32 of the best weekend brunch spots in L.A.
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Brunch is a no-holds-barred meal for maximalists. Mimosas aren’t just customary, they’re poured endlessly. Bloody Marys and micheladas serve as appetizers, garnished with celery stalks, bacon, stuffed olives or shrimp. French toast, frittatas and benedicts share menu space with seafood towers, stacked sandwiches and caviar service.
Weekend brunch invites us to suspend belief — it’s easy to pretend that eggs don’t run $10 for a dozen as we order forearm-length breakfast burritos and plate-sized scrambles. Furthermore, it’s an excuse to say yes — yes to adding avocado, bacon and another round of drinks.
Here in Los Angeles, we do brunch right. That means sun-dappled patios and rooftops overlooking the Pacific Ocean or the Hollywood sign. Creative menus that celebrate local producers and our city’s diverse culinary landscape. Alongside the usual pancakes and hashes, you’ll find Taiwanese egg crepes, pistachio-dusted mochi beignets, Turkish flatbread topped with spicy soujouk sausage and gochujang-glazed fried chicken.
About This Guide
Our journalists independently visited every spot recommended in this guide. We do not accept free meals or experiences. What should we check out next? Send ideas to [email protected].
The best part of brunch — typically offered between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. — is that the day is just beginning. It reminds us of the limitless possibility that weekends hold: After we’re done, we might frolic to a museum or pool party, take a nap, or all three before Monday rolls back around.
From rustic cabins serving oak-grilled sirloin and eggs off Mulholland to beachside destinations with nostalgic coffee cake, here are 32 L.A. restaurants to bookmark for a memorable weekend brunch.
—Danielle Dorsey
Showing Places
(Danielle Dorsey / Los Angeles Times)
Alder & Sage
Long Beach Coffee Breakfast/Brunch $$
During the week, Kerstin Kansteiner’s Retro Row cafe buzzes with locals picking up their daily pistachio-rose cold brews or settling in for a few hours of remote work on the sandy wraparound patio. On weekends, the Streamline-style building is packed for brunch, with the restaurant serving as a popular stop before or after visiting nearby thrift stores or the beach. The brunch menu skews seasonal with soyrizo hash, French toast bedecked with apple compote and rosemary maple syrup, and quiche threaded with mushrooms and leeks. Cocktails encompass soju Bloody Marys, micheladas, a couple of low-ABV spritzes and mimosas that you can order with a flight of three juices, plus wine by the glass and bottle. A handful of nonalcoholic options are available, including a convincing mojito mocktail.
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Alta Adams
West Adams Breakfast/Brunch Soul Food $$
Brunch at Alta Adams feels like a leisurely afternoon at a friend’s house, where you recline on pillows against the banquette inside or under the trellis on the spacious back patio. The food is meant to be shared, with hands reaching across the table for another piece of chef-partner Keith Corbin’s excellent fried chicken, to pass the Fresno hot sauce or break off a triangle of waffle dripping with caramel maple syrup. A bowl of grits smothered in Corbin’s oxtails is singularly restorative, as is the cornmeal pancake, as big and round as a truck tire with brittle edges that are all crunch. The Not Like Us, the restaurant’s rendition of a Bloody Mary, is a little spicy and extra savory with roasted tomato and extra-virgin olive oil washed vodka. That same vodka is used to make the Ol’ Dirty Bastard, delivering the vibes of a dirty martini without the olive juice. With mini loaves of cornbread, deviled eggs, black-eyed pea fritters and the ever-alluring option to add a side of macaroni and cheese to whatever you order, brunch at Alta Adams registers as a real treat. It’s one I’m happy to indulge in as often as possible.
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Azay
Downtown L.A. Japanese French $$
Azay opened on 1st Street in Little Tokyo in 2019 and quickly became a community hub, known as much for its classic Japanese breakfast as its legacy French Asian cuisine, which was pioneered by chef Akira Hirose. Hirose died last year, but his family keeps Azay going, with chef Chris Ono recently at the helm. On weekend mornings the sidewalk tables are filled with couples, friends and families, and many of them order the same thing: the Japanese breakfast set menu, served on a lacquer tray, that comes with marinated black cod or tofu; tamagoyaki omelette; fruit; pickles; soft tofu; miso soup; steamed vegetables tossed with yuzu zest or sesame seeds; roasted vegetables daubed with miso; and a bowl of rice sprinkled with furikake or powdered purple shiso. It feels celebratory and simply nourishing at once. Other daytime specials might include the daily bento or a breakfast skillet of duck sausage, roasted winter vegetables and egg with okonomiyaki sauce. Tables are scarce, and servers rev high. The good news is that Japanese breakfast also is served weekdays.
