The Haute List: The Top 20 Best Brunches in New York

New York has never treated brunch as simply breakfast served late. It is a social sport, a recovery strategy, an excuse for Champagne before noon and, at its most extravagant, a perfectly acceptable opportunity to put caviar on eggs. The city has mastered every possible iteration: the grand hotel brunch, the downtown institution, the impossible reservation, the celebrity magnet, and the bottomless afternoon that accidentally becomes dinner. These are the 20 brunches worth building a Sunday around.

1. Clement at The Peninsula New York

Sometimes you don’t want brunch; you want an occasion, and Clement understands the assignment. Set inside The Peninsula New York on Fifth Avenue, this is brunch for the person who believes Sunday deserves approximately the same production value as New Year’s Eve. There is bottomless Champagne, a live pianist providing a soundtrack to your mimosa consumption, and — I refuse to undersell this — a wall of doughnuts. The spread moves between breakfast classics, seafood, salads, carving stations and desserts with the kind of abundance that makes restraint feel vaguely inappropriate. But what really earns Clement its place is that it still delivers the old-school fantasy of brunching at one of Manhattan’s great hotels. Fifth Avenue is outside, the room feels properly polished, and nobody is rushing you through your Champagne because another table needs your seat in 90 minutes. Bring your mother. Bring someone you’re trying to impress. Bring the friend who thinks brunch has become boring. This should fix that.

2. The Golden Swan

The Golden Swan feels less like somewhere you casually wander into for eggs and more like the West Village decided to dress up for Sunday. Its brunch centerpiece is a tableside French omelet, prepared in front of you and finished with your choice of lobster, truffle or caviar — three words that immediately tell you what sort of brunch we’re dealing with. Half the appeal is watching the thing happen; the other half is getting to eat it. There is also a crab cake Benedict worth ordering for the table, because brunch is one of the few meals at which ordering several egg dishes somehow seems completely reasonable. Housed inside a historic West Village townhouse, the restaurant has that particularly New York combination of intimacy and polish: elegant without feeling like a hotel dining room, fashionable without becoming a scene you have to dress for three days in advance. Come for the omelet theatrics. Stay because the food is actually good enough to survive without them.

3. Grand Salon at Baccarat Hotel New York

If Baccarat is going to do brunch, obviously there will be crystal. The Grand Salon is one of Manhattan’s most unapologetically glamorous rooms, dripping in chandeliers and Baccarat glass with the kind of lighting that makes everyone look as though they have recently returned from somewhere expensive. Add a menu with Gabriel Kreuther’s name attached and cocktails poured into actual Baccarat crystal, and brunch becomes less a meal than a flex. This is not where I would come wearing leggings and pretending Sunday is about wellness; dress appropriately and lean in. The room is half the reason to book it: soaring ceilings, flashes of Baccarat red, monumental chandeliers and enough crystal to make your own glassware at home seem suddenly inadequate. Order Champagne or a proper cocktail, settle into one of the plush banquettes and allow yourself to enjoy the absurdity of it all. One caveat: I’d skip the tea service masquerading as brunch — I’m told the sandwiches don’t justify the tariff. Stick with the actual food, order something decadent and let Baccarat do what Baccarat does best: make excess look extremely elegant.

4. Balthazar

Balthazar has been the correct answer in Soho since before brunch developed an Instagram strategy. Keith McNally’s French brasserie opened in 1997 and somehow remains exactly what you want it to be: loud, crowded, flattering, slightly chaotic and packed with the particular mixture of downtown regulars, tourists, fashion people and celebrities that has fueled its mythology for decades. Brunch works because Balthazar doesn’t behave like it’s serving brunch; it simply continues being Balthazar. The asparagus-leek quiche is excellent, the eggs Florentine are dependable, and anything involving bread benefits from the fact that Balthazar has one of the city’s most beloved bakeries attached to it. And then there is the monkey bread. Do not, under any circumstances, skip the monkey bread. I will know. There may be newer brunches, prettier brunches and certainly easier reservations, but few places capture the fantasy of a Sunday in downtown New York quite as effectively. Nearly three decades after opening, people still want the table. That tells you almost everything you need to know.

