork belly BLT and seasonal grit bowls. Sounds good, right?
Lulu
1911 Central Ave.
704-342-1193
Brunch Hours: Saturdays 11 a.m.-3 p.m. & Sundays 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
This little Plaza Midwood gem is serving a sophisticated bistro style brunch. Check out the corned beef hash, creme brulee french toast and the jambon and gruyere croissant with bechamel. Good, hot coffee, too.
The Asbury
235 N. Tryon St.
704-342-1193
Brunch Hours: Saturday & Sundays 11 a.m.-4 p.m.
The Asbury is elevating farm to table with a modern Southern approach. Brunch offerings include cast iron baked pancakes, guinea hen & waffles and some damn fine biscuits.
300 East
300 East Blvd.
704-332-6507
Brunch Hours: Sunday 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
This Dilworth staple is nearly always abuzz with diehard locals. Choose from traditional breakfast offerings, including breakfast pizza. There’s also baked goat cheese and a locally sourced burger if you’re feeling lunch-y.
Crepe Cellar
3116 N. Davidson St.
704-910-6543
Brunch Hours: Sundays 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
Lots of European-inspired brunch dishes including fish and chips, Guinness pie and an extensive menu of sweet and savory crepes. Obviously.
Heritage
201 West South Main St., Waxhaw
704-843-5236
Brunch Hours: Sundays 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
Take a Sunday drive to Waxhaw for brunch, farm to table style. A special homemade doughnut changes every week and menu offerings include chicken fried steak and a sandwich called the Hangover Helper, served on brioche with fried green tomatoes, bacon, pimento cheese, pulled pork and a fried egg.
Heirloom
8470 Bellhaven Blvd.
704-595-7710
Brunch Hours: Saturday & Sundays 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
Everything on Heirloom’s brunch menu is sourced strictly from North Carolina, and there are intriguing items like nordic puffs, Heirloom ramen and a clam stew.
Fork!
20517 North Main St., Cornelius
888-991-6948
Brunch Hours: Sundays 12 p.m.-4 p.m.
Another farm to table establishment serving classic brunch items with locally sourced ingredients. On the top of our list is the prosciutto and crab benedict, fried cod and baked french toast.
Pike’s Old-Fashioned Soda Shop
1930 Camden Road
704-372-0092
Brunch Hours: Sundays 8 a.m.-2 p.m.
Family-friendly brunch serving old school favorites like broccoli casserole, Waldorf salad and all the usual breakfast suspects. Also, there’s cake, lots of cake. All-you-can eat for $13.95, kids 2 and under eat free, ages 3-6, $3.95, and ages 7-9, $6.95.
BLT Steak
110 N. College St.
704-972-4380
Brunch Hours: Sundays 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
The Ritz-Carlton’s version of brunch includes a Lobster Cobb salad, jumbo shrimp cocktail and brioche french toast. Omelet station for the eggheads.
Tupelo Honey Cafe
1820 South Blvd.
980-225-9167
Hours: Opens at 8 a.m. Saturdays & Sundays
Though Tupelo Honey doesn’t have a set brunch menu, we would be remiss not to include it; you can get breakfast “anytime you like it” and Southern lunch favorites include meatloaf and a Southern fried chicken BLT.
Did we miss your favorite brunch spot? Leave a comment and tell us where to go.
Full disclosure: The writer’s husband works at the Asbury.
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This article appears in Apr 23-29, 2014.
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The Yolk, Rock Hill
Surprised that in all of the summaries there was not one mention of the quality of the coffee. Brunch in Paris is nothing without good coffee and that’s what we’re expecting here. Will try some out and post our favorite! Thanks for the list.
Had a great time at Sunday brunch at Tupelo Honey. Started off by being shunted to a table next to the passageway to the restrooms and bar area, so we got to enjoy the constant parade of waiters going back and forth during our meal. Things got even better when we realized we weren’t exactly thrilled with the menu, but then came the biscuit (one each) – which were greasy and so full of shortening, I literally had a thin film of shortening stuck to the roof of my mouth for 10 minutes afterward. But most of all I enjoyed the utterly disinterested, marginally attentive waiters, having to wait till doomsday for drink refills, plus again, the cavalcade of waitstaff whizzing by our conveniently placed table. The one saving grace was that the food was very good. Everything else – not so much. I could have used another biscuit, but it was hard enough getting someone’s attention for drink refills so I didn’t bother about the biscuit. No one on staff seemed to like being there. This place needs a BIG improvement in its service, and has a loooong way to go before achieving actual “attentive service” status. Maybe they’ll do that, but I won’t know because I won’t be going back.
the wine shop at rivergate is wonderful and THE FLIP SIDE cafe the chef and owner is great you might rember him from wining the fire in the city for 3 years in a row yes chef john from mumiosa grill
theres nothing worse than waiting for a seat for breakfast – ughghghghghghg
Lure oyster bars Sunday brunch is phenomenal! $17/person $10 bottomless mimosas and $4 build your own bloody Mary bar
Trio