Are you a breakfast person? Or simply a Sunday brunch-er? Either way, we've rounded up the best breakfasts and brunches in Plano. These spots will fulfill every morning craving from waffles to eggs, from biscuits to tamales, from French toast to beignets.
Press Waffle Co., Legacy Hall at Legacy West, Plano
7800 Windrose Ave., Plano | presswaffleco.com
Best Breakfast Pick: House Waffle
Made from a dough that is proofed for 24 hours to develop flavor and texture, and then loaded up with caramelized clusters of Belgian pearl sugar, these waffles are the real deal. Though they can come loaded with fried chicken, lemon curd, bacon and cheddar, the classic, most beloved flavor is also the simplest: strawberries, nutella, cookie butter, and a tower of whipped cream. Every bite is transcendent.
Lima Taverna, Plano
621 W. Plano Pkwy. #247, Plano | limataverna.com
Best Breakfast Pick: Peruvian Tamale
Peruvian food is a lesson in culinary fusion, with hints of Asian influence due to mass immigration to Peru from Asia in the 19th century, African influences, European influences, and more. Lima Taverna shows it off. For brunch, you could play it safe with a Belgian waffle. But adventurous diners opt for something truly special. Unwrap their Peruvian Tamale to reveal cornmeal stuffed traditionally with chicken and salsa criolla. Every bite, gently spicy, whispers of dawn in the Andes.
Whiskey Cake, Plano
3601 Dallas Pkwy., Plano | whiskeycake.com
Best Breakfast Pick: Bacon Jalapeño Drop Biscuits
While the Bacon Jalapeño Drop Biscuits are technically listed as an appetizer, don’t believe it. The Whiskey Cake menu lies. These spicy little numbers are not only delightfully fluffy, but they are formidable and filling too. There’s nothing quite like a good, Southern biscuit, buttery on the bottoms with egg wash basted on top. The playful heat doesn’t come from the jalapeño, but from the spicy sausage gravy, and when cheddar and bacon are baked right into the dough, failure is not an option. Heart failure might still be on the table though.
Haywire at Legacy West, Plano
5901 Winthrop St. #110, Plano | haywirerestaurant.com
Best Breakfast Pick: Coffee Cake in a Can
At Haywire, breakfast comes in a tin coffee can, tipped over on its side to spill out onto a wooden platter. Their signature Coffee Cake in a Can is exactly what it sounds like: moist cake with deep veins of cinnamon, baked to a perfect pale gold. It’s already sliced, so it’s easy to claim your share, lather on the whipped cinnamon honey butter, and enjoy. It’s the kind of cake that fosters nostalgia for long days on the trail, eating breakfast under the sunrise—even if you’ve never done it before.
Bulla Gastrobar, Legacy West, Plano
6007 Legacy Dr. Ste. 180, Plano | bullagastrobar.com
Best Breakfast Pick: Huevos “Bulla”
One of the most delicious egg dishes comes from Bulla Gastrobar, home of Spanish tapas. Huevos ‘Bulla,’ tastes simpler than it actually is. Wafer-thin homemade potato chips and Spanish fried eggs, basted until they’re fluffy, are dressed up with truffle oil and serrano ham. Keep a look out for the delicate potato foam—not as weird as it sounds, really just creamy and curious. The touch of truffle is subtle, letting the serrano ham play leading man.
Meso Maya, Plano
4800 W. Park Blvd., Plano | mesomaya.com
Best Breakfast Pick: Croque Señor
Meso Maya Comida Y Copas provides brunch with extra flair, and morning margaritas alongside mimosas and bloody Marys. Out of all their options, there’s one dish that simply can’t be found anywhere else: the Croque Señor. A sandwich on Mexican pan dulce is lovingly layered with generous avocado, sliced ham, and chihuahua cheese. The sandwich is crowned with two matching sunny side up eggs. It all rests in a roasted tomato broth.
Whistle Britches, The Shops at Willow Bend, Plano
6110 Frankford Rd., Dallas | 2405 Dallas Pkwy. Ste. 4, Plano | whistlebritcheschicken.com
Best Breakfast Pick: Pumpkin Pie French Toast
Whistle Britches’ Pumpkin Pie French Toast is a big gamble. Not only does it feature pumpkin outside of the autumn months, it also calls for a scoop of pumpkin ice cream right on top of hot griddled vanilla custard brioche. You’d better eat this French toast fast. Your ice cream is already melting into the moat of hot salted caramel around it.
Lily’s Cafe, Plano
3100 Independence Pkwy., Plano | lilyscafetx.com
Best Breakfast Pick: Huevos con Salchichones
Lily’s Cafe serves breakfast all day, dealing in French toast, two-egg combos and burgers, sandwiches and Chef’s salads—your basic cafe food. But the real reason to go to Lily’s Cafe is the smaller Guatemalan menu that hides inside the American one. Guatemalan cuisine, sister to Spanish and Mayan cuisine, features lots of corn, chilies, beans, and characteristically thick tortillas. For a true, expansive Guatemalan breakfast, Huevos con Salchichones has all the fixins: eggs with grilled pork sausage, black beans with crumbly cheese, Guatemalan cream, fried plantains, and homemade corn tortillas to scoop it all up.
