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The Best Brunch and Breakfast Spots Near Central Park, NYC

Dine at The Met Breuer’s Flora Bar before taking on Central Park
Dine at The Met Breuer’s Flora Bar before taking on Central Park | Courtesy of Flora Bar

Home to world-famous landmarks, outdoor entertainment and more, New York City’s Central Park boasts a lot to see and do. Fuel up for a day of exploring at a nearby brunch and breakfast spot.

Sip a flat white at Bluestone Lane

Bluestone Lane, Courtesy of Bluestone Lane/Ben Hider Photography

Directly across the street from Central Park and set snugly next door to the Church of the Heavenly Rest is Australian café mini-chain Bluestone Lane. You’ll find a host of light, healthy offerings, such as coconut quinoa and oat porridge; banana bread topped with ricotta, toasted pecans, fruit and honey; and the requisite avocado smash. During the warmer months, diners spill out onto the sidewalk café, eating and sipping flat whites with Central Park as their backdrop.

Hell's Kitchen Food Tour and Central Park Stroll

Bistro

Experience the best of New York City in one day with a unique combination tour that blends a Hell’s Kitchen food exploration with a stroll through Central Park. Begin your day sampling a variety of culinary delights in Hell’s Kitchen, including Middle Eastern, Indonesian, and Latin specialties. Then, dive into the secrets and history of Central Park as you explore lesser-known areas of this iconic green space with your knowledgeable guide. This small-group tour ensures an intimate experience, allowing you to enjoy personalized attention and insider insights throughout your day of sightseeing in the Big Apple.

Grab a muffin at Sarabeth’s

It’s hard to ignore the lengthy wait at Sarabeth’s, but it does make sense; the acclaimed spot has been an Upper East Side institution since 1983. In the white tablecloth-clad dining room, breakfast and brunch run the gamut, from lemon ricotta pancakes, frittatas and omelets to cornmeal-crusted English muffins. Although you’d be remiss to pass on Sarabeth’s basket of muffins, you can always grab a couple of sweets at the bakery counter on your way out.

Sample Café d’Alsace’s French fare

The Alsatian charm is in full effect at Café d’Alsace, from the berries tucked into the thin sheaths of crepes to the soft, flaky croissants. After all, at the helm of the kitchen is Philippe Roussel, a third-generation chef who calls France home. Here, Roussel brings a bit of France to the Upper East Side in the form of croque-madames teeming with bubbling cheese and a sunny-side-up egg, and a delicate crepe soufflé with passion fruit coulis.

Fill up on seafood at the Mermaid Inn

The Mermaid Inn is a quiet sanctuary in the Upper West Side. Seafood-forward brunch dishes like smoked salmon eggs benedict are offset with creative cocktails like a pomegranate margarita and the Mermaid Mary, doused with Old Bay-spiced Mary mix.

Try Good Enough to Eat’s American breakfast

Good Enough to Eat has been crafting simple, homey American breakfast fare on the Upper West Side since 1981. The servers may be surly and the crowds outrageous, but the food is undeniably good enough to eat. Eggs can come just about any way – whisked into omelets, poached atop corned beef hash, scrambled in breakfast tacos – while pancakes are studded with chocolate crumbles, apple slices, oats and cornmeal.

Do brunch, Southern style, at Jacob’s Pickles

Jacob’s Pickles specializes in Southern cuisine

Pickled food, unsurprisingly, features heavily on the menu here – there are pickled eggs, carrots, tomatoes, jalapeños and cucumbers – but this Upper West Side establishment knows its way around biscuit breakfast sandwiches, too. Choose from 14 varieties, which can come flush with sausage gravy, cheesy grits and house-made preserves. After feasting on pancakes and grits, you can walk it all off. After all, Central Park West is only two blocks away.

Indulge in a boozy brunch at the Penrose

The Penrose’s weekend brunch is especially popular

There’s seemingly always a wait to get into the Penrose, especially on weekends when brunch is served. This half bar, half restaurant certainly knows a thing or two about cocktails. A particular highlight is Mister Pink, made with pink-peppercorn-infused tequila, hibiscus and lime. Once seated, sample fun dishes like French toast sticks (to be directly plunged into brown-butter maple syrup), mac and cheese bites, and fried chicken and waffles.

Hit up Madison Avenue’s greasy diner, Viand

Madison Avenue certainly seems an unlikely spot to house a greasy diner, but sandwiched between single-family brownstones and fancy high-fashion boutiques is Viand, a minuscule diner founded in 1976. The narrow, hallway-like space is divided into cushioned booths on one side and a counter, dotted with swiveling chairs facing the kitchen, on the other. The teeny kitchen specializes in your favorite diner fare: eggs every way, towering stacks of pancakes, thick slabs of French toast and milkshakes. Here, you may be sitting elbow-to-elbow with your neighbor, but that’s OK; you’ll also be sipping bubbly egg creams and dousing pancakes with an unending supply of maple syrup.

Central Park Walking Tour

Bistro

Discover the essence of Central Park in New York City with a guided walking tour that brings its history and hidden gems to life. Joining a small group, you’ll benefit from personalized attention as your knowledgeable guide leads you through the park. Learn about the park’s structures, plants, animals, and its role in movies and local culture. This immersive experience ensures you uncover Central Park’s secrets and stories that you might miss on your own, making it a richer exploration of one of the city’s most iconic attractions.

Fall down the Rabbit Hole at Alice’s Tea Cup

Alice’s has two locations (the only difference is the Upper East Side site is larger than the Upper West Side’s) to pinky-up for high tea. Both establishments are Alice in Wonderland themed and lean into the fantastical and whimsical of their namesake. The menu is strewn with illustrations of a falling Alice and ticking clocks, along with dishes like The Mad Hatter, a tiered platter of scones and dainty sandwiches. Breakfast options also include pumpkin pancakes, create-your-own crepes and a variety of tea, poured into charmingly mismatched cups and saucers.

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