The 10 best breakfast spots in Charlotte

Brunch has its own guide. This one is about breakfast: the places open early on a weekday, the diners, the counter service rooms and the bakeries where a Charlotte morning actually starts. Some overlap with the brunch list because a great breakfast place is usually a great brunch place too. All are locally owned. Hours are current as of this writing.

1. Uptown Yolk

James Beard nominated chef Greg Collier and Subrina Collier’s breakfast and lunch restaurant on South Tryon in South End, open daily from 8 a.m., with fried chicken and waffles as good as any in the city, the Mojo Hash with coffee braised steak and sweet potato, a sweet potato waffle and the Yolkwich on house cornmeal brioche. It is the best breakfast in Charlotte cooked by one of its most decorated chefs, and it is open every day of the week.

Hours: Monday to Thursday 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Friday to Sunday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Address: 1220 S. Tryon St, Charlotte, NC 28203

Why it made the list

• A James Beard nominee cooking breakfast seven days a week.
• Chicken and waffles; swap wings for tenders.
• Open until 5 p.m. on weekends.
• Southern with a creative edge.

Directory listing: Uptown Yolk

2. Grey’s Diner and Community Kitchen

Chef Sam Diminich’s revival of the 1940s Mattie’s diner car on The Plaza, open for breakfast and lunch five days a week from 8 a.m., with diner classics cooked by the team behind Michelin recommended Restaurant Constance: a short rib and eggs bowl, black bean chilaquiles, vegan marshmallow French toast, layer cakes and Enderly coffee. Closed Tuesday and Wednesday.

Hours: Breakfast and lunch Monday, Thursday and Friday 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.; closed Tuesday and Wednesday

Address: 3100 The Plaza, Charlotte, NC 28205

Why it made the list

• Breakfast in a real 1940s diner car.
• A Michelin recommended kitchen’s take on diner food.
• A full vegan lineup.
• Locally sourced, priced like a diner.

Directory listing: Grey’s Diner and Community Kitchen

3. Amélie’s French Bakery & Café

The French bakery that became a Charlotte institution, with the NoDa flagship on East 36th Street open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. or later every day. Croissants, quiche, salted caramel brownies, macarons, waffles and sandwiches ordered at the counter, in an enormous room of mismatched chandeliers and salvaged headboards. The pastry breakfast, the late night study hall and the children’s tea party venue, all in one.

Hours: Monday to Thursday and Sunday 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday 7 a.m. to midnight

Address: 136 E. 36th St, Charlotte, NC 28205

Why it made the list

• The croissants and the salted caramel brownie.
• Open 7 a.m. to late, seven days.
• A room that is a destination on its own.
• Several locations; NoDa is the one.

Directory listing: Amélie’s French Bakery & Café

4. Community Matters Cafe

The Third Ward breakfast and lunch cafe run as a life skills program for graduates of the Charlotte Rescue Mission’s recovery program, where tips are donations and the food outshines the cause. A seasonal menu of breakfast bowls, peach toast, fruit shortcake pancakes and coffee roasted in house, in a bright room with a patio. Weekdays only, and repeat visitors call it the highlight of a trip.

Hours: Monday to Friday 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.; closed Saturday and Sunday

Address: 821 W. 1st St, Charlotte, NC 28202

Why it made the list

• Breakfast that funds recovery and job training.
• A seasonal menu that is very good on its own terms.
• House roasted coffee and loose leaf tea.
• A weekday morning near Uptown without the Uptown prices.

Directory listing: Community Matters Cafe

5. The Wafflery

Build your own waffles, sweet or savory, from the former owner of Mattie’s Diner, open at 7 a.m. seven days a week on East 10th Street in the Belmont neighborhood with a second Charlotte shop on Rozzelles Ferry Road. Cheap, quick, kid proof and outdoors when the weather allows. The budget breakfast on the list and the fastest.

