We can all agree that breakfast and brunch are different beasts, each with uniquely redeeming qualities; kind of like the sisters Kardashian. I, myself, am a firm proponent of the extinct meal we once called breakfast. After my move to the land of brunch’n’booze, I quickly learned that I would not be beating them anytime soon. Thus, I joined them in transforming brunch from a noun to a verb.

There are multiple reasons I’ve fallen in love with brunch. For starters, it makes for an amazing Instagram picture. Who doesn’t love to wake up late every now and then and start the day off with drinks? And there’s just something so comforting about breakfast food later on in the day.
Although brunch is something that is just a way of life here in the city, I’ve realized I’ve also lost the tradition of breakfast that I grew up with. I think it’s because I’m getting older. So now I’m conflicted with my newfound love for brunch AND an old school breakfast.
Some reasons why we should rediscover these ‘brunch’ spots for breakfast, a meal sponsored by bottomless caffeine:

• First pick of the pickin’s. The muffins are fresh, the coffee is just brewed, and the eggs seem fluffier. (Or is that just me?)
• Please, feel free to eat like an unsupervised five year old at a birthday party with no fear of judgment. Because guess what?! No one’s around. It’s the b-crack of dawn. Eat up, my friends!
• Unlike brunch, you can expect breakfast time to really mean breakfast time. By the time you make it to your brunch table at 2pm, however, you’ll look somewhat (maybe even exactly, like me) hangry.

The combination of hungry and angry. We’ve all been there. Because there are 39,430,289 and a half brunch spots in a two mile radius of San Francisco. Because it took you an hour and a half to weed out the viable Yelp reviews of just one of aforementioned spots.
With hotcakes on the brain, below is a short stack of my fave brunch AND breakfast spots. For those of you who are willing to wake up just a bit earlier than what seems like the rest of SF, you’ll enjoy these places just that much more. And for those of you that don’t mind the crowd and just can’t seem to wake up early, indulge in your brunch desires.

Mission: (1) St. Francis Fountain do it for the spud meal / (2)Tartine do it for the almond croissant

Nob Hill: (3) Jane on Larkin do it for the fancy toast

Cole Valley: (4) Zazie do it for ALL THE THINGS!!!

Noe Valley: (5) Savor do it for the tour-d’Europe-toasts (the v fancy french toast concoctions) / (6) Griddle Fresh do it for the lemon ricotta pancakes

Pacific Heights: (7) Sweet Maple do it for the candied bacon

Western Addition: (8) Brenda’s Meat and Three do it for the cream biscuits

The Haight: (9) Bacon Bacon do it for the bacon burritos

Downtown/Union Square: (10) Sears Fine Foods do it for the buttermilk pancakes and skip the Swedish ones