Brunch, the always welcome lovechild of breakfast and lunch, is an essential weekend ritual and institution here in Austin. Whether you share it with your bae on a lazy Sunday morning or with your friends after a night of partying, brunch is a guilt-free excuse to savor amazing dishes.
Besides its innumerable wine and cocktail bars and restaurants, the City of the Violet Crown also proudly boasts amazing brunch spots serving all your favorites, from light and fluffy pancakes to refreshing mimosas. Take a look at our roundup below to find out our top picks for brunch places in Austin.
1. Foreign & Domestic
We love a restaurant that uses responsibly sourced and produced products and Foreign & Domestic has done just that. They follow a farm-to-table and “nose-to-tail” approach, partnering up with local farmers to come up with fresh and delicious meals for their clients. Chefs Sarah Heard and Nathan Lemley share a passion for food, which for both of them started in their childhood as they’d watch their moms and grandmothers cook for the family.
Located in downtown Austin, they offer Texas food with a classical twist all week round, and their Sunday brunch is no exception. Their menus change seasonally, so keep an eye out for their online ordering tab to get the most updated versions.
🍳 306 E 53rd St.
2. Forthright Cafe
Right by Lady Bird Lake in downtown Austin, there’s a little café dedicated to offering “honest food, prepared well, using straightforward ingredients”. With ceiling-to-floor windows, the café feels bright and homely, but if you like to sit outside, there’s a big patio where you can have brunch while listening to birds chirp.
What you can expect to find at Forthright is a classic American breakfast and brunch and Counter Culture coffee. They also feature plenty vegan and vegetarian options, including some of the best avocado toast in town topped with poached eggs. The café is usually busy on the weekends, so make sure to make a reservation to avoid any long lines.
🍳 35 Brazos St.
3. Nervous Charlie’s Bagels
Honestly, you can’t talk about brunch without mentioning bagels. And where better to get a fresh bagel in town than at Nervous Charlie’s Bagels, voted Best Bagel In Texas 2022. Chris Cunningham, Long Islander by birth and one of the owners of Nervous Charlie’s Bagels, grew up eating bagels pretty much every weekend. So, he knows a thing or two about preparing delicious New York-style bagels.
The bagel shop offers a range of bagels, from plain and poppy to pumpernickel and jalapeño cheddar. Try their finger-licking-good bagel sandwiches, which use local ingredients for their filling, including Bagel With Lox and Pastrami Hash.
🍳 5501 N Lamar Blvd Ste. B101
4. Banger’s Sausage House & Beer Garden
If you’re looking for a place to hang out and catch up with your friends on a Sunday, Banger’s Sausage House & Beer Garden should absolutely be on the top of your list. The restaurant is pretty laid back and rustic, well known in the community for its Texas-style barbeque.
On Sundays, they serve delicious brunch with favorites including Sausage Sampler with classic homemade sausage patties, blueberry breakfast links and sausage gravy on the side, and Bacon Beignets with homemade bacon folded in the batter. Best of all, you can enjoy your scrumptious food while listening to music, as live bands take to the stage. Additionally, with over 200 craft beer options on tap, you can choose whatever suits your palate best to pair with all that meaty goodness.
🍳 79 Rainey St.
See more: Birthday ideas in Austin to celebrate the special day in style
5. The Peached Tortilla
The Peached Tortilla started as a food truck and now they’ve expanded to two brick and mortar restaurants, a catering company and venue space. They offer a fusion of modern Asian comfort food and American Southern cuisine. Say no more!
On weekends, brunch starts at 10:30am, where you can order sticky BBQ pork buns, brisket hash with kimchi miso corn, or a Char Siu breakfast bowl, prepared with pasture-raised eggs only. Don’t forget to take a look at their drinks menu offering cocktails like Mulemosa, Strawberry Aperol Spritz, Margarita De Peached and Espresso Alexander. If you’re looking for a warm and inviting place, where the philosophy is to think outside of the box, The Peached Tortilla is definitely a must-visit.
🍳 5520 Burnet Rd, Suite 100
6. Rules & Regs
Sometimes there’s nothing like celebrating your day off from work than on a rooftop, snapping Instagram-worthy shots of your friends and brunch order. Located on the 7th floor of the Fairmont, Rules & Regs suggestively invites you to break all the rules. It’s typically a go-to partying spot due to its enormous rooftop pool and stunning views of Austin’s cityscape. But on Saturdays and Sundays, from 10:00am to 3:00pm the Latin-American restaurant and bar also serves amazing huevos rancheros, churro French toast and build-your-own Bloody Marys.
🍳 101 Red River St.
7. Jade Restaurant
Whether or not this is the best Asian restaurant in town is open to debate, but it’s safe to say it’s definitely up there. With influences from China, Vietnam, and Japan, the restaurant offers a range of mouth-watering dishes, from Peking duck to Thai basil shrimp. However, what it’s most famous for is their amazing weekend brunch menu. Some of their most popular savory items include Szechuan pork wontons, pork and shrimp shumai, Shanghai soup dumplings and for a sweet end to the meal, make sure to order their steamed egg custard buns. Yum!
🍳 3801 N. Capital of Texas Hwy, C-200
8. The Cavalier
Another great pick is East Austin’s The Cavalier serving New Orleans-inspired pub food. On the weekends, from 10:00am to 3:00pm, The Cavalier is always buzzing due to its decadent weekend brunch. Between their Veggie Burger, Build Your Own Biscuits and Gravy, Chicken Waffles and Shrimp Grits, it’s pretty unlikely you leave the restaurant feeling hungry.
If you feel the food sweats coming in, order a refreshing Bloody Mary or mimosa, or better yet, their None Of Your Business cocktail—no judgement here! Don’t miss drag brunches on the weekend for extra laughs and fun.
🍳 2400 Webberville Rd suite A
9. Caroline
Last on our list is the dog-friendly Caroline in downtown Austin. At Caroline Restaurant, everything is made fresh daily with seasonal and locally sourced produce. In the morning you can order homemade baked goodies and hand-selected artisanal coffee blends from Austin’s Little City Roasters.
Their Biscuits and Gravy, Crispy Chicken and Waffles and their Sweet Corn Cake Benedict are some of the many tasty bites you’ll find at this modern and inviting restaurant. If you don’t feel like having any alcohol, the brunch menu features all kinds of juices, lattes and smoothies. But if you want to share a cocktail or two with your friends, you can order traditional mimosas and sangria or more striking cocktails like Bombs Away and Greenbelt Buckle.
🍳 621 Congress Ave. Suite 101
10. Snooze, an A.M. Eatery
Snooze, an A.M. Eatery is a nation-wide chain with three locations across Austin. Their mission is to come up with great flavors while being socially responsible and environmentally conscious. They compost and recycle nearly 90% of their waste.
If you have a sweet tooth, try the Pineapple Upside Down Pancakes with caramelized pineapple chunks, house-made vanilla crème sprinkled with powder sugar. Or the Vegan Banana Bliss Pancakes, prepared with coconut and almond milk, drenched in Slopeside pure Vermont maple syrup and topped with fresh berries. But if you prefer something a bit more savory, their scrummy Habanero Pork Belly Benny is a flavor bomb. Now that it’s getting progressively hotter, the spring and summer menu includes invigorating cocktails like Kimchi Spice Bloody and Summer Sangarita.
🍳 1700 S Lamar Blvd Suite 301
🍹 3800 N Lamar Blvd Suite 120
🥞 1109 E 5th St. Suite 180