America's 12 Most Outrageous Brunch Buffets
For many, there's no better way to spend a weekend afternoon thank partaking in a leisurely brunch. And while most brunches turn out to be pretty fun of the mill – eggs Benedict or some French toast washed down with a couple mimosas, perhaps – there are some brunch buffets that are so lavish and opulent that they make you feel like royalty. We've tracked down the 10 most outrageous brunch buffets in America.
#12 Nero’s, Caesars, Atlantic City, N.J.
The best Sunday brunch in Atlantic City can be found at Nero's Italian Steakhouse inside Caesars. Overlooking the ocean, the restaurant offers many different stations serving everything from breakfast classics like made-to-order waffles, pancakes, crêpes, and omelettes to fresh-made sushi, shrimp cocktail, pasta, prime rib, oysters, crab legs, and a huge variety of desserts. All-you-care-to-drink mimosas, Bloody Marys, and Champagne certainly doesn't hurt, either. It's not cheap at about $60 per person, but they could get away with charging a lot more.
#11 Cavatina, Sunset Marquis, West Hollywood
Located inside West Hollywood's renowned A-lister hangout the Sunset Marquis, Cavatina offers a $58 Champagne brunch buffet with unlimited Champagne and mimosas and six stations: seafood (shrimp cocktail, smoked salmon and trout with accompaniments, sushi); salad (fruit salad, burrata, baby greens and endives, grilled vegetables); cheese and charcuterie with breads and condiments; made-to-order omelettes, bacon, sausage, and potatoes; carving station (prime rib, salmon Wellington), and dessert (bread pudding, pastries, and petits fours. Try not to stare if someone famous is at the next table.
#10 The Buffet, Wynn, Las Vegas
Steve Wynn, the man behind Bellagio's legendary buffet, outdid himself with the stunningly gorgeous Wynn Buffet, full of fresh flowers and natural light. With a whopping 15 cooking stations, it's easy to get lost in the selection, but you can't go wrong with prime rib, sushi, homemade pastas, ceviche, lamb chops, soups, pizza, Mexican food, jerk chicken, Thai beef, made-to-order crêpes, brisket, crème brûlée, waffles, and tiramisù. On second thought, just have one of everything.
#9 Culina, the Four Seasons, Los Angeles
The dining room at this glamorous hotel on the edge of Beverly Hills is home to one of the city's most renowned brunches. For $75 per person, you can feast on a lavish buffet with 10 food stations, a fresh juice bar, and a Bloody Mary bar. Made-to-order Belgian waffles and omelettes, eggs Benedict, sushi, dim sum, quesadillas, salads, prime rib, and plenty of dessert treats (including a chocolate fountain) make this a no-brainer.
#8 Sunday City Brunch, The Langham, Boston
The Langham is one of Boston's most luxurious hotels, housed in the former Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. Their Sunday City Brunch, held at the hotel's Café Fleuri, is the most elaborate brunch in the city, a buffet held in a sunlit atrium accompanied by the musical stylings of the Robert Rivera Ensemble. Available September through June, the $81 brunch (including only one mimosa, sadly) is a veritable extravaganza of breakfast dishes, seafood, charcuterie, meats, cheeses, and fresh produce, but make sure to save room for the ever-popular chocolate bar.
#7 Seasons, Four Seasons Hotel, Georgetown, Washington, DC
The super-luxe Four Seasons Georgetown is home to Seasons Restaurant, where power brokers and movers and shakers rub shoulders with regular folks in search of the city's finest brunch buffet. For $85, diners can enjoy a selection of meat, fish, and game (grilled lamb chops, braised short ribs, Maryland crab cakes, seafood gumbo); seafood (shrimp cocktail, oysters, crab claws, house smoked salmon, grilled octopus poke, blackened tuna, scallops, lobster salad, ceviche); salads (grilled endive, Cobb, escarole with caramelized pear, baby kale and Brussels sprouts); omelettes with fillings including shiitake mushrooms and jumbo lump crab; a wide variety of sides; assorted cheeses and charcuterie; Vietnamese crêpes; and an astounding array of housemade desserts. Bring your appetite!
