There are few things more delightful than a long, lazy brunch — and we’re not the only ones who think so. Brunch is big in the Bay Area and getting bigger by the day.
These seven new hot spots in Walnut Creek, San Jose, Daly City and beyond cater to your every mimosa-sipping, brunch-savoring need with creative, innovative dishes. Think Southern-meets-Thai fried chicken and waffles, slow-smoked Burnt Ends Hash, linguica Benedict and pineapple-kissed brunch cocktails.
Los Gatos Parkside, Los Gatos
The restaurateurs behind the popular Harvest in Danville and Per Diem in San Francisco brought their approachable, seasonal concept to the South Bay last fall, and their Los Gatos Parkside has been a hit ever since. The warm, welcoming spot boasts a great downtown corner location (the longtime Boulanger space), a fully remodeled interior, a bar, a private room and alfresco dining. Expect that patio, which seats up to 50, to be a sunny Sunday draw when the farmers market is in full swing across the street at Town Plaza Park.
Brunch entrees at Los Gatos Parkside include, clockwise from left, the Breakfast Sandwich, Avocado Toast, Seasonal Quiche and Chorizo Tostadas. (Photo courtesy of Los Gatos Parkside)
Chef Noe Briseno’s brunch menu offers creative options that call for return visits. Start with freshly baked Banana Bread ($10) for the table, unless you want to go in a more decadent direction. In that case, a new option is the cinnamon sugar Mini Donuts ($14), served with both chocolate and caramel dipping sauces. And then there are the savory selections: GM Adam Lewin suggests you slice the corn-and-cheddar Hushpuppies ($12) in half and slather them with maple-sriracha butter. Deviled Eggs with Bacon ($10) are available at brunch and every other meal.
One of the bestsellers from the entree menu, the hearty Short Rib Hash ($23), impressed us as soon as we saw that the beefy bites were mingling not just with potatoes but with roasted carrots, bell peppers and onions too. Sunny-side-up eggs and harissa hollandaise crown the meat and veggies. The Avocado Toast ($16) is a piquant version, thanks to the crispy garlic, chiles and radish slices Grandma’s Waffles ($18) come with apple compote and vanilla bean chantilly cream; for $7 more, make it chicken and waffles.
Don’t overlook the lunch portion of the brunch menu, with its salads and sandwiches. The kitchen prides itself on making appealing soups; recent days have seen a Seafood Chowder with salmon and halibut and a Chicken Won-Ton Soup.
Signature brunch cocktails ($16) include the Hi-Tide, which combines house-infused blood orange tequila, Ramazzotti rosato, hibiscus and lime, and the Beet Drop, with mezcal, spiced pear, beet juice, vanilla extract and torched rosemary. Looking for lighter? The Zero Proof Cocktails list ($8) features a Ginger Berry number and a Cue the Mint with cucumber and Earl Grey.
Details: Open daily for lunch and dinner, with weekend brunch from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 145 W. Main St., Los Gatos; www.losgatosparkside.com.
SanDai & Kopi Bar, Walnut Creek
SanDai & Kopi Bar made waves when it opened in Walnut Creek last May, offering up what chef Nora Haron describes as “Nusantara Californian” cuisine inspired by California’s farm produce but reflective of the flavors of Haron’s native Singapore.
Chef Nora Haron, left, and sous chef Victor Divaz, right, prepare dishes at SanDai, an Indonesian-California restaurant in Walnut Creek. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)
The place is stunning — modern and minimalistic with beachy Balinese touches. (Check out the bar made from fossilized seashells!) The menu brims with dishes for omnivores and vegetarians, whether they’re there for dinner or brunch. And the kopi bar offers pastries, as well as coffee drinks of all sorts, including an avocado kopi ($6) that layers the vivid green of blended avocado with an espresso shot. They do golden lattes, coconut cappuccino and Americanos, too.
