Best of Toronto
The Best Brunch in Toronto
The best brunch in Toronto is the irrefutable remedy to all of those during-the-week woes. Really, there's nothing better than rolling out of bed post-noon with the promise of some freshly made hollandaise, fluffy pancakes, crisp potatoes--okay, now I'm drooling.
Torontonians, myself included, are often fiercely loyal to their brunch de choix. But with so many fantastic options (and irritating friends claiming you 'have' to try their favourite spot), venturing out to see if the spinach omelettes are truly greener on the other side is inevitable. Luckily, there are lots of options to choose from.
Here is the list of the best brunch in Toronto, as voted by readers of this site. For more Toronto brunch info, check out the brunch category in our restaurants section.
See also:
The Best New Brunch Restaurants in Toronto, 2010
The Best New Brunch Restaurants in Toronto, 2009
The Best All Day Breakfast in Toronto
The Best Eggs Benedict in Toronto
Note: This list was previously published on February 21, 2008. Comments below made up until October 8, 2010 are in reference to the old list. We've purposely kept the archived comments here because we believe they (mostly) add value to this topic. If you don't want to have to wade through all of them, simply hit the "sort by newest first" link at the top of the thread.
Top photos by the Drake Hotel and Nathan Legiehn, Vic Shum from the blogTO Flickr pool.
Aunties and Uncles
Worth the weekend waits, as long as you're not wearing last night's heels. Aunties and Uncles on the edge of Little Italy near College and Bathurst is famed for its fluffy pancakes and quaint decor. Good prices for the portion sizes and lots of homemade menu options including its breakfast pocket, chickpea salad, and omelette of the day. More »
Lady Marmalade
A Leslieville favourite, Lady Marmalade is known for its Mexican fusion breakfast and health-conscious menu. It uses free-run eggs and organic when possible, organic bread, and has lots of vegetarian options. You can enjoy your "huevos migas" breakfast or "madre tierra" sandwich amid mismatched furniture, unique salt and pepper shakers and play-things for kids. More »
Saving Grace
In the heart of Little Portugal, Saving Grace has won the hearts of the Dundas west crowd. With sourdough French toast with caramelized bananas, corncakes and chutney, and waffles and eggs of the day it's not hard to see why. Aside from the regulatory people-watching, you may spot a famous bruncher or two here including Feist, Chris Murphy and Sook-Yin Lee. More »
Easy Breakfast
On Queen West at Roncesvalles, Easy Breakfast is known for its huevos divorciados with eggs on a tortilla, salsa, refried black beans, guacamole (and there's that drooling again). Diner style and extra seating on King Street, Easy's smoothies are to die for and almost as good as the toy soldiers on your toast soldiers meal. More »
Le Petit Dejeuner
This King Street East brunch spot (which also serves dinner) has a pretty hearty mix of classic and unique items, including eggs Florentine with sauteed spinach, apple buttermilk pancakes and a signature breakfast crepe with three kinds of cheese, bacon, eggs, and potatoes. Long and narrow with a bar along the side, prepare for a bit of a wait on weekends. More »
Swan Restaurant
On Queen by Trinity Bellwoods Park, Swan has a retro feel with rows of booths and 1950's decor. Its brunch menu offers an eclectically inspired mix of options that all come in generous portions (good or bad for the morning after?). Swan is known for its omelette of the day and oyster scramble. More »
Edward Levesque's Kitchen
Prepare for line-ups at this Leslieville destination. The weekend-only brunch menu has all the regular staples but with a twist. French toast stuffed with ricotta and dried apricot, mackerel, onion, and chive scramble, and double smoked bacon, just to name a few. More »
The Drake Cafe
The Drake Cafe has all of the regulation brunch staples such as eggs benedict and buttermilk pancakes, but you have the option to add a mimosa to your meal in case you didn't quite have enough the night before. The Drake makes a mean bagel and lox, as well as fresh daily scones and serves chicken and waffles during brunch hours. Bonus is the large patio which is open during warmer months. More »
Discussion
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Best brunch overall though has to go to Fire on the Eastside.
Of the others on the list, been to Grapefruit Moon (thought it was a bit of a dive), Easy - which has a fantastic Huevos and Saving Grace, where I 100% disagree with the above posters. Everytime I've gone I have had something completely different, and every time it's been awesome. Best Brunch I've ever had in the city.
Insomnia has some great pancakes.
Aunties - i don't see the big deal - standard fare.
The crepe place just south of MuchMusic has some great stuff. Bar One has some good pancakes too.
They have a simple menu, with some repeating ingredients, but not cheesy low end stuff. Their bennys are fantastic, their smoothies are great in the morning, and the food is well executed. They have amazing homefries too if you get them!! The atmosphere was a bit loud for a sunday brunch, but it was busy, and it seemed like everyone had the chatterbug!
I know there are other locations, but i cant speak of them, but if they're similar to the one on eglington(just west of yonge/eg), then they've got something good going for them!
Karine's by Maggie's.
With no exageration u guys!
Breakfast galore for only $5.00 even.
Pleasant experience of a Montreal style breakfast where i would pay at least $11.00
296 Brunswick Ave wasn't mentioned , a completely amazing experience and priced right (try the Royal for $11)out of this world and annex benny ...wow...
