Top Five: Vancouver Brunch Spots

Maxine’s Café & Bar
1325 Burrard Street (West End)
Just a stone’s throw away from us is Maxine’s Café & Bar, offering an expansive brunch menu seven days a week. While there’s everything from breakfast sandwiches to a PB & J quinoa bowl on offer, do take advantage of their slate of brunch-y cocktails, including a Basil Gin Sour with Citadel gin, lemon, basil syrup, celery bitters, and egg whites.

Café Medina
80 Richards Street (Downtown)
One of Vancouver’s top spots for breakfast, Café Medina‘s line-up has been as legendary as the menu. But one of the only welcome developments to come out of the pandemic is the fact that Medina now takes reservations! But if you’ve missed that window and are walking in, arrive early to get your name on the list, or ask to sit at the bar, which is often a lot quicker. Once you’re in, you’ll find creative breakfast dishes with a Moroccan twist, along with the city’s best Liege-style waffles.

Giovane Caffé
418 West Georgia (Downtown)Wandering around downtown and looking for a quick pick-me-up? The casual counter service at the newest location of Giovane Caffé is the way to go for Italian-inspired coffee, salads, and sandwiches. Paninis range from mushroom frittata (with arugula, truffle aioli, and caciocavallo) to mortadella (with provolone, pistachio pesto, arugula, and pickled onion), and the salads are nice and hearty, with hits like the ‘Tonno,’with poached tuna, farro, roasted broccoli, boiled egg, pickled red onion, and parsley mint dressing.

Novella
2650 Main Street (Mount Pleasant)Brand new to the bustling Main Street area is Novella Coffee Bar, a sister establishment to the Michelin-starred Published on Main just up the street. The coffee program, courtesy of local roasters House of Funk is spot on, as is the tidy roster of breakfast-items like steel cut oats with wild and cultivated mushrooms and a poached egg, and the farmer’s sausage hash with spicy kewpie mayonnaise and tobiko.

Yolks
546 West Broadway (Cambie)With a name like “Yolks“, you probably figured out that this place is all about the breakfast! Originally just a food truck, they now have two locations, serving up eggy goodness every day, along with their legendary truffle-lemon potatoes. Along with a galaxy of bennies, we recommend their classic breakfast, which is a delicious choose-your-own-adventure type of affair.