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Baltaire
Breakfast/Brunch Steakhouse $$$
Brunch at this Brentwood steakhouse feels like a lavish party, with music from a DJ and a crowd that arrives dressed for the occasion. It’s priced at $85 per person and food is served family-style, with a selection of starters for the table. Ribbons of gravlax are plated next to warm blinis. The zucchini bread comes with whipped honey butter. There’s a seasonal citrus salad and a variety of Mediterranean spreads with whipped feta, hummus, baba ganoush and labneh. Each diner chooses an entree from a menu of 10 options. The prime filet benedict is served with tender slices of steak over a fluffy English muffin and the Wagyu cheeseburger is stacked on a buttery brioche bun with truffle mayonnaise. The menu alone is quite the affair, but the restaurant offers a bevy of ways to upgrade brunch with tableside mimosas, a Champagne cart, a Bloody Mary cart, caviar bumps and a raw bar. The most enticing of the offerings may be the cinnamon roll. The pastry is as tall and wide as a birthday cake, wheeled on a cart and slathered with frosting at the table. It’s swirled with just the right amount of cinnamon and served with an extra saucer of smooth cream cheese frosting. A fitting end to one of the most over-the-top brunches in the city.
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Cafe 2001
Downtown L.A. French-Japanese-California
The vivid burgundy egg, gently poached in red wine, arrives beside an arrangement of halved green asparagus stalks and what appear to be French fries but are actually cleverly shaped batons of fried bread — toast soldiers ready for service. A shower of grated Parmesan over the plate adds a dash of exuberance. But it isn’t until the moment your fork sets loose the egg’s golden yolk, oozing a bright yellow splash of color between the green and the burgundy, that this brunch dish from the kitchen of Giles Clark reaches peak intensity. The flavors are as engaging as the plate’s appearance, with umami from the Parmesan keeping you eating until you’ve used the last toast baton to wipe up every bit of yolk.
This is just one of many dishes that has quickly attracted a devoted following in the Arts District for Cafe 2001, an industrial-chic space that opened earlier this year on the backside of Junya Yamasaki’s izakaya-inspired Yess. Clark was Yamasaki’s sous chef before turning his attention to the mostly daytime spot with weekend wine bar hours. If you go savory, try Clark’s terrine plate, his avocado toast topped with a garden of greens and pea tendrils, his hard-to-stop-eating caponata or smoked trout slices on fried hash brown blocks with a dollop of huckleberry jam that works beautifully with the fish. If there are jelly doughnuts or cherry pie or, really, any of the cafe’s baked goods, don’t hesitate to add something sweet to your order. There isn’t a full bar, but there are shandies with matcha and beer, hot shochu toddies with yuzu and a smartly curated selection of wine.
This is just one of many dishes that has quickly attracted a devoted following in the Arts District for Cafe 2001, an industrial-chic space that opened earlier this year on the backside of Junya Yamasaki’s izakaya-inspired Yess. Clark was Yamasaki’s sous chef before turning his attention to the mostly daytime spot with weekend wine bar hours. If you go savory, try Clark’s terrine plate, his avocado toast topped with a garden of greens and pea tendrils, his hard-to-stop-eating caponata or smoked trout slices on fried hash brown blocks with a dollop of huckleberry jam that works beautifully with the fish. If there are jelly doughnuts or cherry pie or, really, any of the cafe’s baked goods, don’t hesitate to add something sweet to your order. There isn’t a full bar, but there are shandies with matcha and beer, hot shochu toddies with yuzu and a smartly curated selection of wine.
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(Laurie Ochoa / Los Angeles Times)
Caldo Verde
Downtown L.A. California Portuguese
Avocado toast may be a California cliché, but the lovely version served each morning at Caldo Verde, the Portuguese-inspired restaurant from A.O.C. partners Suzanne Goin and Caroline Styne, shows why we keep ordering it. Set on grilled pumpernickel, the mash of avocado is topped with creamy burrata cheese, a piri piri red pepper sauce, cherry tomatoes, slices of gorgeous purple radish and a halved soft-boiled egg. Breakfast is served seven days at Caldo Verde, but weekends take on a brunch vibe with daytime cocktails, including a Bloody Mary and orange or grapefruit mimosas. The brioche French toast comes with whipped ricotta mascarpone and a blackberry compote, and instead of bagels with your smoked salmon, Goin’s team serves excellent Johnny cakes.
