It’s true, breakfast is the most important meal of the day and here at Off the Grid it’s a meal we take very seriously. Bacon, eggs, and sausage are a classic, but in the Bay Area we’re lucky to have great breakfast cuisine from across the world like Vietnamese steak and eggs, dim sum, and Palestinian brunch. Here’s a list of some of our favorite meals to start the day.
Our Favorite Breakfasts at Off the Grid
Bacon Bacon uses the most popular breakfast meat in a large selection of dishes. The thin slices of cured pork belly are featured in fried chicken sandwiches, cuban sandwiches, banh mi, burritos, and loaded fries. For the full breakfast experience, we love adding a fried egg to any of the sandwiches!
Johnny Doughnuts offers classic donuts inspired by recipes dating back to the 1920’s as well as unique, new creations like spicy hot chocolate twists. We recommend the raised donuts made from scratch with fresh potatoes and glazed with chocolate, strawberry, cinnamon sugar, and lime poppy. There’s also a selection of vegan donuts made with roasted sweet potatoes.
Lorraine’s Cafe is a breakfast diner on wheels and specializes in comfort foods like mac n cheese and paninis. Our favorite is their twist on the traditional chicken and waffles, Lorraine’s offers chicken and pancakes. Their fried chicken is crispy, juicy, and served in the form of chicken strips for easy eating (no need to maneuver around a bone).
Cochinita is known for their specialties from Yucatan. We’re big fans of their unique breakfast creations. Order the pibil breakfast burritos for a unique take on their citrus marinated pork. For some breakfast potatoes, try the elote tots where they load tater tots esquites-style with corn, crema, cotija, hot sauce, tajin, and cilantro. Stop by their brick and mortar location for even more brunch options like churro french toast and chilaquiles.
Waffle Roost is the Bay Area’s best source for chicken and waffles. They make mini waffles, so it’s easier to enjoy them alongside their crispy fried chicken. The waffles are also the perfect size for their fried chicken sandwich. We love their “spicy and I know it” that brings the heat with serrano peppers. The best option for breakfast is “the stack” filled with fried chicken, bacon, and eggs.
Señor Sisig makes one of our favorite burritos — the Tosilog burrito which is filled with Filipino sweet pork, garlic rice, tomatoes and a fried egg, served with a recommended side of peppered vinegar. The push and pull of the acidic and fatty ingredients make for a one-of-a-kind burrito experience.
The Chairman serves some of our favorite steamed buns. The tender pork belly bun is filled with red miso glaze, tumeric pickled daikon and green shiso. The coca-cola braised pork is stacked with savory cabbage, preserved mustard seeds, and garlic mayo. Our favorite is the karaage chicken bun drizzled with spicy aioli and yuzu honey mustard.
Cielito Lindo is one of our favorite spots for breakfast burritos. They’re filled with egg, ham, cilantro, potato, and onion for a full breakfast experience on the go. Another good breakfast option is their tortas filled with chorizo and egg on a crispy telera roll.
Our Favorite Breakfasts Across the Bay Area
The Laundromat is a bagel shop, pizza restaurant, and natural wine bar. While you can have wine and pizza for breakfast, for the sake of this list we’re focusing on their bagels. Their crisp, chewy bagles are available in pumpernickel, everything, sesame, poppy, and cinnamon raisin. Their cream cheese flavors are great too — Calabrian chili, pickled onion with caper, and smoked salmon with dill.
Zazie (San Francisco) is a French bistro that takes their eggs benedicts and scrambles seriously — they have over eight options of each. Their hit is the lemon-ricotta pancakes which balance the ingredients’ tanginess and richness. They’re also featured in our pet-friendly restaurant guide for their dog nights every Monday. Here, your eggs benedict can come topped with crab, bacon, prawns, prosciutto, mushrooms, or smoked salmon. While your scrambled eggs are served with tomatoes provençales, wild mushrooms, eggplants, chorizo, or black forest ham. If you prefer sweets in the morning, we recommend their Tahiti French toast topped with caramelized walnuts and bananas.
Koi Palace (Daly City) is a premier dim sum restaurant with multiple locations across the bay. Dim sum is a style of Chinese cuisine that involves small, bite-sized portions of food served in the morning or early afternoon. We love Koi Palace’s colorful collection of dumplings in the rainbow sampler — flavors include turmeric crab rice, squid ink black truffle, spinach kale, paprika chicken, beets with minced beef, and pork. There’s also great pastries like Portuguese custard tarts, whole abalone with minced chicken tarts, and durian puffs.
Lulu (Berkeley) serves elegant Palestinian brunch like falafel made with black garlic tahini and an edible flower; a blend of shakshouka and chilaquiles; and savory chili hummus. The food here tastes as vibrant and bright as it looks. It’s a place you’ll want to visit with friends to sample as much of the menu as possible.
Burdell (Oakland) is one of the Bay Area’s hottest new restaurants —- they were nominated for a James Beard award and named Food & Wine’s 2024 restaurant of the year. They only serve brunch on Sunday, but we think it’s worth clearing out your schedule for. Their old-fashioned donut holes are as crispy as fried chicken and they’re served with a coffee custard dip. We love their take on fried chicken and waffles served with a maple vinaigrette, fried shallots, and scallions.
Bo Ne Phu Yen (San Jose) is tucked away in a food court on the Eastside of San Jose. They only serve Bò Né, Vietnamese steak and eggs. We love that the food is served sizzling in a cast iron cow and served with a roll of crisp banh mi. The plate includes filet mignon, two eggs, pate, meat balls, sliced onion, and cilantro. It’s cash only.
Devil’s Teeth serves some of our favorite breakfast sandwiches in the bay. Their secret is they bake the buttermilk biscuit for their sandwiches in house. We love the special breakfast sandwich that comes with eggs, bacon, pepper jack cheese, avocado, and lemon-garlic aioli. Grab some cookies, lemon bars, and sourdough for the road.
There’s a lot of ways to celebrate the start of a day with a meal — steak and eggs; chicken and waffles; donuts and coffee. Interested in bringing the joy of a morning feast to your next event? Contact us to get started, we’ll get the coffee brewing.
