Great Brunches in Boston

Boston plays to win, especially when it comes to brunch. Here are some of the best places to kick off the weekend day, whether with pancakes, eggs, hash or beyond.

Save Collection

By: Kim Foley MacKinnon

Related To:

Photo By: Amanda Lewis AGL&Co

Photo By: Lindak

Photo By: Michael Piazza

Photo By: Emily Hagen

Photo By: Nick Caito

Photo By: Tara Orkofsky

Publico Street Bistro & Garden

For those who lean more savory than sweet for brunch, Publico in South Boston has you covered. Its hearty Publico burger, with house sauce, cheddar, lettuce, bacon, grilled onions and a fried egg, will satiate the hungriest bruncher. Other options, like the smoked salmon Benedict on a duck-fat biscuit, the cheeseburger hash or the frittata made with asparagus, spinach, tomatoes and feta, also beckon. Wash it all down with a spicy Michelada. If you do need a sweet fix, get a bag of house-made doughnuts with Nutella dip.

Lower Mills Tavern

This Dorchester hotspot offers a weekend brunch that knows how to quench brunch-goers’ thirst: It offers a $5 bloody Mary, as well as a $5 mimosa, which can be customized with orange, grapefruit, pineapple, peach, pomegranate or cranberry juices. Booze aside, dishes like the fig-and-almond ricotta crepes with toasted hazelnuts, and the sweet potato-Hatch chile hash are refreshingly creative flavor combos. Fried apple fritters with caramel sauce are a delightful departure from the usual sweet brunch offerings.

Rochambeau

Bursting onto in late 2019, Rochambeau, a two-story French-inspired brasserie and café in the Back Bay, serves a weekend brunch menu with classics such as an exquisite croque madame, with ham, gruyere and bechamel on brioche, adorned with a sunny-side-up egg and served with a side of pommes frites, as well as more modern dishes, like a breakfast flatbread, topped with scrambled eggs, hollandaise and bacon. Whatever you do, don’t leave without ordering the addictive glazed cinnamon skillet bread, served with almond-honey butter, which is an impossible-to-stop-eating delight. Tip: There’s a gluten-free brunch menu available, too. Just ask.

Rebel’s Guild

For a brunch spin on Boston classics, head to Rebel’s Guild in the Theater District’s Revere Hotel. In lieu of a typical Benedict, Rebel’s Guild serves the Revere Lobster Benedict, with Maine lobster, poached eggs and hollandaise sauce. The Boston Cream Pie French Toast is made with brioche bread, pastry cream, chocolate and toasted almonds. Boozy frappes feature combinations and flavors like bourbon and salted caramel, Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Strawberry Shortcake, and make for especially decadent drinks.

Casa Cana

Located in the hip, recently transformed boutique hotel Studio Allston, Casa Cana is a Cuban-Caribbean-inspired boon for the region. Bright, bold and colorful décor sets the mood for a flavorful brunch menu, with dishes like huevos rancheros, breakfast burritos and chorizo hash and eggs. Rum cocktails, like the Hotel Nacional, composed of Havana Club, apricot, pineapple, lime and bubbly, go surprisingly well with brunch foods. If you have a big group, you can order pitchers of margaritas in flavors like blood orange, blackberry and jalapeno.

Lincoln Tavern

Not only does Lincoln Tavern serve a fantastic weekend brunch, it offers weekday brunch Monday through Thursday, too, meaning diners can join for breakfast pizzas, signature Lincoln sliders, Fruity Pebble pancakes and pulled pork-topped cheesy biscuits pretty much daily. And before you write off Fridays, think again. Fridays are when Lincoln serves its Brunch Test Kitchen, where it tries out menu items that may or may not make it onto the regular menu. The restaurant’s Brunch Punch, made with vodka, Aperol, pineapple, lime and Fresca, is a great alternative to the usual brunch beverages (though Lincoln’s West Broadway Bloody, with house-infused jalapeno vodka, house bloody Mary mix and a celery salt rim is hard to put down).

