The 10 best brunch spots in Charlotte

Brunch is the meal Charlotte takes most seriously and the one with the most competition, since almost every restaurant with a patio has added a weekend menu. We kept this to ten, all locally owned, and sorted them by what each one is for: the big occasion, the hangover, the visiting parents, the kids. Brunch hours are listed; each restaurant keeps different hours the rest of the week, and menus change with the season.

1. Supperland

Jeff Tonidandel and Jamie Brown’s Southern steakhouse inside a restored historic church on The Plaza in Plaza Midwood, with a speakeasy hidden beneath the cocktail bar. The weekend brunch is a buffet: a hot line, pastries, salads, yogurt, fruit and tea sandwiches, in one of the most dramatic dining rooms in the city. It fills, so book ahead. Our read: the most special occasion brunch in Charlotte, and worth the price about twice a year.

Hours: Brunch Saturday and Sunday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Address: 1212 The Plaza, Charlotte, NC 28205

Why it made the list

• A full brunch buffet, $65 per person plus tax and tip, in a restored church.
• From the group behind Haberdish, Leluia Hall and Ever Andalo.
• The speakeasy below runs its own themed tasting experiences.
• One of the city’s best dinner restaurants, so the kitchen is not phoning it in on Sunday.

Directory listing: Supperland

2. Uptown Yolk

The breakfast and lunch restaurant from James Beard nominated chef Greg Collier and his wife and business partner Subrina Collier, on South Tryon Street in South End. The menu is Southern inspired and the fried chicken and waffles are among the best in the city. The creative side is what sets it apart: the Mojo Hash with coffee braised steak and sweet potato, a sweet potato waffle, and the Yolkwich on a house made cornmeal brioche roll. It is open daily with a late last seating on weekends, which makes it the brunch when the buffet places are done.

Hours: Monday to Thursday 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Friday to Sunday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., last seating 4:30 p.m.

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

Why it made the list

• Fried chicken and waffles that rank with any in Charlotte; swap wings for tenders.
• A James Beard nominated chef cooking breakfast seven days a week.
• Open late enough on weekends for the 3 p.m. crowd.
• Mojo Hash, sweet potato waffle and the Yolkwich are the signatures.

Directory listing: Uptown Yolk

3. The Crunkleton

The Elizabeth restaurant and cocktail bar known for one of the deepest beverage programs in Charlotte turns that into a nine drink brunch cocktail list, with an espresso martini and a Bloody Mary at the front of it. The food holds its own, from biscuits and gravy to a Charlotte Hot Brown with fried chicken, and the tomahawk steak and eggs at $180 is built for a table of four. The same owners run Rosemont and Puerta within a few blocks.

Hours: Brunch Saturday and Sunday 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Address: 1957 E. 7th St, Charlotte, NC 28204

Why it made the list

• The best brunch cocktail list in the city: espresso martini ($16), Bloody Mary ($14) and seven more.
• The $180 tomahawk steak and eggs, a group order that has become a Charlotte spectacle.
• A Southern brunch menu that is better than a cocktail bar’s needs to be.
• Walkable to Rosemont, the sister market and wine bar, for a second stop.

Directory listing: The Crunkleton

4. El Puro Cuban Restaurant

A modern Cuban restaurant on South Boulevard in Madison Park from the family behind Havana Carolina in Concord. Brunch here is unlike any other in Charlotte: a guajiro Benedict with poached eggs over tostones and shredded pork, a disco Benedict built on croquetas and cheese, and torrejas, a Cuban French toast with guava and cream cheese. Live music, salsa and an over the top dining room make it a night out at dinner, and the energy carries into the weekend afternoons.

Hours: Brunch Saturday and Sunday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Address: 5033 South Blvd, Charlotte, NC 28217

Why it made the list

• Two Benedicts you cannot get anywhere else in the city.
• One of Charlotte’s 30 best restaurants at dinner, so the kitchen is serious.
• Brunch runs until 4 p.m., later than almost anyone else.
• Havana Affair on the last Wednesday of the month: cigars, dominoes and whole roast pork.

Directory listing: El Puro Cuban Restaurant

5. 300 East

The family owned restaurant in a converted house on East Boulevard that has anchored Dilworth for 40 years. It is known first for its French onion soup and second for a weekend brunch that has become a neighborhood ritual, with the breakfast pizza as the dish. Porches, small rooms and a settled feel that newer restaurants cannot buy.

