RFK Rankings · Worldwide
Best Restaurants for Brunch in Worldwide (2026)
Global brunch · Worldwide · 6 institutions ranked · Updated August 2026
Compiled by the Restaurants for Kings editorial team · Published April 30, 2024 · Updated August 2026
Bill Granger plated the first avocado toast in Darlinghurst in 1993, and Keith McNally built a Parisian brasserie in SoHo four years later. The world's great brunch rooms are institutions, not trends, the kind that still draw a weekend queue decades on. These six, ranked across four cities, are where brunch is worth crossing a city, or a time zone, to reach.
1.Balthazar
Keith McNally's SoHo brasserie has set the New York weekend-brunch standard since 1997; book for the croque madame and the pastry basket.
Keith McNally opened Balthazar at 80 Spring Street in SoHo in April 1997, and its weekend brunch, oyster bar, croque madame, eggs benedict and a bread basket from the in-house bakery, has defined the New York genre for nearly three decades. The room is a recreated Parisian brasserie down to the smoked mirrors.
Brunch plates run around $18 to $34, the croque madame and the pastry basket are the orders, and the 9am-to-late service runs seven days. Reserve well ahead; the weekend tables are among the hardest in the city.
2.bills
The Darlinghurst room that invented modern brunch and avocado toast in 1993; come for the ricotta hotcakes at the communal table.
Bill Granger opened bills at 433 Liverpool Street in Darlinghurst in 1993, and it is credited as the first restaurant to serve avocado toast. The famous central communal table and the creamy scrambled eggs launched an Australian-cafe model that spread to London, Tokyo and Seoul.
Plates land around A$22 to A$32, the ricotta hotcakes and scrambled eggs are the canon, and the room does not take weekend breakfast bookings. Come early to the communal table; the legacy is worth the wait.
3.The Wolseley
London's grand Piccadilly cafe for a silver-service brunch of eggs benedict and kedgeree; book the art-deco room for the occasion.
The Wolseley runs as a grand European cafe on Piccadilly, a soaring art-deco room with white tablecloths and silver service. Its brunch, eggs benedict, kedgeree, fishcakes topped with a poached egg, is a London institution as much for the room as the plate.
Brunch dishes sit around 12 to 26 pounds, the kedgeree is the order, and the dining room is the show. Reserve for the weekend; the room runs all day and the setting carries the occasion.
4.Cafe de Flore
The St-Germain cafe of Sartre and de Beauvoir, still serving a proper Paris brunch; come for the terrace and the omelette.
Cafe de Flore has held its corner of St-Germain-des-Pres since the 1880s, the literary haunt of Sartre, de Beauvoir, Picasso and Hemingway. Its brunch, omelettes, croque monsieur, fresh pastry and a chocolat chaud, is taken at the same pavement terrace they used.
Plates run around 14 to 28 euros, the terrace is the seat, and the room trades on a century of literary history. Come for the people-watching and the chocolat chaud as much as the cooking.
5.Granger & Co.
Bill Granger's London room that brought the Sydney brunch to Notting Hill; come for the ricotta hotcakes and join the queue.
Granger & Co. is Bill Granger's London outpost, which carried the Sydney cafe model to Notting Hill and made it a city institution. The ricotta hotcakes, so light they wobble, draw the same standing queue as the original.
Brunch plates land around 12 to 22 pounds, the hotcakes and the scrambled eggs are the canon, and the no-bookings weekend service means a wait. Come early and put your name down; the line moves.
6.Clinton St. Baking Company
The Lower East Side bakery famous for the best pancakes in New York; come for the blueberry stack and the weekend queue.
Clinton St. Baking Company runs a small Lower East Side room that built its name on weekend brunch, above all the blueberry pancakes with warm maple butter that regularly top New York's best-pancake lists. The bakery side carries the pastry.
Brunch plates run around $16 to $24, the blueberry pancakes and the chicken and waffles are the orders, and the no-reservation weekend queue is part of the ritual. Come at opening to beat the LES line.
Not for everyone
Famous, but not actually brunch
Eleven Madison Park. New York's three-star room runs a long plant-based tasting menu, not a weekend brunch. It is a destination dinner, but do not arrive on a Saturday morning expecting eggs and pancakes.
Sketch (the Lecture Room). London's pink-room landmark is known for afternoon tea and a Michelin-starred dinner, not a classic brunch service. Book it for tea or dinner rather than a benedict-and-coffee morning.
Sublimotion. The Ibiza spectacle is a high-concept tasting experience at one of the world's highest prices, not a brunch in any working sense. It belongs on a different list entirely.
How to brunch well, anywhere
The world's great brunch rooms share a pattern: a long-running institution, a signature plate that built its name, and a weekend service worth the queue. Balthazar has the croque madame and the bakery; bills has the avocado toast and the hotcakes; the Wolseley has the kedgeree and the room. The dish is the reason, and the room is the occasion.
Most of these do not take weekend breakfast reservations or run a hard-to-get list, so the strategy is the same in every city: come at opening, eat early, and treat the queue as part of the ritual. Where a room does book, Balthazar and the Wolseley, reserve well ahead for a weekend table.
Frequently asked
What is the most famous brunch restaurant in the world?
Balthazar in SoHo, Keith McNally's Parisian brasserie open since 1997, is the most-cited New York brunch institution, while bills in Sydney is credited with inventing the modern brunch and the avocado toast in 1993. The Wolseley in London and Cafe de Flore in Paris round out the global benchmarks.
Who invented avocado toast?
Bill Granger's bills in Darlinghurst, Sydney, is widely credited as the first restaurant to serve avocado toast, in 1993. The room also popularised the creamy scrambled eggs and ricotta hotcakes that spread through his cafes in London, Tokyo and Seoul.
Which famous brunch rooms take reservations?
Balthazar in SoHo and the Wolseley in London take weekend reservations and fill well ahead, so book early. The Australian-style rooms, bills in Sydney and Granger & Co. in London, and Clinton St. Baking Company in New York run largely no-bookings, so come at opening.
Where is the best brunch in London?
The Wolseley on Piccadilly runs the grand, silver-service brunch of eggs benedict and kedgeree in an art-deco room, while Granger & Co. in Notting Hill brings Bill Granger's Sydney ricotta hotcakes to a standing queue. Both are London institutions.
Which brunch room has the best pancakes?
Clinton St. Baking Company on New York's Lower East Side is the most-cited pancake destination, famous for blueberry pancakes with warm maple butter. In Sydney and London, bills and Granger & Co. are known for the wobbly ricotta hotcakes.
Related rankings
More from RFK
Compare the global lists in the worldwide walk-in ranking and the best restaurants inside hotels, read about dining solo at the counter, or open the full RFK rankings index.
Restaurants for Kings is reader-supported. Some reservation links are affiliate links with OpenTable, Resy or Tock; this never affects which restaurants we rank or the order they appear in. See our ranking methodology.