BRUNCH BUNCH
New restaurants and dishes add to weekend dining landscape
Everybody’s working for the weekend. After a week’s worth of serious 9-to-5, Houstonians look forward to Saturday and Sunday brunch. And local diners take that meal — often fueled by mimosas, micheladas and Bloody Marys — seriously. They should because Houston restaurants do, too. Here are 10 new brunch services or existing brunch destinations with new menus to try.
Mastrantos
The Heights restaurant has introduced options that tip to Venezuelan, Mexican, Spanish, Italian and distinctly Houston foodways. The menu includes a cheese board (grilled arepa with cured meats, cheeses and house-pickled nopales); Venezuelan corn pancakes with barbacoa; house brioche with curry garbanzo and passion fruit chutney; and shrimp aguachile with aji amarillo and watermelon rinds. Brunch served 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.
Thirteen
Former Rockets star James Harden’s Midtown restaurant recently began Sunday brunch service with dishes including deepfried strawberry cheesecake French toast; churro chicken and waffles; smoked gouda grits topped with Cajun seafood boil (sausage, crawfish, shrimp and lobster); and Hawaiian-marinated rib-eye steak and eggs. New cocktails including the Step Back Mimosa made with Don Julio 1942 also are available. No reservations required; patio seating available. 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sundays.
Relish Restaurant & Bar’s brunch service, suspended for a year because of the pandemic, is back with new menu items including baked eggs in pomodoro sauce.
Relish Restaurant & Bar
The River Oaks restaurant paused its brunch service in March 2020, but it’s back with new dishes and cocktails: buttermilk pancakes with berries and brandied pecans; smoked salmon plate with sourdough toast; and baked eggs in pomodoro sauce with Italian sausage. These join popular staples such as avocado toast, chicken and waffles, Eggs Benedict, breakfast tacos, salads and sandwiches. Brunch served 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.
Tonight & Tomorrow
The new art-filled dining room (formerly Cinq) in the redesigned La Colombe d’Or in Montrose offers all-day dining as well as weekend brunch. The menu was designed to please the Houston palate with dishes such as Gulf crab ravigote; Gulf crudo and shrimp cocktail; steak and eggs with hollandaise sauce; chilaquiles; avocado tartine; a house burger topped with caramelized onions, comte cheese and truffle sauce; and a classic Croque Madame. Reservations required. Brunch served 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.
Bludorn
Chef Aaron Bludorn’s stillnew buzzy fine-dining restaurant recently added brunch with a French-inspired menu set to the music of a weekly live jazz trio. That means dishes such as smoked salmon over rosti potatoes with crème fraîche and smoked salmon roe; three styles of pancakes (banana, candied bacon, pecan); French omelets; eggs Benedict; and shrimp and grits that can be paired with brunch cocktails such as Bludorn’s Bloody Quencher BBQ (a spicy Mary made with tequila, chipotle, smoked cinnamon and lime) and Breakfast Punch made with gin and tangerine marmalade. Brunch served 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Sundays (reservations suggested).
Musaafer
The sumptuous Indian restaurant in the Galleria doesn’t call it brunch, but its Friday, Saturday and Sunday “lunch” is an inventive affair. Chef Mayank Istwal has created 18 new dishes, desserts and cocktails on a summer menu that includes an artful sweet and savory chaat (a delicious illusion that looks exactly like a whole avocado); jackfruit kofta; mango turmeric salad; and a Butter Chicken Experience presented in two ways (traditional Northern Indian tomato cream sauce and Texas poblano chile sauce). New cocktails include the Rebirth, made with Tanqueray Sevilla, grapefruit bitters, tea and citrus tonic. Noon-4 p.m. Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
Dozier’s BBQ
Barbecue brunch? Absolutely, especially if it comes from the historical Dozier’s BBQ in Fulshear, under new smokedmeat oversight from pitmaster Jim Buchanan. The recently launched Sunday brunch menu (in addition to Dozier’s established barbecue program) includes dishes such as brisket on biscuits with cream gravy; brisket hash; espresso-rubbed pork ribs with waffle and two eggs; huevos rancheros with sliced brisket; smoked monkey bread; and a new burger featuring a half-pound patty of ground brisket on a sweet sourdough bun. Brunch served 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Sundays.
Cafe Leonelli
The more casual of two new restaurants at the Nancy and Rich Kinder Building at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston offers Italian-inspired fare beginning with breakfast and segueing into lunch in an artfilled environment. Led by Michelin-star chef Jonathan Benno, the menu features morning baked goods such as brioche, sfogliatelle (Italian pastry with ricotta and candied orange), cinnamon rolls, danish, coffee cake, breakfast sandwich and coffee drinks. Lunch means soups, salads, sandwiches, focaccia and a variety of hot dishes. Breakfast from 8 a.m. daily.
Max’s Wine Dive
Brunch has always been a highlight of this Lasco Enterprises restaurant (two Houston locations). But things just got more exciting with the introduction of the Hot Chick sandwich, a new take on Nashville hot chicken made with a fried chicken breast, handcrafted kale slaw, house pickles and lemon aioli sandwiched on a brioche bun. It joins crispy deviled eggs, macaroni and cheese, biscuits and gravy, crab queso, fried egg sandwich, shrimp and grits, honey butter chicken Benedict, chicken and waffles, and the signature Southern fried chicken (marinated in jalapeño buttermilk) served with fries, collard greens and Texas Toast. Brunch served at 11 a.m. Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
Weights & Measures
New dishes have been added to the menu at this popular brunch destination known for its baked goods and cocktails — think caramel hazelnut pancakes, steak and eggs, and vegetarian brunch charcuterie plate. These join chilaquiles of braised short ribs; French toast with bone-in fried chicken; truffle egg scramble and house-smoked salmon with pumpernickel; Croque Madame; cracked egg, pancetta and red bliss potato pizza; and Akaushi burger with chips. Bonus: mimosas, sangria, Bloody Marys and micheladas galore. Brunch served 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.