RFK Rankings · Detroit
Best Restaurants for Brunch in Detroit (2026)
Weekend brunch · Detroit · 6 rooms ranked · Updated June 2026
Compiled by the Restaurants for Kings editorial team · Published March 20, 2024 · Updated June 18, 2026 · Reviewed by Fredrik Filipsson, Editor-in-Chief · How we rank · Corrections
Detroit's best brunch runs from a downtown diner building duck-leg hashes to a James Beard cafe in Corktown plating quiche from a seasonal menu. The city does weekend brunch as a sit-down event spread across Corktown, Midtown and the downtown core. These six, ranked, are where to spend a Saturday or Sunday morning in 2026.
1.Folk
Rohani Foulkes's James Beard-nominated Corktown cafe, seasonal and low-waste; come for the pistachio-butter waffle and quiche.
Folk is the all-day cafe and wine shop that James Beard-nominated chef Rohani Foulkes runs at 1701 Trumbull Avenue in Corktown, part of the female-led Nest Egg group. The menu rotates with the season around shareable plates, and the cooking is the most carefully sourced brunch in the city.
The pistachio-butter waffle, the quiche and the egg sandwich are the most-praised items. It is open seven days, roughly 9am to 3pm, and is walk-in friendly. For brunch that reads like a chef's restaurant rather than a diner, this is the Corktown pick.
2.Selden Standard
Andy Hollyday's wood-fired Midtown room runs a Sunday brunch built on chilaquiles; reserve for a seasonal small-plate morning.
Selden Standard at 3921 Second Avenue is the Midtown room that put Andy Hollyday on the national map: a wood-fired, seasonal small-plate kitchen that won the Detroit Free Press Restaurant of the Year and Hour Detroit's Restaurant of the Year, with repeat James Beard recognition for Hollyday.
Its Sunday brunch, served roughly 10am to 2pm, carries the same seasonal logic, with the chilaquiles — tomatillo, black beans, fried eggs — as the signature plate. Reservations are recommended. This is the most accomplished kitchen on the list, brought to the weekend table.
3.Marrow
The West Village whole-animal kitchen brings its Southern Benedict to brunch; book a table for a meat-forward weekend morning.
Marrow at 8044 Kercheval Avenue in West Village is the farm-to-table, whole-animal restaurant and butcher shop that landed on a national list of the best new restaurants in America. Its in-house butchery shapes the menu, and the weekend brunch is built around it.
The Southern Benedict — smoked ham, poached eggs, cheddar grits — is the local legend here. Brunch runs Friday and Saturday from 11am and Sunday 11am to 3pm, and reservations are recommended through OpenTable. For a brunch with serious cooking behind it, this is the East Side choice.
4.The Apparatus Room
The former fire-HQ hotel room, freshly refreshed in 2026, plates a weekend lamb-pastrami hash; book it for a polished downtown brunch.
The Apparatus Room sits inside the Detroit Foundation Hotel at 250 West Larned Street, a former fire-department headquarters, and came through a multi-million-dollar refresh of the hotel kitchen and menu in early 2026, as Crain's Detroit reported.
Its weekend brunch runs to biscuits and gravy and a lamb-pastrami hash, with weekend pancakes and a smash burger singled out. It takes reservations through OpenTable and is open daily. This is the downtown brunch for a polished hotel room rather than a casual diner — book a table on the weekend.
5.Dime Store
The downtown diner that builds a Duck Bop Hash from scratch; walk in early for Detroit's most inventive everyday brunch.
Dime Store works out of the historic Chrysler House at 719 Griswold Street downtown, a scratch-made, chef-driven take on the American brunch diner. Its creative benedicts and hashes are the draw, led by the Duck Bop Hash — house-confit duck leg, Korean barbecue sauce, spinach, pickled vegetables and sriracha — at $19.
It is walk-ins only, open daily 8am to 3pm, and consistently named a top downtown brunch. There is no table to reserve, so arrive early on a weekend. For inventive cooking at a diner price, this is the everyday workhorse of the downtown brunch scene.
6.Babo Detroit
Kris Lelcaj's gourmet Midtown diner near the DIA; book a weekend table for benedicts and a Korean-beef cheesesteak.
