You’re tired of the same old breakfast options. We get it. So do local restaurants, apparently, because breakfasts and brunch menus are popping up all over the place. Here are four new options to meet your morning chow needs.
Burger Tap & Shake
When to go: Monday through Friday, 7:30 to 11 AM
What you’ll find: A lineup of breakfast sandwiches that riff on the regular burger fare, plus breakfast fries, fruit, fresh juices, and, most important, coffee.
Look out for: A simple sausage, egg, and cheese sandwich, which is harder to find downtown than one might expect (for healthy people, there’s an egg-white and turkey sausage version, as well).
Graffiato
When to go: Saturday and Sunday between 1 and 3 PM
What you’ll find: A frequently changing menu from chef Mike Isabella, which could range from breakfast-y items such as cinnamon knots with Nutella to lunch-like options such as spaghetti carbonara. Drinking is encouraged via beverages like blood-orange mimosas.
Look out for: Breakfast pizza.
Seasons at the Four Season Hotel
When to go: Weekdays 6:30 to 10:30 AM for breakfast; Sunday 10:30 to 2:30 for buffet brunch
What you’ll find: Power players pretending not to check out who’s at the next table, and a weekday menu that allows for restraint (granola with fresh berries) and hardcore indulgence (chocolate-croissant French toast). Sunday brunch, however, is all about decadence.
Look out for: Vernon Jordan, Jim Johnson, Arlen Specter . . . oh, you want to know what to eat? Don’t miss the sinful French toast or the very tasty rendition of huevos rancheros.
Sixth Engine
When to go: Saturday and Sunday, 11 AM to 5 PM
What you’ll find: A crowd-pleasing menu that ranges from traditional comforts like omelets and egg platters to more out-there creations such as duck confit scrapple and a “Mac Rib” sandwich.
Look out for: Flapjacks! Because a big pancake breakfast is exactly the thing you want to eat inside an old firehouse.
Anna Spiegel covers the dining and drinking scene in her native DC. Prior to joining Washingtonian in 2010, she attended the French Culinary Institute and Columbia University’s MFA program in New York, and held various cooking and writing positions in NYC and in St. John, US Virgin Islands.
