Easy Like Sunday Morning

When I think of brunch, I think of lazy Sunday mornings. Unfailingly, about 10:00 a.m. when hunger kicks in, it triggers multiple questions: Are we really awake? Are we as hungry as we think we are? What’s worth getting out of our PJs for? What’s worth the drive? What feels like our mood this sunny/cloudy/warm/cold/hungover morning?

Crispy Yeasted Waffle from Stay Golden

Alaina Mullin

Ultimately, what it comes down to is the third question; is it worth getting out of our PJs for, or can we wear them to the restaurant?

I’m writing this on a full stomach, a very full stomach, after having just finished our fifth brunch in three weekends. I have to admit that when I recently received the deadline for this article, I had known about it for months. Brunch may be the perfect meal for procrastinators like myself but, as a result, we’ve had to down five brunches in three weeks, which meant we had to get dressed, plan ahead... and be on time, for all of them.

French Omelette from Hathorne

Alaina Mullin

I’m not sure why I even agreed to this regimen. Isn’t this counter to our idea of brunch in the first place? But as always, a deadline was probably a good idea, since we hadn’t been out to one single brunch in at least three months. It’s exciting, to a grubnasaur like myself, that these days there are lots of great brunch options available in Nashville. Given the criteria listed above, our choices came down to these six (in no particular order): Henrietta Red, The Old School, Husk, Stay Golden, The Garden Brunch Café, Graze, and Hathorne.

Peach Truck Peach Hand Pie from Husk

Alaina Mullin

Several of these spots are women-owned or feature women chefs creating amazing meals. We’re certainly glad they’re in Nashville!

We wanted to support Garden Brunch Café because of their early commitment to the revitalization of the historic Jefferson Street commercial district. The Old School provides work opportunities for adults with intellectual disabilities at their biodynamic farm and their farm to table restaurant. Graze made the list as one of several new vegan restaurants serving brunch on the weekends. Given the compressed time period, a group of five of us experienced each brunch so we could taste a variety of each menu.

Brunch Donuts from Hathorne

Alaina Mullin

There’s an art to picking the best time for brunch. We tended to go between 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., depending on where we were going, but some mornings it was hard to wait and others, we wish we waited longer. Our biggest quandary may be whether or not to rave about The Old School. We want it to have continued success, but we don’t want it to get too crowded. We appreciated the restaurants that had alternates to plastic straws and recommend that the ones who don’t, at least ask patrons before providing. We didn’t have room to try every brunch spot we would have liked to, but we’ve compiled a list of even more places we like that offer delicious brunches.

All in all, the food was fantastic and I’m still stuffed, but now we have some more important choices to make: Nap time? Or, nap time? That’s about our only option after all those delicious meals.

Crispy Yeasted Waffle from Stay Golden

Alaina Mullin

TRY THESE:

CAFÉ ROZE | Savory Oats or Egg Bowl

FENWICK 300 | Bacon & Egg Fried Rice and Buckwheat Pancakes

NICKY’S COAL FIRED | Brunch Za’s

STAY GOLDEN | Crispy Yeasted Waffle

HATHORNE | Brunch Donuts

SILVER SANDS | Salmon Croquette

PASTARIA | Wood Oven Baked Eggs or Bucatini alla Carbonara

M.L. ROSE | Green Chile Brisket Hashbrowns

HUSK | Peach Truck Peach Hand Pie VON

ELROD’S | Malted Blueberry Pancakes

PROPER BAGEL | Smoked Salmon Toast with Smashed Avocado, Pickled radishes and Onions

In lieu of compensation for his piece, Zeitlin has asked for a donation to the Nashville Food Project.