The 13 best breakfast and brunch spots in Bristol

Opened in 2012, Hart’s Bakery is cosily tucked under Bristol Temple Meads train station. Stop by for cut-above caffeine and pastries on the go. Watch the baking action unfold in the open kitchen – and get first dibs on a new batch of cinnamon buns – as you sample your way through sourdough toast, breakfast muffins and properly hefty sausage rolls. Due to the bakery’s size that due to Covid they’re staying takeaway only for now.

Renowned as one of the best all-day cafés in Bristol, breakfast at The Bristolian means business. Tuck yourself into the kooky interior as you peruse a loaded brunch menu. Take your pick from meaty, veggie or vegan takes on a classic Bristolian fry-up, or for smaller appetites, check out the waffles or eggs florentine. The Garden of Easton, over on St Marks Road, is also worth a visit for similar lush surroundings and yummy breakfasts.

You can’t get much more Bristol than this Stokes Croft workers’ co-operative café that only serves vegan food. Breakfast is a highlight, with flavoursome meat-free fry ups and the veggie BLT for a mere fiver being our picks of the bunch. Wash it down with a latte and watch the rest of the world rush to work through the massive floor-to-ceiling windows – or hide away from the world in their snug booth seating.

This Latin American inspired café just down the road from Greenbank Cemetery in Easton is filled with imaginative takes on brunch and breakfast that are served all day long. The breakfast tacos are particularly enticing, with a choice of chorizo or vegan ingredients to savour on hand-pressed tortillas. Every dish has been lovingly developed to offer something different from your usual brunch fodder.

It’s all about the massive breakfast sandwiches at this bright neighbourhood café and food store just around the corner from Easton’s St Marks Road. And whether you opt for them with crispy bacon or facon, one thing is certain: you need to get your order in early because they have been known to sell out. To say that BS5 locals have come to cherish this airy corner café with its big windows, whitewashed walls and large communal tables is something of an understatement. 

Stapleton Road’s legendary Monte Carlo Café has been offering salvation to hungover souls since 1964. Don’t mistake the lack of pretension and bargain prices for bad quality, either. This place is as spotless as it is welcoming and the fry-ups are fabulous. Plump for the veggie breakfast (eggs, mushrooms, potato scallops, beans, tomatoes and veggie sausages) or brave the gigantic Full Monte, a mammoth undertaking of bacon, sausages, black pudding, eggs, potato scallops and all the trimmings.

Talk about Instagrammable. From its prettily presented pastel-coloured superfood lattes to a selection of stunningly designed cupcakes and homemade sandwiches, this veggie café knows how to serve up takeaway breakfasts that will make your followers drool with envy – and they taste really good too. Nip round the corner to Clifton Village’s Victoria Square and you’ll have a perfectly packaged photoshoot ready to upload in just a jiffy.

This Italian neighbourhood restaurant is a firm favourite with locals. It has even won best breakfast and best Italian restaurant at the Bristol Good Food awards for three years in a row. Their eggs every which way, BLT on ciabatta and mushrooms with parmesan cream are all superb, but it’s the ricotta pancake and corn fritters that really make this a brunch destination unlike any other. Take some of the pastries home for a sweet treat later in the day, too.

Head up to Totterdown to delight in the 100 per cent vegan dishes cooked by one-woman-band Babs Greaves, who’s both the chef and owner of this popular eatery. The brunch menu is packed, ranging from mushrooms on toast to The Hunk, a double-storey stack of tofu, spinach and avocado. For the thirsty, there’s smoothies, coffees and milkshakes, and for big eaters, the only answer is the Beasty Breakfast. 

This small but perfectly formed café behind Whiteladies Road brings a slice of Hungary to BS8. Think full English breakfasts but with generous portions of Hungarian sausage, eggy bread and a slather of mustard to boot. For a sweet tooth, the Hungarian delicacies of sour cherry cake, apple pie and gerbeaud cake are all on offer. If you’re keen to get your teeth into the most authentic Hungarian experience, order the goulash, which comes complete with sourdough and chorizo.

If you can find someone with a bad word to say about the Primrose, they’ve probably never lived in Bristol. Choose from a lengthy menu featuring cut-above fry-ups (called Montys), savoury muffins, waffles, French toast and the world’s most indulgent hot chocolate, then place your order at the counter in the homey dining room downstairs. There’s no booking here but the staff will do their utmost to have you seated within ten minutes.

You might have seen the ‘Lounges’ dotted about the city, but this is the original. Its all-day brunch menu and damn fine cocktails are delivered to your table with a smörgåsbord of sauces. The full English covers all bases, but savvy meat-eaters might want to add on a sweetcorn fritter from the equally impressive veggie version. Elsewhere there are pancake stacks, breakfast muffins and shakshuka to get stuck into, all best accompanied by the well-spiced Bloody Mary.

The attention-grabbing pancake stacks (with blueberries, bacon, or both) are top of our must-try list here, with savoury and sweet french toast, bacon sarnies and eggs on toast following closely behind. Great for coffee, hangover obliteration and entertaining small children – thanks to a brilliant kids’ play corner – there’s absolutely no requirement to join the queue for the giant dryer out back but should you feel the need, laundry prices are reasonable and the service washes are life-changing. Yes, it's a café and a laundromat. Legendary.