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Carnal
Highland Park Mexican $$
Chef Francisco Aguilar burst onto the culinary scene with modernist mariscos and some of L.A.’s best tacos at Simón, his bright blue food truck. But at Carnal, his first bricks-and-mortar, Aguilar wanted to share a bit of his Oaxacan upbringing with Highland Park — especially when it comes to the region’s hearty rancho-style desayunos. He says “heavy flavors” are signatures of these traditional breakfasts, where you might find chilaquiles made with freshly fried chips, or breakfast sopes drenched in mole or skirt steak. His more modern, L.A.-inspired spins on Oaxacan morning meals are just as worthy of an order, including a toast that smothers avocado, pickled onions and lobster in a salsa macha hollandaise. Be sure to maximize Aguilar’s flavors by ordering the salsas made in molcajetes, and wash it all down with cafe de olla or the effervescent house-made tepache.
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Claire's at the Museum
Long Beach Breakfast/Brunch $$
Named in honor of late artist Claire Falkenstein, this oceanfront restaurant shares a campus with the Long Beach Museum of Art and boasts views of the Queen Mary and Catalina Island, in addition to a fountain sculpture by Falkenstein called “Structure and Flow” that anchors the tiered patio that’s dotted with yellow umbrellas. The interior buzzes during weekend brunch, with diners scattered across different hardwood-floored rooms in the historic two-story home. It’s easy to lose an afternoon here, with your choice of four Bloody Marys, seasonal sangria, a peach mojito or mimosas with blood orange, pomegranate or passion fruit juice. The food menu has equal appeal, with brunch classics including crème brûlée French toast, chilaquiles and mashed-avocado toast loaded with sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms and almonds. After your meal, take a stroll around the sculpture garden or visit the exhibits at the museum next door.
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(Ricardo Sebastian / DTLA Cheese Superette)
DTLA Cheese Superette
Downtown L.A. Sandwich Shop $$
Cozy and neighborly, DTLA Cheese Superette is a gourmet mini-market, cheese shop and weekday lunch spot, where on weekends chef Reed Herrick and his team make brunch: floppy crepes with cultured butter and salty ham; cheesy hash browns, fried egg and bacon; big seasonal salads loaded up with, say, spring asparagus; and specials such as chilaquiles or steak and eggs. That’s in addition to the regular rotation of excellent sandwiches and homemade soups. Herrick and his partner, Lydia Clark, also own the wine bar next door, Kippered. So if you want some sparkling wine with your scramble, you have the option of brunch brought to you at Kippered. Herrick and Clark make everyone feel at home. (While there, pick up a favorite, perfectly cared-for cheese and provisions such as tinned fish or farmers market vegetables.)
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Edgemar
Santa Monica American $$
Tucked off Main Street in a brutalist, Frank Gehry-designed building is Edgemar, a sleek new restaurant from Jared Dowling (Winston House, the Waterfront) and Jonathan Thoma (Great White) with a wide-ranging, London-inspired menu. Brunch spans dim sum like shrimp toast, chile-soaked wontons and imperial rolls stuffed with lump crab and shrimp, as well as larger plates such as butter chicken with ruby curry and fish and chips. Ask about the daily specials: A hefty shawarma wrap with tender lamb was offered at my last visit. Mimosas can be ordered by the glass or bottle with orange, grapefruit or seasonal fruit juice, but the cold brew carajillo and Doe Eyed Doll #3, with cognac, aperol, apple and lime, prove equally tempting.
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Found Oyster
East Hollywood Seafood $$
It’s always summer on Found Oyster’s cozy streetside patio that overlooks Fountain Avenue. That must be why, even though the interior feels like hanging out in a sommelier friend’s dining room after they’ve cleared out your local fish market, the outdoor deck remains my preference for weekend brunch. That said, on a sunny weekend, you’ll find yourself waiting for just about any seat in the East Coast-inspired seafood shack. Thank goodness they now take reservations.
The dinner menu is available for brunch. The scallop tostada with apple and yuzu kosho is standard for me, along with a dozen oysters featuring as many varieties as they’ll let me sample, the pucker-inducing Sicilian crudo and lobster bisque roll with fries (and topped with caviar if I’m feeling fancy). The wine here is too good to subdue with juice. Instead, ask your server for a recommendation from the natural-leaning list.