Babo Detroit at 15 East Kirby Street, near the Detroit Institute of Arts, is Kris Lelcaj's self-styled gourmet high-end diner — the name means dad in Albanian, for his father. The all-day kitchen leans on local, small-batch sourcing across creative comfort food.
Weekend brunch runs to eggs benedict with house hollandaise, avocado toast, a Korean-beef cheesesteak and the B.E.L.T. It takes reservations through OpenTable, open Monday through Saturday until five and Sunday until three. For a Midtown brunch with a chef-owner behind the counter, book a weekend table here.
Not for brunch
Closed, or simply not a weekend brunch room
Bobcat Bonnie's, Corktown. The flagship at 1800 Michigan Avenue closed for good in March 2025 after about a decade. The brand survives in Ferndale and Lansing, but the Corktown brunch room is gone, so do not plan around it.
Chartreuse Kitchen & Cocktails. This excellent Midtown restaurant is essentially dinner-only, with only a Friday daytime service and no Saturday or Sunday brunch. Save it for the evening rather than a weekend morning.
Cafe Cortina. Often mistaken for a brunch option, it is a dinner-only Italian fine-dining room in Farmington Hills, not Detroit, opening mid-afternoon and offering brunch only on a few holidays. It is the wrong meal and the wrong place.
How to brunch well in Detroit
Detroit's brunch clusters in three pockets. Corktown, along Trumbull and Michigan Avenue, holds Folk and the city's casual cafe scene. Midtown, around Second Avenue and Kirby near the DIA, has Selden Standard and Babo. Downtown, off Griswold and Larned, runs from Dime Store's diner to the Apparatus Room's hotel dining. None is far from the next, so a slow morning can move between them.
Decide first if you want a reservation or a walk-in. The chef-driven rooms — Selden Standard, Marrow, the Apparatus Room and Babo — take bookings and reward them on a busy weekend, while Folk and Dime Store run walk-in, so arrive early. One caution: Detroit's brunch map shifts fast, and several once-loved spots have closed recently, so check current hours before you set out.
Frequently asked
Where is the best brunch in Detroit?
Folk in Corktown, from James Beard-nominated chef Rohani Foulkes, is the marquee pick — a seasonal, low-waste cafe known for its pistachio-butter waffle and quiche. For the most accomplished kitchen, Andy Hollyday's Selden Standard in Midtown runs a Sunday brunch built on chilaquiles. For inventive everyday cooking at a diner price, Dime Store downtown plates a scratch-made Duck Bop Hash.
What Detroit brunch needs a reservation?
Book ahead at the chef-driven rooms. Selden Standard in Midtown, Marrow in West Village, the Apparatus Room downtown and Babo in Midtown all take reservations, mostly through OpenTable, and fill their weekend tables. Folk in Corktown is walk-in friendly, and Dime Store downtown is walk-ins only — for those two, arrive early on a Saturday or Sunday rather than expecting a booking.
Where is the best brunch in Corktown, Detroit?
Folk at 1701 Trumbull Avenue is the standout Corktown brunch, an all-day cafe and wine shop from James Beard-nominated chef Rohani Foulkes, with a rotating seasonal menu and a famous pistachio-butter waffle. Note that the long-running Bobcat Bonnie's flagship on Michigan Avenue closed in 2025, so Folk now anchors the neighborhood's weekend brunch scene.
What is a good upscale brunch in Detroit?
For an upscale weekend brunch, Selden Standard in Midtown runs a wood-fired, seasonal small-plate Sunday service from Detroit Free Press Restaurant of the Year chef Andy Hollyday. Marrow in West Village brings serious whole-animal cooking and its Southern Benedict to the table, and the freshly refreshed Apparatus Room inside the Detroit Foundation Hotel offers a polished downtown room. All three take reservations.
Does Dime Store take reservations for brunch in Detroit?
No. Dime Store, in the historic Chrysler House at 719 Griswold Street downtown, is walk-ins only, open daily 8am to 3pm. Its scratch-made brunch, led by the $19 Duck Bop Hash, draws a crowd, so arrive early on weekends. If you want a brunch you can book, the chef-driven rooms like Selden Standard, Marrow or the Apparatus Room take reservations instead.
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Browse the full Detroit dining guide, read the Selden Standard profile, find late kitchens in the Detroit open-late ranking, compare casual rooms in the Detroit walk-in ranking, or open the full RFK rankings index.
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