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.
Best Brunch: Burdell (Oakland)
Burdell 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.
Best Breakfast Burrito: Tacos El Compa (San Jose)
Traditional breakfast burritos with bacon, egg, and cheese are fine, but for a take that’s truly reflective of a Mexican breakfast, go for the chilaquiles burrito. You can choose between red or green chilaquiles and even add meat. Yes, it’s double carbs — but it’s worth it.
Best Traditional Breakfast Sandwich: Devil’s Teeth (San Francisco)
Devil’s Teeth serves some of the most decadent sandwiches around. Their secret is a freshly baked buttermilk biscuit with a crisp exterior. We love the special breakfast sandwich that comes with eggs, bacon, pepper jack cheese, avocado, and lemon-garlic aioli for a complete meal that’ll keep you full until lunch.
Best Fusion Breakfast Sandwich: Milk Belly (San Jose)
Milk Belly recently opened their brick-and-mortar, but they’ve been around for years in ghost kitchens. They’re best known for baking their shokupan (Japanese milk bread) and unique sourdoughs. Their breakfast sandwich is stuffed longanisa, egg, and cheese — ask for it with chili oil.
Best Donuts: Stan’s Donuts (Santa Clara)
Stan’s Donuts has been around since 1959. Every morning, there’s a line out the door and a team of six pacing behind the counter fulfilling orders. They’re best known for their old-fashioned donuts and buttermilk donuts with daily rotating flavors. It’s cash only.
Best Bagel: The Laundromat (San Francisco)
The Laundromat bakes their bagels fresh every day in flavors like pumpernickel, cinnamon raisin, sesame and everything seasoning. You’ll want to pair it with their Calabrian chili or pickled onion and caper cream cheese.
Best Steak and Eggs: Bo Ne Phu Yen (San Jose)
Bo Ne Phu Yen 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.
Best Looking Breakfast: Lulu (Berkeley)
Lulu 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.
Best Spot for Morning Cocktails: Zazie (San Francisco)
Zazie is a French bistro that takes their eggs benedicts and scrambles seriously — they have over eight options of each. 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.
Best Dim Sum: Koi Palace (Daly City)
Koi Palace 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.