Photo Credit: Todamo / Shutterstock.com

5. Tavern on the Green

Let’s establish something immediately: Tavern on the Green is on this list because it is Tavern on the Green. You are sitting inside Central Park in one of the most recognizable restaurants in New York, surrounded by greenery, history and the strange sensation that you’ve wandered onto the set of a movie about Manhattan rather than into Manhattan itself. The restaurant has existed in various incarnations since 1934, and its greatest asset has always been its location. On a beautiful weekend morning, with sunlight pouring through the windows and Central Park unfolding around you, very few brunch rooms in the city can compete. Order simply — eggs, pancakes, something sparkling. This isn’t the moment to undertake a forensic examination of the kitchen. Instead, book Tavern when people are visiting New York, when the weather is perfect, or when you’ve lived here long enough that you’ve forgotten how extraordinary Central Park can look to someone seeing it for the first time. Sometimes setting is the experience. Here, it absolutely is.

6. Pastis

Pastis has survived the Meatpacking District becoming approximately seventeen different neighborhoods around it, and somehow it still feels right. The original was one of the defining restaurants of early-2000s New York; its 2019 reincarnation brought back the mirrors, tiled floors, tightly packed tables and Parisian brasserie energy without turning the place into a museum of its former self. Brunch is when the room makes the most sense. Order a Gruyère omelet, chicken paillard or croque monsieur, add fries because you’re at Pastis and behaving responsibly would be weird, then get a mimosa pitcher if you’re with friends. The real attraction, however, is the people-watching. Pastis remains one of those restaurants where your attention keeps drifting toward the door to see who just walked in. This is not a 45-minute brunch. Pastis is for the Sunday on which you have nowhere urgent to be and no particular interest in changing that. Order another drink, watch the Meatpacking District go by and let lunch quietly become afternoon. That’s always been the point.

7. Lafayette

Lafayette gives you many of the French-brasserie pleasures of Balthazar with slightly more breathing room and a bakery counter capable of destroying whatever resolve you arrived with. Andrew Carmellini’s NoHo grand café has long been an easy brunch choice, with high ceilings, sidewalk seating when the weather cooperates and a menu that moves comfortably between pastries, eggs and proper lunch. Recently, however, the bakery has become a destination unto itself thanks to its viral round croissants — the Suprême — stuffed with flavors ranging from chocolate and pistachio to creations that occasionally sound as though a pastry chef lost a bet. Espresso martini pastry? Apparently we live here now. And yet, somehow, it works. The important thing is not to let the internet-famous pastry overshadow the fact that Lafayette remains a genuinely good restaurant. Order eggs, a croque, something from the bakery and enough coffee to justify lingering. Come for the croissant if TikTok sent you; stay because Lafayette was good long before algorithms discovered laminated dough.

8. Café Boulud at Maison BARNES

Daniel Boulud’s Upper East Side restaurant answers a question nobody technically asked but everyone benefits from: what happens when brunch gets the same culinary attention as dinner? The answer is Café Boulud. There is a precision to the cooking here that separates it from the city’s more theatrical brunches. You are not being distracted by Champagne carts, DJs or stunt dishes engineered to arrive under a cloche; instead, you’re getting a sophisticated French meal that happens to take place during daylight hours. And that restraint is exactly why it belongs on this list. The room is elegant without being stiff, the service is polished, and the crowd tends toward people who don’t need to document every course before eating it. This is where I would take someone I actually wanted to talk to — a parent, a client, a date I’m trying to impress without appearing to be trying very hard. Not every great New York brunch needs to turn into a party. Sometimes the luxury is simply being able to hear the person across the table.

Photo Credit: Café Carmellini

9. Café Carmellini

Café Carmellini might be one of the most photogenic brunch rooms in Manhattan, which is saying something in a city where restaurants increasingly seem designed with their future Instagram grids in mind. Inside The Fifth Avenue Hotel, Andrew Carmellini has created a dining room that feels almost cinematic: soaring ceilings, ornate architectural details, flowers, flattering light and enough visual drama that walking in already feels like an event. Then brunch begins. The weekend Champagne Brunch involves a cart rolling through the dining room pouring flutes tableside while live jazz fills the room. It’s elegant, slightly theatrical and exactly indulgent enough for a Fifth Avenue hotel without tipping into parody. The food has the technique you’d expect from Carmellini, but this is one of those rare brunches where atmosphere genuinely matters just as much. Come dressed, bring someone fun and order Champagne. This is the brunch that feels as though it was built specifically for a magazine shoot, and I say that with considerable affection.

