Sometimes, it’s nice to feel fancy. At Mirador, natural light flows through floor-to-ceiling windows, reflecting off white tabletops. A waiter offers you a pillow for your back then later sincerely wants to know how you’re enjoying your meal.
The atmosphere and service here are the highlight of the experience, one that’s worth trying at least once when you’d like to have brunch in the heart of downtown. The food’s fine, too — if you like a simple but more expensive breakfast.
Brunch is fairly new to Mirador, having been available for only a few Saturdays. The staff is transparent about that process: A couple of unimpressive tries on the rose sangria ($14), then the white sangria ($14), resulted in the waitress, then the bartender, asking for our thoughts about what could make it better. The bourbon and clove cocktail ($14) is an aggressive cocktail for the morning, but a good one: bourbon, pear brandy and clove make for a beautifully spicy and heat-inducing beverage.
As for the food, you’ll get Mirador's regular menu with a section added for brunch. The deviled eggs ($14) are on the standard menu but feel appropriate enough for brunch. Four come to an order, topped with caviar but overwhelmed by chives.
You’re better off with the whipped ricotta toast ($12), which gets you toasted sourdough topped with that perfection that is ricotta, some marinated fruit and pistachio. The brunch menu leads off with a $14 pastry board for a random assortment of house-made pastries. You can get a French omelet ($15) and add a caviar supplement for just $25.
The bacon-buttermilk pancakes ($12) are fine, though two flapjacks feel like robbery at that price. Bacon and candied pecans are in the batter, which unfortunately uses coconut flour. They also had that powdery and strange aftertaste, one that anyone who has ever done a low-carb diet knows too well.
On the plus side, the everything brunch bagel ($14) is quite good. Thin slices of sausage, bacon marmalade, an egg your way (though we didn’t get that option) and cheddar come on a small but appropriate bagel. You can get tater tots or salad on the side — opt for the carbs, here. Sunflower seeds take over the flavor of the side salad. It would be worth getting once a week, but it’s more of a run-and-go thing. It almost felt weird to have something like that in the more formal dining room. (Thankfully, us downtown-dwellers do have the $11 smoked salmon bagel down the street at Commissary.)
Mirador sits in the “penthouse” of a downtown building. Penthouse gets quotes because while it is the top floor, it’s not a tall building. But it does provide a view of our wonderful Main Street.
Mirador’s brunch is not one you’ll want to run to every weekend, but it is a nice setting with decent food to make you feel fancy. Sure, you may walk out paying a high bill and feeling a bit bougie, but that’s nice once in a while.
Mirador is on the top floor of 1608 Elm St. (Downtown). Brunch served 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Saturdays. Free valet parking is available at the Elm Street Motor Court at Forty Five Ten on Main Street.