SanDai and KOPI Bar in Walnut Creek offers Indonesian- and Singaporean-inspired meals at its weekend brunch service, including tahu goreng, a fried tofu appetizer prepared with soy-fried tofu, grilled pineapple, mango, cucumber, sprouts, peanuts and a sambal petis miso sauce ($18). (Kate Bradshaw/Bay Area News Group)
You’ll find classic breakfast sandwiches and a mushroom congee on that brunch menu, but also more intriguing offerings, including a Tahu Goreng starter ($18) that combines crisply fried Hodo soy tofu, grilled pineapple, mango, cucumber, peanuts and the warm spiciness of a sambal petis miso. It’s a stunner that mixes sweet and spicy flavors and plenty of textural interest. Don’t miss the veggie-forward Farmers Market Gado Gado ($24) made with romanesco, broccolini, beets, Balinese black rice, kale, watermelon radish and a sambal citrus vinaigrette.
Details: Brunch is served from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday-Sunday, with dinner service Wednesday-Saturday at 1522 N. Main St. in Walnut Creek; sandai.us.
Smoking Pig BBQ, Fremont
Chef Antonio Mlazo holds a Smoked Breakfast Sandwich while standing behind the new breakfast array at the Smoking Pig BBQ restaurant in Fremont. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
As long as you’re smoking meats low and slow 24/7, might as well plan to pull out some brisket and pork for breakfast burritos and other morning fare, right?
That’s what pitmaster/owner Paul Reddick and his restaurant team have been doing since the middle of this past NFL season. On Sundays at their large Fremont location, they offer a tantalizing array for barbecue fans, from Burnt End Hash ($14.99) to Smoked Biscuits & Sausage Gravy with Eggs ($11.99).
The terrific Eggs Benedict ($11.99) tops housemade corn cakes with smoked, shredded pork, poached eggs and a drizzle of BBQ hollandaise sauce. Add more of any of the special Smoking Pig sauces if you like — his first creation, California Honey; Original; Carolina Sassy with its mustard tang; and the habanero-infused Kansas City Hot. The Breakfast Sandwich ($11.99) combines over-easy egg with a housemade sausage patty on a potato roll.
And then there’s a spicy number that showcases the famous Smoking Pig appetizer that carries an infamous name: Wolf Turds. For this dish ($11.99), those smoked jalapenos filled with bacon, cheese and housemade sweet sausage are folded inside an omelet. Country potatoes come on the side.
Even the Spicy Bloody Mary ($10) gets the treatment: The cocktail is garnished with smoked brisket wrapped in bacon, plus green olives and pearl onions.
The Spicy Bloody Mary at Smoking Pig in Fremont is topped with smoked fatty/lean brisket wrapped in bacon and green olives and pearl onions. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
While you’re here, check out the Brunswick Stew, a smoked meat and vegetable concoction rarely seen in these parts, and the house-made Peanut Butter Pie, Key Lime Pie and Banana Pudding.
Details: Brunch is served from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 3340 Mowry Ave., Fremont. That location and the two in San Jose are open daily for lunch and dinner; www.smokingpigbbq.net
Kan Kiin, Daly City
The sweet corn cake and crab Benedict at Kan Kiin in Daly City is served with poached eggs, a corn cake, chunks of Dungeness crab, hollandaise and cucumber salad. (Kate Bradshaw/Bay Area News Group)
This restaurant offers creative, colorful Thai comfort food and fusion brunch options – and cocktails – in thoughtfully decorated digs featuring wood accents, greenery and orchids in downtown Daly City. The restaurant, which opened in late 2022, is the effort of chefs Tee Atthapon Inkhong and Navin Tintuksiri. Inkhong also owns Mangrove Kitchen and Sun and Moon in San Francisco and Roji Ramen in Oakland.
Carb up after a morning job with the sweet corn cake and crab Benedict ($27). The Dungeness and hollandaise sauce are wonderful, but those crispy, sweet corn cakes with poached eggs perched atop steal the show. Additional brunch options include matcha buttermilk pancakes ($17) with berries and matcha cream, and herb-braised pork belly ($19) with roasted potato, wok-fried Brussels sprouts and eggs. And then there’s the Hat Yai Fried Chicken and Waffle ($26), a Southern cuisine-meets-Thai take on the classic served with a citrusy syrup.
