Two things can be true at once: Too many people overlook this longtime gem. Also, it’s still hard to get a table here. The dutch baby, a puffed-up pancake baked in an iron skillet, remains brunch’s unchallenged star. Sweet and savory toppings change weekly (though you can always get the classic, with lemon and maple syrup. But the rest of Ba Culbert’s brunch menu deserves love and respect. It also rotates weekly and includes treasures like veggie-rich baked eggs, ice cream profiteroles, and roasted potatoes with curried ketchup. Among the many reasons to love Tilikum: It serves brunch on Friday, as well as the weekend. No matter the day, reservations are essential.

Erika White runs the sort of warm dining room where diners can (and will) show up in sweats or church clothes. The lineup of Southern food hews classic and casual, but honey butter biscuit sandwiches, shrimp and grits, and the titular fried chicken on old-school waffles with tiny squares all deliver deep gratification. Gotta love a beverage menu that includes Pedialyte (and lets you add booze to it).

Founded by Linda Derschang, now in the capable hands of benevolent Capitol Hill magnates Joey Burgess and Murf Hall: What remains constant at Oddfellows is its status as a bona fide brunch scene. Rest assured, everyone packed into these tables, instagramming their fontina mushroom toast in that exceptionally flattering light, was out late doing something fun last night. The menu’s an even split between breakfast and lunch dishes (it’s all available on weekdays, too) not to mention morning cocktails aplenty, and expansive coffee options. Weekend wait times can get gnarly.

The family behind Ballard’s Sazon Kitchen long ago proved they know how to make spectacular chilaquiles. Their newest spot near the Spheres—a spinoff of the Maíz antojito counter in Pike Place Market—levels up Mexican brunch yet again. Most diners end up with one of the three varieties of chilaquiles, but some of chef Roxana Martin’s other dishes provide a better showcase the restaurant’s freshly nixtamalized masa. Like huarachitos divorciados, or a tender beef shank waiting to be fashioned into tacos with heirloom corn tortillas. Even the avocado toast subs tostadas for bread. Talavera tile atmosphere, fresh micheladas, and the town’s best horchata latte only improve upon Molino's greatness.

One of Tom Douglas’s first-gen restaurants still serves bacon and breakfast potatoes that are damn near perfect. Lola’s menu dovetails Greek flavors into classic brunch territory, balancing kebabs and pita with pancakes and French toast. These worlds come together in one dynamite octopus hash. The doughnuts, hot fresh and served with jam, are available all day, but still qualify as a brunch staple. Lola’s attached to the Hotel Andra, which means a fair amount of travelers come through, but on weekends, locals descend upon this dining room for brunch before partaking of various activities downtown.

Describing a restaurant as global makes it sound like a bad ‘90s relic. But how else to term a brunch menu that skips from Syrian salads to Sichuan wings, then moves along to tosilog, Burmese tea leaf salad, and Sri Lankan curry? What’s even more impressive: Chris Cvetkovich’s kitchen does a credible job translating so many food traditions into one well-balanced, wide-ranging brunch menu, where spicy fried chicken tops waffles and fries topped with sambal, red onion, and peanut sauce should start every meal. Nue even does a weekday brunch menu with a few more dishes (and a few more cocktails).

A location in the most crowded heart of Pike Place Market could get away with being perfectly fine. But Daisley Gordon’s too much of a perfectionist; his kitchen reminds you why a simple omelet can be such a revelation—or that poaching eggs in a sauce of red wine and foie gras is a capital idea. This enduring brasserie balances egg dishes with quiche, plus gooey-rich croques and French french toast, both with housemade bread. The best brunch here begins with the flawless frites.

How can a place with just six items on the menu inspire such constant, ardent affection from brunchgoers? The owners of Analog Coffee also preside over this kitchen around the corner, which has honed its menu down to the most alluring versions of modern-day mindful brunch staples: An egg sandwich; avocado toast doused in daikon and crunchy bits; a standout veg-packed rice bowl. B-Side is less about slaying your hangover with booze and melted cheese, more about restoring your equilibrium with hearty dishes that also happen to be full of puffed grains and fermented carrots. Order online to pick up at B-Side’s counter, or you can dine in at Analog.

The patio alone would earn Tamara Murphy’s restaurant in Melrose Market a sinecure as brunch royalty. But focusing too much on that (charming, covered) rooftop undercuts the appeal of this food. Terra Plata’s brunch dishes expand on the Spanish influences that permeate the dinner menu (manchego in the biscuits; chorizo in the gravy) and balance tortilla española glamor with fried chicken indulgence. The churros are a brunch signature, but blistered shishitos are an unexpectedly pleasant way to start.

