The Ultimate Guide For Best Brunch Places In Jacksonville
Between bubbly mimosas and the sweet, buttery taste of french toast, there's a lot to love about brunch. And while Jacksonville may not be on your radar yet as a culinary destination worth visiting — especially with the famously fun melting pots of Miami and Orlando a few hours away — the truth is that as Florida's largest city, it is a diverse, exciting place with a lot to offer (via Florida Demographics). But in a big city teeming with a million people, how should you know where to score the best brunch around? Luckily for you, we're here and happy to help.
Whether you're looking for a restaurant that uses organic ingredients and bakes its own bread on-site or you're just on the prowl for some of the best brunch tacos in the city, we've got you covered. You might also be surprised to learn that Jacksonville has the largest urban park system in the country, with over 80,000 acres of green space — plenty of room to comfortably walk off a tasty plate of chicken and waffles and bask in the glow of some glorious Florida sunshine (via Visit Jacksonville). Get ready to feast your eyes on some of the most delicious brunch fares Jacksonville has to offer.
Black Sheep
Nestled in the historic Five Points district of Jacksonville, Black Sheep uses fresh, local ingredients to craft some of the tastiest brunch fare in the area. Open for brunch on the weekends, the menu at Black Sheep may seem somewhat limited, but each dish is a heavy-hitter when it comes to flavor.
When you're feeling exceptionally ravenous, the steak and eggs at Black Sheep is a good call. Featuring a 10-ounce hanger steak drizzled with beurre rogue (an emulsified red wine butter sauce), fingerling potatoes, and two fried eggs, this is the kind of mouth-watering meal that carnivorous dreams are made of. Those looking for something more veggie-based would be wise to go for the shishito omelet with mild chili peppers, caramelized onions, and pimento cheese with a side of home fries. While pimento cheese isn't something you typically see in an omelet, the truth is that its spreadability works wonders in this context, melting into every corner of the egg to ensure a cheesy forkful with every bite.
On the drink side, Black Sheep also offers plenty of brunch libations to wash everything down. There's classic mimosas, bloody marys, and more creative offerings like the "bloody winston" with red wine, orange liqueur, apple brandy, local honey, and fresh citrus juices. Don't let its name fool you — Black Sheep truly belongs here and its presence is highly welcome.
Maple Street Biscuit Company
Maple Street Biscuit Company has around 50 locations spread across eight states (via Jax Daily Record). Out of all those spots, there's reason to believe that the Jacksonville location might be the very best — and it all comes down to the coffee.
As it turns out, the restaurant produces its own jitter juice at its company-owned roasting house in Jacksonville (via Maple Street Biscuit Company). So when you have brunch at Maple Street Biscuit Company, you're getting some of the freshest coffee available. But while amazing coffee is always worth rolling out of bed for, the restaurant has so much more to offer than just a good cup of joe.
As its name suggests, the main focus of the menu here is biscuits. But these are no ordinary biscuits: They are freshly-made in-house and paired with some of the most indulgent, delicious ingredients imaginable. Case in point: "The cowboy" comes with hand-battered country-fried steak, pecan wood-smoked bacon, cheddar cheese, a fried egg, and country gravy (your choice of sausage or shiitake). But if you don't really dig freshly baked biscuits for some reason, there's other fare to choose from, like waffles and cast-iron baked omelets.
The orange juice is fresh-squeezed every morning, everything's made from scratch, and the coffee is produced locally right there in Jacksonville. When it comes to brunch, Maple Street Biscuit Company is at the top of the game.
Uptown Kitchen & Bar
When you're down for a bucket of mimosas, Uptown Kitchen & Bar is the place to be. For just over 20 bucks, you score a full bottle of champagne, two types of fruit juice (orange and cranberry), and two kinds of purees (peach and strawberry), along with slices of fresh fruit to mix in. All of this adds up to an ideal setup to experiment a bit at the table and make your own customized mimosas — tons of fun when you're looking to catch a little buzz during brunch.
Drinks aside, the food is also phenomenal. Steak and eggs, stacks of pancakes, biscuit breakfast sandwiches — there's no shortage of delicious brunch fare on offer at Uptown Kitchen. One of the highlights on the menu is definitely the southern biscuits and gravy. The gravy has a perfect consistency, the biscuits taste fresh and fluffy, and a little paprika and parsley add some vibrant color to create one of the most mouth-watering brunch plates around.
Be on the lookout for some of the kitchen's amazing limited-time specials. Tasty dishes like cinnamon roll bread pudding with banana-caramel compote, whipped cream, and powdered sugar will have you reminiscing over its deliciousness long after your last bite.
