13 best cheap brunch spots in NYC

At brunch, Jackdaw’s $11 cocktails are two-for-one, so you can get a morning buzz on without breaking the bank. Cold brew martinis, boozy “brunch punch” and Bloody Marys with your choice of vodka or tequila make Jackdaw quite the scene on a Saturday at noon. Standard brunch fare like French toast stuffed with bananas and cream cheese, breakfast burritos with bacon or sausage and a fried chicken sandwich with Cajun fries ring in at just $16, so you can get a solid brunch for about 30 bucks. 

Not sure whether to go out for Thai, Mexican or eggs? With Scramble’s eclectic selection, you don’t have to decide. Their menu features affordable hits from all sides of the menu, but we especially love their $8 sliders and 25 mini dumplings for just $10 from the Thai side. Tacos ring in at $5.50, and you can also get the brunch classic of two eggs with home fries and toast for $12. It’s a crowd-pleasing, affordable meal for that friend group who simply cannot make a decision about where to eat. 

George Motz’s smashed patties are making all the best new burger lists–and for good reason. We especially love them for a cheap weekend brunch, since a single burger, made with fried onions and gooey American cheese, rings in at just $7.25. (Although it doesn’t come with fries, which are another $4.25.) A hot ham or tuna sandwich is $7, and perhaps most importantly, a Miller High Life is $6. Grab a seat at the bustling counter to watch the burgers get smashed, crack open a beer, and enjoy a Sunday morning for less than 20 bucks.

This French and Senegalese cafe serves up warm crêpes made right in front of you. Go simple with a lemon, butter and sugar filling; sweet with Nutella, banana, strawberries and whipped cream or savory with egg, cheese and smoked salmon. Their sandwiches are perfectly Parisian, made on crusty bread and served with brie and butter or chicken, swiss and bechamel. Pair your food with a glass of bissap, the “national drink of Senegal,” made from hibiscus and fresh mind. (It’s sweet and sour, with a flavor reminiscent of cranberry juice.) The small space isn’t a good fit for a big group, but you can’t beat it for an affordable brunch date.  

Brunch at La Bonbonniere might just be the perfect New York breakfast. Cheap food? Check. Egg creams? Chance of seeing a celeb? Check. This holdover from the old days of the Village only takes cash—be sure to hit up an ATM first. They serve breakfast all day, so even on weekends when you can’t drag yourself out of bed until 3pm, you can get a greasy, satisfying (and affordable) plate of eggs over easy and buttered toast. 

$21.95 for 90 minutes of bottomless drinks at this New Orleans-inspired restaurant includes mimosas, hurricanes, and sparkling S.H.I.T. (that’s, um, sugar honey iced tea), making Sugar Freak  one of the better-priced boozy brunches in NYC. You’ll need to buy an entree, too: for $17.95, you can choose jambalaya and three eggs any style; a Sugar Freak breakfast of biscuits, eggs, fried chicken and grits; shrimp, sausage and cheese grits and more Creole-style meals.

NIna Flores’ tiny but beloved Great Burrito shop opened in 1994. In January 2022, after nearly thirty years in the neighborhood, the family business was transformed into a sit-down restaurant. Order a breakfast burrito (it’s what Nina’s known for, after all), or the French toast, which is made with cinnamon raisin bread and can be ordered with cajeta, a dulce de leche made from goat’s milk. Treat yourself to a glass of sangria, too—it’s got fruit, so it’s healthy!

Chef Sam Yoo has opened a diner with a fine-dining pedigree, serving up an egg-and-cheese sandwich on a sesame scallion milk bun, honey butter pancakes, homemade granola with cranberries and orange zest and other breakfast delights—all for under $15. The cocktails are $14 a pop, but the Golden Punch (with passion fruit sangria and soju-infused oranges) and spicy soju Bloody Mary put your standard brunch drinks to shame. 

This newly-opened cha chaan teng—a Hong Kong-style diner—serves up slippery eggs, a savory, soft-scrambled treat, along with Hong Kong French toast topped with chocolate and an Instagrammable Ovaltine topped with an adorable bear. You can order every item individually, but we prefer to grab the breakfast for two for just under fifty bucks. It comes with your choice of one appetizer or side, two entrees, one French toast and two coffees, teas or Ovaltines, making it a cute brunch date for just $25/person.

With a live DJ and a buzzy, boozy brunch, this barbecue spot turns brunch into a party. We go for the brisket egg and cheese sandwich and the biscuit bully plate served with chicken, a cheddar scallion biscuit and maple cayenne butter. For $35, you can score 90 minutes of unlimited peach, mango or strawberry bellinis and mimosas. The whole table has to participate in bottomless brunch, so make sure to bring your most fun friends. 

Tom’s, a nearly hundred-year-old diner, has been serving big breakfasts (most famously, stacks of lemon ricotta and gooey cinnamon roll pancakes), to Brooklyn since before the hangover was invented. (Well, at least the ones caused by vodka and Red Bull.) At prime brunch time, you can expect a wait, but the staff makes it a little easier on the hungover hordes by handing out free coffee, food samples and orange slices. It’s cash only, but they’ve got an ATM inside for those of us who buy everything on our phones.

$49 for an hour-and-a-half of bottomless mimosas, Bloody Marys or sangrias and an entree isn’t the cheapest brunch in the city, but it is one of its most infamous. The crowds get rowdy and the lines get long as folks chow down on standard, solid brunch fare like French toast, two eggs with bacon or chorizo and a bacon, egg and cheese croissant. If you’re really looking to party, a three-hour bottomless brunch is $72. (That’s $24 an hour, so you do the math on whether you can drink your money’s worth.) They take credit cards, but bring cash—it’ll cost you 3% less.

Luckily for us, pierogies taste just as amazing in the morning as they do during a late night in the Village. Veselka’s Ukrainian-style pierogies are handmade, stuffed with cheese, potato, sauerkraut and mushrooms or BEC, then served boiled or fried and ready to dip in luscious sour cream. You can score four dumplings for $9 or eight for $16—that’ll give you plenty of grease to soak up last night’s booze. Wash them down with an $8 Ukrainian lager, and you’ve got yourself a Saturday morning worth waking up for.