Rosella, a gloriously nostalgic restaurant with vintage vibes in Mid-City, debuted brunch this spring, adding to its versatile slate of food, wine, and cocktails. On Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., the charming cafe serves avocado toast topped with smoked catfish dip and Cajun caviar, Huevos Rosella made with a short rib-topped pupusa, mushroom toast, and a Croque Madame, among other delights.

This swanky new Metairie restaurant with a country club feel and individual gazebo dining serves upscale American cuisine using ingredients from an onsite herb and vegetable garden and beef from a local cattle farm. The new weekend brunch menu is best enjoyed outdoors (now that it’s fall), specializing in housemade pastries and biscuits, shareable dips and snacks, and hearty breakfast sandwiches. Served Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Vassiliki Ellwood Yiagazis’s “Greek and Jewish soul food” pop-up is now a fully fledged cafe, dishing up breakfast gyros (soft scrambled eggs, crispy bacon, fried halloumi, French fries, and creamy tzatziki stuffed into a pita) on Bienville Street. Smoke & Honey has been steadily expanding its menu since opening in early February, adding bagels with whipped feta and cucumber salad and hot smoked salmon on rye toast — expect even more new dishes to roll out in the coming weeks.

This new cocktail bar in a beautiful Bywater space opened at the beginning of June, marking the building’s first occupant since Oxalis closed in 2017. Justini’s is the brainchild of Jessica Robinson, serving a menu of colorful, pretty cocktails as well as bar snacks like tacos, salmon bites, and wings. For brunch, served Saturday and Sunday, there’s a small menu of dishes like avocado toast, fried chicken and French toast, beignet sticks, a hot sausage croissant, and catfish Dauphine.

Sunday brunch is a highlight at Palm & Pine, the inventive French Quarter restaurant that blends flavors from the Caribbean, Southern U.S., and Central America. An oft-changing brunch menu might include a crawfish chile relleno, duck boudin omelet, Texas wagyu and eggs, or chilaquiles. Cocktails, both alcoholic and non, are top-notch.

This beloved French Quarter cocktail haven is now serving brunch to compliment its standout tropical cocktails, Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. Try truffle deviled eggs with radish, bacon, and Funyun salt; eggs Benedicts on biscuits, and more — but seriously, don’t miss the drinks, with or without alcohol.

This French Quarter hotspot with a high-touch design and great vibes has introduced brunch — bulgogi and grits, anyone? Brunch offerings follow the same flavorful mashup formula as the regular menu — Asian-American and Korean-centric, but with a good dose of New Orleans flair. The breakfast potatoes are outrageous, a great side to pair with crawfish and grits or the baco breakfast tacos and extravagant cocktails. Served Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The city’s newest special occasion destination is Miss River, chef Alon Shaya’s restaurant in the new Four Seasons hotel. Brunch is served Saturday and Sunday, featuring creations like duck eggs Creole; beignets and ham; and poached eggs and creamed spinach on toasted brioche bread with hollandaise and caviar. Of course, the cocktails are just as over-the-top: Bloody marys with garnishes like pickled quail eggs, okra, and steamed shrimp; and mimosas served from a roving mimosa station.

Sunday brunch has returned to Nina Compton’s acclaimed Compère Lapin. From 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., Compère serves items like an everything bagel with tuna tartar and chili cream cheese, braised pork with polenta, confit tomatoes, and sunny egg; and smothered rabbit with biscuit croquette. Don’t miss trying one of the restaurant’s delicious brunch cocktails, like the In the Valley Below (Cimmaron tequila, coffee-infused mezcal, Campari, cherry, and cacao), or opt for the bottomless brunch punch for just $20. Sweet endings include buttermilk pie with strawberry compote and zeppole with pecans and rum caramel. 

Denver-based Mister Oso’s splashy new downtown New Orleans location serves a funky, festive brunch menu of breakfast tacos, tres leches French toast, crunch wraps, and chilaquiles verdes, plus mojo pork, quesabirria, cauliflower al pastor, and smoked chicken tacos. Start the morning with a margarita and end it with an order of churros.

Weekend R&B brunch at Blake’s Place, the new-school NOLA comfort food restaurant from chef Blake Cressey, offers dishes like fluffy, sugar-dusted waffles with bacon and eggs; ethereal omelets; and savory catfish and grits. Mimosas are a must and reservations are advised, as the restaurant fills up on the weekend.

Less than a month after opening in its elegant, soaring Warehouse District space, Plates is serving brunch — a good move for a sprawling downtown space in close proximity to the Convention Center and World War II museum. The regular lunch and dinner menu adds items like chorizo hash, a Spanish tortilla, and steak and eggs, or for something on the lighter side, greek yogurt with granola or a bocadillo.

This charming, beautiful restaurant in the LGD is a delight — family-owned, friendly, and elegant. It’s also already serving brunch, a rarity for most new restaurants. On Saturday and Sunday, the normally seafood-centric menu gets a mid-day makeover with dishes like stuffed French toast, boneless short ribs with poached eggs, crab meat eggs Benedict, Gulf shrimp salad, and a BLT.

A restaurant specializing in brunch opened in the LGD in March, banking on the bustling neighborhood’s affinity for the mid-day meal. A wide-ranging menu offers local classics like eggs Sardou and shrimp and grits alongside trendy creations like a duck bacon tower, fried chicken and waffle cone, Monkey Bread skillet, and a smoked salmon croissant benedict called the “Smokin’ Paris Models.” Brunch is served daily at Crack’d from 8 a.m.

D.C.-based steakhouse Medium Rare recently opened a NOLA outpost on Magazine Street. For brunch, it’s serving a $31.95 inclusive menu with a choice of drink (bottomless Bloody Marys, screwdrivers, mimosas, coffee, soda, or orange juice); starters like fresh hot bread and a yogurt parfait, fruit salad, or green salad; and an entree. Medium Rare’s famous steak frites is the star of the brunch menu, but there are other choices like French toast and sausage, too.

After experimenting with special brunches for a few months, Uptown’s most exciting restaurant now serves both Saturday and Sunday brunch weekly. The menu will change frequently, as does the dinner menu, but will always include gluten-free options — expect mashup dishes like hot chicken Benedict served on a Hawaiian pineapple roll with onion gravy or a Thai shrimp cake with sunny eggs, mustard greens, red curry, and fish sauce vinaigrette. Don’t miss the enticing brunch cocktails, or $35 bottomless mimosas.