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.

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
Spoon
Go for savory or sweet and a range of brunch cocktails.
Where:134 S. Highland Ave. (East Liberty)
Brunch hours: 11 to 2 p.m. Sunday
A previous version of this article included Casellula, which has since closed.