The Best Brunch in San Francisco, Ranked by a Local

All PostsSan Francisco Eats
Written By Amy Suto
Amy at a patio table with guacamole at Colibri Mexican Bistro, the best brunch in San Francisco

I take brunch personally. I’m a San Francisco local, I work for myself, and my week is arranged so that a long weekend breakfast is a load-bearing feature, not a treat.

This list is the short version of a lot of eating across this city — I pay my own checks, and I go back. It runs from a heated patio in the Presidio to a Turkish spread on Fillmore, with hours included, because nothing ruins a Sunday like a locked door.

The best brunch in San Francisco right now is Colibri Mexican Bistro in the Presidio — followed by Eats on Clement Street, Wise Sons at the JCC, and Troya’s Turkish breakfast on Fillmore. Here’s the ranking, with what to order at each.

1. Colibri Mexican Bistro — the Presidio One

If you ask me for one San Francisco brunch, this is the one I give: guacamole and chilaquiles inside the Presidio’s historic Officers’ Club, a heated patio that shrugs off the fog, easy paid parking right out front, and every good walk in the park starting at your table — Lovers’ Lane, the water, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Sunday food trucks on the lawn. The room is big and open, it’s never slammed, and it’s where I take family and friends first.

2. Eats — the Clement Street Pancake Institution

The fluffy pancakes at Eats on Clement Street in San Francisco

Eats has held down the market end of Clement Street since 1975, and the Fluffy Pancakes are the order. The heads-up, from experience: on Sunday market days it gets mobbed — we waited, you’ll probably wait, and the waitlist is your friend. Parking is harder here than in the Presidio, but not impossible.

  • Order: The Fluffy Pancakes, blueberries on. Read my full Eats review.
  • Hours: 8am–2pm, Wednesday–Monday (closed Tuesdays)

3. Wise Sons at the JCC — the Gluten-Free Bagel Champion

The Bodega breakfast sandwich on a bagel at Wise Sons JCC in San Francisco

The best gluten-free bagel in San Francisco lives at the JCC on California Street, and my receipts folder can prove how often I confirm it. The Bodega — their bodega-style egg-and-cheese — on the GF bagel is my standing order, and the regular bagels are excellent too. One honest note: bagel quality varies across Wise Sons locations, and the JCC outpost is the one. It makes sense — this is the location where the bagels get the most reps.

4. Troya — the Turkish Breakfast for Your Whole Group

Amy playing tennis at Alta Plaza Park before Turkish breakfast at Troya

The pre-Troya ritual: a casual set at Alta Plaza Park, a few blocks uphill.

The best Turkish breakfast I’ve found in the city so far: kaymak with honey, muhammara, cheeses, olives, simit, börek, shakshuka, all family-style. The group strategy is one spread per two people, multiplied — it’s the best big-table brunch format on this list. My ideal weekend runs tennis at Alta Plaza Park, Troya after, and a Fillmore Street stroll to finish.

  • Order: The Turkish breakfast spread, one per two people. Read my full Troya review.
  • Hours: The spread runs weekend mornings, from 10am

More Brunch Spots in My Rotation

  • Mama’s Luncheonette (Cow Hollow) — the tiny halal breakfast counter I really like on the Marina side of town, where the breakfast burrito is the move. Closed Mondays and Tuesdays. Read my Mama’s Luncheonette review.
  • Emmita’s Cafe (Divisadero) — great breakfast burritos, good green juice, and a Mexican caramel latte. Weekdays only. Read my Emmita’s review.
  • My Father’s Kitchen (Divisadero) — two doors from Emmita’s, with great coffee and a great Thai iced tea. Read my review.

FAQ: Brunch in San Francisco

Do San Francisco brunch spots take reservations?

It’s a mixed bag. Troya takes reservations (smart for groups), Eats runs a waitlist you should join before you arrive, Mama’s is famously no-reservations, and Colibri is walk-in friendly outside of event weekends in the Presidio.

Where should I eat before the Clement Street Farmers Market?

Eats, at 50 Clement — the market runs Sundays 9am to 2pm two blocks away. Go early, because market Sundays are the busy ones. My full guide to San Francisco’s farmers markets has the rest of the circuit.

What’s the best weekday brunch in San Francisco?

Emmita’s on Divisadero only runs weekdays, which makes it the work-from-home special — and Wise Sons at the JCC serves from 7am on weekdays, so the Bodega counts as a business meeting if you say it does.

Extend the morning: pair any of these with the best farmers markets in San Francisco, walk it off with a city hike, and end on a cup from my best matcha in SF ranking.

If you liked this post, you’ll probably like the rest of my life: I’m a writer who spent five years eating my way around the world as a digital nomad (my travel guides rate restaurants from Chongqing to Buenos Aires) before settling down in San Francisco. Subscribe to my newsletter for more like this — and if you’re a writer who wants the remote-work life that makes long brunches possible, that’s what CozyJobs is for.