The dinner menu is available for brunch. The scallop tostada with apple and yuzu kosho is standard for me, along with a dozen oysters featuring as many varieties as they’ll let me sample, the pucker-inducing Sicilian crudo and lobster bisque roll with fries (and topped with caviar if I’m feeling fancy). The wine here is too good to subdue with juice. Instead, ask your server for a recommendation from the natural-leaning list.
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Ka'teen
Hollywood Mexican cuisine
Guerrilla Tacos chef-founder Wes Avila wanted his Hollywood restaurant, Ka’teen, to replicate the Yucatán Peninsula: That means a tropical, verdant patio, a thrumming soundtrack and bold flavors on the plate. During Sunday brunch, those flavors take the shape of campechana ceviche, its hamachi, shrimp, octopus and cucumbers spilling from the top of a young coconut; handmade tortilla enfrijoladas hiding citrus-tinged prime short rib; and, for a sweeter note, fluffy, eggy, flan-inspired pancakes coated with a just-brûléed custard topped with berries and toasted nuts. Strawberry conchas might form the backbone of a spin on French toast, while the breakfast burrito is loaded with birria. It’s a breezy scene — especially on the plant-lined patio — and one that feels all the more transportive with a fresh agua fresca or a Bloody Maria in hand.
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La Casita Mexicana
Bell Mexican $$
Their restaurant may be more than 25 years old, but Jaime Martin del Campo and Ramiro Arvizu, founding chefs of La Casita Mexicana, haven’t stopped coming up with fresh ideas, often inspired by the fruits, herbs and vegetables they grow behind the restaurant’s covered patio. On one recent visit, I loved their take on ceviche maracuya, or passion fruit ceviche, amped with habanero. It was sweet, but not too sweet; spicy, but not too spicy. Of course, there is always mole — either verde, pepian or burnished, near-black mole poblano — and their justly famous chile en nogada filled with ground pork, dried fruits, walnuts and candied cactus topped with a pecan cream sauce and ruby red pomegranate seeds. During brunch hours, the restaurant specializes in chilaquiles served not only with mild red or spicy green salsas (or divorciados style if you want both on the plate) but also with your pick of smoky chipotle salsa, habanero salsa, a creamy seven-chile sauce and two different moles. Omelets can be filled with cactus strips, chorizo and queso fresco or a raja of poblano chiles. It all goes down easy with different micheladas, margaritas and mimosas.
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Luminarias
Monterey Park American $$
At the hilltop public golf course of Monterey Park, in an events building with a sweeping view over the jagged gully of the 60 and 710 interchange, a weekend patio brunch is popping. Here you’ll find Luminarias, a nostalgic spot for San Gabriel Valley natives. Open since 1971, it’s seen countless quinceñeras, weddings and Very Important Dates, not to mention corporate and political happy hours for the ages. Luminarias in recent years is enjoying something of a renaissance. It now calls itself a New American restaurant “with a Latin twist,” so there’s crab cake eggs benedict with chipotle hollandaise, a Cuban sandwich and a starter of beef birria empanadas that I’d double order for next time. After the valley views, the draw here is the unabashedly theatrical cocktail menu: La Muerte is tequila, mango, lime and cilantro in a sugar-skull mug topped with a chamoy stick and a chamoy-slathered popsicle; Belle is peach-flavored Ketel One, St. Germain and clarified lemon “revealed” with “essence of rose and plumeria” — in other words, the presentation is a glass dome cloche a la the wilting rose in Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast,” filled with rosy smoke. Heads turn on the patio when the Belle reaches a table. Brunch can’t get any brunchier than this.
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Manhattan Beach Post
Manhattan Beach Restaurant
Brunch at chef David LeFevre’s plant-filled, New American restaurant is a raucous affair. Tables and bar seats turn over quickly as locals, families and tourists place back-to-back orders for craggy, palm-sized bacon cheddar buttermilk biscuits. The menu is ideal for sharing, including charcuterie boards with creamy blue cheese and duck prosciutto, turmeric-spiced naan that’s grilled to order, pecan sticky buns and extra-crispy French fries with house-made ketchup. If you’re limited to just one item, the eggs benedict with Casella’s prosciutto on the signature biscuit combines the restaurant’s greatest hits. Brunch cocktails include bottomless mimosas with Cava and orange-mango or guava-lime juice, Bloody Marys with bacon-infused vodka, a minty take on the espresso martini, white sangria, a spicy margarita and a house Mai Tai and Painkiller. This is where to go before or after setting up a blanket on the nearby shores of Manhattan Beach — I prefer a postbrunch beach hang so I can bring biscuits to-go.
