There's no shortage of great brunches in L.A., and with new options every weekend, it's getting harder to figure out where to spend those most precious of commodities: weekend hours, stomach space, hard-earned dollars. We've all got some tough choices to make in the weekends ahead, but hopefully this guide can help navigate our city's ever-evolving brunch scene.
Filipino flavor
The quietly-opened Partido may still sport the signage of El Arco Iris—the space's longterm, previous tenant—but the new Highland Park spot is very much now up and running as a Filipino-French restaurant that's worth checking out, especially at brunch. “Because of colonization in the Philippines, we don't have a set cuisine,” says chef and owner Lynne Tolentino. “It's kind of a sad thing but in a way I think it's pretty cool because that only means you can fuse everything together a little bit.” Tolentino, who spent time in the kitchens of Patina, Providence and Superba Food & Bread, blends classic French technique with the Filipino food of her childhood. She launched brunch service last weekend, offering a menu of sisig with jalapeños and pickled onions; a stellar longanisa poutine with soft egg; leek fried rice; tapsilog, her take on steak and eggs; and adobo fried chicken and waffles served with her mom's coconut-and-brown-sugar syrup. (Don't skip the ube churros.) Stop by Saturdays between 10:30am and 2:30pm.
Pour up
Where better to find a so-boozy brunch than at a cocktail bar? West Hollywood's ever-adorable Harlowe just launched brunch service, where you'll find the usual weekend suspects—a breakfast burrito, oatmeal, pancakes, eggs Benedict, French toast—but what you should really be after is that lengthy list of brunch cocktails, a punch bowl or three, and the massive “Mighty Mule,” where a copper mug the size of your head arrives full of Moscow mule (do not even attempt to drink this by yourself). There's also a build-your-own Bloody Mary bar, bottomless mimosas ($25 per person), plus a mimosa kit for the table ($45), which offers a variety of mixed fruit for your choice of brut or rosé champagne. Enjoy on the patio, for best results. Sundays from 11am to 3pm.
The early bird
Praise be: Highland Park's Cafe Birdie is bringing back brunch. Starting this Saturday, find the menu back in full swing after a summer hiatus, and this time around, the team's serving a slew of new menu items such as semolina pancakes with plum syrup; fried polenta Benedict with poached eggs, bitter greens, wild mushrooms and hollandaise; and a lamb flatbread with egg, smoked tomato, greens and yogurt sauce. Of course you'll still find favorites like the shakshuka with beet greens and the Moroccan fried chicken with harissa aioli, as well as the National Dish of Brunch, avocado toast (here, serviced with pepitas, pickled shallots and watermelon radish). Sip your way through the meal and your weekend with a few new brunch cocktails, to boot, like a seasonal Pimm's cup. Drop in Saturdays and Sundays from 10am to 2:30pm.
Sea and farm to table
Earlier this month, Valley steak-and-seafood outpost SOCA started its very own brunch service that's just as internationally inspired as the dinner menu. Find a Spanish flatbread with Serrano ham, manchego and poached eggs; a house-smoked lox plate; a chilaquiles breakfast burrito; a hatch chili omelet with crema; steak and eggs with mushrooms and béarnaise; and a full raw bar. Get thee to Sherman Oaks, 10am to 3pm, Saturdays and Sundays.
Un peu de Paris
L.A.'s own location of the hit Cannes restaurant Le Petit Paris already brought DTLA bottomless brunch every weekend, but now they've thrown bottomless mimosas into the ring. Stop by Sundays between 11am and 3pm for house-baked French pastries, breads and desserts, plus crêpes, a Benedict station, cheese, charcuterie, salads, weekly specials, a carving station and a chocolate fountain, and of course unlimited refills of mimosas made with sparkling French wine, all for $49 per person. Have little ones? Children 12 and under are $25, and five and under are free. (If bottomless isn't your thing—who are you?—this darling, chandelier-lit spot offers an à la carte brunch menu on Saturdays.)
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