The 34 best brunch spots in Chicago to try right now

When Lula Cafe opened in 1999, it helped turn Logan Square into a dining destination while fueling the city’s farm-to-table movement. The cafe's brunch menu offers a more laid back way to experience chef Jason Hammel’s cooking, which emphasizes seasonal produce in items like rotating breakfast sandwiches  and a butternut squash french omelet. Add a Bloody Mary or mimosa, or blend your booze with caffeine by ordering an Irish coffee made with whiskey and coffee liqueur. And try to get a seat on the patio, assuming it's warm outside.

When one of the best restaurants in Chicago offers brunch, you can rest easy knowing that it's a safe bet. Chef-owner Carlos Gaytán offers a mix of sweet and savory entrées like Belgian waffles served with duck leg carnitas, sweet potato puree, and poached egg, and orange-scented French toast served with pink peppercorn ice cream and berries. Share a pitcher of sangria made with brandy, hibiscus and mint or opt for something spicier with a michelada Cubana. Finish off your meal with horchata tres leches or blueberry pie.

At this sweet, sunny, daytime-only café, healthy food is tasty enough to crave. The owners are committed to organics and offer meat-free options, but they’re okay with a little cheese, butter and sugar every now and then. Case in point: thick, dense blackberry pancakes and a heaping breakfast sandwich of fried egg, Gorgonzola, applewood-smoked bacon and fresh thyme. If that’s too good and gooey for you health nuts, there’s always the Vegan Epiphany, an organic tofu scramble that just may live up to its name.

Just like there's no need for an alarm on the weekends, there's no reason to be counting calories at brunch. This West Loop institution offers irresistible dishes for pigging out on, such as shrimp and grits, piri piri chicken schnitzel and waffles served with honey butter, jam and maple syrup. Promote yourself to hero status when you order the maple-braised bacon for the table to share.

Stephen Gillanders’ Pilsen restaurant is a refined-yet-approachable dining experience that’s full of delightful surprises. By experimenting with Asian-inspired flavors, Gillanders creates memorable mashups like Maine lobster dumplings, bacon and egg bibimbap and short rib hash. Don’t miss out on the brunch pastries, either—the cornbread madeleines are a must-try starter.

With lines often out the door and down the block, you’ll probably have to wait for a table if you’re headed to Kasama. But tough it out and you’ll be rewarded with pork belly adobo, an Italian beef-longganisa sausage combo sandwich, a killer breakfast sandwich and other Filipino-inspired dishes. Save room for Genie Kwon’s incredible pastries, which include ube and huckleberry Basque cakes and truffle croissants. Pro tip: You can skip the line by ordering ahead for pickup.

Spend Sunday mornings in Bridgeport, where The Duck Inn is ready and waiting with orange creamiscle French toast, rotisserie duck hash, buttermilk biscuits and a seemingly endless supply of Bloody Mary mix. Ordering for the table? The sticky buns and fried cheese curds with Bloody Mary ketchup are musts for munching. Psst! You can always order your favorite handhelds from Duck Inn Dogs and Decent Beef.

If you’re looking for the ultimate Sunday Funday, gather some friends and head to this Gold Coast steakhouse for an opulent brunch experience. You’ll feel like a baller with options like Boursin cheese omelet, king crab benedict and lobster avocado toast, plus each table receives bottomless sides. Top it off with a glass of bubbles from the Champagne cart to keep the good times going all afternoon.

Look, if you want pizza for breakfast, who are we to judge? This buzzy restaurant balances out its wood-fired pies with brunch staples like avocado toast and huevos rancheros. Toss in a basket of breads and pastries for the table, or go boozy with a bottle of bubbles and accompanying juices.

Whether you're dining in or ordering to go, the menu at Peach's is a study in southern indulgence. The garlicky shrimp and grits is a Day One favorite, while the peach-bourbon French toast offers a sweet fix. Regulars will tell you that the salmon croquettes are a non-negotiable, so go ahead and add those to your order, too.

Thinking of spending your Sunday morning at this classic Chicago diner? Better check the weather: The line snakes out the door and onto Lou Mitchell Way well into the afternoon. Customers are treated to fresh, sugar-dusted doughnut holes (and, if you’re a woman, Milk Duds) while they wait, but the real feast starts when you sit down. Stacks of “meltaway” pancakes are perfectly browned, omelettes come in hot skillets (try the sweet, rich apple-and-cheese variety) and juicy, gooey patty melts seem too big to finish. But as with the rest of the irresistible dishes, you’ll find room.

Just hearing the name of this restaurant makes us crave brunch—no matter the time of day. That feeling isn't unfounded, as Batter & Berries deals in omelets, pancakes, waffles and breakfast sandwiches. But the star of this menu is the French toast, which comes in four distinct flavors: blueberry, strawberry, caramel and lemon. Regulars know that the best way to order is through the French Toast Flight, which affords you a taste of each.