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(Danielle Dorsey / Los Angeles Times)
Mardi Gras Tuesday
Sherman Oaks Creole Southern $$
Mardi Gras Tuesday brings a dose of New Orleans-inspired Southern hospitality to Ventura Boulevard with live jazz and $10 bottomless mimosas during weekend brunch. The menu takes similar cues with dishes including New Orleans hash with sauteed shrimp and andouille sausage, shrimp and grits, and benedicts topped with your choice of fried oysters, shrimp or crawfish and featuring crab cakes instead of the usual English muffin. The Southern-fried half-chicken with two waffles is big enough to share and proved so similar to versions I’ve had in the Big Easy that, for a moment, I swore I was dining on Bourbon Street (the mimosas might have contributed to that fantasy). The lunch menu with po’boys and jambalaya is also available — get the buttery, char-grilled oysters bubbling with a Parmesan cheese blend to complete the experience. The restaurant has only a beer and wine license; cocktails, including a French 75 and a Hurricane, are made with soju-based spirits.
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Merois
West Hollywood Breakfast/Brunch Korean $$$
The new Korean fried chicken brunch at Wolfgang Puck’s restaurant at the top of the Pendry hotel on Sunset Boulevard unfolds like an extravagant multicourse meal. Inspired by executive sous chef Nicole Abisror’s Korean heritage, the table is treated to eight banchan, including kimchi made in-house, wood ear mushrooms, carrots and dates. The spread rivals the banchan collection at your favorite Korean barbecue restaurant. There’s a green salad and milk bread buns filled with kimchi. Then comes the fried chicken, plated on a hot skillet with a sweet and spicy gochuchang glaze poured over the top at the table. It’s more than enough food to satisfy for brunch, but the $95-per-person reservation also includes a selection of entree and dessert. The marinated short ribs are nicely caramelized and served with rounds of grilled onion. A delicate omelet envelops a plate of crab-studded fried rice doused in a savory gravy. For dessert, a deep purple slice of ube cheesecake or chocolate cake with a molten center. There will be leftovers. You will leave happy. The Korean fried chicken brunch is available weekends from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
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(Danielle Dorsey / Los Angeles Times)
Mother Tongue
Hollywood Eclectic $$
The rooftop restaurant from celebrity chef Michael Mina and executive chef Fernando Darin crowns the fourth floor of Heimat, an exclusive fitness club whose members you’ll see languishing by the pool and hot tub outside. Here, you’ll struggle to choose between the jewel-toned, Art Deco-inspired interior and the open-air patio with scalloped umbrellas and clear views of the Hollywood sign. Perhaps because of its somewhat hidden alleyway entrance, weekend brunch is a surprisingly relaxed affair, making it a great option for groups or last-minute planners. The health-minded, prix fixe menu is $39 per person and includes a key with information on which dishes are keto-friendly, plant-based, anti-inflammatory or intended to boost cognition. First-course options include shiitake mushroom larb or Pacific Stripe bass crudo, while entrees range from a house Benedict with turmeric hollandaise to a breakfast burger with charred avocado and shakshouka. Oysters, flatbread and dips, and caviar with sweet potato latkes are available a la carte. Bottomless still and sparkling rosé is $30 per person, while brunch cocktails include fruity, smooth-sipping spritzes and produce-packed concoctions, like Lost in the Jungle with mezcal, cucumber, kale, agave and lime.
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Mr. T
Hollywood Restaurant and lounge
The DJ is spinning soul, disco and other good-vibes records on the patio, which feels like a bit of a party in Hollywood’s Sycamore District. It’s Sunday brunch at Mr. T, the Paris-born restaurant that made its way to L.A. in 2022: The $19 bottomless mimosas are flowing and the pastries are flying out of the case. Nearly every table sports croissants, cookies and tarts, the spoils of patissier François Daubinet’s hours of labor and pastry expertise. Order several for the table before moving on to chef Alisa Vannah’s sunny, savory food such as salmon tartines topped with ikura, a marinated egg and burrata; pillowy pancakes under blueberries and pistachios; and, the best of both worlds, a fluffy-egged breakfast sandwich on one of Daubinet’s must-order croissants.