#6 Edge Steak & Bar, Miami
Edge Steak & Bar is one of Miami's most popular restaurants, and for $95 you can go all-out with unlimited cocktails, skirt steak that's grilled-to-order on the terrace, slow-roasted suckling pig, smoked ribs, charcuterie, local ceviche, fresh fruit, oysters, stone crab claws, waffles, Benedicts, paella, arepas, and four different varieties of tacos with an assortment of condiments. There's no other brunch buffet in America that's quite like this one.
#5 Sterling Brunch, Bally’s Steakhouse, Las Vegas
The Sterling Brunch is one of the most expensive in the city, at $85, and is only available on Sundays from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., but it's nothing short of a wonder to behold. Held in Bally's Steakhouse, the best way to describe it is to simply list off what's available: unlimited Perrier-Jouët Champagne, whole lobsters, crab legs, caviar, filet mignon, truffles, prime rib, rack of lamb, oysters, sushi, and made-to-order desserts. It's the ultimate in luxury.
#4 Peacock Alley at the Waldorf Astoria, New York City
New York's Waldorf-Astoria is synonymous with high-end amenities and high-class people, so it's only fitting that the hotel's Sunday brunch, served at Peacock Alley just off the lobby, would be upscale and decadent. But nothing prepares you for the sheer level of opulence that this brunch buffet offers: it's truly spectacular. There's a huge raw bar with lobster, littleneck clams, Long Island oysters, shrimp, five varieties of house-smoked salmon, and four varieties of caviar. Breakfast selections include pancakes, breakfast potatoes, thick-cut bacon, and made-to-order eggs Benedict; rotating hot entrées include braised short ribs, pan-seared fish, pastas, and quiche; and roasted leg of lamb and beef Wellington are carved to order at carving stations. Make sure you save room for dessert, though, because more than 20 items are available, including made-to-order baked Alaska "lollipops," a dark chocolate fountain, Norman Love truffles, croissant bread pudding, and limoncello tiramisù. It's clear that a lot of care goes into each item served here, and the $105 price tag ($75 for children), while steep, is certainly justified when you're enjoying a meal like this in the heart of one of the world's most famous hotels.
#3 Top of the Mark, San Francisco
This San Francisco landmark, offering 360-degree views of the city from 19 stories above Nob Hill, has been a destination for the well-heeled since it first opened in 1939. Their $89 Sunday Champagne brunch buffet is certainly worthy of a hotel of this caliber. Guests can dine on specialties including smoked fish, salads, fresh Dungeness crab, shrimp cocktail, caviar, leg of lamb, prime rib, filet mignon medallions au poivre, stuffed chicken, croque madame Benedict, crêpes, and dim sum while enjoying unlimited bubbly and the musical stylings of Elias Nash on piano. You'll feel like you're on top of the world.
#2 Rainbow Room, New York City
The Sunday brunch at the recently reopened Rainbow Room definitely suits the space; both are insanely lavish. Clocking in at $125 per person, the brunch buffet showcases the international influence of chef Jonathan Wright, with plenty of roasted meats, fresh and smoked seafood, Thai curry, pork buns, cheese, charcuterie, pastries, tableside-delivered desserts including freshly-fried beignets, and live entertainment.
#1 The Circle, The Breakers, Palm Beach, Fla.
The Italian Renaissance-style Breakers Palm Beach has been one of the country's premier high-end destinations since tycoon Henry Flagler had it built back in 1896 (the current incarnation was completed in 1926). There's no shortage of spectacular dining options at this luxurious retreat, but for brunch one option rises head and shoulders above the rest: Sunday Brunch in The Circle's splendid and opulent dining room (think ocean views, 30-foot frescoed ceilings, and oval murals depicting Renaissance-era landscapes) — a tradition for more than 25 years. Alaskan king crab legs, sushi, caviar, smoked fish, lamb chops, carved-to-order ham and beef tenderloin, Belgian waffles, eggs Benedict, fresh-baked pastries and muffins, omelettes, cheeses, pâté, and more than 30 desserts are all for the taking, with a harpist strolling from table to table to boot. The Champagne, mimosas, sangria, and Bloody Marys are free-flowing. The price is $105 per person, before tax and tip. Come hungry, and it'll be well worth the expense.