Want a little CBD with your coffee? At Lakeview brunch spot Wake 'n Bacon, you can get the cannabis-derived compound added to just about everything on the menu. Husband-and-wife team Gabriel and Sarah Ayala pull from their respective heritages to build the food lineup, spotlighting dishes from Taiwan, Argentina, El Salvador, the Philippines and beyond. The purple-hued ube pancakes are topped with bacon, sunny side up eggs, cheddar and spiced maple syrup. Craving something sweet? The Berry Bliss Crepes are stuffed with vanilla-lemon cream cheese and covered in sauteed berries and granola.

Though Uncle Mike’s Place is known as one of the best Filipino breakfast spots in the city, favorites like longganisa, Filipino sausage, and bangus (the unofficial national fish of the Philippines) didn’t make it to the menu until around 2008. When the economic recession pushed them to innovate, owners Michael Grajewski (the Uncle Mike) and Lucie Grajewski leaned on Lucie’s Filipino heritage. Among old-school leather seats and steaming griddles, you’ll find both American and Filipino dishes, including tocino with eggs and spam and egg sandwiches.

If you prefer savory to sweet and whiskey to bubbles, Longman & Eagle is the Holy Grail of Chicago's brunch offerings. The all-day menu boasts a few dishes that skew breakfast-y, like the corned duck hash. Purists will appreciate the PBR breakfast, with eggs, bacon, potatoes and an ice-cold can of Pabst Blue Ribbon. That's one way to start the day!

Located near the University of Chicago, this breezy diner keeps hungry students and Hyde Park residents fueled up with a selection of Southern fare from Lillie’s Q chef Charlie McKenna. Drop in morning, day or night for comforting classics and all-day brunch fare like biscuits and gravy, shrimp and grits, fried catfish and chicken fried steak. Make sure to get an order of the beignets that rival some of the best in the city. It’s counter-service so those in a rush needn’t worry about running late.

On the weekends, this sweet Pilsen pub serves a superb royal breakfast pie that's loaded with sausage, egg and melty cheese. It pairs nicely with a gin Bloody Mary and a pilsner beer back. Round out your meal with an order of curry chips or a Scotch egg, the latter of which comes wrapped in pork sausage, coated in breadcrumbs and fried to perfection. If you’re really hungry, get the royal English breakfast featuring fried eggs, bangers, rashers, black pudding, baked beans, grilled tomato, roasted mushrooms, sourdough toast, butter and jam (yes, that's a lot of food).

This laid-back Pilsen brunch spot welcomes local patrons and customers in search of homemade Mexican-American specialties. With hundreds sold each day, chilaquiles are the most popular offering at Pochos, but you can’t go wrong with any of the other menu items. For an interesting twist on classic brunch delicacies, try the honey butter chicken and French toast with habanero maple syrup or the chorizo benedict served on a buttermilk biscuit.

For brunch with a view, you can't get much better than the skyline vistas that surround LondonHouse Chicago's rooftop. Perk up with an espresso martini and the banana split parfait, which features fresh banana, Greek yogurt, honey, berries and edible flowers. For more substantial fare, opt for the chicken and waffles served with sides of hot sauce, maple syrup and truffled jalapeno honey butter.

Named after a bygone lumberyard in the area, Pilsen Yards is a casual, music-fueled concept that specializes in tacos and other Mexican eats plus a long list of cocktails and beer. For brunch, go sweet with the concha toast or savory with the chilaquiles drenched in tomatillo salsa. If you can, grab a spot on the covered outdoor patio that's festooned with heated cement floors and overhead heaters for maximum coziness.

Just like everything else on offer here, Farm Bar’s brunch menu features seasonal, locally-sourced ingredients including fruit and honey from owner TJ Callahan’s Brown Dog Farm in Wisconsin. Favorites include shakshouka scramble, chilaquiles, and the Wisconsin pimento sandwich with sausage, egg, chili-infused honey and Pimento cheese. Perk up with a chai cold brew martini or try a glass of cider.

You’ll find a lot more than chicken and waffles at this acclaimed Bronzeville spot. Celebrities like Chance the Rapper and Derrick Rose have stopped in for from-scratch Southern specialties—made with the help of top-secret family recipes, according to owner Tonya Johnson⁠—like catfish, candied yams, cornbread and mac and cheese. But if you're in the mood for the namesake dish, try Monique’s Love, a classic combination of fried chicken breast and waffles, or the June Bear, a colossal chicken sausage omelette. 

A family-run, BYOB Puerto Rican staple in Humboldt Park’s Paseo Boricua, this bright, naturally-lit restaurant serves Chicago creations like a jibarito breakfast sandwich—a fried plantain sandwich with eggs, ham, lettuce, tomato, and garlic served with a side of coconut oatmeal. Breakfast is available daily, but you can head here Saturdays and Sundays for the city’s only Puerto Rican brunch buffet. Grab a café con leche and savor the pastelon de huevo, a Puerto Rican egg casserole, along with pancakes, sweet plantains and breakfast potatoes. 

