If it seems like central Arkansas is getting overrun with brunch spots, you’d be correct.
In the last couple of years, the open-for-breakfast, closed-after-lunch spots have actually multiplied. There seems to be no bottom to the area's desire for bottomless mimosas, so here we are, awash in choices.
And, as a matter of fact, this story was originally planned to run last year, after some delicious reporting, but news of yet another spot opening up pushed the biscuits to the back-burner.
Brunch spots have seen a boom for several reasons.
Working from home means you might have a little more time to be leisurely in the morning, as instead of hitting the road for your morning commute, you go get some pancakes instead before starting your work day.
Also, just generally speaking, brunch food tends to be less expensive than going out to eat dinner.
Post COVID socializing, especially on weekends has also led to viewing brunch as a meal and a show. or at least a low-stress version of the date night classic.
In a trade publication, Bill Long, the CFO of Snooze Eatery, a national chain of brunch spots, called the meal, “an affordable indulgence.” Which is mostly true. While you can run up a tab, especially if you make it boozy, the brunch check isn’t as much as you might spend for dinner at a nicer spot.
Doing only morning fare can also be highly profitable for the restaurants as you need only one shift to work the kitchen and wait tables, so the staffing isn’t as big or as expensive. Food costs are also less for the vast majority of brunch items.
So, some caveats, in our survey of brunch spots. First, while you don’t have to drink, the spot does need to have a bar. It creates the amusing spectacle of the top-hat-wearing day drinker we spotted on one outing, bellied up and elbows up at the bar.
A true brunch spot opens in the morning and is closed by 2 p.m., 3 at the latest. So, by definition, if it serves dinner, it isn’t a brunch spot.
Finally, all of this is subjective anyway. We aren’t including popular hotel breakfast brunches, like, say the Capital Hotel, or just regular old breakfast spots, like At the Corner or Blackberry Market in North Little Rock. We are also not surveying restaurants that don't typically serve breakfast but do have a brunch service on the weekend.
Also, just in terms of geographic distribution, all these places, with one downtown exception, are in west Little Rock. Why? Well, putting on our GIS hat and armed with a breakdown of annual income by zip, we get … never mind. The reality is spots tend to cluster, whether it is car dealerships or hotels or boozy brunches.
Delicious Temptations
11220 N. Rodney Parham Road #8
Chances are you’ve been here, as it is the OG of Little Rock brunch. In our first round of reporting, it was undergoing renovation and serving a reduced menu. Then a second visit after its near doubling of floor space just confirmed why it remains a mainstay.
The food is good and the portions are absurdly large (this will be a theme throughout), with a second meal packed in a takeout clamshell. The downside is, no matter when you go, you’re going to be waiting to get a table, and the pacing of service is leisurely to the point of allowing a couple of hours to be seated, order and get your pancakes.
Not a chain. The strawberry butter smeared on fruit bread or pancakes is luscious. If some version of a benedict is your favorite brunch, they have a bunch. The cup of fresh fruit actually has a mix of fruits, rather than lots of cantaloupe topped with a couple of berries (a pet peeve of the wife’s).
Pro tip: Order the bacon. It is exceptional.
Big Bad Breakfast
101 S. Bowman Rd.
306 Main St.
Little Rock has two locations of the Oxford, Mississippi based chain known colloquially as BBB and started by celebrity chef John Currance. Having been to the original, I’ll say the one in Oxford is better than either Little Rock spot. It might be because of the Snack Bar menu, or maybe it is because you saw the Ole Miss football coach working through a stack of pancakes while you were there and you found it amusing.
For this reporting, we made multiple visits and can confirm the Bowman Road location, which used to be a bank, seemed better than the Main Street joint that used to be a fish restaurant. The bruleed grapefruit is a real treat and having it always makes you wonder why you don't eat grapefruit more.
The seasonal menu changes, so it might be avocado toast or the skillet you liked on a previous trip may not be there on the menu.