All ingredients are as fresh, local, organic, and made-from-scratch as they can possibly be.
Check out the Cheesecake Stuffed French Toast, the ridiculously awesome parfait, and for the more savoury tastes: Eggs Champ (mixed mushrooms, poached eggs, bacon, toasted bagel)
Brunch runs Saturday and Sunday 9am-4 pm and prices range from $6-$12. Lunch happens Tuesday-Friday 11 am-4pm. The newly rennovated building is bright, cheerful, and scrupulously clean.
Lola is a shiny new gem. Come and see.
The menu was creative and avoided over complication. The artistic presentation of the food was notably perfect, and the wait staff was knowledgeable and attentive.
We had twelve people in our party and they gave us a private room upstairs (which had an incredible atmosphere). Our whole group loved Lola's understated appeal (and intend on going back.) ;)
Overall: 9 out of 10
"Great place, amazing food, and excellent chef"
ah. A re-read through of your press release. Found it. Please make it a little more obvious than simply shoved into your media files.
I'd go just for the - impossible to find in Toronto - REAL baguette.
Anyone need a current century map?
- Blog*TO* almost exclusively reports on downtown
See the cycle here?
Oh my friend you zinged 'em good this time! Keep fighting the good fight!
HOW AM I GONNA GET TO THE 401
I agree with Serge too, why on earth did the Levesque make it to the list again? Seriously.
no tenth place? no runners-ups? and no new awesome brunch spots since last year? seems kinda lazy. i think your readership could be rewarded with at least a top 20.
do it...
"I think you've got a point there. I'm gonna go back to eating dead bodies."
"Brainssss! Brainssssss!" (Sorry, couldn't resist :)
As for Bonjour Brioche, I like their food; mind you, I have never actually eaten there -- a friend has been kind enough to bring me a variety of baked goods on a number of occasions. He always tells me they are busy.
As for them not taking debit cards, this can be an indication they are having fiduciary difficulties... with the Global Financial Crisis, a lot of banks cracked-down on allowing stores and restaurants to accept debit cards. Maybe this is the reason?
Otherwise, pretty good list, except for Edward Levesque's. Bleh! I'd rather eat "brunch" from the 7-Eleven across the street (10-hour-old display hot dogs and a 64-oz. Big Gulp, yum!)
mmmmmm.
Debit slows everything down.
Do you know how early a true baker has to wake up in the morning to make croissants and quiches and fresh bread? Up by 4am at the latest or you are screwed for the day.
Plus, the margins on baked goods are sooo thin....why should they give a cut to the Banks?
The owners at BB know full well there's a line up down the street because they've earned their rep. The last thing they need is to discount their product because you're too lazy to go to a bank machine before going out.
Dave's on St. Clair...has a pulled peameal bacon sandwich..how can you go wrong?
Well, the easiest thing to do would be to go to Bonjour Brioche and simply ask, "Why don't you guys take debit cards?"
As for your comment about people using debit to pay $20 - $30 purchases, that's nothing, man! Try .99 cents! Go to McDonald's, and see how many people seem to carry no cash whatsoever. Ditto dollar stores, where a lot of people put $1.15... on their debit or credit card.
No wonder people are arse-deep in debt....
(we have started doing brunch on Saturdays as well 11:30-3:30)
please source your pictures to the proper restaurants, if they are good enough to be used at the top they should be used in the feature.
Mitzi's on College is overpriced and underwhelming.
NOT the thick ones, please!
I live in the west end and there are some awesome new restaurant opening up that deserve a shout out way more the Drake, For anyone looking for new good food check out Liberty Belle Bistro, I went there for brunch last weekend and I plan on going back again soon. Awesome food and fun to be somewhere new.
http://easyrestaurant.ca/
Can't review the food, it never arrived.
Got there 20 minutes before they opened. Waited. Five minutes before opening there were twenty people in line for the less-than-twenty seats. Someone steps to the front of the line -- oh -- they were 'on the list' which was hidden inside the door. So, second in line, in at ten. A half hour passes, two groups have been served. We wait. An hour in, we ask -- "We're short staffed." Thanks for telling us. An hour and twenty minutes, we watch as everyone else has been served. Second in line, an hour and twenty minutes later, we are told that they are NOW working on our orders. I remarked that we were second in line and last served, to which the waitress responded "Well, actually you are not the last served.!" Wrong. Wrong answer, and wrong approach.
Payment Tech- debit/interact charges 13¢ per transaction
Visa/Mastercard 3+%
The machines run $25 to $75 (for wireless) per month, or buy it out right.
Bonjour has been open for over at least 8 years, they can well afford the machine.
Maybe they don't declare everything...
Anyways, customer service is such an issue in Toronto. Come on people, it's your customers that help pay your rent, your wage, and help promote!! Get over yourselves and get it together!!
Make yourself a vodka clamato caesar.
Cube some potatos, toss in oil and fry in a pan on med-high for 20 mins till brown.
In another pan fry breakfast sausages on med-high for 10-15 mins till brown.
Fry over-easy eggs in pan. Make Toast.
Eat.