Breakfast & Brunch: East Austin
February 1, 2024
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Our favorite breakfast and brunch ideas in East Austin, handpicked by the expert concierge team at the Heywood Hotel.
East Austin is kinda famous for its breakfast tacos, but we have much more to offer in the morning-meal department!
From pancakes to pupusas to poutine — we’ve got it all. With so many great options right here in our neighborhood, you’re bound to find the perfect place to start your day off right.
Photo courtesy of Cenote
Cenote
Cenote is an excellent coffee shop with “farm-to-counter” menu is located on East Cesar Chavez street, just four blocks west of the Heywood Hotel. Breakfast options include farm-fresh staples like eggs Florentine, apple butter pancakes and chilaquiles. They have the best bacon in town, sourced fresh from Flying Pig Provisions. Cenote is open weekdays at 7am and weekends at 8am.
Photo courtesy of Granny’s Tacos
Granny’s Tacos
Granny’s Tacos operates two taco trucks in East Austin including a spot on East Cesar Chavez St., less than two blocks from the Heywood Hotel. Chef Armando Vasquez and his wife Maria Rios are earning a lot of talk around town and in the taco trades. Granny’s recently earned the number-seven spot on Yelp’s list of the top 100 brunch spots in the country! Austin Monthly named the “chilaquiles con mole” as one of the greatest tacos in Austin. The crew at the Heywood also love the “abuela” specialty taco with marinated shredded pork, adobo, pico and avocado, and of course the migas. Open daily 8am-3pm (8:30am on Sundays).
Photo courtesy of Counter Cafe
Counter Cafe
Counter Cafe is a great little diner-style café on East 6th St. serving Southern-style breakfast and brunch items prepared with quality ingredients from local urban farms. Menu items include a crab cakes benedict, shrimp and grits, and biscuits and gravy. Lighter options include granola with locally made fruit, and a quinoa porridge featuring fresh berries, pears and pecans. Beer, wine and mimosas served daily, 7am to 3pm.
Photo courtesy of Snooze
Snooze
Frittatas, French toasts, inventive pancakes, and so many egg benedict options! Snooze is a brunch-centric diner that’s open early in the morning and has a charming retro vibe. The menu is sustainably focused and sensitive to many food allergies or diets. Added bonus? Full cocktail menu. Snooze is open daily until 2:30pm and located six blocks from the Heywood Hotel in the Plaza Saltillo area (0.6 miles).
Photo courtesy of Easy Tiger
Easy Tiger
Easy Tiger is Austin’s home for artisanal breads, pastries and soft pretzels, along with a great beer garden on a sprawling lawn. Their breakfast menu includes a small but excellent number of selections including avocado toast and egg sandwiches. Try their French toast bites made from their house baguettes or go big with the croque madame sandwich featuring Hill Country sourdough, smoked ham, a sunny-side Vital Farms egg, gruyere cheese, mornay sauce and arugula). Breakfast is available all day, Tuesday through Sunday. Check the Easy Tiger website for updated business hours.
Photo courtesy of Paperboy
Paperboy
This nationally recognized restaurant with food trailer origins just opened their first brick and mortar on East 11th St. At Paperboy, get your morning going with a breakfast sandwich, steak and eggs, granola bowl and more. Add an almond croissant or a guava danish to your order for something sweet! Open at 8am daily.
Photo courtesy of Veracruz All Natural
Veracruz All Natural
Veracruz All Natural is a Zagat-rated food trailer offering some of the best tacos in the city, complete with scratch-made tortillas. The Heywood Hotel recommends the migas taco on corn with a watermelon agua fresca—awesome! Veracruz recently moved their famous taco bus to a new location on Webberville Rd. Breakfast and lunch are served daily from 7am until 3pm.
Photo courtesy of Sawyer & Co.
Sawyer & Co.
Sawyer & Co. is an updated mid-century modern café with a Cajun bent located about a mile and half east of the Heywood Hotel, on East Cesar Chavez St. Menu favorites include omelets, scrambles, pancakes and a New-Orleans style French toast called Lost Bread. Breakfast is served Monday through Friday starting at 7am, and weekends starting at 9am. While the dedicated breakfast menu ends at 10:30am, there are a number of breakfast items on the all-day menu. Saturdays and Sundays, brunch is served 9am-4pm. Pair your meal with a mimosa, bloody Mary or hurricane!
Photo courtesy of Juan in a Million
Juan in a Million
For more than 40 years, Juan Meza and his family have been serving up original, homemade Mexican specialties to the Austin community. Juan in a Million is known worldwide for three things: Juan’s hearty handshake; the restaurant’s appearance on Man vs. Food; and the singular Don Juan taco — an enormous, heaping pile of eggs, potatoes, bacon and cheese atop a soft flour tortilla. Upon ordering, the server will ask, “How many?” referring to how many extra tortillas you want to order, because this plate of melty goodness easily makes three or four tacos. The Don Juan along with additional Mexican breakfast items are served daily, 7am to 3pm from its East Cesar Chavez St. location.
Photo courtesy of Suerte
Suerte
Suerte serves brunch on Saturdays and Sundays in a cute, contemporary setting. This popular spot was named one of “Eater’s 18 best new restaurants in America” in 2018 for its inventive Interior Mexican specialties. Sample brunch selections include a smoked salmon tostada with allium-spiced goat cheese, caper-serrano relish and fried herbs. Or try the pupusa with confit brisket, smoked tomato, black bean refrito, poblano crema, y cotija! Brunch is served Saturdays and Sundays from 11am-3pm. Reservations recommended.
Photo courtesy of Launderette
Launderette
Launderette is a favorite among Heywood Hotel guests. Serving, hip, stylish and innovative takes on American dishes, the weekend brunch is not to be missed. Buttermilk pancakes are served with blueberry maple compote and crème fraiche. The Rainbow Bowl features beet hummus, quinoa, roasted carrots, sprouts, sesame and soft egg. And you can’t go wrong with their classic plancha burger with American cheese, special sauce and pickles on challah. Brunch is served Saturdays and Sundays 11am-2:15pm, with a full bar for cocktails. Reservations recommended.
Photo courtesy of The Cavalier
The Cavalier
Cavalier is a family-owned bar and Southern-style kitchen is located close to the Heywood Hotel and is a great East Austin brunch spot — in fact, their weekend brunch was voted “Best of ATX 2021” by Austin Monthly readers AND their bloody Mary was voted “Best in Austin” at the 2019 Austin Bloody Mary Festival. You can’t go wrong with the shrimp and grits, southern poutine or chicken and waffles. Brunch is served Saturdays and Sundays from 11am-3pm at their location on Webberville Rd.