Hours: Brunch Saturday and Sunday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Address: 300 East Blvd, Charlotte, NC 28203

Why it made the list

• Forty years in the same Dilworth house.
• The breakfast pizza is a one of a kind brunch order.
• Porch seating on a good morning.
• The rare brunch where the regulars have been coming for decades.

Directory listing: 300 East

6. Haberdish

NoDa’s Southern comfort food and cocktail restaurant from Jeff Tonidandel and Jamie Brown, the couple behind Supperland, Leluia Hall, Growlers Pourhouse and Ever Andalo. Fried chicken, biscuits and old fashioned cocktails are the foundation, and brunch adds a house made cinnamon roll the size of a dinner plate. It is the group’s most casual room and one of the neighborhood’s staples.

Hours: Brunch Saturday and Sunday 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Address: 3106 N. Davidson St, Charlotte, NC 28205

Why it made the list

• The cinnamon roll, full stop.
• Fried chicken and biscuits from a kitchen that does them as well as anyone in the city.
• A NoDa location in the middle of the galleries and music venues.
• Same owners as Supperland, at a fraction of the price.

Directory listing: Haberdish

7. Leluia Hall

The Tonidandel-Brown restaurant inside a refurbished church on Cleveland Avenue in Dilworth, the building that housed Bonterra for 25 years. The group gutted and rebuilt it into a bright, dramatic dining room, and the weekend brunch is upscale surf and turf. It is the brunch you book for visiting family rather than a hangover.

Hours: Brunch Saturday and Sunday 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Address: 1829 Cleveland Ave, Charlotte, NC 28203

Why it made the list

• Surf and turf brunch in one of the most striking rooms in Charlotte.
• The former Bonterra church, completely rebuilt.
• A serious wine list and a bar that has become a Dilworth destination.
• The reservation for parents, in-laws and anniversaries.

Directory listing: Leluia Hall

8. The Goodyear House

A creative Southern restaurant on North Davidson Street in NoDa with a seasonal menu of shareable plates and one of the neighborhood’s best patios: a gravel yard under a wooden pergola, string lights overhead, picnic tables and heaters for cooler months. The menu changes with the season, but the format stays the same: dishes built to pass around, a good drink list and a patio that turns a brunch into an afternoon.

Hours: Brunch Saturday 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Sunday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Address: 3032 N. Davidson St, Charlotte, NC 28205

Why it made the list

• The best brunch patio in NoDa.
• A seasonal Southern menu that rewards ordering for the table.
• Heaters and a pergola mean the patio works most of the year.
• Sunday brunch starts at 10 a.m., earlier than most on this list.

Directory listing: The Goodyear House

9. Muraya

A Colombian inspired restaurant on East Bland Street in South End, right off the light rail, from the owner of El Puro. The food is tapas style and meant to be shared, at dinner and at a weekend brunch that comes with a live DJ. Ube pancakes, mini arepas, chicken and waffle tacos and the Calentado Criollo, a plate of chorizo, chicharron, rice and beans, mini arepas, avocado and egg, make it the most distinctive brunch menu in South End.

Hours: Brunch Saturday and Sunday 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Address: 200 E. Bland St, Charlotte, NC 28203

Why it made the list

• Ube pancakes ($20), mini arepas ($13) and chicken and waffle tacos ($20).
• A live DJ every weekend brunch.
• Steps from the Bland Street light rail stop, so no parking hunt.
• The Calentado Criollo ($22) feeds two.

Directory listing: Muraya

10. The Wafflery

A casual build your own waffle restaurant started by the former owner of Mattie’s Diner, with sweet and savory toppings and the classic breakfast sides. The original is on East 10th Street in the Belmont neighborhood, a second Charlotte location is on Rozzelles Ferry Road, and a third is in Boone. It is cheap, quick and kid proof, which is exactly why it earns a spot on a brunch list otherwise full of cocktail menus.

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

• The budget pick: a full brunch for a family without a $65 buffet.
• Build your own waffle, sweet or savory.
• Open at 7 a.m. seven days a week.
• Three locations, two of them in Charlotte.

Directory listing: The Wafflery

Also worth knowing

A Sunday brunch with a giant cinnamon roll runs at Little Mama’s in SouthPark, big groups do well at Link & Pin in Arboretum and Huntersville, and Eddie’s Place in Cotswold serves breakfast all day, every day, for the mornings that are not about brunch at all.