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Oh La La
Pasadena French Bakery $$
The convivial Pasadena bakery features quirky hanging lamps, draping plants and framed posters advertising French destinations, with floor-to-ceiling windows that overlook Colorado Boulevard. It feels like the sort of place that’s been around forever, with a quick-moving line of regulars who pick up French baguettes, wine and fresh-baked pastries to pair with morning coffee. Weekend brunch is busy, but tables turn over quickly and by the time you place your order at the counter, you’ll likely see a few spots opening up. The menu has the standards you’d expect, like a breakfast burrito and avocado toast, but here I’d urge you toward the French-inspired specialties, including the weekend-only veggie quiche, a croque-monsieur with baked Parisian ham, and potato gravlax with layers of crispy, thin-sliced potatoes topped with cured salmon and lemon-chive cream cheese. A selection of coffee and matcha drinks is available, plus mimosas with fresh-squeezed OJ, bellinis turned sweet with a dollop of homemade strawberry jam and sangria bobbing with fruit.
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The Old Place
Cornell
The journey is part of the beauty of the Old Place: The hearty, flame-grilled food at this mountain gem tastes all the more gratifying after a trek, especially at brunch. Wind through the Santa Monica Mountains to Cornell, a tucked-away community founded in 1870. While the Old Place isn’t that old — it opened in 1970 — its original structures date back nearly as long, and the rustic steaks and baked potatoes echo that founding era. Only on weekends can you find the steak-and-potatoes cuisine in brunch form, with oak-grilled sirloin steak and eggs, one of the city’s best breakfast burritos, thick wedges of breakfast potatoes and gooey-centered cinnamon buns coated with thick vanilla frosting. Because only outdoor seating is permitted during brunch hours, the Old Place comes alive with families, motorcyclists, classic-car aficionados and large parties of friends mixing it up at picnic benches and wooden tables surrounded by tall trees. Head to the Old Place for equal parts Wild West fantasy, respite from the city and hearty, comforting, stick-to-your-ribs brunch.
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Pez Coastal Kitchen
Pasadena Breakfast/Brunch Mexican Seafood $$
The brunch menu at Bret Thompson and Lucy Thompson-Ramirez’s Pasadena restaurant is a celebration of seafood, with a grand chilled tower, ceviche, oysters and caviar. There’s a whole fried fish, and you can opt for smoked salmon on your eggs benedict biscuit or avocado toast. The bar slings spritzes, build-your-own mimosas and a handful of brunch-appropriate cocktails. You get the idea. But Thompson has managed to create a menu that also will appeal to the diner looking for French toast or a breakfast sandwich. I suggest starting brunch with the bacon flight, a wooden plank of four slabs of bacon rubbed with various flavorings. Recently there was apple-cinnamon bacon, an apricot mustard variety and chipotle honey. The French toast fingers are more of a meal than the name might suggest, with tiles of perfect French toast that are crisp around all the edges and soft and tender in the middle. The dish is scattered with toasted walnuts and slices of sweet, jammy banana and a drizzle of salted caramel sauce. There should be at least one order on every table.
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(Ryan Tanaka)
Playa Provisions
Playa del Rey Breakfast/Brunch Seafood American $$
There are two ways to experience Brook Williamson’s Playa Provisions, with a walk-up counter to order pastries, grab-and-go salads and sandwiches and ice cream, and the sit-down Dockside restaurant for a full brunch menu with cocktails. Williamson delivers an elevated version of all the brunch classics, with Cream of Wheat and quinoa, Cajun shrimp and Dungeness crab eggs benedict and a beet-cured salmon bagel with fish cured in-house and all the fixings. Many of the seafood-focused dinner starters are available for brunch, like the smoked trout dip with crackers coated in everything bagel seasoning and the bay scallop and shrimp ceviche with mango salsa. I’m partial to Williamson’s sandwiches, with a BLT that rivals any version in the city. The breakfast sandwich is worth equal praise, with a turkey and pork sausage patty on crusty ciabatta with vinegar collard greens that melt into the runny egg and a lashing of habanero hot sauce. The ideal Sunday involves a breakfast sandwich in one hand and a Pop Secco (a house-made tangerine Popsicle in a glass of Prosecco) in the other, with the ocean breeze cooling my skin on the sunlit patio.
