Virginia Restaurants Among Top 100 Brunch Spots In U.S., New List Says

VIRGINIA — Five eateries in Virginia are among the best in the country, according to a new ranking of the best places to grab brunch from the crowdsourced business review site Yelp. The list came out ahead of Mother’s Day, one of the busiest days of the year for restaurants specializing in the late-morning meal.

The top-ranked Virginia restaurant is Matt & Tony's All Day Kitchen + Bar in Alexandria, ranked at No. 59 on Yelp’s Top 100 Brunch Spots 2024. The Alexandria eatery is known for entrees like cornflake crusted French toast, chicken and waffles, shrimp and grits, and more.

Others from Virginia are:

• The Egg Bistro, Chesapeake, ranked at No. 62
• Perly’s, Richmond, ranked at No. 66
• The Rustic Spoon, Virginia Beach, ranked at No. 78
• Palette 22, Arlington

The 100 featured restaurants cater to a wide range of tastes with their diverse menus. These menus offer an assortment of items, ranging from classic brunch dishes like eggs Benedict, French toast, and mimosas, to fusion menus that blend ethnic dishes with American favorites, Yelp said in a news release.

Reservations are always a good idea, especially for Mother’s Day brunch on Sunday, May 12. Six of the top 10 restaurants on the list report that Mother’s Day is their busiest day of the year, Yelp said, noting that its own data confirms that. In 2023, Mother’s Day reservations surged 79 percent from the previous Sunday.

To compile the list, Yelp looked at businesses in the breakfast and brunch category, searching for terms such as “brunch” and “Mother’s Day,” and then ranked the restaurants on multiple factors, including how often those words were mentioned in ratings and reviews in the past three years.

Adjustments were made for restaurants with multiple locations, with only the highest-rated restaurant included. Yelp also limited the number of restaurants per state to add geographic diversity.

For more about these and other eateries on the ranked list, check out Yelp’s Top 100 Brunch Spots 2024.