8 great places for brunch in the Junction

The Junction offers excellent brunch opportunities. The Toronto neighbourhood, once compared to the Wild West, has a rich history, and while no one could sell alcohol there throughout much of the 1900s, this prohibition ended for good in 2000. The area's now filled with restaurants, bars and cafes, many of which are happy to serve brunch with boozy beverages.

Here's where to eat brunch in The Junction.

3030 Dundas West
Want to booze it up and get your caffeine fix all at once? Start the weekend off right with a Stoutpresso or spiked coffee before moving on to options like mini quiche, eggs Benny, buttermilk waffles and breakfast burritos.

Cool Hand of Girl
This all-organic cafe opens at 8 a.m. on weekends to serve up breakfast plates packed with scrambled eggs, multi-grain toast, coleslaw and roasted potatoes. Yogurt granola bowls and sandwiches are also on the menu.

The Beet
All-day breakfast options at the veggie-friendly The Beet include huevos rancheros, fea sunny side up eggs on blue corn tortillas with spicy black beans, pico de gallo, cheddar, avocado and sour cream.

Hole in The Wall
You can find an ever changing line-up of seasonal, scratch-made brunch dishes at this bar starting at noon every weekend. Your options include pulled-pork eggs Benny, a full English breakfast and crab madame.

The Passenger
This restaurant with a glorious patio draws on the neighbourhood's history as a railway hub. At brunch-time, you'll find indulgent selections such as lemon ricotta poppy seed pancakes, maple bacon BLTs on brioche buns, breakfast burgers and a weekly eggs Benny feature.

Roux
Breakfasts with fried catfish and eggs, bacon, baked beans and fried green tomato, or fried chicken and waffles with buttermilk bran waffles and bourbon maple syrup are among the house favourites at this Cajun cocktail bar in the Junction.

Junction Local
Bennies built on cheddar-scallion biscuits, pulled pork hash and pickerel po'boys share the menu at at this Souther-style restaurant on Dundas West. You'll find brunch served Friday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m here.

Cafe Cranberries
Pancakes sprinkled with sugar and piled with fruit, croissant'wiches and breakfast burritos are all on the menu at this family-run cafe on Pacific Avenue. Cafe Cranberries serves breakfast all day, meaning you can brunch whenever.

Photo from Cool Hand of a Girl by Hector Vasquez.