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Redbird
Downtown L.A. American $$$
Sweet or savory? That’s always the question when contemplating Neal Fraser’s brunch menu at Redbird, one of the city’s most beautiful sun-filled restaurants with a glass-ceilinged dining room, part of the complex that was once the Cathedral of St. Vibiana. Each time I go savory, I look longingly at the pumpkin-spiced French toast and airy ricotta blueberry pancakes going by and remember how good they are. But Fraser’s shrimp and grits ringed with a charred tomato sofrito is hard to resist. I also like his duck confit chilaquiles sauced with mole, short rib hash and richly spiced Basque baked eggs. For a long stretch, I’d order the lobster congee, a light and elegant take on the rice porridge I love in the San Gabriel Valley. These days, Redbird is serving its congee with ground free-range chicken and charred corn; if you need lobster with your Bloody Mary, Fraser serves a terrific lobster roll with yuzu kosho aioli. And if you’re looking for a sweet bite with your savory, tender buttermilk biscuits with strawberry-rhubarb jam or a gooey cinnamon roll are good calls.
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République
Hancock Park American $$$
It’s not unusual for a line to snake out the door of République and down La Brea Boulevard on weekend mornings. Some are lining up for fresh-baked crostatas and savory hand pies from James Beard Award-winning pastry chef and co-owner Margarita Manzke, while others are hoping to place brunch orders at the counter before finding a seat in the nearly century-old building with vaulted ceilings. At first glance, the brunch menu might not seem groundbreaking, but each item carries the decidedly French ethos of being painstakingly prepared. You’ll find a handful of toasts (the brioche French toast proves most memorable), daily-changing quiche, a breakfast sandwich with pork belly sausage and kimchi fried rice with short rib and a soft-poached egg. Spicy fried chicken and Cuban sandwiches hit the menu at 11 a.m., along with a dry-aged beef burger. Brunch cocktails include mimosas and sangria by the carafe, plus a sriracha-spiked Bloody Mary and a house gin and tonic with jasmine tea.
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(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
RVR
Venice Japanese American $$
By night, Travis Lett’s modern izakaya is moody, sexy and low-lit. On weekends from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., it’s more like a casual, feel-good party, with records spinning and that Venice sunlight streaming in through the windows and skylights. Here the Gjusta founder and his co-chef, Ian Robinson, stray from the typical eggs-and-bacon menu by incorporating a few well-considered, brunch-only dishes into their rotation of temaki, kushiyaki and seasonal small plates. There are tamago hand rolls, the egg perfectly bouncy within; a katsu sando with bright fermented cabbage slaw; and perhaps the star of the show, the chewy-salty mochi beignets with honey and a generous dusting of pistachio and orange zest. The pour-over coffee features just as much thought, topped with cream that’s hand-whipped to order.
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(Betty Hallock / Los Angeles Times)
Ryla
Hermosa Beach Cocktails Japanese Californian
Ryla stands out among Hermosa Beach restaurants for its Japanese-Taiwanese flair. Chef Ray Hayashi and chef de cuisine Cynthia Hetlinger, who are married, created a punchy brunch menu of can’t-miss classics and fun hybrids, just steps from the ocean. The eggs benedict are a highlight: two gently poached eggs with molten yolks served on house-made English muffins and a hollandaise that’s punctuated by bright-tart yuzu, along with your choice of pork belly, asparagus or crab. Also on the menu: a tonkatsu sandwich; crispy Taiwanese egg crepe; ramen; sushi; Korean galbi; ramen in various broths; and tteokbokki a la vodka sauce. If you’re interested in starting your day on the (not too) sweet side, opt for the an pan — a fluffy-soft Japanese bun filled with jiggly custard and red bean paste. The mimosas are bottomless (for up to 90 minutes). Afterward, the beach beckons, for volleyball-watching and pier-strolling.
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(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
Saltie Girl
West Hollywood Seafood $$$
Seafood lovers, climb aboard. Ever since docking in West Hollywood, the Boston-founded, seafood-slinging Saltie Girl has served some of L.A.’s best and most indulgent shellfish towers, lobster rolls and sea-tinged pastas, sandwiches and toasts — in addition to a tinned-fish list that’s roughly 150 options long. But brunch is an especially good time to set sail, with dishes such as Eggs & Eggs, where caviar and crème fraîche top silken scrambled eggs; meaty hunks of fried lobster complement a fluffy-interiored waffle with spicy maple syrup and sweet corn butter; and the benedicts can involve caviar, smoked salmon or lobster. But one item worth launching a thousand ships isn’t seafood-focused at all: Don’t miss the cinnamon roll sweet buns — made by Ben Sidell’s SweetBoy bakery — which receive a tableside pour of a thick sweet-salty toffee syrup that will have your whole brunch party licking the mini cake stand clean.
