Brunch Like an Austin Local: 5 Spots That Defy the Capital of Weird’s Trendy Ways

As a morning person, brunch is my favorite way to catch up with friends and family. With drinks, sweets, and comforting breakfast platters, Sunday brunch has become an Austin institution, as anyone who has waited in Kerbey Lane’s sometimes two-hour line knows.

Austin’s best brunch restaurants are constantly changing, but there are some Austin brunch staples you need to know about. Here’s a quick primer on the most important meal of any weekend. Call it your Austin brunch guide.

Phoebe’s Diner

533 Oltorf Street

Daily 7am to 3pm

Touted as a greasy spoon Texas diner, Phoebe’s is all of your diner dreams come true. Serving up great food since 2004, Phoebe’s quickly became the go-to spot for folks looking for upgraded diner favorites with character.

Phoebe’s even named its smoker — the one responsible for the diner’s Texas BBQ favorites — Flapjack. Rightly so.

Phoebe’s doesn’t offer any fancy espresso drinks, keeping it simple with a choice between drip coffee, Cafe du Monde iced coffee and hot chocolate. Start the experience off with a round of the fried green tomatoes which are served with a pimento cheese blend and hot sauce and a cornbread muffin that’ll put your Southern grandma’s cornbread to shame.

The warm, fluffy, and sweet cornbread is served with whipped butter and warmly spiced apple butter. Flapjacks, biscuits and deep fried French toast are a wonderful accompaniment, but Phoebe’s sandwiches and burgers really play into the diner feel. The standard diner burger is great, but the showstopper for me was the Mr. Crunch — smoked brisket, sage sausage gravy, swiss cheese and mustard on sourdough served with a side of tater tots.

Salads and standard plates like bacon and eggs, Benedicts, and migas are a great option to start the day, as is getting a side biscuit to take home.

Cafe No Se

1603 South Congress Avenue

Saturdays & Sundays 10 am to 3 pm

Housed in South Congress cafe, Cafe No Se offers up fresh and healthy fare in an open-air and beautiful environment. Start off brunch with Cafe No Se’s kouign-amann, a pastry that’s reminiscent of a sweeter and denser croissant that have been gaining popularity.

Lighter fare like Paleo and gluten free granola served with greek yogurt and fresh berries, red quinoa porridge and English pea beignets are a great option to share. Then move on to their delectable bowls, like the golden quinoa bowl or their bigeye tuna poke bowl which wonderfully pair fresh ingredients, grains and flavorful dressings.

For bigger appetites, Cafe No Se’s sandwich menu offers up upgraded favorites like avocado toast topped with a soft boiled egg, crème fraiche, cress and carrots. The egg and cheese sandwich is better than an any BEC you’ll find at a bodega, with chive scrambled eggs, sausage, cheddar, caramelized onions, and breakfast potatoes.

All of Cafe No Se’s dishes wonderfully pair together complex flavors with an elegance and freshness that the space hints at. Don’t forget to check out any of Cafe No Se’s pastry chef Amanda Rockman’s impeccable treats.

Launderette

2115 Holly Street

Saturdays & Sundays 11am to 2:30pm

Keeping with the trend of fresh and healthy brunch fare, Launderette commits to executing a smaller menu that is made up of entirely well thought out and appealing options for brunch. They’ve truly learned that doing a few things whole heartedly is better than serving up pages and pages of half baked (pun intended) options.

Those with a sweet tooth, and really anyone, should start off with the pastry of the day, guaranteed to be a hit when prepared by co-owner and pastry chef Lauren Sawicki.

Launderette’s specialties are sunshine bowl, salmon gravlax, the appropriately named “the perfect quiche”, asparagus benny, americana, pastrami hash, fried chicken sammie, plancha burger, and a fried egg BLT. All sandwiches are served up on challah bread that is perfectly balanced between eggy and sweet.

Finish off the meal with potato latkes served with creme fraiche and apple sauce or Launderette’s frites, accompanied by a fruity and hot salsa, manzano sauce and garlic aioli.

Peached Tortilla

5520 Burnet Road

Sundays, 10:30am to 2:30pm

Peach Tortilla is a great option for those looking to expand their brunch options beyond the classic American fare. With options like Crab Pad Thai, Kimchi Spam Fried Rice and BBQ Pork Buns, brunch lovers can try new takes on Southern-Asian fusion dishes.

Start off with the simple but delightful bread, butter and jam, which is paired with kimchi miso butter and a rotating seasonal jam. Wash it down with their extensive list of brunch cocktails, like the Heat of the Moment, a mix of pineapple, serrano, tarragon infused tequila, lime and simple syrup or a Wasabi Mary — Peached Tortilla’s spicy take on a Bloody Mary.

Dai Due

2406 Manor Road

Tuesdays to Fridays, 11am-3 pm, Saturdays and Sundays, 10am-3pm

Dai Due’s menu changes daily to stay in line with its mission to use ingredients present in the area, using foods that are fresh and supporting farmers and ranchers that strive to improve the quality of our food.

Dai Due’s Wild Boar Lettuce Wraps are a great savory start to the day, with ground wild boar and venison with summer veggies, sweet and sour eggplant, venison caramel, finished off with chilies, lime, cilantro, mint and thai basil for an explosion of flavors (hello meat caramel!). Also on the menu is the Dai Due Breakfast, a riff on kimchi fried rice with brown rice and veggies served with a perfectly cooked egg. Get it over easy.

For a sweet meal, try the Brioche French Toast, served with persimmon syrup, bacon-pecan butter, persimmon and breakfast sausage. Get a biscuit on the side, and stop by the register on the way out to get a loaf of freshly baked rye bread.