Lucky’s Lounge

A South Boston institution, Lucky’s Lounge is one of those spots you might miss if you didn’t know it was there. This local hangout is accessed via a hard-to-spot, garden-level entrance in a brick building on Congress Street, and it’s well worth seeking out, especially at brunch. Brunch pays homage to Frank Sinatra, with a live band crooning his tunes and a menu serving Sinatra-themed foods and drinks. Try the Chairman of the Board, made with grilled tenderloin tips, two eggs, secret sauce and brunch potatoes, or the decadent Nutella French Toast, with mascarpone, bananas and bourbon maple syrup. The Pear of Dice cocktail, made with gin, pear liqueur, pear puree, lemon and spice-infused simple syrup, is a fun complement.

Boston Chops

The South End branch of modern steakhouse Boston Chops is the ideal destination for steak and eggs. It’s also a place to tuck into brisket, shank and tongue hash, or a tenderloin and blue cheese salad, as well as brunch favorites like eggs or lobster Benedict, omelets and French toast. Diners can also count on a perfectly made bloody Mary, a match for any hearty brunch dish.

Citrus & Salt

Despite Boston’s northern locale, there is no shortage of chicken and waffles around town, but Citrus & Salt, a “coastal Mexican” restaurant owned by Chef Jason Santos, serves one of the more unusual versions around. Fried chicken is paired with Santos’ blue corn and tequila waffles, along with spicy agave syrup, avocado butter and watermelon pico de gallo. Other options include the Brunch Chimichanga, with scrambled eggs, broken rice, poblano queso, salsa and home fries and Chilaquiles Rojo, with sunny-side up eggs, goat cheese and crème fraîche. Make sure to order a soft serve mimosa or a Dole Whip with aged rum for a brunch to remember.

Post 390

Located in the Back Bay, cozy Post 390 offers a Sunday brunch Benedict variations usingham and cheese, sausage and biscuit or Atlantic salmon, as well as a full slate of seafood, charcuterie and breakfast classics, like homemade sausage hash and eggs with cumin-roasted sweet potato, piquante crema and black bean pico de gallo. In a nod to the building’s former life as a post office, the Postmaster cocktail, made with vodka, Pimm's, blackberry, Thai basil, lime and cava, makes for a fine toast.

Buttermilk & Bourbon

If perfectly cooked beignets dusted with powdered sugar, banana-cinnamon French toast or buttermilk biscuits topped with house-made sausage gravy is your idea of a perfect brunch, then Buttermilk & Bourbon is your kind of place. Chef Jason Santos, who also owns Citrus & Salt, Abby Lane and Back Bay Harry’s, firmly embraces a Southern sensibility, but with his own creative spin. Bananas Foster pancakes, deviled egg toast and bruleed grapefruit are fun departures from the standard brunch menu. A Hurricane or a Sazerac is a great start to brunch, while the frozen Bananas Foster, with rum, Bailey’s and Kahlua, is a delicious way to finish.

Frenchie

This snug little bistro in the South End is as authentically French as it gets, with owners who grew up in France, and a staff that seems imported straight from Paris, complete with accents. White-brick walls, tile and marble floors inside — plus a patio and a solarium strung with twinkling lights — make for an utterly charming atmosphere. Brunch showcases croques, crepes and a bacon-studded omelette, as well as steak or salmon tartares. If you didn’t know you were in Boston, you’d swear you were in a little bistro in the City of Lights.

Alcove

With an outstanding location on Lovejoy Wharf, offering views of the Zakim Bridge, Alcove is a delightful place to linger over brunch, especially before heading to nearby TD Garden. Appetizers run the gamut, whether you fancy shrimp cocktail or blueberry coffee cake. Mains include the fried chicken sandwich with pancetta, a fried egg and jalapeno aioli, and poached eggs with pork belly, sweet potato and quinoa.