Breakfast in the United States is being revitalized as chefs treat the morning meal with creativity, global influence, and careful sourcing. New restaurants are reimagining classic plates and introducing innovative combinations, from Thai-seasoned soft scrambled eggs paired with braised beef to masa pancakes soaked in piloncillo syrup. Traditional diners are closing, but emerging spots emphasize thoughtful ingredients and unexpected flavor pairings. The trend showcases a willingness to honor morning rituals while expanding them, offering more than basic options and turning breakfast into a destination experience across diverse American cities.
When I'm scouting for Bon Appétit's annual Best New Restaurants list (coming soon!), I set my alarm about two hours earlier than I'd dream of waking up back home in New York. My "official" order of business is typically some buzzed-about dinner spot, but my greatest thrills these past few years have often come before noon. As American breakfast morphs and expands to encompass morning rituals the world over, our first meal of the day has become something we seek out and treat with deserved respect.
Though there's a long and understandable tradition of chefs phoning in the breakfast shift and focusing their energy on dinner, this year was dominated by restaurants approaching the morning meal with excitement and creativity. Even as old-school diners close, taking their nostalgic railroad car facades and bitter-as-bark coffee with them, chefs are revitalizing the genre with an eye for thoughtful sourcing and reimagined breakfast plates. While the restaurants on this list aren't above French toast and pancakes, they bring something new to even the most well-trodden dishes.
At Tanzie's, a snug daytime restaurant in Berkeley, partners Krissana Tussanaprasit and Jezreel Rojas season billowy ribbons of soft scrambled eggs with chicken bouillon and serve them alongside hunks of braised beef shank and lashings of the fiery, galangal-heavy Thai condiment nam prik kha-call it Steak and Eggs 2.0. And in a sunny Austin alley outfitted with makeshift milk crate tables, earlybird Texans sip chamomile-maize soda and revel in Mercado Sin Nombre's dusky masa pancakes. Soaked in syrup made with the unrefined sugar piloncillo, they're anything but old-hat.
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