10. Harry Cipriani

Few New York restaurants possess a pedigree quite like Harry Cipriani. Opened at the Sherry-Netherland on Fifth Avenue in 1985, the restaurant brought the Cipriani family’s Venetian hospitality to Manhattan and quickly became woven into the city’s celebrity and society ecosystem. Decades later, it still looks and feels remarkably committed to that identity. Brunch here isn’t about whatever dish is trending this month. You’re ordering Cipriani classics, drinking a Bellini and observing a dining room that has probably witnessed more interesting conversations than most restaurants will see in their lifetime. The location matters too: sitting across from Central Park on Fifth Avenue provides exactly the backdrop this kind of old-school New York institution requires. Unlike some of the Cipriani universe’s more exclusive spaces, you can actually book a table here without possessing a membership card or knowing somebody who knows somebody. On a list that leans heavily toward exclusivity, accessibility is doing more work than you might expect. Come for the pedigree. Order the Bellini. Obviously.

11. Locanda Verde

Locanda Verde has one of the most valuable qualities a New York restaurant can possess: it is cool without constantly reminding you that it is cool. Andrew Carmellini’s Tribeca Italian restaurant has spent years attracting actors, fashion people and downtown regulars, but the room retains an easy neighborhood quality that places twice as expensive spend fortunes trying to manufacture. Then there are the ricotta pancakes. Soft, lemony and deservedly famous, they have effectively developed their own fan club. Order them for the table even if you insist you “don’t really like sweet breakfasts.” You will eat them. The rest of brunch moves through eggs, Italian-inspired dishes and excellent pastries without falling into the trap of treating weekend dining as an excuse for culinary gimmicks. Locanda Verde is particularly good for groups because nobody has to agree on what brunch should mean. The pancake person is happy. The eggs person is happy. The person who really wanted lunch but got dragged to brunch is happy. In New York, that’s practically diplomacy.

12. Estiatorio Milos

Milos does not suddenly become adorable because it’s brunch. Thank God. The restaurant brings the same Greek seafood grandeur to the weekend that has made it an international institution: pristine fish, oysters, tartare, Greek salads and beautifully simple preparations built around ingredients that don’t require much interference. If you want oysters and a whole grilled fish before 2 p.m., nobody here is going to question your choices. That makes Milos particularly refreshing on a brunch landscape crowded with increasingly elaborate interpretations of pancakes. The space is bright and elegant, the seafood display remains part market and part theater, and lunch-oriented diners can eat extremely well while everyone else handles the eggs. It’s also an excellent option when brunch needs to feel grown-up — a family gathering, a business-adjacent meal or a Sunday when another mimosa-fueled downtown scene sounds exhausting. Milos isn’t trying to reinvent itself for brunch; it simply opens earlier and continues being very good at being Milos.

Photo Credit: Lucia Bell

13. Sant Ambroeus

Sant Ambroeus has mastered a particular kind of Milanese polish that New York has spent years trying to imitate. Whether you’re in Soho, the West Village or on Madison Avenue, the formula remains wonderfully consistent: beautiful people, beautiful espresso, beautiful pastries and a room where even drinking a cappuccino can somehow feel like a lifestyle choice. The brunch menu isn’t interested in reinventing breakfast, and that’s part of its charm. Eggs, panini, salads and Italian classics share space with an espresso program serious enough to make you reconsider your existing coffee loyalties. But before any of that, order the almond cornetto. This is not a suggestion. Sant Ambroeus is particularly good for the brunch that isn’t supposed to become brunch. You meet someone for coffee. Someone orders a pastry. Suddenly there’s food on the table and you’ve been sitting there for two hours discussing people neither of you actually likes. Very European. Very New York.

14. Dante

Dante is the benchmark for a reason. The Greenwich Village institution traces its history to 1915, but its modern incarnation has turned the old café into one of New York’s most internationally recognized drinking destinations without sanding away its downtown character. That cocktail pedigree is precisely what makes brunch here so good. Rather than treating drinks as something added onto eggs, Dante approaches brunch through its aperitivo DNA, with spritzes, Garibaldis and beautifully executed cocktails forming part of the experience rather than an excuse to pour inexpensive sparkling wine into orange juice and call it a special. The food keeps pace, moving through Italian-inflected breakfast and lunch dishes designed for exactly this kind of long, leisurely meal. And despite all the accolades, Dante still feels like somewhere you actually want to spend an afternoon. Sit outside when New York gives you the weather, order the Garibaldi, then order another. If someone visiting the city asks me where to brunch and gives me absolutely no other information, Dante remains one of the safest answers I can give.

