With so many terrific options in Philly for outdoor brunch, why start your day with anything other than a mound of pancakes, brioche french toast, and bacon on a patio? Here are 9 open-air places that will give your dishwasher a break for many early afternoons to come.
THE SPOTS
Furnished with European-style sidewalk tables, this Lebanese-French cafe is set up for brunch in the streets of Northern Liberties. With wicker chairs and big red umbrellas at every table, Cafe La Maude continues to serve one of the best brunches in Philly. For a spicy start to your day, look no further than the green shakshuka. The dish is topped with a tangy carrot tahini sauce over sweet potatoes, fried cauliflower, green fava beans, kale, and spinach.
Talula’s is delicious no matter where you sit, but the real magic lies in the romantic, overflowing garden on Washington Square Park. The seasonal New American restaurant has excellent sweet options, like the shareable French toast sticks with strawberry-rhubarb compote, and savory classics, like the Southern-style shrimp and grits. For the best of both worlds, get the buttermilk fried chicken and waffle, drizzled in Talula’s hot honey.
Few things are more satisfying in life than Café y Chocolate’s Huevos Motuleños Especiales. The dish swims in spicy salsa verde with refried black beans and comes topped with a poached egg mixed with ham and mozzarella cheese, roasted poblano rojas, caramelized onions, and tomatoes. This neighborhood Mexican cafe and coffee shop doesn’t have the largest sidewalk setup—outlining the mural-wrapped building are small square tables and folding chairs. But from your seat, you’ll have views of the bright and striking floral art that’s all over the restaurant’s exterior.
The bright seating lining Taco Heart in South Philly is a great place to catch up on your Vitamin D after a long winter. They also have some of the best breakfast tacos in town and they’re all good enough to make you feel like a functional human after a long night. We go for the bacon, egg, and cheese, a morning bowl with puffy chips, and lots of salsa. In conclusion, come here for packed tacos, stare at the murals on the side of the wall, and rinse and repeat for the rest of the summer.
When you’ve been put in charge of the next outdoor hangout, suggest The Love. If it’s your birthday brunch, suggest The Love. When your second cousin wants to show off their new shades, well, you get the idea. The Rittenhouse restaurant has a small cocktail bar overlooking the 18th Street tables if you show up early for your reservation, but the food is why you’re here. We really like the lemon poppy pancakes and vegetable omelet, but the whole menu is worth a try.
When Queer Eye came to Philly for its fifth season, one of the highlights was that we got a great Mexican restaurant in Alma Del Mar. They've got colorful patio furniture, white table umbrellas, and some memorable seafood dishes—including the greens and seafood salad, the salmon burger, and fish and grits. One of the best dishes, though, is the lobster benedict. Covered in an Old Bay hollandaise sauce, one bite will make you thankful for exploring life outside your bed’s blankets for a few hours.
Royal Boucherie has a peaceful outdoor garden on their second floor, but for those who like the busy jolt of sidewalk seating, you can also enjoy brunch and watch the visitors go by in Old City. One of the best things on the brunch menu is the Boucherie burger with bone marrow, watercress, and gruyere. You can top it with bacon or a fried egg but even without, it's huge, but isn’t so sloppy that your favorite t-shirt will be at risk.
This Mediterranean spot serves brunch daily with a menu spanning from pastries and Norwegian lox to chocolate chip pancakes. One of our favorites, the shakshuka merguez, fills a bowl with eggs, spicy chorizo, and sweet Moroccan salsa. It's s always cooked perfectly cooked and comes with fluffy pita. Their brick outdoor courtyard is surrounded by a bunch of greenery, and the patio offers a wonderful setting to sip on many of their mason jar drinks—including our favorite, the blueberry lemonade spritz that has real fruit in it.
Brunch isn’t just about where you go, it’s also about who you’re with. This Baltimore Ave. spot is a great place to take a group of your closest friends and family for some comfort food like fried chicken and waffles with strawberry butter or cheesecake french toast. If you’re looking for dishes that aren’t fried or maybe just have less butter, you can also get shrimp cocktail, a salad, and deviled eggs. And thankfully, they have outdoor seating since there’s not a lot of space inside. So on a nice day, you can watch the trolley go by while drinking a coffee and eating spoonfuls of bread pudding.