Biscottis
Serving brunch every weekend from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., Biscottis was been given the distinction of having the best brunch in town in 2021 (via News 4 Jax). The fact that they open up at 8:00 in the morning on the weekends also makes it a great choice for early birds looking for a spot to chow down bright and early. With more than a dozen delicious offerings on the menu for brunch, you're bound to find a dish that strikes your fancy.
One highlight on the menu is the steak medallion benedict, which comes with grilled beef medallions on a croissant topped with gruyere, poached eggs, and citrus hollandaise. There's also the malted blueberry waffle, crème brûlée french toast topped with orange-honey mascarpone cream, and sweet potato pancakes smothered in pecan honey butter.
If you're looking for some delicious brunch cocktails to wash all this tasty grub down, Biscottis has you covered there too. Mimosas, blood marys, sangria, and Irish coffee are all standing by, ready to help you take the edge off and move into party mode for the weekend.
The District
Bottomless mimosas, pitchers of sangria, sake bloody marys — The District goes above and beyond to offer one of the best brunches around. Of course, that effort is evident in the food too, with a smartly curated brunch menu divided into four sections: boards, entrees, omelets, and seafood and grits.
On the boards side of the menu, there are classics like homemade biscuits and sausage gravy with hash brown casserole, honey butter, and strawberry jam. Vegans will be pleasantly surprised to see a board option with vegan cheese made from scratch along with vegan sausage, crudites, and naan. When it comes to entrees, there's plenty of filling and deliciously-executed fare from which to choose. One of the highlights is the chimichurri steak and eggs with demi-glaze, cajun gravy, and roasted potatoes. Lobster omelets, eggs benedict, blackened shrimp and grits, quiche, and seasonal waffles — no matter what you and your crew are in the mood for, The District has you covered.
Community Loaves
Community Loaves is a neighborhood bakery and cafe located west of the St. John's River in Jacksonville. According to Clean Foodie, just about everything at the restaurant is made from scratch, including jams, syrups, and even mayo. With organic and locally-sourced eggs and flour, there's no doubt that Community Loaves offers up some of the freshest grub in the city.
The streamlined menu is seasonal and mindfully curated, offering around a dozen or so dishes that showcase the restaurant's focus on freshness. The fact that a simple egg sandwich is one of the restaurant's best-sellers is a testament to its commitment to quality ingredients. Housed on freshly-toasted, homemade sourdough bread, the egg sandwich at Community Loaves features a baked egg and cheeses from local farms along with a touch of house-made mayo. Simple as it is, the freshness of each ingredient shines through with every bite; but the deliciousness doesn't stop there.
Breakfast bowls with stone-ground, garlic grits, toasted bagels with whipped cream cheese, and quiche made with seasonal vegetables and local cheeses are just some of the other enticing dishes that await you. Of course, there are also plenty of tasty drinks to get your engine going like the chai latte, cold brew, or ice-honey ginger green tea. All things considered, it's easy to see why Community Loaves has become such a beloved spot in the city.
First Watch
First Watch is a brunch chain with nearly 500 locations spread across the country (via Scrape Hero). The Sunshine State has the highest concentration of its restaurants, with over 100 around the state — including a few in Jacksonville. Even though First Watch is a chain restaurant, it still manages to successfully capture the feel of a well-run hometown diner with its atmosphere and decor. Aesthetics aside, what really matters here more than anything is the quality of the food — and First Watch definitely delivers the goods.
The menu at First Watch strikes a perfect balance between traditional dishes and modern twists. On the classic side of the menu, it offers biscuits and turkey sausage gravy, smoked salmon benedict, and Belgian waffles, among other tasty items. The restaurant has also dreamed up plenty of inventive dishes, too. One of our favorites — hands down — is the barbacoa breakfast burrito. Loaded with braised beef, cage-free scrambled eggs, seasoned potatoes, black beans, and cheese, the burrito is then topped with a red chile hollandaise, lime cream, pico de gallo, cotija cheese, and cilantro. But First Watch has so much more to offer beyond burritos, as pancakes, sandwiches, frittatas, and more await those who wisely seek them. The truth is you can't really go wrong with anything you order at First Watch, which is why it's absolutely worth visiting.
Another Broken Egg Cafe
Another Broken Egg Cafe is a chain restaurant with nearly 100 locations mostly scattered around the Deep South. With a few spots nestled in Jacksonville, there's a good chance you'll see one around town. Fusing classic breakfast fare with hints of Cajun and southern cuisine to great effect, the menu offers a wide range of brunch specialties.
Seafood lovers will appreciate the Floridian omelet — one of the more creative items on the menu — with cream cheese, green onions, and crab meat. There's some undeniable magic that happens when tender shreds of crab mix with a luscious blend of cheese and green onions. Wrapped in a heavenly, custard-like cushion of egg, each bite feels more satisfying than the last.
