28 of the Triangle’s very best brunch spots for this very brunchy Easter weekend
This is a big weekend for brunch, that indulgent, sweet and salty, sometimes boozy morning meal.
There’s something about brunch in the springtime — the hollandaise glowing like a sunrise, the world seemingly in bloom while a mimosa bubbles above the rim.
For Easter and spring break brunchers, we’ve assembled more than two dozen of the Triangle’s best spots for weekend feasts. Some are casual and cater to brunch plans made on a whim, others will need a reservation.
Here are 28 of the Triangle’s very best brunches.
Aaktun
704 Ramseur Street, Durham. 919-251-9862 or aaktun.info
With one of Durham’s most stunning dining rooms, Aaktun evokes the coastal caves of Mexico. The new restaurant is the place to be for breakfast sandwich aficionados. The cocktails are punchy and vibrant and the coffee game is on point.
Acme
110 E. Main St., Carrboro. 919-929-2263 or acmecarrboro.com
A staple of Carrboro dining for more than a quarter-century, Acme serves a wildly popular Southern-style brunch, studded with rich flavor bombs and seasonal twists.
Alley Twenty Six
320 E. Chapel Hill St., Durham. 984-439-2278 or alleytwentysix.com
Alley Twenty Six is the keeper of the flame for one of America’s most iconic dishes of shrimp and grits. As a former finalist for the James Beard Outstanding Bar Program in the country, prepare for perfect craft cocktails.
Beasley’s Chicken + Honey
237 S. Wilmington St., Raleigh. 919-322-0127 or ac-restaurants.com/beasleys
Here, chef Ashley Christensen offers many takes on fried chicken and Southern delicacies. The brunch star might be the Hot Chicken Eggs Benedict, a spicy version of the classic Benny with a fluffy biscuit subbed in for the English Muffin.
Big Bad Breakfast
2608 Erwin Rd #120, Durham. 984-243-9929 or bigbadbreakfast.com/locations/durham
Celebrity chef John Currence finally brought his Big Bad Breakfast brand to Durham last year, unveiling towering biscuit sandwiches, a spicy shrimp and grits and a cocktail list that includes a Breakfast Margarita. Yes, please.
Crossroads at the Carolina Inn
211 Pittsboro St., Chapel Hill. 919-918-2777 or destinationhotels.com/carolina-inn/crossroads-chapel-hill
On holidays, brunch at the Carolina Inn is usually booked up weeks in advance. But the famed Chapel Hill hotel serves a brunch spread worthy of a holiday feast every single week. There are buffet stations serving smoked salmon, waffles, omelets, hand-carved steaks and a dozen classic breakfast dishes.
Dame’s Chicken & Waffles
530 Foster St., Durham. 919-682-9235
823 Bass Pro Lane, Cary. 919-234-0824 or dameschickenwaffles.com
For years and years, Dame’s has been the hardest weekend brunch ticket to score in the Triangle. Tables required sometimes weeks of forethought, or the patience to wait with the crowd usually assembled at the door. The reward for all that is a meal at one of the city’s best all around restaurants, where fried chicken wings are perfectly seasoned and crispy, and served with airy waffles and a variety of sticky sweet syrups and hot sauce. If you’re not a chicken and waffles believer, Dame’s will make you a convert.
The Durham
315 E. Chapel Hill St., Durham. 919-768-8830 or thedurham.com/restaurant
Brunch at The Durham lives up to its setting, which is one of the most elegant dining rooms in the Triangle. You’ll find light and bright flavors, like citrus soaked French toast and a definitive take on avocado toast, served alongside one of Durham’s quietly ambitious coffee programs, including the cult favorite coffee soda. For Easter, The Durham is doing a set brunch menu.
Elmo’s Diner
776 9th St, Durham. 919-416-3823 or elmosdiner.com
It’s a scientific fact that Elmo’s is the most perfect diner in the Triangle. No matter the season, there will be a crowd by the door Sunday mornings eager for biscuits and gravy or a pecan waffle or maybe, just maybe, a perch at the bar with a soulful cup of coffee.
