WWNO skyline header graphic
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Local Newscast
Hear the latest from the WWNO/WRKF Newsroom.

Support local, independent journalism on WWNO with your Member Fest gift now! Click the donate button or Call 844-790-1094.

Where Y'Eat: Beating The Clock At Brunch

Ian McNulty
Steak with eggs, Vietnamese style sizzling beef, at Mint Modern Vietnamese Bistro.

Here is a different strategy for beating the crowds and getting a good brunch before kickoff on busy football weekends. 

In the beginning there was breakfast. Then breakfast begat brunch. But then brunch went crazy, so getting some poached eggs and hollandaise for a laidback weekend meal has somehow become a half-day affair of crowd control, waiting lists and self-serve Bloody Mary stations.

Even with the boom in new breakfast joints around New Orleans, the best places remain packed, and quite often backed up. We may accept this as a reality of the modern New Orleans restaurant scene some of the time, but not during football season.

Saturdays and Sundays this time of year are not necessarily days off, but days of observation. For those who want to get a late morning meal before a noon kick off, the customary 30-minute, 45-minute or hour-long wait endemic to casual brunch spots in this city is just a nonstarter. 

Fortunately, there’s another way, and for this we thank the ever-more diverse landscape of New Orleans restaurants for putting many different calls in your playbook. I spent the last few weekends scouting potential flex options, restaurants that aren't necessarily known for, or marketed as, brunch spots — but that can fill the same role without the crowds. 

Take, for instance, the case of queso, and huevos. Mexican breakfast dishes like huevos rancheros have become as common on brunch menus as eggs Benedict. Naturally, they're also staples at actual Mexican restaurants, and this opens another under-the-radar brunch option.

Panchita’s Mexican Criolla Cuisine in the Carrollton area was where I encountered entomadas, an example that hits all the hallmarks of a well-rounded brunch platter. It’s built on a foundation of folded corn tortilla cakes soaked down with a mild red sauce, drizzled with crema and joined by a thin, griddle-crisp steak and a pair of eggs over easy. Get this with a michelada, which is like a beer-based bloody Mary, and you have a piquant start to game day.

Within walking distance of the Superdome, an Irish breakfast at Irish House is another read option. It’s a straightforward, fully-loaded vehicle for eggs and breakfast meats, in this case rashers (or thick-cut Irish bacon), Irish sausage and black and white puddings, plus the baked beans, roasted mushrooms and grilled tomato that for some reason are requirements for this traditional assemblage. 

Then there’s the proliferation of Vietnamese restaurants around town, which are supplying a whole roster of ready brunch replacement dishes. Sizzling steak, or bo ne, is leading contender. It’s essentially steak with eggs. At places like Mint Modern Vietnamese on Freret Street or the Pho Orchid restaurants in Metairie and New Orleans, it arrives with all the snap, crackle and steam of a fajita plate with over-easy eggs bubbling on top, a crusty baguette on the side and a ramekin of pâté. Mix and match these components just like you would any plate of steak and eggs, wash it down with a Sriracha bloody Mary or a mimosa and you're well on your way.

These are just a few examples. Broaden your idea of what brunch can be, and play by some different rules, and you'll have a good meal under your belt well before the first snap.

Mint Modern Vietnamese Bistro

5100 Freret St., (504) 218-5534; mintmodernbistro.com

Pho Orchid Metairie

3117 Houma Blvd., (504) 457-4188

Pho Orchid Express

1401 Airline Dr., Metairie, (504) 301-3368

Pho Orchid Uptown

2135 St. Charles Ave., (504) 609-3710

Panchita’s Mexican Criolla Cuisine

1434 S. Carrollton Ave., (504) 281-4127; panchitasmexicancriollacuisine.com

Taqueria Guerrero

208 N. Carrollton Ave., (504) 484-6959

Irish House

1432 St. Charles Ave., (504) 595-6755; theirishhouseneworleans.com

Tags
Ian covers food culture and dining in New Orleans through his weekly commentary series Where Y’Eat.

👋 Looks like you could use more news. Sign up for our newsletters.

* indicates required
New Orleans Public Radio News
New Orleans Public Radio Info