The 10 Best Brunches In South End, Boston

The South End Buttery is the place to come for both sweet pastries and savory brunch dishes. Whether the traveler needs a bag of cinnamon rolls and coffees to take back to the hotel, or a sit-down meal, this South End restaurant is a great place to visit in the morning hours. Although South End Buttery has a dining room downstairs and seating in and outside of the restaurant, crowds tend to build up in the mornings. However, if it’s their brioche French toast calling, or their eggs Benedict, be sure to try and get in early, they are certainly worth setting an alarm for.

This quaint, South End café makes the brunch classics simply and well. While the space is quite small, the lines never seem to shorten at Metropolis Café. Their pancakes come chewy and melt-in-your-mouth, and their bacon comes thick and tender. Favorite dishes here include huevos rancheros and black bean hash, an excellent, colorful pairing of ingredients to start off a morning right.

Gaslight Brasserie du Coin looks almost directly imported from a side street in Paris, with its elegant, European-style décor. The brunch here is a similar story. Crepes, poached eggs, and omelets abound at this popular South End restaurant, and for their quality, so do the morning lines. The best time to come to Gaslight is during the week, or for their prix fixe brunch menu on the weekend. Live music while brunching at The Beehive | © m anima/Flickr

At The Beehive, brunch always comes with live jazz. What’s more, everything seems worth ordering on their eclectic morning menu, which includes everything from a blueberry and orange coffee cake with honey butter, to eggs shakshuka, with poached eggs, north African-style tomato sauce and polenta. Enjoy a variety of seating options, from The Beehive’s cabaret seating in the basement, to their scenic balcony outside.

Since 2008, Blunch has served classic pressed sandwiches and bakery pieces out of their South End corner location. This restaurant attracts quite a brunch and lunch crowd, as their menu lends itself to either meal very well, not to mention the close proximity to the many hungry workers at the Boston Medical Center nearby. ‘The Beef’ sandwich comes large, succulent and hot, while the same could be said about their popular chocolate chip cookies.

This South End haunt is a great place to spend an evening drinking cocktails, and an even better place to come back for weekend brunch. The Gallows boasts an impressive brunch menu, with an extensive assortment of morning cocktails and main dishes. Here, there are four kinds of Bloody Mary, and six, original citrus drinks that make a great orange juice substitute. And with offerings like pork belly tacos and bananas foster French toast, The Gallows is a place that rarely disappoints.

Anchoring the South End’s Tremont Street dining scene, Aquitaine provides a refined dining space to enjoy their exceptional, French-bistro style menu. Come in for their prix fixe brunch, offered all day Saturday, for some of the best egg dishes in the city. Their sandwiches are notable as well, especially their pressed duck sandwich, made with gruyere cheese and offered with their house-made potato chips.

Mike’s City Diner is the place where locals eat, with the addition of the occasional president that is. Their cheap prices and huge portions cater to just about anyone, but especially to night owls with only a couple of bucks left in their pocket from the night before. A true local brunch joint, Mike’s City Diner sets the standard for great brunch in South End, Boston.

Sister restaurant to its equally upscale sibling, Stephanie’s on Newberry, Stephi’s on Tremont makes its home in a refreshingly modern space. The raised prices here are well worth it, as the restaurant really delivers on all the varied dishes offered for the weekend brunch. Their meatloaf hash is especially tantalizing, with mushrooms, peppers and onions topped with two eggs and hollandaise and served in a cast iron bowl.

Few other restaurants in Boston can say they offer pizza for breakfast. Coppa, the Italian enoteca by celebrity chef Ken Oringer, does, and its brunches are exceedingly good too, with eclectic Italian options galore. However, the phrase ‘trust the chef’ applies here, as it should with renowned restaurateurs, and in combination with the outdoor patio on a beautiful morning in the South End, ordering a hard-to-pronounce dish means culinary enjoyment awaits