This post has been updated from an earlier version.
Inside Union Market
1309 Fifth St., NE
Bidwell
Union Market’s main full-service restaurant puts out a shortlist of weekend-only brunch items, including cornflake-crusted French toast, housemade granola with yogurt, and steak and eggs with Bearnaise sauce. There’s an optional $25 bottomless mimosa pairing.
Opens at: 10:30 AM Saturday and Sunday.
Buffalo & Bergen
Cocktail pro Gina Chersevani’s retro bagel-and-soda bar is always hopping on weekend mornings, and also does a huge takeout business. I go for the creative all-day breakfast sandwiches, specifically the Rude Girl (bacon and jalapeño cream cheese) or a pastrami-egg-and-cheese. To drink, there are egg creams, a slew of homemade sodas, and a now-famous bloody Mary topped with a bagel and lox.
Opens at: 8 AM daily.
Egg Yaki
Chef Nicholas Martino of nearby fish-and-chips shop Aboveground is behind this Japanese-omelet stall. Find plate-sized, open-face omelets done up with rock shrimp, cabbage, and spicy mayo; kimchi and yuzu mayo; and roasted mushrooms with black-pepper mayo.
Opens at: 8:30 AM Thursday through Sunday.
Harvey’s
Making breakfast at home? This terrific butcher is your spot for bacon, country ham, and breakfast sausage. The counter also serves meaty sandwiches like roast beef with cheddar, tomato, and tangy horseradish.
Opens at: 8 AM Tuesday through Sunday, 11 AM Monday.
Lucky Buns
On weekends, Alex McCoy’s burger/fried-chicken-sandwich joint opens early to serve up a giant breakfast burrito. It’s stuffed with scrambled eggs, fried potatoes, cheddar, queso, peppers and onions, salsa, and a choice of carne asada, grilled Thai sausage, bacon, fried chicken, or an Impossible patty.
Opens at: 10 AM to noon (for the burrito) Saturday and Sunday.
Neopol Smokery
If you’re a gravlax fan, hit up this Baltimore/DC smoked fish stall and get some to-go. You can order the Scandi-style cured salmon by the half pound, along with thicker slabs of smoked salmon and whitefish salad (the smoky egg salad is a winner, too).
Opens at: 11 AM Monday through Friday, 9 AM Saturday and Sunday.
On Toast
There are several slabs of decorated toast here—with chorizo, egg, and pickled onions, say, or roasted mushrooms with goat cheese. Avocado toast may not be the most exciting option, but it’s quite good, and topped with feta, zataar, and a poached egg.
Opens at: 9 AM daily.
Peregrine Espresso
Get your flat white or cappucino fix at this espresso bar, which also offers a few pastries and cookies.
Opens at: 8 AM daily.
Puddin’
This Southern comfort food spot doesn’t technically do breakfast, but I would happily get a late start to the day with their shrimp n’ grits or extra-boozy bread pudding.
Opens at: 11 AM daily.
Saku Saku Flakerie
The popular Cleveland Park pop-up bakery now has a Tenley cafe and this just-opened stall. The pastries—the lineup changes often—tend to have an Asian accent, whether a matcha-and-red-bean kouign-amann or a tiramisu-mochi roll.
Opens at: 9 AM Tuesday through Friday; 8:30 AM Saturday and Sunday.
Southblock
The local mini-chain serves the most virtuous options here: acai bowls spun with nut milks, kale-fortified breakfast bowls, cold-pressed juices, and myriad smoothies.
Opens at: 8 AM daily.
Inside La Cosecha
1280 Fourth St., NE
Cafe Unido
Coffee obsessives should head to the DC spinoff of this Panamanian coffee roaster, which offers espresso drinks sweetened with house-made syrups, plus rarer finds like $12 cups of aromatic, high-end geisha coffee.
Opens at: 7 AM daily.
La Casita
Warm masa fold-ups of cheese and chicharrons for breakfast sound pretty great, but this pupuseria also serves all-day breakfast items like egg-filled tacos and combo plates with eggs, fried plantains, refried beans, and baguette.
Opens at: 10 AM daily.
Mosaico by Arepa Zone
Venezuelan arepas—griddled corn cakes with fillings like roast pork and queso fresco, or black beans, plantains, and avocado—are the centerpiece of the menu here.
Opens at: 10 AM Monday through Friday; 9 AM Saturday and Sunday.