On the sweeter side, the restaurant's famous Bourbon Street pancakes come with bananas, pecans, fresh whipped cream, and a generous drizzle of rum butter sauce. Another star of the menu is apple fritter french toast topped with a bourbon cream sauce, fried apples, fresh blueberries, and powdered sugar. Of course, if you're feeling a little less adventurous and in the mood for something more traditional, there's plenty to choose from there too. Eggs Benedict, biscuits and gravy, tasty breakfast sandwiches, and other classic brunch dishes all grace the menu to much acclaim.
The bottom line: With so much delicious food to choose from at Another Broken Egg Cafe, you can't lose. Pop in and see what the buzz is all about.
TacoLu
People love tacos and people love brunch. So what happens when those worlds collide? The answer is pure and unadulterated deliciousness. TacoLu, a restaurant that's been selected as one of the best in the country by Insider, specializes in this particularly tasty intersection and blesses the good people of Jacksonville with its brunch tacos every weekend.
One of the most popular dishes on the menu is the Don Patrol — a large grilled tortilla bursting with cheese, tater tots, chorizo, black beans, and a couple of perfectly-fried eggs. But as far as we're concerned, the crown jewel of the brunch menu is actually the huevos rancheros, which come with beer-braised brisket, cheddar cheese, blacks beans, and homemade ranchera sauce over a crispy tostada with fried eggs on top. Once you taste your first forkful of cheesy, beer-braised brisket mixed with the buttery richness of egg yolk and ranchera sauce, you'll get why TacoLu has risen the ranks in Jacksonville to become such a dependable presence on the brunch scene.
Silkie's Chicken & Champagne Bar
Specializing in various creatively-flavored biscuits and crispy fried chicken, Silkie's Chicken & Champagne Bar has earned a warm welcome in Jacksonville since opening up its doors at the beginning of the pandemic. The talented founding chef, Kenny Gilbert, showcases a wide range of chicken dishes from around the world. On the menu, you'll find refreshingly innovative riffs like a Caribbean jerk chicken thigh sandwich on a plantain ginger biscuit with coconut guava jam, along with chicken and waffles served with tequila orange blossom honey, hot sauce, and pickled pineapple.
Another favorite on the menu is the aptly titled "flavor bomb" sandwich that comes with a smokey fried chicken thigh on a truffle gouda biscuit with honey, hot sauce, and pickled vegetables. Whether it's on a biscuit sandwich or with chicken and waffles, Silkie's excels at creating interesting flavor profiles that seamlessly fuse different cuisines into a single dish. Swing by to see what you've been missing out on.
The Secret Garden
The Secret Garden serves breakfast all day and was featured on an episode of Food Network's "Restaurant: Impossible" in 2011. The changes made during filming were well-received by patrons and the restaurant is now a local favorite that serves tasty breakfast platters and other classic breakfast fare.
While its menu doesn't necessarily reinvent the wheel, The Secret Garden excels at nailing down the standards and popular favorites, like corned beef hash, french toast, and breakfast sandwiches. The breakfast bowls are particularly satisfying and feature cheesy scrambled eggs served over roasted potatoes with your choice of meat or vegetables. If you're in the mood to sample a killer breakfast combo, then we'd recommend going for the griddle platter. You can choose from pancakes, french toast, or waffles along with two eggs cooked however you like; you'll also have your choice of bacon or sausage with a side of grits or potatoes. Every town needs a no-frills diner making solid food in a humble, affordable, unpretentious atmosphere — and that's exactly what Jacksonville has with The Secret Garden.
Southern Grounds
Southern Grounds is a small, local chain with a few locations around Jacksonville. The restaurant has proven to be so popular and successful that it recently opened up a new spot at Jacksonville International Airport (via Jax Daily Record). With a killer menu that knocks it out of the park when it comes to flavor, it's easy to see why Southern Grounds is so beloved by the community and visitors alike.
What's truly impressive about the brunch menu is how eclectic it is. Of course, there are classic breakfast offerings like sausage, egg, and cheese croissants along with bagels and omelets. But there are also more interesting dishes like the Korean steak bowl with gochujang (fermented Korean chili paste) yogurt sauce and the goat cheese and pear tartine. Vegetarians looking for a lighter meal will want to try the baja ancient grain bowl with wild rice, black beans, lime juice, salsa, avocado, cilantro, and sour cream. Red-meat lovers with a healthy appetite would be wise to try out the steak frites with hangar steak, parmesan herb fries, and au poivre sauce. At the end of the day, Southern Grounds has everything we look for in a solid brunch joint: great coffee, tasty grub, and a welcoming atmosphere.