They do Bloody Marys, but you won’t find a Pineapple Painkiller ($12) just anywhere — and the ice cold rum-pineapple cocktail proves a refreshing way to celebrate the weekend.
Details: Breakfast, brunch and dinner are served daily at 201 Southgate Ave. in Daly City; kankiineatery.com.
The Breakfast Club at Midtown, Walnut Creek
California French Toast is one of the options for the Midtown Trio on the menu at The Breakfast Club at Midtown in Walnut Creek. (Don Feria for Bay Area News Group)
The just-opened Breakfast Club at Midtown is already a smooth-running brunch machine, whose gears are lubricated with copious melted butter and whipped cream. The second location in the family-run restaurant’s growing empire – the original is in San Jose, and there’s at least one more planned for Castro Valley – is so confident in its offerings that its menu suggests you order combos of its brunch specialties: two types of Eggs Benedict, three kinds of French toast or pancakes, etc. (Thankfully this does not apply to the boozy drinks, or you’d be on the floor.)
The slightly snooty name of the “Club” is contradicted by the eatery’s strip-mall setting and décor that’s like a modern hotel suite: a single room with black accents, fresh flowers and low-lit Edison bulbs. And the portion sizes are more like what you’d expect from a Denny’s.
The serving plate for the triple-pancake combo ($19) is practically the size of an Amazonian canoe, and even the slices of bread accompanying the meals seem cut from a lab-enhanced loaf. You’ll have leftovers, but not because you didn’t enjoy the food. The flavors are on-point, the eggs and bacon cooked perfectly, and the fresh strawberries and blueberries topping everything gives the happy delusion you’re eating healthy.
The Club Mimosa is one of the “Liquid Breakfast” offerings at The Breakfast Club at Midtown in Walnut Creek. (Don Feria for Bay Area News Group)
Eggs dominate the menu and are served in every form from skillets to scrambles. There are almost a dozen Eggs Benedict – from carnitas to spinach-avocado to everything bagel with lox – but a standout is the linguica Benedict ($18). Two poached eggs smothered in rich hollandaise drip their yolks over soft English muffins, sweet fried onions and smoky sausage links with a great snap. The side of hash browns is a meal in itself, a slab of crispy-buttery potatoes that gives Waffle House a run for its money.
The banana-apricot French toast ($18) is deeply satisfying with its warm-spiced bread drenched in caramel sauce and caramelized bananas with whipped cream. If that’s not sweet enough, there are also chocolate chip, red velvet and even s’mores pancakes with Nutella and marshmallows. Lunch-minded diners might go for a B.L.A.T. ($16) or short rib French-dip sandwich ($19), and there are more esoteric options, too, like loco moco and spicy Korean chicken-fried rice.
If you’ve resigned yourself to a day-long food coma, there’s no better way to go out hard than imbibing one of the morning drinks ($12). Try a Melon Smash with Midori liqueur and pineapple, perhaps, or a Baltimore Bloody Mary with Old Bay spice and a lemon prawn.
Details: Open 7 a.m.-3 p.m. daily at 1813 Ygnacio Valley Road, Walnut Creek; bcmidtown.com.
Rollati Ristorante, San Jose
Rollati’s Eggs Florentine doesn’t stop at the spinach; this version adds prosciutto. The Bloody Mary is garnished with pepperoncini, a pickled bean, provolone, salami and a cherry tomato. (Eugene Marchuk/Rollati Ristorante)
The Vine Hospitality Group, owners of this chic Italian newcomer across from San Jose City Hall, wisely launched brunch service soon after Rollati opened. After all, hundreds of residents live in the Miro Towers above the restaurant, and downtown hasn’t traditionally offered many weekend brunch options for the pre-theater crowd, museum-goers, festival attendees and special-occasion celebrants. Especially not one with a wine cellar and bar this impressive.