Peruvian Brothers
The popular food truck’s brick-and-mortar starts serving up its strapping sandwiches, rotisserie chicken, and empanadas on the early side. Also on the menu: picarones, Peruvian-style sweet-potato doughnuts with honey.
Opens at: 10 AM daily.
In the Union Market District
Blue Bottle
1250 Fourth St., NE
The earliest riser in the area is this Oakland-born coffee shop known for cold brews, espresso drinks, and avocado toast.
Opens at: 6:30 AM daily.
Bread Alley
1250 Fifth St., NE (in the alley off Morse St., between Fourth and Fifth sts.)
Love the baguettes and crusty cranberry boules at Le Diplomate? Head to this tiny bakery—hidden in an alley near sibling restaurant St. Anselm—for take-home loaves, plus lovely croissants and pain au chocolate.
Opens at: 9 AM daily.
El Presidente
1255 Union St., NE
Restaurateur Stephen Starr—also behind nearby Pastis, St. Anselm, and Bread Alley—continues his Union Market takeover with this flashy Mexican destination. At its weekend brunch, go for chorizo-and-cheese tlayudas, huitlacoche-stuffed quesadillas, and caramelized-pineapple mimosas.
Opens at: 10:30 AM Saturday and Sunday.
Maman
1300 Fourth St., NE
The Union Market branch of this Soho-born cafe is as flowery and grandma-chic as its five other local siblings. It’s a lovely spot for a quick meet-up, with quiches, sandwiches, pastries, and—on weekends—eggs ratatouille. There are plenty of vegetarian and gluten-free items, too.
Opens at: 7:30 AM Monday through Friday; 8 AM Saturday and Sunday.
Palette 22
400 Morse St., NE
Gorge on all-you-can-eat brunch plates ($42.22) and down bottomless mimosas ($26.22) at this sunny, art-filled spinoff of the Shirlington original. The all-over-the-map menu jumps from chicken and waffles to watermelon aguachile to beet borani with naan.
Opens at: 10 AM Saturday and Sunday.
Pastis
1323 Fourth St., NE
At Stephen Starr and Keith McNally’s buzzy bistro—which started in the Meatpacking District—you can go all out with seafood towers and Champagne or stick to humbler plates, like a crepe filled with Comte and ham, or smoked-salmon Benedict. Too early for a dirty martini (the place makes one of the best in town)? Opt for the refreshing, not-too-boozy Eiffel Sour instead.
Opens at: 10 AM Saturday and Sunday.
Pluma
391 Morse St., NE
The sunny, prettily tiled bakery from longtime pastry chefs Camila Arango and Tom Wellings serves some of DC’s best breakfast pastries, along with loaves of bread, breakfast sandwiches, and savory toasts. My pick: the chocolate-pistachio croissant.
Opens at: 7 AM Tuesday through Friday, 8 AM Saturday and Sunday.
St. Anselm
1250 Fifth St., NE
Head to this tavern-like steakhouse for bloody Marys, buttermilk biscuits, and avocado toast with Fresno chilies. Hits from the dinner menu, like the salmon collar and massive axe-handle ribeye, are available too. Big plus if you have small children: the line-up of booths (and chocolate-chip pancakes).
Opens at: 10:30 AM Saturday and Sunday.
Toastique
325 Morse St., SE
The neighborhood got its second toast-obsessed restaurant two years ago. Dress up slabs of sourdough with pastrami-salmon and cream cheese, or go for walnut-raisin bread loaded with peanut butter, berries, jam, and honey.
Opens at: 7 AM daily.
The Village Cafe
1272 Fifth St., NE
Three Jackson-Reed grads opened this casual cafe in 2018. It’s as much a space for creatives—there are frequent events and performances—as it is for caffeine-seekers jonesing for a PSL. On the breakfast menu: bagels, BECs, and a granola-and-berry parfait.
Opens at: 8 AM daily.
Yellow
417 Morse St., NE
At 3,500 square feet, the Union Market iteration of this hit Levantine bakery/cafe is chef/owner Michael Rafidi’s biggest and most ambitious yet. In the pastry case, expect to see labne-filled za’atar croissants and lemon/sumac cruffins. Top your “Urfa-thing” bagels with whipped feta, hummus, or scrambled eggs with kashkavel cheese. Meanwhile, the coffee lineup includes a golden-date latte and coconut/cardamom iced coffee.
Opens at: 8 AM daily.
Ann Limpert joined Washingtonian in late 2003. She was previously an editorial assistant at Entertainment Weekly and a cook in New York restaurant kitchens, and she is a graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education. She lives in Petworth.
