Toronto Breakfast Restaurants: 10Best Restaurant Reviews
Breakfast certainly does get the shaft when it comes to meals. Toronto food bloggers take extreme closeups of decadent desserts and long-simmering meats – the kind of foods that warrant a Sunday afternoon at home. Oatmeal, cereal and eggs just aren’t as pretty or as impressive. We all know how to boil an egg. Yet how often do we do such things now that life is more geared towards the pace of our upgraded Smartphones?
Lest you surrender to a lifetime of cold milk and cereal, we do have an alternative (and it doesn’t have a Golden Arch in sight). Grab yourself a breakfast that gives your soul more than a reheated egg burrito. These restaurants are geared towards providing you with hot and tasty ways to start your day on the right foot. The next time someone chirps at you, “Good morning!” you may be tempted to reply, “It certainly is, isn’t it?”
These Toronto restaurants set you up with the kind of breakfast you would make for yourself if your morning wasn’t so hectic. From Mitzi’s Cafe in Roncesvalles, where the coffee is always flowing and the pancakes are substantial, to Bonjour Brioche which will have you dreaming of croissants, there are so many opportunities to do the morning right.
Brunch is great and all, but there are so many more chances to do breakfast. Go on. Become a morning person.
Open 9 am to 3 pm every day, Aunties & Uncles takes the guesswork out of breakfast. It also takes out the boredom. People stand in blizzards on weekends in the hopes of this French toast. Banana oatmeal pancakes rouse similar cries of happiness, as sandwiched between the pancakes are thickly sliced bananas and savory oatmeal. Aunties & Uncles does remind you of the kitchen of your funky aunt and there is limited seating. In the summer, a patio opens up to give more people the opportunity to gorge on cheesy eggs. There is amazing house-made ketchup that you might find yourself licking off your fingers. Order conservatively, as the massive portions and thickly sliced challah toast will fill most bellies the first time around.
Recommended for Breakfast because: On a trip to Toronto, you must visit family. Aunties & Uncles will give you home-cooked breakfast fare without the arguments.
Courtney’s expert tip: The breakfast tacos are a must, they are stuffed with house-made chorizo sausage. Even if you are a master at breakfast when was the last time you made your own sausages? Wash it down with a rich hot chocolate to make sure there is a high point to your day.
Photo courtesy of The Grapefruit Moon
Grapefruit Moon is certainly a prime University of Toronto spot, which means that the tables get as cluttered by textbooks as they do by food. This restaurant supplies its customers with ample laid-back comfort food. Their all-day breakfast that will have carnivores and vegans alike coming back for more. Get cozy and order a morning glory burger, piled high with a pork patty, Swiss cheese, bacon and a sunny side up egg. The vegan morrow is also impressively filling, with tofu scramble, sauteed vegetables and vegan cheese on toast. Served from 10:30 am, if you like what you taste come for even more selection on their Saturday and Sunday brunch. Vegan poutine with caramelized onions and a fried egg will be sure to soak up any remnants of a hangover.
Recommended for Breakfast because: Greasy and comforting breakfast and brunch items and four important words: house-made hot sauce.
Courtney’s expert tip: You can order online takeout on their website if you want to stay in your pajamas.
Photo courtesy of Jodi Pudge
Even after Toronto breakfast favorite, Lady Marmalade closed, the restaurant did not lose its popularity. Lady Marmalade reopened on Broadview in September 2018 to give patrons more of what they coveted. Daily breakfast is still as conscious as can be, with free-range eggs and meats, organic bread and local produce. Get down and dirty with some AM poutine smothered in miso gravy or hollandaise, poached eggs or veggie pulled pork or just some classic bacon. For the more virtuously inclined, there is a fresh fruit crepe with Balkan yogurt and house-made granola. The coffee is excellent from Acropolis Organics & Pilot Coffee Roasters.
Recommended for Breakfast because: Christina Aguilera would have been even more excited in her song of the same name if she had tried the eggs benny.
Courtney’s expert tip: Even during the week, you may experience a line. Don’t make it longer by forgetting your cash. This place doesn’t accept cards, but there is a bank with an ATM just a couple of doors down.
Photo courtesy of Courtney Sunday
Mitzi’s Cafe is the type of place you go when you have time to linger. If you are pretty sure you are lost in the middle of a residential area, you are in the right spot, as Mitzi’s is tucked onto an offshoot of Roncesvalles. On weekends, you will see hipsters congregating outside the doors in eager anticipation for an unrushed experience of mismatched mugs and phenomenal food. Space is limited but a small patio does open in the summer. Menu items change daily so you can’t go in with any expectations, except to have some of the fluffiest of pancakes and most inventive egg dishes of your Toronto life. One of the seasonal choices was an oatmeal pancake with eggnog creamed cheese drizzle & gingerbread cookie crumble. It is rare to see a crumb left on a plate.
Recommended for Breakfast because: That Mitzi gets around and thank goodness, as no one can do a pancake better.
Courtney’s expert tip: Grab a homemade muffin to go. Once you have been outdone by breakfast, this will make for a nice reminder of your morning (and PS, they are great).
Photo courtesy of Stacy Spensley
In Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austin wrote, “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” We believe that it is a truth universally acknowledged that a good person in possession of some spare time, must be in want of a brunch. Emma’s Country Kitchen doesn’t just save the goods for the weekend but has an all-day breakfast that may have you reconsidering your day job. (That’s what personal days are for!) You can get your bennys on fluffy homemade biscuits or you can choose their house-roasted granola parfait piled high with berries. Even if you don’t eat a doughnut there, it is a must to take one of their many beauties home.
Recommended for Breakfast because: Doughnuts, eggs benedict and mimosas on a weekday? Yes, please.
Courtney’s expert tip: If looking at pictures of glazed doughnuts decorated with Froot Loops makes you happy, then you might want to consider following Emma’s Country Kitchen’s Facebook page.
Photo courtesy of Maman
If you have a thing for uber-cute French patisseries, get thee over to First Canadian Place in downtown Toronto. Maman hails from New York and is the place to grab a slice of lavender blueberry loaf cake and an on-point latte to get on with your day. Or, if you want to be more European, grab a seat at one of their rustic wooden tables and stay awhile. Have a quiche Marie with peas, roasted fennel and goat cheese or nibble at a Mediterranean platter with hummus, mixed olives and toast. It is the ultimate place to read the paper in downtown Toronto.
Recommended for Breakfast because: A rustic French kitchen, adorable coffee cups and ambiance up the wazoo.
Courtney’s expert tip: Finding Maman can be a little bit of a struggle in Toronto’s underground PATH, but look for the French-inspired bicycle outside the door as your landmark.