15. Norma’s

Norma’s deserves inclusion for one dish alone, because any restaurant willing to put a four-figure omelet on its breakfast menu deserves our attention. The legendary Zillion Dollar Lobster Frittata combines eggs, an entire lobster and a genuinely alarming quantity of caviar. It is excessive, ridiculous and completely uninterested in apologizing for either quality. There is also a considerably less expensive version for diners who are merely affluent rather than actively attempting to make breakfast a financial event. I respect the honesty of this pricing structure. But Norma’s longevity isn’t solely built around one stunt dish. The restaurant has spent decades specializing in extravagant breakfast: enormous pancakes, decadent French toast and portions designed for people who consider “continental breakfast” an insult. In an era when half the city’s brunch menus seem designed around restrained little plates, Norma’s remains gloriously committed to abundance. You don’t come here to behave. Order accordingly.

16. Sadelle’s

Nobody does controlled restaurant maximalism quite like Major Food Group, and Sadelle’s may be the purest brunch expression of it. The bagels arrive stacked vertically on towers alongside smoked fish, tomatoes, capers and cream cheese, transforming a New York breakfast staple into something resembling a seafood plateau. Is this necessary? Absolutely not. Does it look fantastic arriving at the table? Obviously. The Soho room adds to the theater, with bakers working in throwback white uniforms and enough nostalgic deli references to make the entire restaurant feel familiar even if you’ve never been there before. But beneath all the styling is food people genuinely crave. The bagels are excellent, the smoked fish is serious and the sticky buns deserve whatever calories you’ve allocated to Sunday. Sadelle’s understands that brunch is partly performance, particularly in New York. You can see exactly how the trick is being done. You will probably photograph it anyway.

Photo Credit: Caviar Kaspia/The Mark Hotel

17. Caviar Kaspia — The Mark

Caviar Kaspia already understands something fundamental about brunch: almost everything improves when you put caviar on it. The Parisian institution’s outpost at The Mark brings its particular brand of fashion-world decadence to the Upper East Side, where brunch can involve a Kaspia omelet, the famous baked potato crowned with caviar or a rösti-crust pizza finished with the stuff. That is considerably more interesting than another luxury hotel asking me to get excited about eggs Benedict. The setting helps enormously. The Mark is one of Manhattan’s great celebrity hotels, and Caviar Kaspia’s jewel-box dining room feels glamorous without becoming enormous or impersonal. There is also something delightfully unserious about eating a potato covered in caviar in one of the city’s most expensive ZIP codes. This is the brunch for someone who wants an anecdote afterward. Order the potato, order Champagne and add more caviar than anyone reasonably needs. Sunday will survive.

18. COQODAQ

COQODAQ looked at the traditional New York brunch and apparently decided it wasn’t having enough fun. The Brucket List turns the meal into a $58 production with seven hors d’oeuvres, French toast soldiers, chicken and waffles and enough optional additions to ensure the bill can become considerably more ambitious if you’re in the mood. Obviously, there is caviar. And then there is the gold-topped chicken nugget, an object that exists somewhere between food and social-media prop and is almost impossible not to photograph when it arrives. Deeply silly. I mean that as the highest compliment. Simon Kim’s Flatiron restaurant already made fried chicken glamorous at dinner; brunch simply gives it permission to become even more theatrical during daylight hours. Come with friends rather than someone who wants a quiet conversation, order the whole production and add caviar if you’re committed to the bit. Brunch has enough serious restaurants. COQODAQ remembers it’s supposed to be fun.

19. Lysée

Lysée offers a welcome counterpoint to almost everything else on this list. The Korean-French pastry boutique built its reputation around extraordinarily precise desserts and viennoiserie, so naturally its brunch leans toward the delicate rather than the debauched. A three-course prix fixe moves through savory dishes and beautifully executed pastries, with presentation every bit as considered as you’d expect from a kitchen whose identity was built around dessert. There are no Champagne carts circling the dining room. Nobody is bringing a lobster to your eggs. Your brunch will probably not result in you losing the remainder of Sunday. That’s exactly why Lysée belongs here. The experience feels thoughtful, restrained and aesthetically meticulous without becoming precious. It is brunch for someone who would rather have one exceptional pastry than an unlimited buffet of mediocre ones, and after multiple rounds of caviar, cocktails and increasingly elaborate egg preparations elsewhere in Manhattan, that sounds rather civilized.

