Biscuits & Bloody Marys: Top 10 Triangle Brunches

The Farmer's Scramble at Watts Grocery in Durham. Photo by sashafatcat/flickr.

Any metro area with 100,000 college students and half a million yuppies is bound to have some decent brunch, and the Triangle is no exception. Here are ten of my favorites, from nouvelle Southern to dim sum.

1. The Orange County Special at Acme in Carrboro, especially when you’re hung over. Biscuits, sausage gravy, melted cheddar…need we say any more? The Eggs Benedict with dayboat scallops is always a favorite too. Order a side of the seasonally changing coffee cake, or – if you’re lucky enough to catch them – the elusive homemade doughnuts. Atmosphere is low-key urban chic, with burgundy walls, exposed brick and a long wooden bar.

2. The build-your-own grits bowl at Watts Grocery, Durham’s simple-local-seasonal cafe du jour. I take mine with chilis, chopped bacon, avocado and fried egg. At $7, it’s a ridiculous value. Other brunch entrees range from decadent (banana-stuffed caramel French toast) to daring (Andouille sausage and chili Benedict with crawfish tail hollandaise). A side of churros (stick-shaped cinnamon donuts) with dark chocolate dipping sauce is mandatory.

3. Lining up with post-church families and post-coital college couples on Sunday at Breadmen’s in Chapel Hill. Omelets are just OK, but the pecan waffles are outstanding and the atmosphere is classic Tar Heel, with worn wooden booths and decades worth of Carolina basketball posters.

4. The three-course Royal Brunch at Jibarra in Raleigh – fruit, coffee, huevos a la Mexicana or enchilada omelets, and flan or coconutty pan de nata for dessert. Plus, guava mimosas! The swanky urban vibe – contemporary furniture, exposed metal roofbeams, blowups of vintage Mexican photographs – makes it a nice place for special occasions.

5. Contemporary French decadence at Rue Cler, a chicly minimalist bistro in Durham. Frisee salads with lardons, frites ‘rue cler’ (topped with bacon, Gruyere and fried eggs), homemade beignets. Grab a baguette from the attached bakery to take home for dinner.

6. Sharing plates of shrimp dumplings, crispy chive pancakes, golden pan-fried turnip cakes, greens in salty-sweet oyster sauce, marigold-colored egg tarts, fluffy barbecue pork buns, and other dim sum at Hong Kong in Durham. The Triangle’s favorite dim sum spot is mobbed on weekends, so prepare to wait. If you’re with a fun group of friends (and you really should be, for sharing purposes), you won’t mind.

7. Country ham biscuits, cowboy omelets and hotcakes at the cafe at the North Carolina State Farmer’s Market in Raleigh. The strong-of-stomach can try the pork brains and eggs (yes, really), a classic Southern breakfast treat. Walk it off afterwards by wandering the stalls of watermelon, tomatoes and sweet corn.

8. Eating in the bamboo-shaded courtyard at Chapel Hill’s Crook’s Corner, one of the granddaddies of the Triangle’s New Southern cuisine scene. Their famed shrimp and grits – an upmarket twist on the classic Carolina fisherman’s breakfast – is just as good in the morning as it is at night, and cheaper too! If you have to wait (and you usually will), just hang out at the bar, checking out the quirky local artwork on the walls and chatting with the quirky locals on the barstools.

9. The brunch buffet at Chapel Hill’s Mint. The dishes are standard North Indian fare (chicken korma, aloo gobi, saag paneer, naan) but they’re unusually well-rendered, and the decor forgoes the usual cheesy mirrors-and-pictures-of-the-Taj-Mahal aesthetic in favor of soothing brown and sage tones and plushly upholstered booths. Your $13 gets you a mango lassi or a mimosa too!

10. Crepes with caramelized apples and Brie, Nicoise salad, quiche Lorraine and other well executed Gallic classics at Raleigh’s Coquette. This elegant brasserie blends Parisian flair (black-and-white tiled floors, long pewter bar) with American-style comfort (booths, lots of light). Side dishes of bacon or herbed potatoes = yes. Eggs Benedict = no.