Pro tip: If the weather is pleasant, ask to sit outside on the patio. You won’t have to wait as long for a table, or if you’re dining solo, you can sit at the bar.
The Toasted Yolk Cafe
17406 Chenal Parkway
Toasted Yolk kicked off the brunch spot reporting early in 2023. A visit was also made this year, and both times the food was good and, again, the portions were incredibly large. To the point that the biscuits and gravy were served on a platter instead of a plate and contained three biscuits, split, with roughly a gallon of sausage gravy. That may be a slight exaggeration but it feels right.
Was it meant to be shared, cheese dip style, with the table? Maybe. Was it? No. No, it was not. Was it good? Yes, yes it was.
Pro tip: You can make a reservation, but you will not be seated until your entire party is there.
The Buttered Biscuit
17815 Chenal Parkway F101
The newest entry to the Little Rock brunch scene, and the reason why this story got pushed back. It was worth the wait.
First off, The Buttered Biscuit is very loud. All hard surfaces with nothing to dampen the noise of a full house keeps the volume at the level of a sports bar the space used to be. No chicken wings on this menu though as the hot and huge biscuits were the star. The biscuits also come with a choice of some tasty spreads, essentially compound butters, and the honey orange butter allows you to indulge your inner Pooh and Paddington with its mashup of honey and orange marmalade.
As a coffee drinker, but not the sophisticated kind, the vagaries of the tasting notes are lost on me. Tastes like chocolate with a hint of cinnamon. Just hot coffee, some half and half and a Splenda or two, if I’m feeling froggy.
Then I had the coffee, from Onyx Coffee Lab in Rogers, and the menu described it as thick and syrupy with hints of raspberry. Boy howdy did they nail it. It was, as they say, a damn, fine cup of coffee.
Pro tip: No reservations but you can put your name on the online waiting list in advance and it can cut down your wait time significantly. It was pleasant enough to sit outside but in the brutal summer heat, it could be awful
You bet your biscuit
You bet your biscuit
You bet your biscuit
If it seems like central Arkansas is getting overrun with brunch spots, you’d be correct.
In the last couple of years, the open-for-breakfast, closed-after-lunch spots have actually multiplied. There seems to be no bottom to the area's desire for bottomless mimosas, so here we are, awash in choices.
And, as a matter of fact, this story was originally planned to run last year, after some delicious reporting, but news of yet another spot opening up pushed the biscuits to the back-burner.
Brunch spots have seen a boom for several reasons.
Working from home means you might have a little more time to be leisurely in the morning, as instead of hitting the road for your morning commute, you go get some pancakes instead before starting your work day.
Also, just generally speaking, brunch food tends to be less expensive than going out to eat dinner.
Post COVID socializing, especially on weekends has also led to viewing brunch as a meal and a show. or at least a low-stress version of the date night classic.
In a trade publication, Bill Long, the CFO of Snooze Eatery, a national chain of brunch spots, called the meal, “an affordable indulgence.” Which is mostly true. While you can run up a tab, especially if you make it boozy, the brunch check isn’t as much as you might spend for dinner at a nicer spot.
Doing only morning fare can also be highly profitable for the restaurants as you need only one shift to work the kitchen and wait tables, so the staffing isn’t as big or as expensive. Food costs are also less for the vast majority of brunch items.
So, some caveats, in our survey of brunch spots. First, while you don’t have to drink, the spot does need to have a bar. It creates the amusing spectacle of the top-hat-wearing day drinker we spotted on one outing, bellied up and elbows up at the bar.
A true brunch spot opens in the morning and is closed by 2 p.m., 3 at the latest. So, by definition, if it serves dinner, it isn’t a brunch spot.
Finally, all of this is subjective anyway. We aren’t including popular hotel breakfast brunches, like, say the Capital Hotel, or just regular old breakfast spots, like At the Corner or Blackberry Market in North Little Rock. We are also not surveying restaurants that don't typically serve breakfast but do have a brunch service on the weekend.