Knife, The Shops at Willow Bend, Plano
6121 W. Park Blvd., Plano | knifeplano.com
Best Breakfast Pick: Steak & Eggs
Celebrity chef, famous hothead, and self-crowned king of steak, John Tesar, is famous for his work with charred edges and marbled fat, so it’s no surprise that the best of Knife’s brunch is steak and eggs. Luscious buttermilk pancakes and eggs royal bedamned. Knife’s iteration of this breakfast classic is triumphant: two eggs any style, a generous heap of breakfast potatoes, and of course, a beautiful 44 Farms 10-ounce steak. With rich flavor and a tender nature, the meat is only seasoned with salt and pepper. It’s not about flash, but substance.
Toulouse Cafe & Bar at Legacy West, Plano
7301 Windrose Ave. c150, Plano | toulousecafeandbar.com
Best Breakfast Pick: Beignets De Paris
Lovely and light as clouds, Toulouse’s Beignets De Paris blur the lines between an egg-based French pastry and the classic yeast donut. One order is surprisingly generous, dusted all over with powdered sugar, intended to be shared and accompanied by a French press for the table. The cappuccino sauce is sweet, made to be effortlessly poured over each little pillow like a still-warm icing. It’s the most luxurious reason to rise early on Saturday morning. After, might come mussels in white wine, eggs Florentine, or gulf oysters. But the beignets are the flavor you’ll remember.
If you are ever going to eat steak and eggs, let it be here, seated at the table of the king of steak.
Eddie’s Diner, Plano
4709 W. Parker Rd. #425, Plano
Best Breakfast Pick: B.A.T. Benedict
Classic diner vibes? Check. Central location, perfect for sleeping eating on a Saturday morning? Check. Benedict with crumbled bacon, avocado smash, tomato, and just a dash of cream cheese under your poached egg? Check, check, and check. Sometimes, the best breakfast isn’t the one that is flashy or fancy, or even particularly healthy. Sometimes, it’s about hashed browns, diner coffee, and egg yolk pooling on your plate.
Sixty Vines, Plano
3701 Dallas Pkwy., Plano | sixtyvines.com
Best Breakfast Pick: Ricotta Chiffon French Toast
Paired with a dessert wine, Ricotta Chiffon French Toast blurs the line between breakfast and dessert. Three fluffy slices of lemon ricotta cake, gently toasted, form the base for a generous pool of blueberry syrup, lemon curd, and mascarpone, all velvety soft. Dishes like this utterly elegant French toast are the reason brunch was invented in the first place.
CRÚ Food and Wine Bar, The Shops at Legacy, Plano
7201 Bishop Rd., Plano | cruwinebar.com
Best Breakfast Pick: Crab Cake Benedict
Whenever you go to Crú Food and Wine Bar, you’re sure to see at least one couple on a first date, a group of ladies sharing a bottle of Chardonnay, and a few married couples gathered with their business partners to toast exciting new ventures. It has always felt like a special occasion experience. Thus, their iteration of eggs Benedict must be glamorous. A humble English muffin—topped with baby spinach, poached eggs and a housemade herb hollandaise—is par for the course. Until, of course, you consider the crab cake.
Bread Winners Café and Bakery, Lakeside Market, Plano
4021 Preston Rd., Plano | breadwinnerscafe.com
Best Breakfast Pick: Normandy French Toast
What is brunch, without Bread Winners? A favorite for breakfast and lunch, Bread Winners has their brunch game down pat. For example, Normandy French Toast. With thick slices of sourdough bread, stuffed with cream cheese and bright raspberry jam, the Normandy French Toast is one of the most beloved in the metroplex. Topped with fresh berries and whipped cream, it’s easy to see why Bread Winners Café is an institution for local brunchers.
The Biscuit Bar, The Boardwalk at Granite Park, Plano
5880 TX-121 #102b, Plano | thebiscuit.bar
Best Breakfast Pick: Fancy Chicken Biscuit
The Biscuit Bar hit the Dallas dining scene like a big, flaky meteor in 2017, and since they specialize in biscuit sandwiches and tots, it became an instant hit. Sure, there’s a country fried steak biscuit, a hot chocolate biscuit, and a pulled pork biscuit. But our favorite is still the most classic, the ever-pleasant and effervescent Fancy Chicken Biscuit: Southern fried chicken, dill pickles, and housemade fancy sauce. Simple, yet divine.
Prim and Proper, Neighborhood Goods at Legacy West, Plano
7300 Windrose Ave. Ste. A130, Plano | primandproper.co
Best Breakfast Pick: Millennial Toast
Located inside Neighborhood Goods, Prim and Proper takes the concept of mashed avocado on bread, and elevates it to the status that it has always longed for. Here, avocado has been peppered up, dressed up and shown off with black pepper aioli and lemon zest. It’s a good-natured base upon which to build the nuttiness of ricotta salata and crushed pistachios. It’s ideal for both a lazy Sunday breakfast and a treat yourself day.
Alex Cronin contributed to this list.