Monsoon bills its brunch as dim sum, which it is….kinda. Delicate duos and trios of dumplings and pork buns turn into a meal when assembled with small plates like the bo la lot and crispy imperial rolls. This long-standing brunch menu leans into savory—mains include duck confit congee, claypot catfish, plush pho, and vermicelli noodle bowls ringed with grilled prawns or lemongrass chicken. Thank longtime beverage director Jon Christiansen for the bloody mary, made with pineapple and pho reduction. (Monsoon’s casual sibling, Ba Bar, doesn’t have a dedicated brunch, it does open each day at 10am.)

The website and hours are tough to find, and the counter-service layout forces you to make critical pastry decisions before you’ve seen what else is on the menu. Still, few brunch spots deliver charm and carbs in such impressive doses. This high-ceilinged cafe, kin to the Boca restaurant a few doors down, layers its glass case with copious Argentinian pastries like medialunas and empanadas. At 11am, the kitchen doubles down with that country’s signature deep-dish pizza, the fugazzeta, plus salads and sandwiches that underscore Argentina’s connections to Italy.

The low-key new occupant of the former Luc space bears no resemblance to its French predecessor. And yet it continues the legacy of being exactly what the neighborhood needs. Sunday-only brunch offers burritos (sausage or vegan) drenched in enchilada sauce, chicken and beignets with a sidecar of soft serve, and the ultimate in brunch brilliance: a family-size platter of bacon to share. Kamp distinguishes itself with warm service, but also an impressive lineup of non-alcoholic brunch drinks—from un-boozed negronis and bloody marys to 0 percent beer and sparkling rose—plus plenty of morningtime concoctions with actual alcohol.

Seattle Met’s 2022 Restaurant of the Year quietly began brunch service in February—but it won’t stay quiet for long. Not with these balanced chorizo benedicts, adventurous drinks, and a Spanish-style French toast so tender it could almost pass for flan. But chef Grayson Corrales’s real triumph is the house croissant dough fashioned into the shape of a cinnamon roll—but with spreadable chorizo and jamon bechamel standing in for spice and icing. Vodka washed in oxtail fat makes for one savory bloody mary, while the Galician lager and lemonade make a compelling argument: shandies should be a brunch staple.

There’s a reason so many people loiter on the sidewalk waiting for a table every weekend morning. Cafe Flora aced brunch decades ago, providing vegetarians and vegans—and the omnivores who love them—with a rich lineup of passionfruit pancakes, frittatas, and a very convincing mushroom gravy over biscuits. Flora recently added a year-round covered and heated patio and deals out brunch cocktails, kids menus, and exacting coffee drinks with equal fluency. As you’d expect from the town’s vegetarian standard-bearer, each dish has its vegan, gluten, and nut situation clearly demarcated on the menu.

Once upon a time, James Lim intended his low-key Ballard spot to be a coffee program with a few breakfast dishes. But his particular formula—Korean flavors, lots of poutine, a dash of Milk Bar—proved too appealing. Now Watson’s Counter is a confirmed brunch favorite that happens to serve fiercely good coffee. Watson’s Counter (it’s named for Lim’s dog) is about so much more than its signature cereal French toast, but it’s hard to avoid ordering a dish that rises this far above gimmick status: Hearty whole wheat cider bread coated with your choice of sugary cereal. Take note: Watson’s will close briefly (probably around the month of April) to move to a new Ballard location; check Instagram for updates..

Eggs baked in tomato sauce inside a scalding individual skillet are the menu's centerpiece at northern Ballard’s tiny brunch epicenter. These versions, sometimes called “eggs in purgatory,” draw more inspiration from Italy than points east; robust combos like sausage, mushrooms, and mozzarella comfort like a saucy brunch pizza sans crust.

The menu’s drenched in mythology; disco balls cluster on the hall ceiling. The patio doubles as an immersive tropical sci-fi bar. This Fremont bar has personality in spades, but also some dialed-in bar brunch fare. The menu’s big enough to hold grain bowls with almond butter and date syrup, but also the house favorite “crunchy wrap supreme.” The weekend drag brunch on the (covered, heated, tropical sci-fi) patio books up fast; the inside dining room is equally friendly to little kids and big hangovers. A pineapple mimosa can help with either situation.

The venerable Senor Moose tweaked its name a few years back, but the cafe still has its walls filled with bright color and Mexican folk art. More importantly, it still has gaily tabletops packed with enchiladas, huevos rancheros, deep-flavored machaca hash, all on terra cotta plates. An enormous menu balances brunch standbys (chilaquiles) and less familiar comida tipica, like alambres.  The bar makes a mean horchata, not to mention a host of tequila drinks.

Eric Donnelly’s seafood spot serves the brunch by which you can measure all others. The food: shrimp, oysters, and a healthy dash of Southern influence, evidenced in the Tar Pit, a biscuit benedict with Tasso ham that feels surprisingly balanced for something that contains both hollandaise and gravy. The service: So warm and careful, you might forget this dining room is jam-packed with other people. For fun: oyster shooters, garnished with gin-soaked roe and a pickleback disguised as a bloody mary.

