Beast | 5425 NE 30th
If your definition of a good brunch is waiting in a long line for biscuits and fried chicken smothered in sausage gravy smothered with an egg and smothered with cheese, move along. Brunch at Beast is a far more refined affair, with its reservation-only three-course tour of French classics inspired by what’s shaking at the Farmer’s Market. The cost is $35, but it includes gratuity and is the cheaper way to try one of the city’s most infamous tasting menus, since dinner runs $117 a person. Sweet and light fruit clafoutis start the meal, and a Beast hash with Lan Roc pork shoulder, confit potatoes, poached egg, and hollandaise will make an appearance. The cherry on top? You’ll be sent away with a sweet little box of petit fours for the road. ANDREA DAMEWOOD SEATINGS: Sun at 10 am, 11:30 am, & 1 pm. RESERVATIONS REQUIRED. $$$$
Mae | 5027 NE 42nd
Here’s the thing about brunch at Mae: You’re gonna pay a bit more than you’re used to, but you’re gonna get a hell of a lot out of your Sunday morning. Get on the mailing list to snag a reservation at Chef Maya Lovelace’s supes-popular pop-up, then put on yer stretchy pants and BYOB to this convivial meal full of heartfelt haute Southern cuisine that you can’t get anywhere else in the state. There’s the chicken fried in three kinds of fat and the white heirloom sorghum cornbread—but save room for the wonders Lovelace works with seasonal fruits and vegetables. You’ll probably leave with a hug, and you’re definitely not going to need to eat for the rest of the day. AD Seatings: Sun at 10 am & 12:30 pm. Reservations required. $$$$
Expatriate | 5424 NE 30th
Weekend brunch is a surprisingly quiet affair at Expatriate, given the quality of Naomi Pomeroy’s adventurous menu. There’s an exoticism to the proceedings, and in less able hands it would be a pretentious mess. No simple eggs and bacon, or waffles and syrup: Here, the scrambled eggs are wrapped around shrimp fritters in a burrito made from a wonderfully crusty pastry, while waffles come with black sesame ice cream. Drinks are a serious business and will quickly rack up the bill, so head elsewhere for the bottomless mimosas. MJ SKEGG Brunch hours: Sat & Sun 10 am-2 pm, $$
Tusk | 2448 E Burnside
Ugh. Tusk is soooo cooooool. And not in the way that makes you hate it, but in the nice way where you actually want to sit in its open dining room—all white with ample tropical plants—eating cloud-fluffy hummus with a yolky egg, sharing bites of a gooey pistachio cake, and sipping bottomless Heart coffee from the cutest mug and tray set evar. Since opening, word has spread about Tusk’s covet-worthy brunches and waits can climb into an hour-plus—especially since they don’t open until 10 am. But this is not your average waffle shack: Plates like the Cypriot feature grilled halloumi cheese, lamb and beef blueberry sausage, fried eggs, olives, and salad. If you’re looking to check out the best of this glam new hotspot, brunch is totes the time to do it. AD Brunch hours: Sat & Sun 10 am-2 pm, $$$
Tiffin Asha | 1670 NE Killingsworth
When Tiffin Asha made the jump from top-notch food cart to understatedly gorgeous brick-and-mortar restaurant, the only loss was the cart’s eggy breakfast versions of the menu’s South Indian delights. Well, that’s finally changed, at least on Sundays: The enormous sourdough flatbread is still the star, especially now that the cart-favorite bacon and egg version is back. But it’s joined by rarer fare, like colorfully seasoned and spiced peanutty upma porridge, or spongy appam pancake. But even if this brunch was just the savory spice-dusted doughnut-like vada holes served with Tiffin Asha’s house chai, chicory coffee, or banana lassi, it would be a slam dunk. Don’t sleep on the mimosas, either, especially if the ginger mint one is on the menu. THOMAS ROSS Brunch hours: Sun 11 am-3 pm, $$
Accanto | 2838 SE Belmont
Accanto is where you should go for brunch if you’re feeling extremely fancy. This is not the place if you want flapjacks and bloodies done okay—it’s where you go if you want to sip daintily from a tall flute of tart, fizzy Le Contesse prosecco instead of a mimosa; it’s where you go if you want chicory with your veggies and fritto misto for breakfast. Speaking of which: The fritto misto is a salty, crunchy delight. It’s the fanciest fried food ever and I could imagine sponging up a hangover with it. The salt is for rehydration! (I’m not a doctor.) Do you have a fancy date who likes fancy things? Do you want to feel sophisticated as you eat wonderful food while a Smog song plays in the background at just the right volume? Go here. MEGAN BURBANK Brunch hours: Sat & Sun 10 am-2 pm, $$$
La Moule | 2500 SE Clinton
There is no richer menu in Portland than the one at La Moule. In addition to mussels as many ways as you can imagine, the dinner menu tucks you in, reads you a story, then creeps out, leaving the door open a crack and the hall light on. So it’s maybe not surprising that the Sunday brunch menu... well, does the same. Get ready for a nap after their moules or oysters, poutine in beery gravy and topped with an egg, or an opulent Belgian waffle that seems to have time-traveled from the court of some French monarch. La Moule is home to one of the finest cocktail menus in the city (and its bloody mary can hold its own against any of the food), but some effervescence is also welcome on Sunday morning, and La Moule is prepared: Bivalves and bubbles, what more could you need? TR Brunch hours: Sun 10 am-2 pm, $$
Tasty n Alder / Tasty n Sons | 580 SW 12th; 3808 N Williams
Much has been written about the lofty heights obtained by Tasty n Sons and its equally prodigious child, Tasty n Alder. Its chocolate potato doughnuts and shakshuka are things of legend, as well as their radicchio salad, Auntie Paula’s French Toast, and their Korean fried chicken with house kimchi and eggs. But there’s so much good to be found in the outer reaches of their menu as well, including the Tasty Steak Cheddar and Eggs, which is served in a skillet atop a cornmeal pancake drenched in jalapeño butter. Mixing bites of Creekstone steak, impossibly fluffy and fresh cheesy eggs, and the aforementioned pancake yields a different taste each time—all decadent, all delicious. For exploratory reasons alone, the line is most certainly worth the wait. WM. STEVEN HUMPHREY Brunch hours: Daily 9 am-2 pm (Alder), Daily 9 am-2:30 pm (Sons), $$$
Verdigris | 1315 NE Fremont
If you’re spending an hour cooking eggs in a sous vide tank, you’re taking brunch seriously. The result could be awfully affected, but this neighborhood French-inspired restaurant is more playful, as well as being surprisingly affordable. Dishes can have a rustic feel: A white bean cassoulet, with sausages, topped with fried eggs is long on flavor and just like your grandmother used to make—if she happened to come from Languedoc. They don’t price-gouge on the drinks either, so start the day with a white port and tonic. MS Brunch hours: Tues-Sun 9 am-2 pm, $$