ATXGuide
The Best Brunches In Austin
Looking for the best brunch in Austin? Here are our favorite spots.
Austin is officially a full-on brunch city—not just a place to get the world’s best hungover migas. There are a ridiculous number of restaurants now serving $16 eggs, and plenty of people lining up for them. We’re here to make sure you spend less time standing in line for mediocre waffles and more time drinking mimosas, so we’ve compiled a guide to our top Austin brunch spots. Whether you need a great restaurant to pregame your East Side adventure, or you're just looking for an excellent weekend meal, this guide to the best Austin brunch has you covered.
THE SPOTS
During the week, Hold Out is one of our favorite spots to sit outside with a burger, some wings, and a beer—this Clarksville brewpub does it all, and does it well. Adding further to its list of food accomplishments is the weekend brunch menu. And while you can (and probably should) get a burger at brunch to share with the table, most of the menu is made up of creative takes on classic breakfast items that you’ll want to make a part of your order. Tacos are served with a whole fried egg and tender carnitas, while pancakes get the Japanese soufflé treatment—puffed up to about a fluffy inch—before getting topped with fried chicken, maple-fresno chili butter, and maple syrup. Come with a group and you can probably order the whole menu (it’s pretty small). Then, pair it all with one of their house beers, a michelada, or some frozen sangria and frosé.
When your friend wants to meet your new dog and you want to meet their new baby, check out Sour Duck Market, the new spot from the team behind Odd Duck and Barley Swine. This place is counter service-only and has a large outdoor patio area that’s perfect for really anyone, dogs and infants included. Their menu stays the same all day, but there are certain things that are best on weekend mornings, like the breakfast sandwich and green chile hash. If you’re not in a breakfast mood, they also have shareable vegetable dishes and a wagyu burger. Just make sure you don’t skip the pastry case.
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During the week, Better Half is a great place for Happy Hour or a midday coffee, but on the weekend it becomes a full-on brunch spot. We’re not totally sure where they hide the kitchen, but they manage to make a really solid fried chicken biscuit and a granola bowl with greek yogurt, if you want something on the lighter side. It gets pretty busy so come early, order at the counter, and claim a picnic table in their backyard.
In the middle of an endorphin rush, you agreed to go to brunch with six people from your exercise class. Once you realize this means balancing a long list of dietary needs, you start contemplating bailing and switching gyms entirely. Head to Hank’s in Windsor Park instead. They have plenty of space both indoors and outdoors, so it shouldn’t be hard to get a table, and since the menu has things like avocado toast and a veggie burger alongside pasta and a fried chicken sandwich, everyone will be able to find something. And, for when you inevitably take a group picture to show your favorite instructor, the space has plenty of natural light and plants.
Cisco’s is one of the only original Austin joints still standing, and you’re here for a Tex-Mex breakfast. The owners would probably rather you didn’t even think of this as a “brunch” spot—coming here is about appreciating things the way they were in the ’70s. So on a weekend, there’s nothing better than a “late breakfast” of huevos rancheros with fajita steak or a migas plate, followed by a biscuit with honey and butter. Keep an eye out for photos on the walls of Austin politicians like LBJ—they were known to shake hands, kiss babies, and lobby for their agendas over breakfast at Cisco’s in their day.
It’s primarily patio space at the almost-nauseatingly-charming French-Vietnamese Elizabeth Street Cafe, so when you make your plans for brunch, be ready to eat outside. While you can order pho and spring rolls from their regular menu, the specialty breakfast items—like sticky rice with ginger sausage and poached eggs, or a fried egg, pork belly, and avocado banh mi—are the way to go. If you believe in eating dessert after breakfast, go for the brioche french toast with blueberries and ice cream as a final course. Or pick up some macarons on the way out.
There are plenty of other brunch spots on South Congress, but June’s, with its checkered floors, jukebox, and dog-friendly patio, outshines them all. The menu is impressively varied, with options like Matzo Ball Caldo (a matzo ball soup spiced up with jalapenos and avocado) and sourdough pancakes. Our preference here is to choose dishes like those two, which you might not find elsewhere. If you want something really filling, get the fried chicken sandwich. Just hope some of this place’s effortless cool rubs off on you as you leave.
Mattie’s has the type of wraparound porch you might design for your dream house. This restaurant in a historic mansion is hidden away in Bouldin Creek, and has been serving brunch since the ’40s. A recent renovation has only made it more pleasant, filling the patio, lobby, bars, and main dining rooms with the kind of vintage decor that looks authentic but doesn’t smell like mothballs. The food has the same upgraded old-school feel, with grits, biscuits, and fried chicken all available. And while they probably didn’t serve kale salad back in the ’40s, know that you’re paying tribute to Austin’s history just by dining here, no matter what you eat. Say hi to the peacocks, too.