Also, just in terms of geographic distribution, all these places, with one downtown exception, are in west Little Rock. Why? Well, putting on our GIS hat and armed with a breakdown of annual income by zip, we get … never mind. The reality is spots tend to cluster, whether it is car dealerships or hotels or boozy brunches.
Delicious Temptations
11220 N. Rodney Parham Road #8
Chances are you’ve been here, as it is the OG of Little Rock brunch. In our first round of reporting, it was undergoing renovation and serving a reduced menu. Then a second visit after its near doubling of floor space just confirmed why it remains a mainstay.
The food is good and the portions are absurdly large (this will be a theme throughout), with a second meal packed in a takeout clamshell. The downside is, no matter when you go, you’re going to be waiting to get a table, and the pacing of service is leisurely to the point of allowing a couple of hours to be seated, order and get your pancakes.
Not a chain. The strawberry butter smeared on fruit bread or pancakes is luscious. If some version of a benedict is your favorite brunch, they have a bunch. The cup of fresh fruit actually has a mix of fruits, rather than lots of cantaloupe topped with a couple of berries (a pet peeve of the wife’s).
Pro tip: Order the bacon. It is exceptional.
Big Bad Breakfast
101 S. Bowman Rd.
306 Main St.
Little Rock has two locations of the Oxford, Mississippi based chain known colloquially as BBB and started by celebrity chef John Currance. Having been to the original, I’ll say the one in Oxford is better than either Little Rock spot. It might be because of the Snack Bar menu, or maybe it is because you saw the Ole Miss football coach working through a stack of pancakes while you were there and you found it amusing.
For this reporting, we made multiple visits and can confirm the Bowman Road location, which used to be a bank, seemed better than the Main Street joint that used to be a fish restaurant. The bruleed grapefruit is a real treat and having it always makes you wonder why you don't eat grapefruit more.
The seasonal menu changes, so it might be avocado toast or the skillet you liked on a previous trip may not be there on the menu.
Pro tip: If the weather is pleasant, ask to sit outside on the patio. You won’t have to wait as long for a table, or if you’re dining solo, you can sit at the bar.
The Toasted Yolk Cafe
17406 Chenal Parkway
Toasted Yolk kicked off the brunch spot reporting early in 2023. A visit was also made this year, and both times the food was good and, again, the portions were incredibly large. To the point that the biscuits and gravy were served on a platter instead of a plate and contained three biscuits, split, with roughly a gallon of sausage gravy. That may be a slight exaggeration but it feels right.
Was it meant to be shared, cheese dip style, with the table? Maybe. Was it? No. No, it was not. Was it good? Yes, yes it was.
Pro tip: You can make a reservation, but you will not be seated until your entire party is there.
The Buttered Biscuit
17815 Chenal Parkway F101
The newest entry to the Little Rock brunch scene, and the reason why this story got pushed back. It was worth the wait.
First off, The Buttered Biscuit is very loud. All hard surfaces with nothing to dampen the noise of a full house keeps the volume at the level of a sports bar the space used to be. No chicken wings on this menu though as the hot and huge biscuits were the star. The biscuits also come with a choice of some tasty spreads, essentially compound butters, and the honey orange butter allows you to indulge your inner Pooh and Paddington with its mashup of honey and orange marmalade.
As a coffee drinker, but not the sophisticated kind, the vagaries of the tasting notes are lost on me. Tastes like chocolate with a hint of cinnamon. Just hot coffee, some half and half and a Splenda or two, if I’m feeling froggy.
Then I had the coffee, from Onyx Coffee Lab in Rogers, and the menu described it as thick and syrupy with hints of raspberry. Boy howdy did they nail it. It was, as they say, a damn, fine cup of coffee.
Pro tip: No reservations but you can put your name on the online waiting list in advance and it can cut down your wait time significantly. It was pleasant enough to sit outside but in the brutal summer heat, it could be awful