Geer Street Garden
644 Foster St Durham. 919-688-2900 or geerstreetgarden.com
Here you’ll find a rare and beautiful thing — an excellent breakfast bar. Geer Street Garden offers the canvas and lets you the diner paint your breakfast masterpiece: perhaps a plate of corned beef hash and chilaquiles. There’s even banana pudding for brunch dessert. Geer Street Garden is also famous for its Bloody Mary bar, where you pick the toppings, which could include bacon and pickled okra for a smoky, briny bite.
Grub
1200 W. Chapel Hill St., Durham. 919-973-3636 or grubdurham.com
On the weekends you’ll always find the rooftop packed at Grub. The crowds are coming for creative biscuit sandwiches, sweet treats like brioche doughnuts and towers of blueberry-studded pancakes. Grub also does a fruity brunch Lassi spiked with Chambord.
Guglhupf Bakery, Cafe & Biergarten
2706 Durham-Chapel Hill Blvd., Durham. 919-401-2600 or guglhupf.com
Great patios can be transportive and Guglhupf’s feels like being sealed into a different era of Durham dining. The menu blends Southern and European delicacies, like French omelets alongside hot honey drizzled fried chicken sandwiches and a spectrum of sweet pastries.
Hong Kong Chinese Restaurant
3003 Guess Road, Durham. 919-479-8339 or hongkongdimsumindurham.com
The Triangle’s best dim sum makes for one of the busiest brunch spots in Durham on the weekends. As coveted carts of steamed delights weave through the dining room, it’s hard not to order everything at once. Come with a crowd and seek out congee, steamed shrimp noodles and egg tarts.
Hummingbird
1053 E. Whitaker Mill Road, #111, Raleigh. 919-301-8900 or hummingbirdraleigh.com
A sweet and lovely restaurant built in a former truck depot bathroom (the soft green tile is original), Hummingbird is a brunch star in Raleigh. Its best side might be its broad and open porch patio, but a bar stool is always the perfect perch to order a plate of the airiest ricotta fritters in existence, which diners must swipe through tart raspberry jam and sweet cream.
Irregardless Cafe
901 W. Morgan St., Raleigh. 919-833-8898 or irregardless.com
Irregardless continues to shine 50 years after it first opened its doors. Triangle diners proclaimed it the area’s best brunch, with a menu built around the classics, seasonal fruits and vegetables. That might mean a waffle topped with fresh berries or a butternut squash frittata. Irregardless can cure grumbling stomachs as well, with hearty dishes like braised short ribs and cheese grits.
Little Rey
1101 E Whitaker Mill Rd Suite 102, Raleigh. 919-355-3479 or littlerey.com/raleigh
When you find a taco shop with a breakfast chalupa and pancakes on the menu, you know you’ve unlocked a new level of brunch. Little Rey is the counter-service cousin of the fancier Superica — fun vibes and outstanding food.
Lula and Sadie’s
2022 Chapel Hill Road, Durham. 919-824-8341 or lulaandsadies.com
This Southern restaurant has made a home in Durham’s Lakewood neighborhood. Chef Harry Monds has been in the Durham food scene for decades and today stays on top of the trends while inventing a few of his own — like his popular chicken and red velvet waffles, doubling down on the sweet and savory combo with a Southern delicacy.
Monuts
1002 Ninth St., Durham. 919-286-2642 or monutsdonuts.com
Monuts is now closed on Sundays, but every day of the week it serves up an idealized brunch menu. If you’re craving sweet you probably want at least one freshly fried doughnut. If you’re feeling savory, the breakfast sandwiches and gigantic square biscuits never disappoint.
NOFO @ The Pig
2014 Fairview Road, Raleigh. 919-821-1240 or nofo.com
This Raleigh brunch destination serves one of the Triangle’s most outrageous (and outrageously delicious) Bloody Marys. But beyond beverages, fans love the North Carolina-inspired pulled pork hash and a rich shrimp and grits, plus a perfect breakfast sandwich of fried green tomatoes and pimento cheese.