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(Daniel Hernandez / Los Angeles Times)
Trani's Dockside Station
Seafood $$
San Pedro locals, devoted to their union and military port town, have been loyal for generations to the J. Trani family restaurant name. The group expanded in 2023 under chef Dustin Trani, in a refurbished historicport building just steps from the piers at one of the furthest south restaurants you can drive to within city limits. Since then, one of the most satisfying dishes in L.A. for me has been the Peruvian bay scallops at Trani’s Dockside Station. Joyously Thai in effect, the scallops taste even better while the sun is overhead for a Sunday brunch. As the place begins filling with families and the Bloody Marys clank, the weekend vibe invariably calls for oysters. Chef Trani’s selection on a bright, perfect-for-brunch day included Baywater Sweets from Washington. The oyster sang with so much creaminess that my mouth was left vibrating with the flavor for several minutes after slurping it. The rest here is California port food with fun splotches of creativity. Trani makes an LAUSD coffee cake, and his buttermilk fried chicken is paired with a mass of jalapeño-cheddar French toast and sage brown butter. The soft-shell crab Benedict Arnold is something you don’t often see. It comes in a brioche bun like a breakfast sandwich: Maryland crab, mortadella and a béarnaise sauce that together offer an ideal bite of what a seafood brunch should be at its umami peak.
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(Danielle Dorsey / Los Angeles Times )
Two Hommés
Inglewood West African Southern $$
The vibrant Inglewood restaurant from chefs, co-owners and lifelong friends Marcus Yaw Johnson and Abdoulaye Balde is a joyful celebration of pan-African flavors, with a steady soundtrack of R&B hits and Miriam Makeba and Fela Kuti concert posters adorning the walls. Sunday brunch brings a diverse crowd of churchgoers, sports fans (thanks to the mounted TV and convenient location near SoFi Stadium) and neighborhood locals. Dishes bridge cultural influences, such as shrimp and grits smothered in creamy jollof sauce, brown-sugar waffles topped with crispy honey-berbere chicken bites and a breakfast sandwich with a house-made lamb sausage patty topped with a shito pepper sauce. The pillowy biscuits are pure Southern comfort, especially when smeared with honey butter and strawberry jam. Two Hommés’ newly procured liquor license means a fresh lineup of batched cocktails is at the ready: The Mezcalifornia is a refreshing, cucumber-forward drink that’s balanced with grapefruit juice; the Sentinela Sour, with whiskey, lime juice, soursop and ginger, is another favorite. Try the rotating house lemonade or mocktail if you’re abstaining from booze.
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(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
Yang's Kitchen
Alhambra Breakfast/Brunch $$
This Alhambra restaurant is one of the few on this list that serves brunch throughout the week. It’s a favorite destination for a midweek, midday meal, when I’m drawn to the simplicity of the market grill plate after a steady diet of brown foods. The plate includes your choice of protein, grilled farmers market vegetables and pickles. The dry-aged barramundi and dry-aged steelhead are consistently cooked to perfection, each fish with crispy skin and centers that seem to melt. It’s the sort of meal I’d be lucky to eat multiple times a week. On weekends the breakfast plate, a bountiful array of eggs, hash browns, greens, your choice of protein and a side of the restaurant’s scallion ranch dressing, feels more appropriate. Same for the cornmeal mochi pancakes, a revelation when it comes to the genre of breakfast cakes. The hotcakes are made with Grist & Toll cornmeal and Koda Farms mochiko rice flour for a texture that’s more crepe-like than fluffy. The wavy, irregular edges hang over the plate, often with prized lacy corners. And the dollop of fruit compote on top is always seasonal and one of the best parts of the meal.
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(Katrina Frederick)
Zaytinya
Culver City Mediterranean $$
The spacious Culver City location of celebrity chef and humanitarian José Andrés’ Zaytinya restaurant chain sits on the ground floor of the Shay hotel and pulls influence from Lebanese, Greek and Turkish cuisines, including spreads, flatbreads, durums and veggie, seafood and meat mezze. Weekend brunch brings additional options such as pide with spicy soujouk sausage, crispy fries with a garlic yogurt and soft egg dip, seven-spice beef confit with scrambled eggs and Lebanese-inspired French toast with orange blossom water and attiki honey. It’s a great option for groups and those who prefer to graze across a selection of dips and shareable plates. Brunch cocktails include a Bloody Mary with a house harissa mix, mimosas and other concoctions with Mediterranean spirits, such as Medi 75 with mastiha liqueur, yuzu, lavender-infused honey and Cava.
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