San Francisco is a city that knows how to take a few minutes to slow down and enjoy their brunch. There isn’t much better than enjoying mimosas and enjoying a unique meal while basking in the late morning sun. Here are the ten best places to get your brunch on, present in no particular order.
Sweet Maple
2101 Sutter St, San Francisco, CA 94115
Located in Lower Pac Heights, Sweet Maple is focused on the food more than the ambiance. Despite the decorations appearing to look like just another cafe, Sweet Maple will wow you with their thick cut millionaire’s bacon that is slow cooked with brown sugar and spices for over four hours. They also have a substantial selection of sandwiches, omelets and more to enjoy. While the menu is a little more limited, Sweet Maples also offers delivery and take out. The biggest takeaway from Sweet Maple, is that it will taste, and remind you, or the place you used to go for brunch with family and friends when you were growing up.
Zazie
941 Cole St, San Francisco, CA 94117
Zazie is, surprisingly known for their long wait times, but, they are even more known for the fact that it is worth the wait. Some of their most popular dishes are the miracle pancakes, croque madame, and eggs benedict with bacon, tomatoes and a lemon hollandaise called pierre noir. Zazie also offers a build-your-own mimosa kit, which can be used for any of their other breakfast cocktails, allowing you to make the perfect drink for you to enjoy while drinking in the beautiful neighborhood surrounding the restaurant. Due to the ongoing pandemic, Zazie has transitioned to an entirely take-out menu, but, amazingly, they have been able to make the entire brunch menu available for take-out. Also, remember those breakfast cocktails? They are also able to be ordered take-out and are currently 20 percent off!
Home Plate
2150 Lombard St, San Francisco, CA 94123
Located on Lombard St, Home Plate is a cross between an old school diner and your favorite cafe to hang out. This comes across from the moment you walk in, when you will be able to choose, from a booth a table, or what would normally be called a half-booth. The unique thing about the half-booths is that the booth half is actually a long couch, complete with comfortable pillows. On top of having a great ambiance that makes you want to spend not just your morning there but your entire day, Home Plate knocks it out of the park when it comes to their food. Enjoy their thick-cut maple All Star bacon, or the crab cakes to get you started. Before turning to their wide selection of Benedicts that you can customize to your liking. Home Plate also offers many vegan and gluten-free options, like their Acai bowl. Also, despite best efforts, no one has been able to find the bottom of Home Plate’s bottomless mimosas.
Plow
1299 18th St, San Francisco, CA 94107
Plow offers indoor and outdoor dining that everyone in the Dogpatch neighborhood looks forward to. Plow’s secret to success is their potatoes, specifically the most delicious breakfast potatoes. Plow doesn’t just have great potatoes, they can make your eggs any way you want, house-made pork sausage patties and lemon ricotta pancakes, just to name a few. They also offer freshly made blueberry corn muffins and buttermilk biscuits. During these trying times, Plow has made an effort to make most of their menu available for take-away and they do have delivery with most of the delivery apps available. During normal times, make sure to plan ahead, as wait times can reach upwards of two hours, but when you taste those mashed, seasoned and fried potatoes for the first time, you’ll know that it was worth the wait.
Dragon Beaux
5700 Geary Blvd, San Francisco, CA 94121
Many people think that brunch is simply a combination of breakfast and lunch, maybe get a little fancy with some mimosas or a unique take on eggs benedict. Dragon Beaux embodies some of what makes San Francisco such a great melting pot, with a modern twist on dim sum. Dragon Beaux will not only fill your belly, but give you plenty of great shots to fill your social media page with. If you don’t have time to stop in for brunch, Dragon Beaux offers a unique DIY Dim Sum kit, where you can customize your order, and they will pack it up for you to take home and make on your own time. Dragon Beaux also offers a hot pot option for lunch and dinner, all you can eat for one low price. Finally, if you get a chance, make sure you try their baked portuguese tarts, they are to die for!
