The Best Pittsburgh Brunch: Where to get crêpe pancakes, potato omelets or 15 mimosas

Go to be seen. Go for the bloody marys. Treat yourself.

clockwise: Pear and the Pickle / instagram; Square Cafe / facebook; MEAT & POTATOES / INSTAGRAM and PAMELA’S DINER / FLICKR

MJ Slaby

Dec. 09, 2017, 5:30 a.m.

Updated, Jan. 2

Brunch isn’t like other meals. How else could you get away with mixing your favorite breakfast and lunch foods while sipping alcohol and coffee at the same time? Plus, it doubles as a social activity that can last for hours.

“You go because you want that social engagement,” said Sarah Sudar, one of the founders of eatPGH.

Sudar and Brian McCollum, director of Pittsburgh Restaurant Week, said they’re starting to notice more brunch offerings and variety in and around the city.

A restaurant doesn’t have to have a large brunch menu to do brunch well, McCollum said. But he said there are two signs he looks for in a good brunch spot. First, at least one creative dish to draw people in. Second, serious attention paid to how the bloody mary is crafted.

The Incline took recommendations for McCollum and Sudar and did some research of our own to create this guide, which mostly sticks to restaurants in the city. Use it to find a new favorite spot or transform it into brunch bucket list. (Did we miss your favorite spot? Tell us about it.)

All-in-one price

Casbah

Go for an appetizer, entree and cocktail for $28.
Where: 229 S. Highland Ave. (Shadyside)
Brunch hours: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday

Eleven

Order an appetizer, entree and choice of fresh juice or brunch cocktail for $29. There’s also a kids’ version for $15.
Where: 1150 Smallman St. (Strip District)
Brunch hours: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday

Point Brugge Cafe

Chose an entree, side dish and boozy brunch beverage for either $21 or $25.
Where: 401 Hastings St. (Point Breeze)
Brunch hours: 11 a.m to 3 p.m. Sunday

Ambience

Cafe Carnegie

Go for a brunch that’s heavy on the savory and lunch side, and follow up with a visit to the Carnegie Museum of Art.
Where: 4400 Forbes Ave. (Oakland)
Brunch hours: 10:30 to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday

Grand Concourse

Go for the bloody marys, the buffet and omelet bar, as well as the Pittsburgh nostalgia.
Where: 100 W Station Square Drive (South Shore)
Brunch hours: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday

OTB at North Park Boat House

Try one of its egg scrambles while overlooking the water.
Where: 10301 Pearce Mill Road (Allison Park)
Brunch hours: 8 to 10:45 a.m. Saturday and Sunday

Piper’s Pub

Get a Boxty — aka an omelet made from potatoes instead of eggs. And don’t be surprised if you walk in to a packed house of football — soccer —fans.
Where: 1828 E. Carson St. (South Side)
Brunch hours: 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday

Studio AM

Go for an intimate brunch in artist Baron Batch’s studio. Eat and browse or buy artwork.
Where: 225 E Eighth Ave. (Homestead)
Brunch hours: Weekend brunch will resume in 2018. Check the website for times.

Bloody Marys and mimosas

Bigham Tavern

This bloody mary doesn’t skimp. It’s garnished with meats, cheese, pepperoncini and an olive.
Where: 321 Bigham St. (Mount Washington)
Brunch hours: Starts at 10 a.m. Saturday and Sunday

The Commoner

Why: Make your bloody mary just the way you like it at a bar that includes more than 50 options.
Where: 458 Strawberry Way (Downtown)
Brunch hours: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Luke Wholey’s

Why eat seafood on a plate when it can be the accessory to your bloody mary?
Where: 2106 Penn Ave. (Strip District)
Brunch hours: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sundays

Meat and Potatoes

The make-your-own bloody mary bar features flavored vodkas.
Where: 649 Penn Ave. (Downtown)
Brunch hours: 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday

Urban Tap

Go for the bloody mary bar and while you’re there, eat pierogis for breakfast (why not?) that come with lamb sausage and a poached egg.
Where: 1209 East Carson St. (South Side); 216 S. Highland Ave. (Shadyside)
Brunch hours: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday

The Yard

Go to the Shadyside or Mt. Lebanon locations for a bloody mary bar and basically bottomless mimosas (limit 15 per person).
Where: 100 Fifth Ave. (Downtown); 736 Bellefonte St. (Shadyside); 1500 Washington Rd. (Mt. Lebanon)
Brunch hours: 10 to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday

Breakfast sandwiches

DiAnoia’s Eatery

Go for the breakfast sandwich, or if you’d rather have another lunch-turned-into-breakfast food, try the breakfast pizza.
Where: 2549 Penn Ave. (Strip District)
Brunch hours: 10 to 2:30 p.m. Sunday

Pickle and the Pear

Order the simple, yet delicious, breakfast sandwich. Sudar called it the “bombest breakfast sandwich.”
Where: 1800 Rialto St. (Troy Hill)
Brunch hours: Normal business hours

Classic diners

DeLuca’s Diner

Eat your favorite breakfast dish in a jumbo size.
Where: 2015 Penn Ave. (Strip District)
Brunch hours: Normal business hours

Dor-Stop Restaurant

Order the hot cakes or the jumbot, a breakfast scramble with Italian toast.
Where: 1430 Potomac Ave. (Dormont)
Brunch hours: Normal business hours

Nadine’s Bar and Restaurant

Get a breakfast hoagie or play breakfast roulette with the mixed grill, in which Nadine adds whatever she wants to your eggs and home fries.
Where: 19 S. 27th St. (South Side)
Brunch hours: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday

Nancy’s East End Diner

Try one of the Sunday specials like caramel apple raisin french toast made with Mancini’s raisin bread.
Where: 616 South Ave. (Wilkinsburg)
Brunch hours: Normal business hours

Pamela’s Diner

Go for the famous crêpe-style pancakes.
Where: 232 North Ave. (Millvale); 427 Washington Road (Mt. Lebanon); 3703 Forbes Ave. (Oakland); 5527 Walnut St. (Shadyside); 1711 Murray Ave. (Squirrel Hill); 60 21st St. (Strip District)
Brunch hours: Normal business hours

Ritter’s Diner

Your classic, 24-hour greasy spoon diner.
Where: 5221 Baum Blvd. (Bloomfield)
Brunch hours: Normal business hours

Vegan and vegetarian

B52 Cafe

You won’t miss the meat and cheese, we promise.
Where: 5202 Butler St. (Lawrenceville)
Brunch hours: 9 a.m to 3 p.m. Sunday

Square Cafe

Pick from a slew of vegetarian, vegan or gluten-free dishes.
Where: 1137 S Braddock Ave. (Edgewood)
Brunch hours: Normal business hours

Zenith

It’s also an art gallery and antique shop, and the vegetarian menu is always changing.
Where: 86 S 26th St. (South Side)
Brunch hours: 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Sunday

Start your day with surf and/or turf

Bakn

Bacon lovers, rejoice! Try the bakn’ stuffed pancakes or turn those pancakes into a shell for breakfast tacos.
Where: 335 E. Main St. (Carnegie)
Brunch hours: Normal business hours

Muddy Waters Oyster Bar

Have your choice of southern favorites including biscuits and gravy and BBQ shrimp and grits.
Where: 130 S Highland Ave. (East Liberty)
Brunch hours: 10:30 to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday

Sweet and indulgent

Dive Bar and Grill

Why not have chicken and funnel cake or donut holes for breakfast?
Where: 5147 Butler St. (Lawrenceville); 2132 E. Carson (South Side); 12017 Perry Highway (Pine Township)
Brunch hours: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday

Geppetto Cafe

Try a lineup of sweet crêpes, or pick from multiple french toast options.
Where: 4121 Butler St. (Lawrenceville)
Brunch hours: 9 a.m to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday

Waffles InCaffeinated

Waffles any way you want, even as french toast. Need we say more?
Where: 2517 E Carson St. (South Side); 10339 Perry Highway (McCandless); 453 Third St. (Beaver)
Brunch hours: 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday

More favorites

Bar Marco

Get doughnuts for the table, then try the pork belly Benedict.
Where: 2216 Penn Ave. (Strip District)
Brunch hours: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m .Saturday and Sunday

Bistro 19

Try the eggs Benedict. They’re the best in town, per McCollum.
Where: 711 Washington Road (Mt. Lebanon)
Brunch hours: 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Sunday

Bitter Ends luncheonette

Try any of the meats they offer, like lamb sausage, but save room for donuts, too.
Where: 4613 Liberty Ave. (Bloomfield)
Brunch hours: Normal business hours

Round Corner Cantina

Because you can eat tacos and burritos as your first meal of the day.
Where: 3720 Butler St. (Lawrenceville)
Brunch hours: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m Saturday and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m Sunday