Former Gioco vet Gaetano Ascione opened this Hyde Park bistro in 2019, bringing an authentic taste of Italy to the neighborhood. Indulge in the savory flavors of the bistro's weekend brunch program, where Italian and classic brunch fare collide. Breakfast burgers, eggs benedict and "pancakes al cioccolato" make it difficult to settle on one single dish. The $18 bottomless mimosa deal may have you stumbling out of the restaurant, but the eats and ambience are sure to have you running back for your next brunch. 

No matter what the forecast looks like outside, this Lincoln Park restaurant from Lettuce Entertain You transports diners to sunny California through a bright and spacious dining room that's dotted with greenery. Choose from avocado toast loaded with tomatoes and scallion mascarpone, breakfast tostadas with pulled chicken and black beans, or the crispy strawberry waffles.

Hyde Park’s fresh Southern brunch joint comes from Racquel Fields, owner of the nearby Jamaican mainstay 14 Parish. As an “A.M. eatery,” the restaurant focuses on the rich meals usually served in the morning time (although the restaurant serves food through the evening). The menu features classics from the American South like fried green tomatoes, catfish and grits and a jambalaya skillet. Don’t miss out on the delectable chicken and waffle bites or the Georgia peach pancakes topped with a spiced peach compote and creme anglaise. You may think you’re stuffed after the entrees, but all should make room for the Mississippi rhum cake or Aunt Lou’s mouthwatering strawberry crunch cake for dessert.

Mornings are an otherworldly experience at this trendy West Town hideaway from the folks behind Celeste and Porto. Nab a spot in the front of the restaurant, where you’ll feel like you’re in the tropics thanks to the retractable roof and lush greenery, or head further in to be closer to the DJs and percussionists performing. The weekend brunch menu is a global affair with dishes like shakshuka, winter squash hash and baba ganoush plus equally flavorful cocktails, such as a vanilla chai and smoked tea spiked with bourbon and ginger.

Stop in before catching a matinee in the Theater District or taking a stroll through Grant Park and enjoy a crispy tavern-style pizza topped with ingredients like pepperoni, prosciutto and wild mushrooms. You’ll also want to try the pistachio-raspberry cream puffs. If you’ve got nowhere to be, take some time to sip an Irish coffee while you relax in one of the leather booths inspired by old-school Chicago elegance.

Enjoy a luxurious brunch in the Langham Hotel’s second floor restaurant, where you can take in views of the Chicago River while dining on bruschetta eggs or the messy but delicious signature wagyu burger topped with garlic aioli, onion jam and Hook's white cheddar. Make sure to take a look at the cocktail menu, which offers complex but refreshing sippers like the London Lover made with vanilla infused Belvedere, passionfruit and sparking rosé.

Chef-owner Darnell Reed taps into his great grandmother Luella's southern roots and the recipes he learned as a child with this casual, counter-service Southern restaurant. On the brunch front, that translates to soul-soothing dishes like French toast—with a different flavor offered every month—plus Nashville hot chicken and waffles and shrimp and grits. Complete your meal with an order of house-made buttermilk biscuits with seasonal jam.

Located right by the United Center, this unique Brazilian concept is housed in a Victorian three-flat. Although Sinhá—which translates to “lady of the house”—focuses primarily on its catering arm, owner Jorgina Pereira also offers a magnificent brunch buffet on Sundays. You’ll feel like part of a family mingling with strangers over plates of traditional Brazilian staples, like fish stew and shrimp bobo. Don’t overdo it on the mains though—the red velvet flan cake for dessert is a can’t-miss.

Dove’s wistfully transports you to a time of counter service, vinyl seating and a true appreciation for midday meals. The menu combines northern Mexican fare with the brunch/lunch we can’t get enough of. You can never go wrong with the burnt ends brisket hash, but the masa pancakes drizzled with mole maple syrup are like no other. The “back to life” Bloody Mary is a bar specialty and make sure you save room for key lime pie or the guajillo chili-spiced champurrado pie.

When it comes to brunch, Esencia keeps it sweet and simple. The humble menu features brunch with a strong Mexican flair—chilaquiles, breakfast tacos and chorizo (in any form) take center stage as the restaurant's savory dishes while churros and lemon ricotta pancakes satisfy any sweet tooth. Feel free to build your own omelet or give the hibiscus enchiladas a try.

The restaurant and cider bar’s brunch menu is small but filled with winning dishes that celebrate owner Dr. Markus Chwajol’s Czech heritage—delicacies like crispy pork schnitzel served atop a lemon poppyseed waffle and a smoked kielbasa (smoked sausage) sandwich. A mimosa flight served on a paddle offers variations on the beloved morning cocktail made with rosé or prosecco and various fruit juices. It’s perfect for sipping on Cobblestone's shaded plant-lined patio.