Brenda’s Meat & Three
919 Divisadero St, San Francisco, CA 94115
Most times you’ll have to wait until the weekend to enjoy a nice brunch but Brenda’s doesn’t believe in that. Here you can get brunch seven days a week, from 8am till 3 pm. Brenda’s is a southern style restaurant that makes sure you’ll leave with a full belly and a smile on your face. When you go, make sure you try their Beignets, a deep fried french pastry that they offer in chocolate, granny smith apple and crawfish! If you’re really daring, you can order a sampler, getting one of each. Brenda’s also offers a Creole Bloody Mary, made with Okra and spiced rum that’s perfect for any hangover you may be nursing while you wait for your pulled pork hash. Brenda’s also offers pick-up, delivery and catering for your perfect party.
Just for you Cafe
732 22nd St, San Francisco, CA 94107
Just for you Cafe offers a cozy place to spend the late morning while you enjoy your brunch. Just for you Cafe will make any tourist feel like they are a local, hanging out at the best cafe in the area. Just for you Cafe offers what many would consider the standard fare when it comes to brunch, French toast, eggs, burgers, but, many of their meals have a New Orleans or Mexican inspired twist that will have your mouth watering just from reading the menu. If you partied a little too hard the night before you need to try the hangtown fry, and follow it up with some scrambled eggs, bacon and if you are daring, some fresh oysters. While other restaurants have had to scale back over the past year, Just for you Cafe has worked hard to support their entire staff and keep their full menu available for their customers. They also offer take-away service and can get delivery through delivery apps.
Sunset Reservoir Brewing Company
1735 Noriega St, San Francisco, CA 94122
Located in the Outer Sunset neighborhood. It has shifted much of its focus to breakfast sandwiches during these unprecedented times. If you are a fan of eggs, bacon and cheddar, order the original Devil’s Teeth that come on a house-made biscuit. If you’re a little more adventurous try the special version with pepper jack and lemon-aioli. Sunset Reservoir has also reopened for outdoor dining, offering its full menu on Saturdays and Sundays. While you sit people watching or chatting with friends you can enjoy the pint sized mimosas offered, or their bloody marys, with their own house made mix and vodka. Also, if you want something a little unique, make sure to try their Irish Goodbye, Irish whisky, Irish cream, coffee liqueur and cold brew coffee. Sunset Reservoir can also be found on most delivery apps, allowing you to enjoy their delicious sandwiches from the comfort of your own couch.
Wise Sons Jewish Delicatessen
3150 24th Street, San Francisco CA 94110
San Francisco has many different types of food to try, southern, asian, and more. However, there are only a few places where you can experience authentic Jewish Comfort food, and Wise Sons is the best. Wise Sons has three locations, the original in Mission and two expansions in Fillmore and Hayes Valley. You’ll find chopped pastrami and corned beef in the deli scramble, or challah French toast, potato latkes and bagels with smoked salmon on the menu of their flagship location. The smaller shops focus more on bagel sandwiches and pastries. Wise Sons also offers some pre-packaged food for you to take home and enjoy. Looking for a half pint of schmear? Or some bagels to eat throughout the week? Wise Sons Jewish Delicatessen has you covered.
Bacon Bacon
205A Frederick St, San Francisco, CA 94117
Sometimes your mouth is watering for some really good pork, and when that happens you need to make your way to Bacon Bacon, located in Ashbury Heights. Almost everything on the menu comes with bacon, from the breakfast burrito to the Bacon Swiss Croissant to the Almost Vegan Sandwich. Even the desserts, like the Bacon Caramel corn have, well, bacon in them. Right now Bacon Bacon is open from 8am to 2pm for take-away and carry out. Bacon Bacon is also currently offering the ability to buy a healthcare hero a sandwich, which Bacon Bacon will deliver for you.
San Francisco is home to many different people from many walks of life, and this is represented in the variety of restaurants that call the city home. This means that no matter what you are looking for, San Francisco has what you are looking for, ready to satisfy that sweet tooth, or cure that hangover.
With many thanks to Catalin Geangos from Travel Trained who provided us with this post, His latest post on covid-19 travel insurance can be found here.