An Ode To The Booze Brunch

A while ago we touched on the great time-honored American , but as everyone knows, sometimes you need to hop on the train to booze-town by breakfast. Reasons for this could be: you never stopped drinking the night before, you need a little “hair of the dog” to work off that hangover, or you are just a person who enjoys an 11 a.m. cocktail (don’t be ashamed). So this weeks column is dedicated to boozy brunches, which everyone loves, and if you don’t, you are totally fooling yourself.

There are definitely two camps of booze brunches. In one, you are simply enjoying a mimosa or a Bloody Mary with your eggs and French toast. Maybe you have a second drink, but probably not. It’s the weekend, and you have things to do! 

In the second, more awesome camp, are the unlimited booze brunches, wherein you basically just have to say, “This is all that I’m doing today.” Once, I went to a booze brunch before I was planning to go to a free concert in Brooklyn. Nope! Cancel those plans! When you’re doing shots with your pancakes, you just have to accept that you will get nothing done for the rest of the day, and when you get home you will probably require a nap. The unlimited booze brunch takes a certain level of dedication, but once in awhile, it’s a nice way to lazily waste a day.

Here are my picks for the casual booze brunch, and the hardcore you-might-as-well-call-yourself-a-cab-home brunch:

The brunch buffet at really can’t be beat if you’re looking to go crazy with the food and less crazy on the drink. For $25, you can go to town on eggs Florentine, crème brulee French toast, steak, and fondue, all washed down with one complimentary Bloody Mary or mimosa. The buffet is served between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., and if you can sit there and take them up on that unlimited buffet for five hours, then I will personally salute you.

Okay, say you just want to hang out with some friends for brunch and eat a normal amount of food and a few drinks. is always an all-around good bet, if you can get up early enough to snag a table without a crazy long wait. But their brunch drinks are definitely worth it either way. Their mimosa ($6.50) is made with Cava and fresh-squeezed orange juice, their Bloody Mary ($7) is made with sun-dried tomato-infused vodka and their bellini ($7) has actual peach puree. But my vote is for “The Chocolate Muse,” ($6), which is made with milk, Godiva dark chocolate liquer and crème de cocoa (hey, this is the drinking column, not the healthy eating column).

 also features a hearty brunch menu (no prix fixe), with Irish oatmeal, buttermilk pancakes and eggs Benedict but with the delicious addition of booze. For about $8 (more if you want to fancy it up with top-shelf vodka), you can get a fresh Bloody Mary, or for $9, a mimosa.

Hey, listen, we’re not judging. We’re all drinking buddies here, and we understand that sometimes you just want to unwind with a few or twenty cocktails. Now, we’re not recommending getting drunk before noon or anything! But, you know, it will probably happen.

recently started serving brunch (11 a.m. to 4 p.m.), which includes the standard fare, but with the added bonus of $10 pitchers of mimosas, Bloody Mary’s and sangria. If you come with your friends, I suggest each ordering a pitcher and, you know, seeing how well that works out for you. 

 has a nice prix fixe brunch special (running all weekend, 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.), where $27 will get you an appetizer and entrée with unlimited cocktails, all served with an adorable little basket of muffins and jam. How cute is that! If you choose to go the limited route, though, a mimosa or a Bloody Mary (can be made extra spicy!) will run $7 each.

The best deal of the bunch, though, has to be at . All weekend long (11 a.m. to 3:15 p.m.) their prix fixe special is only $19.99 which includes one brunch entrée and complimentary mimosas, bellinis, Bloody Mary's and glasses of sangria. Can you seriously beat that? I don’t think you can. 

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the Sunday Bloody Sunday special at . If you’re not looking to eat anything, they’ve got a killer deal on $5 Bloody Marys. Plus, they play horror movies every Sunday, so that’s a bonus.