Sick of eggs benedict and pancakes and avocado toast? Direct yourself to Sunday dim sum at Wu Chow. This is your best opportunity to sample a ton of stuff from this upscale Chinese spot downtown - and while they don’t do cart service, they make up for it with cocktails. Take advantage of the fact that you can make reservations for brunch, come with a big group, and order everything from (best-in-town) soup dumplings to scallion pancakes to baked pineapple bao, and wash everything down with Mai-Tais.
If Perla’s is a shiny private yacht docked in the Hamptons, Clark’s Oyster Bar is more like a freshly-painted skiff on Cape Cod. Or at least that’s how it works in our imagination. This is the sister restaurant to the seafood behemoth that is Perla’s, and while it’s certainly still upscale, Clark’s has a slightly more casual, cooler feel. The menu is giant - so from the huge raw bar selection to the burger, chowder, or cioppino, it’s pretty impossible not to find something to like here as you’re sitting under a striped awning drinking what should probably be champagne.
You’ll need to plan things out a few weeks in advance if you want to guarantee yourself a table at Paperboy during prime brunch hours on the weekend—reservations book up fast, but you can always try your luck with a walk-in. There’s a countertop you can post up at to get the traditional “diner” experience, a few small tables inside, and a downstairs patio that looks out onto East 11th street through a wall of breeze blocks. Order the bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich if you want to see what helped Paperboy go from a trailer to a two-story brunchery. Or take advantage of the fact that there’s a real kitchen by ordering braised pork and sweet potato hash, or some steak and eggs with chimichurri. Everything here looks pretty, for your friends who are more into posting about their brunch than they are into eating it. But most importantly, everything here tastes great, too.
Launderette looks even better in the daylight. Whether you’re out on the patio or inside the dining room, it’s hard to have a daytime meal here without wanting to move out of your own house so you can start over with a place that looks like this. And while dinner at Launderette is a sharing situation, if you’re an only child or just never got good at compromising, you’ll appreciate that you can go to town on your own burger or fried oyster florentine or pastrami hash during brunch.
One of our favorite neighborhood spots in Austin serves brunch, and it doesn’t disappoint. Especially if your go-to brunch order is a burger. Just look at that thing.
As close as you’ll get to The Hamptons without leaving Texas. There’s something on the Perla’s menu for everyone, from the crab cakes to homemade pop tarts—come for a slightly fancy group brunch and share everything. Also don’t let them skimp on the complimentary hush puppies before the meal, they may be free but they’re definitely the best part.
Fact: Magnolia migas/breakfast tacos/pancakes taste just as amazing at normal brunch times as they do late at night. It’s also one of the best bang-for-your-buck brunch situations in town. Don’t forget it.
Josephine House
Located in a ridiculously quaint Craftsman house, Josephine’s space feels less like it’s in the middle of Austin and more like you’ve just walked down to a beachfront hotel lobby. And the outdoor space is even more pleasant. When a restaurant is this good-looking, it can be hard for the food to measure up - but not in this case. You really can’t go wrong with any of the menu, but we have a hard time turning down the Josephine Rice Bowl.
Cenote is one of our go-tos for any great, casual meal on the East Side. Get yourself a (really big) coffee cup, grab a seat outside, and prepare to stay a while. Free wifi means you can treat yourself to an excellent brunch even if you’re doing work on a weekend.
A classic Austin spot for breakfast foods served all day. Kerbey is casual, comfortable, and serves what are arguably the best pancakes in town.
Hillside Farmacy is perfect for most situations, and that includes occasions when you are looking for a truly great brunch. We love their fried egg sandwich and top-tier mac and cheese, and it’s a pretty perfect place to drink outside as long as it isn’t 100 degrees.
A local favorite for all Austin vegetable-lovers, Bouldin Creek Cafe’s vegan and vegetarian options are good enough to please even people who wouldn’t typically trust a breakfast without eggs and/or chorizo.
We love Lucy’s. Come for the laid-back atmosphere, come for a picnic table meal, but most importantly come for the fried chicken. Most items are family-style, so bring a group and share everything (like the bucket of fried chicken for four that’s just over $30).
More hungover than you thought possible, but promised to have brunch with your parents? 24 Diner is the compromise your morning needs. Show up in your pajamas, order yourself the insanely good chicken & waffles, and let Mom and Dad appreciate the slightly more upscale environment.
Hidden in a residential section of North Austin, this restaurant inside a house has permanent good vibes. And the power to make you very excited to eat quiche.