A bit of the let-the-good-times-roll energy from Fremont Avenue's old Roux restaurant hangs in the space that became a French-inspired brasserie from chef Josh Delgado in 2018. Brunch cocktails make use of every fruit, from OJ in the mimosas to grapefruit juice in a concoction known as War of the Rosés, and here every coffee order translates to a full French press. If the "world famous" apple fritters—mild bites served with apple butter—seem unlikely to reach true global celebrity, a veggie-heavy lamb bacon cassoulet elevates a boozy brunch to something damn near virtuous. 

This all-day cafe is a veritable brunch village, with seating that extends from the French blue and white tile dining room to the heated, glassed-in side patio—then back outside to the street-side patio shelters. Counter service isn’t exactly optimal for a leisurely weekend morning, but the case of pastries and a menu with gentle Middle Eastern overtones balance things out. Crowded onto tiny tables: Fried eggs with whipped feta, breakfast salads, and really good coffee (co-owner Deming Maclise also owns caffes Fiore and Vita). Be prepared to wait in line on a market Sunday, though it does move fast.

Ostensibly this is just a hospitable neighborhood bar on a residential corner of Wallingford Avenue. So why is every dish—and every cocktail—about 10 times better than it needs to be? Tender biscuits, piled on cake stands, are nearly as big as the coffee mugs. Campari and grapefruit upgrade the house mimosa; a dash of coffee syrup justifies the “breakfast margarita.” Braised pork cheeks atop a grilled slab of housemade focaccia adds pep to the typical formula for fancy toast, while the towering chicken and waffle plates practically defy gravity. Union’s appeal also includes giant booths you can stuff with kids, or with friends you haven’t seen in a while.

The burger menu at this chill neighborhood restaurant draws fans from outside Mount Baker. But the Sunday-only brunch is quietly building its own fan base as well. The menu trades the burger focus for sweet-savory johnnycakes, a breakfast bowl of barley and pork belly, and a memorable burrito. The Kennebec fries, tater tots, and some thoughtful salads from the dinner menu also make an appearance. Given the location, it's no surprise families fill plenty of tables, but the bar helps balance out the vibes for kid-free brunchers.

Alternative-milk mindfulness crashes, gleefully, into the brunch paradigm that’s all about bacon and waffles with fruity pebbles griddled into them. This combo diner–flower shop offers a formidable lineup from monte cristos to the underrated breakfast salad. But the real fun here involves waffles nearly as big as a personal pizza, with enhancements like bacon or lemon curd, even cereal (fruity or chocolate) cooked into the batter. Gluten-averse diners can swap in cornmeal. Bebop serves carafes of mimosas, but the coffee lineup is as festive as the waffles: coco puff mochas, iced cardamom oat milk lattes, even a “sparkling americano” made with coconut LaCroix and served in a wee glass boot.

Australians are serious about breakfast. So, by extension, this subtly Australian-themed cafe excels at hearty brunch fare, be it benedicts, bacon and eggs, or multilayered avocado toast. But Arthur’s is especially good at building appeal in dishes that nourish you, like a bowl of punchy brussels sprouts, or the savory brunch bowl with smoked trout. Rest assured, both coffee and cocktails are on point.

Beacon Hill’s self-described champagne tavern strips away the orange juice half of the mimosa equation, and nobody’s mad about it. It’s far more fun to try a flight of grower bubbles from various small-scale French producers. This vintage-styled spot will broaden your Champagne horizons without being snooty about it, which makes a grown-up brunch feel downright productive (for the record, they do also serve mimosas). The creative food menu stumbles on execution more than it should, but the frites are a lovely companion to bubbles; requesting an extra-toasted muffin levels up the signature braised duck benedict.

This duo of brunch destinations share an owner, a name, and some common traits: Each spot offers up stylish interiors, great outdoor space, a menu that levels up its dishes with a hundred thoughtful details. The two brunch menus share a few common dishes (the Harry’s breakfast plate, the house burger, the chicory Caesar). But from there, the chef at each location builds a well-rounded menu that might include pozole, sweet potato latkes, or cornmeal pancakes.

Pizza for brunch? The heart wants what it wants. Seattle’s amiable quartet of neighborhood pizza restaurants also serve a daily brunch menu. Front and center is the pancetta-topped breakfast pizza, finished off with a pair of sunny side up eggs, cooked atop the pizza in the wood-fired oven. Close behind: Baked eggs and shakshuka, which also benefit from that wood oven. No surprise, brunch flavors skew Italian; so do brunch drinks (including a cool margarita–aperol spritz hybrid).

The original near University of Washington has grown into five locations, with a brand new outpost in West Seattle. Each one functions as the neighborhood’s unofficial cafeteria: Tall ceilings, a topping bar for pancakes and French toast, plus warm flexibility for large groups or unruly little kids. Not to mention a massive lineup of benedicts, scrambles, hash bowls, and other morning classics, all made with careful ingredients. Portage Bay is extremely user friendly, from kid-size version of many dishes to dietary considerations like the great housemade gluten-free bread you can sub in for regular toast.