Redstart Takeaway
2825 N. Roxboro St., Durham. redstartfoods.com/pages/takeaway
Housemade English muffins help make the case for one of Durham’s best new breakfast sandwiches — kicked up with housemade pickles and fermented hot sauce. The breakfast potatoes are what you always hoped home fries would be: faithfully crispy. A giant filled doughnut and a cup of coffee on the pea gravel patio is a morning delight.
Refectory Cafe
2726 Durham-Chapel Hill Blvd., Durham. 919-908-6798 or therefectorycafe.com
Over 15 years, the Refectory Cafe has built a loyal following that spills out onto Durham-Chapel Hill Boulevard on weekday mornings. That loyalty has been earned with lemony ricotta pancakes, a bright turkey and cranberry sandwich and tender biscuit sandwiches with fried chicken.
Relish Bourbon Bar
5625 Creedmoor Road, Raleigh. 919-787-1855 or relishraleigh.com
North Raleigh loves this neighborhood restaurant for more than just its eight different versions of mac and cheese. There’s also a lot of love for brunch, where breakfast sandwiches and hearty bowls are the stars. Daddy’s Chicken Sandwich might be one of the most brazen breakfast sandwiches in the Triangle, where fried chicken is topped with cheese and gravy and wedged between a fluffy Michael’s English Muffin
St. Roch Fine Oysters + Bar
223 S. Wilmington St., Raleigh. 919-322-0359 or strochraleigh.com
This is the big and bold brunch you turn to when the cobwebs won’t shake from your head and you feel like you’re sleepwalking through the weekend. There’s nothing subtle on St. Roch’s brunch menu, from the smoked tomato Bloody Mary, the braised pork tamale or the bowl of alligator bolognese over grits. It’s all life-affirming.
Superica
25 Fenton Main St. Suite 110, Cary. 919-443-0746 or superica.com/cary
One of the newest brunch hot spots in the Triangle, Superica debuted last year as part of Cary’s much anticipated Fenton development. The popular national brand brings Ford Fry to the Triangle, and a Tex Mex brunch menu, with huevos rancheros or pork tamales and runny eggs. For a cocktail, try the tequila-subbed Bloody Maria.
True Flavors Diner
5410 N.C. 55, Suite AJ, Durham. 919-316-7978 or trueflavorsdiner.com
For years, True Flavors has made RTP a brunch destination, serving an unending menu of sweet and savory decadence. Without question, True Flavors serves the Triangle’s most creative biscuit sandwich menu, under its Debbie Lou’s brand, such as barbecue duck and cheese topped with a fried egg and fried duck skin, or a sweet potato biscuit spiced up with habanero honey and ham. Other plates include a key lime french toast or a four-egg salmon omelet.
Vin Rouge
2010 Hillsborough Road, Durham. 919-416-0466 or vinrougerestaurant.com
A few years ago this Durham staple expanded its already lush patio into an all-season covered garden. These days that means breezy weekend brunches are always on the table, possibly accompanied by delicate French omelettes or an A.M. steak frites paired with a mimosa.
Whiskey Kitchen
201 W. Martin St., Raleigh. 919-803-3181 or whiskey.kitchen
One of the elements of brunch is its view and Whiskey Kitchen boasts one of Raleigh’s best — either the backdrop of lush Nash Square, or the bright and sunny dining room, lit by beams streaming through skylights. On the food side, you can’t go wrong with peppery biscuits and gravy or a spicy sausage frittata.
Wye Hill
201 S. Boylan Ave. Raleigh. 919-275-5718 or wyehill.com
Home of the most famous view in Raleigh, Wye Hill modernized a famous space (the former Boylan Bridge Brewpub spot) and made it feel new again. The open air patio is packed all weekend as diners meet up and take selfies with a skyline behind them. The menu is dotted with charming tweaks to the classics, like a sweet seasonal bruschetta topped with strawberries and goat cheese and churro French toast, made with a smoky mezcal-chipotle chocolate sauce. On the savory side, there’s a peppery take on shrimp and grits, a rich short rib bowl and a funky kimchi hash.
This story was originally published April 18, 2025 at 9:41 AM.