Hours: Monday to Friday 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Address: 1020 E. 10th St, Charlotte, NC 28204

Why it made the list

• Waffles your way, from 7 a.m. daily.
• A family breakfast for the price of one brunch plate.
• Two Charlotte locations plus Boone.
• No wait to speak of.

Directory listing: The Wafflery

6. Local Loaf

The NoDa bakery, breakfast and sandwich shop on East 35th Street with house baked bread, big portions and a weekend brunch of omelets, bowls, breakfast burritos and shakshuka. Steak and eggs cooked right, pancakes with crisp edges and the Kickin’ Chicken sandwich. Counter service with a patio, Wednesday through Sunday, and takeout that travels well.

Hours: Wednesday to Sunday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.; closed Monday and Tuesday

Address: 800 E. 35th St, Charlotte, NC 28205

Why it made the list

• Steak and eggs and pancakes.
• House baked bread and biscuits.
• A NoDa morning without the bakery crowd.
• Weekend shakshuka and burritos.

Directory listing: Local Loaf

7. Sunrise Restaurant

The family owned diner on Albemarle Road in east Charlotte, open from 6 a.m. every day with a huge home style menu and prices from another decade. Corned beef hash and eggs, flounder and grits with soft scrambled eggs, fried fish breakfasts packaged to stay crisp, and a Sunday church crowd. A diner for people who want a diner.

Hours: Monday to Saturday 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Sunday 6 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Address: 8923 Albemarle Rd, Charlotte, NC 28227

Why it made the list

• Open at 6 a.m., earlier than anything else here.
• Fish and grits done right.
• Big portions, small prices.
• East Charlotte’s institution.

Directory listing: Sunrise Restaurant

8. The Flipside Cafe

The Fort Mill breakfast, brunch and dinner restaurant on US-21 that south Charlotte has adopted, with the Fort Mill Biscuit Bake, shrimp and grits, a veggie hash bowl, mimosa flights and Bloody Marys in three sizes. It fills fast on weekends, opens at 7 a.m. on weekdays, and a meatloaf at dinner converts skeptics.

Hours: Monday 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Tuesday to Friday 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Saturday 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Sunday 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Address: 3150 US-21, Fort Mill, SC 29715

Why it made the list

• The Fort Mill Biscuit Bake.
• Breakfast and dinner in one local room.
• Mimosa flights.
• Worth the drive over the state line.

Directory listing: The Flipside Cafe

9. Terrace Cafe

The two story breakfast, brunch and lunch restaurant at Piedmont Row in SouthPark, upscale in feel, with balcony seating over the dining room and a sweet leaning menu: red velvet waffle and chicken, cinnamon swirl pancakes, coconut French toast, plus crab cakes and shrimp and grits. Busy on weekend mornings, calmer at weekday lunch.

Hours: See the restaurant’s site for current hours

Address: 4625 Piedmont Row Dr, Charlotte, NC 28210

Why it made the list

• SouthPark’s breakfast room.
• The red velvet waffle.
• Balcony seating and people watching.
• Weekday lunch for the office crowd.

Directory listing: Terrace Cafe

10. Eddie’s Place

The no frills Cotswold restaurant on South Sharon Amity Road that serves breakfast all day, every day, from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Bang for the buck is the reputation, the room is unpretentious and the menu covers every breakfast standard. It is the answer for a 4 p.m. omelet on a Tuesday, which no one else on this list can offer.

Hours: Daily 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Address: 617 S. Sharon Amity Rd, Charlotte, NC 28211

Why it made the list

• Breakfast all day, seven days.
• Reasonable prices in an expensive part of town.
• Cotswold’s neighborhood standby.
• Open until 9 p.m.

Directory listing: Eddie’s Place

Also worth knowing

Our brunch guide covers the weekend only rooms, from the Supperland buffet to the tomahawk steak and eggs at The Crunkleton, and the coffee guide has the cafes with breakfast menus, including HEX at Camp North End. If your breakfast spot is missing, tell us.