The menu combines Italian-themed brunch specialties with a selection of popular antipasti, pastas, pizzas and salads from the dinner and lunch menus.
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Start perhaps with one of the shareable appetizers for the table such as Fried Mozzarella ($10), Classic Meatballs ($16) or a Prosciutto di Parma platter with burrata ($25). That prosciutto stars in the Eggs Florentine entree ($22), a hollandaise-draped benedict with perfectly poached eggs and, of course, spinach. Creamy Yukon Gold potatoes come on the side. French toast becomes Italian Toast ($18) when a sweet, battered batard is stuffed with Nutella.
The spacious and sleek lounge at Rollati Ristorante, the new downtown supper house at the base of the Miro towers. (Leila Seppa/Vine Hospitality Group)
The “lunchier” offerings on the brunch menu include a Breakfast Pie ($21) that tops pizza with fontina, pancetta and fried egg and a Chicken di Parma sandwich ($18). If you haven’t had a chance to try the restaurant’s unusual “Thousand”-Layer Lasagna, this is a good opportunity; it’s $24 with marina or $32 with short rib ragu.
The Blood Orange Garibaldi ($15) leads the lineup of brunch libations along with the Nutty Italian ($15), a bourbon, Frangelico and coffee concoction.
Details: The restaurant, open daily for midday meals and dinner, serves weekend brunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 181 E. Santa Clara St., San Jose; www.rollatiristorante.com
The name “Brezo” implies a breezy, light meal, and for the most part that’s what you’ll get during brunch at this charming new restaurant on bustling Solano Avenue.
Chef Heather Mervine grew up on a farm in Mendocino County and has been cooking in one form or another since age 4. She operated Brezo out of Point Richmond before moving this year to the former Rendez-Vous Cafe spot. She likes to describe her restaurant as being modern Californian with a Latin flair: Fresh and local ingredients are prioritized, flavors are bright, and dishes are often tied together with bold and satisfying sauces.
The restaurant has an older-European feel with rows of wine bottles above the central counter and fake windows with silhouettes of dancing people. There’s also a charming parklet for al fresco dining. During weekend brunch hours, there’s usually a crowd noshing on chilaquiles verdes ($17), blueberry buttermilk pancakes (which can be made gluten-free) and healthy salads like the Quinoa Kale with Romaine ($15), pecans, golden raisins and lemon dressing.
Chef and co-owner Heather Mervine works in the kitchen at Brezo restaurant on Sunday, Feb. 11, 2014, in Albany, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)
The Latin flair comes out in dishes like the Alma Breakfast Sopes ($15) with two perfectly poached eggs topped with zingy guacamole and cotija on crunchy sopes with warm, alluring masa interiors. A drenching of deeply flavorful black beans and bright-red “Brezo sauce” gives the dish a pleasant depth. Another popular dish is the Mt. Tam Potatoes ($15), which are just that – a veritable mini-mountain of home fries, jack and cheddar cheeses, avocado, salsas verde and roja and two eggs of any style.
Brezo in its Point Richmond incarnation was known for its tri-tip ($18), and here it takes the form of a huge sandwich with smoky meat, melted cheese, basil aioli and a fresh ciabatta roll that soaks up all the tasty juices. A Frida Fried Chicken Sandwich ($16) is another indulgence with crispy free-range bird with aioli and a bracing jalapeno slaw.
Customers in the dining room at Brezo restaurant on Sunday, Feb. 11, 2024, in Albany, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)
For drinks, there are the obligatory mimosas but also sangria with seasonal fruit ($9) and non-boozy options like pots of hot tea and Mexican hot chocolate. And Mervine makes all the pastries in-house: Don’t miss out on the vanilla scone with Devonshire cream and fruit preserves ($9).
Details: Brunch is served 8:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Saturday-Sunday (lunch and dinner served daily except Monday) at 1111 Solano Ave., Albany; brezorestaurant.com.
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