Destinations

13 Best Brunch Spots in Washington, D.C.

Our top picks for the District's favorite weekend meal.

December 7, 2021

view from above of many brunch dishes on brick table. tacos. bloody marry. fork. knife. churros

Type-A Washingtonians work overtime during the week, but they take weekend leisure time just as seriously—typically with a mimosa in hand. So it's no wonder that D.C. restaurants go all out for brunch, with options in the city covering everything from jumbo lump crab cakes to wild takes on avocado toast. And of course, there are plenty of brightly colored Instagram-friendly spaces to score likes while consuming half your body weight in coffee. Wake up to this list of Washington, D.C.'s best brunches, including fluffy pancakes, breakfast banh mi, catfish sliders, and Caribbean-style shrimp and grits.

Read our complete Washington, D.C. travel guide here.

This gallery has been updated with new information since its original publish date.

Courtesy Founding Farmers
restaurant
Founding Farmers
$$
This Foggy Bottom restaurant still draws a crowd for brunch, even a decade after opening. Sometimes a hearty farm breakfast is exactly what you need, and Founding Farmers delivers on that. Beyond the "two eggs any style" plate with your choice of meat, and sides like grits, this place is known for its hashes and scrambles—and its four varieties of pancakes. Chicken and waffles with scrambled eggs and white gravy is also a star.
Rey Lopez
restaurant
The Imperial
$$
A little bit from the Mid-Atlantic, a little bit from southern France, a lot from the sea: that's the thread connecting the dishes at The Imperial from chef Russell Jones (formerly of Jack Rose Dining Saloon). The restaurant really goes all out for its brunch. The lengthy menu includes lump crab Benedicts; sausage, egg, and cheese sandwiches on a brioche bun; and grouper and grits with sherry gravy and piquillo peppers. Start out with a build-your-own bagel board featuring made-in-house trout rillette and everything bagels, and then if you're really hungry, there's steak and eggs with béarnaise sauce and grits. Brunch drinks (cocktails are a big deal here) include an espresso martini with a nutmeg chicory tincture.

Front of House NYC
restaurant
dLeña
$$
The sign outside the door of dLeña in Mount Vernon Triangle is easy to miss, but this modern Mexican restaurant announces itself with planters of cacti and succulents, plus a crowd of families and friends meeting up for Saturday or Sunday brunch. Much of the menu gets charred and smoky here, from steaks, cauliflower, and jumbo prawns to tomatoes and chiles for salsas. The move on weekends is the bottomless brunch, so you can try every dish on the brunch menu—chipotle-glazed chicken and waffles; little dishes of grilled Mexican street corn with cotija cheese and bacon. Piping hot churros are a sweet finish, so save room.
Greg Powers
restaurant
Jaleo
$$
There's a lot to see at Jaleo, José Andrés' flagship restaurant in Penn Quarter, from the dramatic beaded curtains over booths, to the red modern chandeliers, to the croquetas served in see-through dishes shaped like sneakers (complete with laces) to the glass-topped foosball tables you can eat off of. It's a surrealist fantasy, albeit one that serves *pan de cristal* and has a serious dedication to eggs, Spanish omelettes or otherwise. If you can't choose between Benedicts with jamón ibérico de bellota or smoked salmon on cristal bread, order the tapas-packed tasting menu, and let the kitchen decide. These are the flavors of Spain as experienced through the madcap lens of Andrés, D.C.'s national treasure of a chef.

restaurant
Muchas Gracias
$$
One of D.C.'s most hyped new Mexican restaurants began as a pop-up during the pandemic, and Muchas Gracias has pivoted and pivoted from takeout to patio service to unassuming dining room. Chef Christian Irabién, a native of Chihuahua, Mexico, makes beautiful brunch dishes out of staples like black bean-stuffed huevos rancheros and chilaquiles rojos—and you can even add Oaxacan grasshoppers to your order. Ingredients are obsessed over here, including hand-pressed tortillas made from fresh-ground Mexican corn. The drinks list aims to transport you to Mexico, via wine from the Baja region or a mezcal tasting. Brunch cocktails include mimosas and a carajillo with cold brew coffee and citrusy Licor 43. The tres leches cake is a must for dessert.
Moon Rabbit
restaurant
Moon Rabbit
$$
Located in the Intercontinental Washington, contemporary Vietnamese eatery Moon Rabbit has the spirit of an indie restaurant fused with the corporate feel of a hotel—with big windows out to the street, you'll also feel like you are part of the action in the Wharf waterfront development. Go for breakfast banh mi, pho-seasoned fried chicken sandwiches, or a fried-egg topped breakfast bowl loaded with coconut curry rice, lemongrass sausage, Maggi gravy, herbs, pickled onions, and fried garlic. Chef Kevin Tien also brings in influences from his childhood in Louisiana as seen with boudin egg rolls, crawfish, and noodles, as well as local hometown hits like a turmeric-marinated Maryland catfish slider. The freshly fried doughnuts are worth the splurge, too.

