There are a few things that every New Yorker must have in order to survive in the city. A little grit, a solid pair of walking shoes, and, most importantly, a favorite brunch spot.
In fact, the tradition has become such a staple to life in
New York City that it might be worthy of recruitment into a holy trinity of New York foods: pizza, bagels, and brunch.
The proliferation of brunch-goers looking to chow down on ricotta pancakes and sip grapefruit mimosas each Sunday afternoon means there are literally hundreds of places to go if you’re looking to do the same. How do you separate the legit bacon, egg, & champagne havens from the mediocre wannabes?
From bottomless sangria to the city’s best eggs benedict, here are the top NYC brunch spots worth wandering through the concrete jungle on a Sunday afternoon for.
Calle Ocho (Upper West Side)
It’s easy to find bottomless brunch in NYC, but it’s not cheap.
Calle Ocho has one of the best deals in the entire city: free, bottomless sangria (of which there are 10 flavor options, from banana and coconut, to blueberry and acai) with the purchase of an entree. For as little as $20, you could be chowing down on a massive platter of breakfast tacos and sipping on as much sangria as you can handle while listening to bachata music. You can’t beat that.
Twitter: @CalleOchoNYC
Sons of Essex (Lower East Side)
One of New York City’s most…unique brunch traditions is “club brunch”, in which a brunch joint hires a DJ and dancers and basically turns the restaurant into a full-on club in the middle of broad daylight on a Sunday. Many of these are notorious for getting way too rowdy and serving overpriced, mediocre food. However,
Sons of Essex does a classy, affordable, and delicious version that’s still every bit as fun. Their DJ spins all hip hop tracks, and the cocktails are on point.
Twitter: @SonsOfEssex
Jane (Greenwich Village)
Let’s be honest. Brunch in Greenwich Village is about as cute and posh, and expensive, as it gets. This brunch spot has been getting a lot of hype for a while now, and there’s a reason.
Jane is surprisingly affordable without sacrificing a single bit of the class or deliciousness that the SoHo dining scene is known for. Also, if you’re seeking out the perfect eggs benedict (who isn’t?), you’ll find it here. Along with crème brûlée french toast. YES PLEASE.
Twitter: @thejane_nyc
Russ & Daughters Cafe (Lower East Side)
If you’ve brunched in NYC, and you’ve never brunched at
Russ & Daughters Cafe, can you really say you’ve brunched in NYC? While this one is a little different from your typical boozy brunch, it’s a classic. This cafe serves up traditional New York Jewish cuisine staples like latkes, caviar, and knishes. They’re known far and wide, however, for their massive, shareable, delicious lox platters, featuring smoked salmon, whitefish, sturgeon, trout, and more, and served with a variety of cream cheeses, onion, tomato, capers, pickles, and home-baked bread or bagels.
Twitter: @RussAndDaughter
Maialino (Gramercy Park)
New York does Italian food better than, well, anywhere else in the world outside of Italy. So it makes sense that the city would have an amazing Italian brunch.
Maialino serves up Roman-Italian soul food dishes, from impeccable cappuccinos and pastries to pecorino cheese soft scrambled eggs and ricotta and pear pancakes. Located in the stunning Gramercy Hotel, it also gives diners one of the best people-watching views in the whole city.
Twittter: @maialino_nyc
Speedy Romeo (Lower East Side & Brooklyn)
It’s hard to talk about New York without talking about pizza, but for some reason, breakfast pizza often gets left out of the brunch discussion. There are plenty of options, but
Speedy Romeo takes the cake (pie?) on this one, thanks to their hangover cure on a plate: The Ritz. Think the perfect breakfast sandwich (ham, proscuitto, egg, cheese, and tabasco), but in the form of a pizza. They also serve up a mouth-watering lox pizza and a cinnamon nutella sweet breakfast pizza. The best part? Their killer bloody mary is topped with, wait for it…an entire slice of pizza.
Twitter: @SpeedyRomeoNY
[tweetthis]If You Are Ready For #Brunch And You Are In #New York City Then Go Visit These Top Places To Eat![/tweetthis]
(North Cove Yacht Harbor)
If you’re looking to really go all out with your Sunday brunch, join the tourists and enjoy your bottomless mimosas and lox bagels on board a vintage 1920s sailboat cruising through the Hudson river. It’s pricy, but nothing beats sipping on prosecco on a Sunday morning while you sail past the Brooklyn Bridge and the Statue of Liberty.
Once you’ve gobbled up all the tasty brunch you can handle, spend your Sunday afternoon strolling
the best parks in NYC.
