Go anyplace serving a brunch menu on a Saturday or Sunday and it becomes ever-apparent. Mimosas, chicken-fried steak, shrimp and grits, waffles: There’s something about the sweet and savory food paired with a Champagne beverage that so many of us love.
As we wrap up 2018, it’s time to take a look back at some of our favorite brunches we had in Dallas this year.
Harlowe MXM
2823 Main St. (Deep Ellum)
A rooftop patio plus a solid menu that the kitchen routinely executes well makes this one of the brunch places we kept wanting to return to. The interior design is so beautiful that you’ll want to linger through your meal. Brunch cocktails offer a nice start: The strawberry sunrise ($10) has tequila, strawberry shrub, pineapple and citrus. The brunch fondue ($8) is a must-order here, with meaty white cheddar and a baked egg arriving in a small cast-iron skillet. Toasted hearth bread is available for carrying this cheese you’ll later crave. Try the sourdough waffle ($9) topped with whipped ricotta, blueberries and vanilla curd, or the charred shrimp Benedict ($12), a nice change of pace from the shrimp and grits we find on seemingly every menu.
Jack's Kitchen in East Dallas makes some of the best biscuits and gravy we've had in this brunch-crazy town.
Taylor Adams
6041 Oram St. (East Dallas)
Any place that serves delicious gravy deserves extra praise. You’ll find that at Jack’s Kitchen, along with other items that will make you want to return. Not only that, but the biscuits are actually quite fantastic, too. Sure, the sausage gravy and house-made buttermilk biscuits ($9.95) may seem like a simple enough dish, but it’s prepared the way it should be here. The shrimp and grit tamales ($15.95) are also worth a shot, offering a perfect Southern hybrid.
LUCK's pastrami benedict
Taylor Adams
3011 Gulden Lane (Trinity Groves)
You know when you go someplace to eat with a group of people, and everyone at the table actually likes what they order? That can happen at LUCK, which is why it’s one of our favorites. The German bierocks ($10) are meat- and cheese-filled pocket pastries served with beer cheese fondue and au jus — they’re allegedly for sharing, but you could make a meal to yourself out of these savory bites. LUCK also has a pretty excellent pastrami, which they generously use in a Benedict ($14) with Texas toast, two poached eggs and hollandaise. And while a year of brunches can have you sick and tired of shrimp and grits, it’s actually worth ordering here ($18) with cheese grits, a creole sauce, shrimp, green onions and an egg — they know what they’re doing at LUCK.
The straight standard at Mama Tried
Taylor Adams
215 Henry St. (Deep Ellum)
This new honky tonk tried — and succeeded — to make a stand-out Deep Ellum brunch, which is no small feat, but then they know how to do brunch so damn well. For one, they actually execute a classic breakfast well, with hash browns, eggs and bacon. This was one of the best chicken-fried steaks we had at brunch this year. The batter was perfect, the gravy was addicting, and it was served with some sausage that tastes good enough to be a meal on its own.
Small Brewpub launched brunch this year, and we've already fallen in love with the Bloody Mary.
Taylor Adams
333 W. Jefferson Blvd. (Oak Cliff)
The Bloody Mary is too often poorly prepared. But at Small Brewpub, they do it justice. Not only is it a perfect Bloody Mary ($8), but they’ll throw mezcal in it for just another $2. Small’s has chilaquiles ($13) superior to most other places in Dallas. They also serve smoked trout toast with herbed cream cheese ($6). It’s a nice change of pace from smoked salmon you’ll find everywhere else, and it’s so good, you’ll probably want to order more of it.