Simo Ahmadi
restaurant
Unconventional Diner
$
Even avocado toast is no basic affair here. Chef David Deshaies encourages guests to get messy as they tackle the pile of bread, avocado, confit egg yolk, pickled fresno chiles, lime, and cilantro. Deshaies similarly puts his own creative spin on think-you-know it diner entrees, like chicken and waffles with habanero butter or Caribbean-style shrimp and grits with Pineapple-Habanero Sauce. The crowd is a cross between business travelers drawn to the Walter E. Washington Convention Center and Instagrammers, who know that a selfie in front of Unconventional Diner's murals will rack up the likes.
restaurant
Ellē
$
Dinner earned Ellē its darling status, thanks to a rotating menu of intriguing dishes from chef Brad Deboy. But the restaurant's breakfast sandwiches are also legendary; say, house-smoked brisket, eggs, and melty cheese on a freshly baked sesame-potato bun. That's a constant on the restaurant's ever-changing brunch menu, which debuts specials like fried chicken biscuits with fermented mustard. Round out your meal with something sweet from the bakery, like a guava turnover or an apple fritter, and then take a loaf of bread home for good measure.

Scott Suchman
restaurant
Iron Gate
$$
This Dupont Circle spot has a pedigree: it was once a stable to a circa-1875 home, then home to D.C.'s oldest continuously operating restaurant (which closed in 2010). Neighborhood Restaurant Group revived the space, kept the historic touches, and brought in acclaimed chef Tony Chittum. The menu and wine list focus on Mediterranean flavors, like lemon-ricotta pancakes, roasted pepper lumache with shrimp, and a rosemary pine nut tart with jupiter grape sorbet. Look up while dining at Iron Gate's romantic patio, and you'll see a canopy of greenery, thanks to the restaurant's 125-year-old wisteria vines.
restaurant
KitchenCray
$$
Opened in 2020 during the pandemic, KitchenCray is already a hit in restaurant-heavy H Street. It's all about mimosas during brunch, by the glass or the carafe, plus generously portioned brunch hits like creamy cheddar grits topped with deep-fried catfish and Cajun crawfish étouffée, an oxtail Benedict served on a Southern biscuit, and buttermilk fried chicken served with decadent French toast. KitchenCray's chef and owner James “J.R.” Robinson’s resume includes opening a catering business and appearing as a contestant on “Hell’s Kitchen.” Head here to indulge and celebrate a birthday—or just a Sunday Funday—with a heaping helping of mac and cheese and a DJ-led soundtrack.

Greg Powers
restaurant
Fiola Mare
$$
The Potomac River and the Kennedy Center couldn't look any more picturesque than they do from this dining room on the Georgetown waterfront, and Fiola Mare is a godsend in this area that's congested with middling restaurants and bars that attract a hard-partying crowd. Inside, James Beard Award-winner Fabio Trabocchi's high-end Italian restaurant is vaguely nautical with sailboat photographs, preppy blue seats, big windows, cushy chairs, and clubby dark wood. The $85 signature sparkling brunch includes seafood dishes like lobster rolls, spaghetti with clams, or a tuna "caesar" with squid ink pane fritto; the meal includes bottomless prosecco, apple streusel danishes, an appetizer, brunch entree, and dessert (like ricotta doughnuts with raspberry budino and hibiscus sugar.)
Courtesy Cafe Milano
restaurant
Cafe Milano
$$
It's not just D.C.'s "celebs" (politicians and journalists) who dine at this Georgetown institution—stars like Leonardo DiCaprio and LeBron James have held court at Cafe Milano's tables, too. Instead of cutting-edge dishes, Cafe Milano's rotating Sunday brunch menu is stocked with straightforward Italian favorites like spaghetti alla carbonara, or scrambled eggs with burrata. There's standard brunch options, like vegetable frittatas, and the truly hungry should consider the ribeye with sunny side up eggs and rosemary potatoes. Fun fact: the menu's "Panzanella J.K." reportedly stands for "John Kerry."

restaurant
Imperfecto
$$$
Venezuela-born Chef Enrique Limardo, known for his modern labor-intensive cooking, opened Imperfecto in 2021 in West End with the goal of fusing South American and Mediterranean cuisine—think foie gras served with plantain brioche or a version of cochinillo with slow-roasted suckling pig. If you're not up for the $150 chef tasting menu, brunch is a more casual way to experience the space; where else can you find avocado toast topped with grilled octopus and smoked jalapeño dressing? Other intriguing brunch possibilities include fried chicken and corn pancakes with a guajillo pepper sauce.