20. Rosemary’s

Every best-brunch list needs at least one place willing to admit what a significant percentage of New Yorkers actually want from brunch: unlimited drinks. Rosemary’s does not judge you. Its West Village setting brings plenty of neighborhood charm, the menu leans Italian, and the boozy-brunch option provides the necessary mimosas, Aperol and frizzante for the version of Sunday that begins with everyone claiming they’re “only having one.” Sure. The food keeps things grounded — pastas, focaccia, eggs, salads and Italian comfort food that pairs particularly well with the third round you absolutely weren’t planning to order. But Rosemary’s real advantage is its lack of pretension. It doesn’t feel like a nightclub serving pancakes or a luxury hotel trying to justify a $95 buffet. It feels like somewhere you can gather a group of friends and allow brunch to become whatever brunch becomes. Which, occasionally, is 4 p.m. No judgment from me either.

For more of Haute Living’s New York dining coverage, see The 5 Best New Restaurants in New York City to Try Right Now, and for a cross-city comparison, The Best Brunch in Miami Right Now.

THE HAUTE READ

The best brunches in New York City include Clement at The Peninsula New York, Balthazar, Café Carmellini at The Fifth Avenue Hotel, and Caviar Kaspia at The Mark, spanning grand hotel spreads, downtown institutions, and caviar-topped indulgence.

At a Glance

Grand Hotel Occasion: Clement at The Peninsula New York | Tableside Theatrics: The Golden Swan | Glamorous Crystal-Clad Brunch: Grand Salon at Baccarat | Classic Downtown Institution: Balthazar | Central Park Setting: Tavern on the Green | Best for People-Watching: Pastis | Bakery-Driven Brunch: Lafayette | Quiet Sophisticated Conversation: Café Boulud at Maison BARNES | Most Photogenic Brunch: Café Carmellini | Old-School Pedigree: Harry Cipriani | Best for Groups: Locanda Verde | Grown-Up Seafood Brunch: Estiatorio Milos | European Café Culture: Sant Ambroeus | Aperitivo-Style Cocktail Brunch: Dante | Over-the-Top Indulgence: Norma’s | Maximalist Bagel Theater: Sadelle’s | Caviar-Forward Luxury: Caviar Kaspia at The Mark | Fun, Playful Group Brunch: COQODAQ | Restrained Pastry-Focused Brunch: Lysée | Unpretentious Boozy Brunch: Rosemary’s

FAQs

What is the best brunch in New York City? Clement at The Peninsula New York is considered one of the city’s best grand hotel brunches, with bottomless Champagne, a live pianist, and an extensive spread.

Which NYC brunch is best for a special occasion? Clement at The Peninsula New York, Grand Salon at Baccarat Hotel New York, and Café Carmellini at The Fifth Avenue Hotel are all considered top choices for a celebratory brunch.

Where can I find caviar at brunch in New York City? Norma’s, The Golden Swan, Caviar Kaspia at The Mark, and COQODAQ all offer caviar-topped brunch dishes, from omelets to baked potatoes.

What is the oldest brunch spot in New York City? Tavern on the Green dates to 1934, Harry Cipriani opened in 1985 at the Sherry-Netherland, and Dante traces its history to 1915, making them among the city’s most historic brunch destinations.

Which NYC brunch is best for people-watching? Pastis in the Meatpacking District is widely known as one of the city’s best brunches for people-watching, alongside Sant Ambroeus.

What is the Zillion Dollar Lobster Frittata? The Zillion Dollar Lobster Frittata is Norma’s signature dish, combining eggs, a whole lobster, and a large quantity of caviar.

Which NYC brunch is best for groups? Locanda Verde and Rosemary’s are both considered strong choices for group brunches, offering broad menus and an unpretentious atmosphere.

Is there a bottomless brunch option in New York City? Yes — Rosemary’s offers a boozy brunch option with unlimited mimosas, Aperol, and frizzante.

Which NYC brunch is best for a quiet conversation? Café Boulud at Maison BARNES is considered one of the best options for a brunch focused on conversation rather than spectacle.

What is Sadelle’s known for at brunch? Sadelle’s is known for its towering bagel display served alongside smoked fish, part of Major Food Group’s brunch program in Soho.

Which NYC brunch has a Champagne cart? Café Carmellini’s weekend Champagne Brunch features a cart that pours Champagne tableside alongside live jazz.

What makes COQODAQ’s brunch different from a traditional brunch? COQODAQ’s Brucket List brunch turns the meal into a multi-course production featuring caviar, French toast soldiers, and a gold-topped chicken nugget.

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