The Best Breakfast Restaurants in Sacramento

The Delta King, permanently moored on the Sacramento River, is an icon of Old Town, a restored paddle-wheeler that made daily voyages between Sacramento and San Francisco starting in 1927. Today, the nostalgic vessel, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is a 44-room hotel and home of the Pilothouse Restaurant, open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Breakfast is available daily from 7 to 10 a.m., and on Sundays is followed by brunch. The menu leans toward classic breakfast items both sweet and savory, such as omelets, French toast, pancakes (including a gluten-free version), and a continental breakfast with freshly baked muffins, seasonal fruit, preserves, honey, and yogurt. It also features three Benedicts — classic, smoked salmon, and crab cake.

Capitol Garage started in 1992 as a venue for live punk music, soon adding coffee and snacks, and becoming so popular it had to move to a bigger venue in 2004. In its current space, decorated with photos and memorabilia from its early days, Capitol Garage presents a full menu, including breakfast Mondays through Fridays. Options range from smaller bites like muffin sandwiches and guac and toast with optional egg, bacon, mushroom, and cheese add-ons, to full plates of French toast, pancakes, and omelet combos. Ample vegetarian and vegan options feature on the breakfast menu, among them mushroom wraps, a tofu burrito, and a vegan verde burrito with black beans, veggies, and fried tofu. Capitol Garage is dog-friendly and even has a dog treats menu.

Wine & Roses consists of a hotel, spa, and restaurant on a century-old farm property in the Lodi wine country. All the dishes featured for its daily brunches (served from 7:30 a.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. on weekends) showcase the freshest seasonal ingredients from local farms, and the flavors of both classic American and authentic Mexican cuisines. Options might include a produce-packed farmers market omelette with vegetables and artisan cheese, a souffle pancake with lemon curd, and a savory tamale pancake with avocado salad, chicken mole, guajillo crema, house-made queso fresco, and tortilla strips. On the lighter side, consider the house-made granola with fresh fruit and organic yogurt.

A Sacramento dining landmark since 1976, Scott's Seafood on the River entices locals and visitors alike with its riverfront patio dining and lush green lawns, as well as its modern art-filled dining room. The restaurant's specialty is sustainable seafood prepared simply but with great care, which extends into the daily breakfast menu with items like crab cakes Benedict and a Dungeness crab and avocado omelet. Other breakfast options to suit bigger appetites include grilled New York steak and eggs, huevos rancheros, and a croissant breakfast sandwich. Lighter items include house-roasted granola, seasonal berries, fruit plates, and parfaits.

Echo & Rig represents a steakhouse reinvented, with a neighborhood butcher shop on site and a focus on impeccable quality in every ingredient. Breakfast, served from 7 a.m on weekdays, and weekend brunches from 9 a.m., lean mostly away from steaks and toward seasonal, local produce, although both menus do feature steak frites with eggs. The farmers market breakfast is exemplary, featuring pee wee potatoes, golden beets, heirloom carrots, shiitakes, tomatoes, and asparagus plus poached eggs and goat cheese. Fresh, seasonal juices accompany the food menu along with a comprehensive list of coffee options sourced from Sacramento's Old Soul Coffee Roasters.

The upscale Vines Bistro, inside the Hyatt Regency hotel downtown, boasts views of the Capitol and surrounding park from its palm-shaded patio dining space. Breakfast is available daily and early, from 6 a.m. (6:30 on Sundays). The menu includes a "clean living" section with super food-packed smoothies, a power porridge with steel-cut oats, coconut milk, medjool dates, and pecans, and a breakfast bowl with quinoa and kale, roasted green chili, grilled halloumi, and poached egg. Green juices and turmeric-infused fresh-pressed fruit juices also appeal to wellness-minded diners. On the opposite end of the breakfast spectrum are sweet classics such as the vanilla malted waffle, buttermilk pancakes, and maple-bourbon French toast. A range of savory egg-based classics feature as well.

Inside the Sacramento Marriott Rancho Cordova is Formaggio Taverna and Patio, an Italian restaurant with an airy dining room and poolside patio seating. It serves breakfast daily from 6:30 a.m., with a comprehensive menu of all-American classic breakfast fare. A few Italian-influenced items feature for breakfast, including an Italian frittata with peperonata, ricotta, mushrooms, peppers, and onions, and a grilled flat bread sandwich with crispy prosciutto, red pepper tapenade, and herbed goat cheese plus two eggs over easy. The restaurant also presents some great vegetarian options, among them a roasted cauliflower omelet with Boursin cheese and shaved radish plus hollandaise, and the healthy breakfast with egg whites, soyrizo, Inca grains, spinach, and seasonal vegetables dressed with lemon and olive oil.

One of the best breakfasts in Sacramento for diners seeking impeccable farm-to-table fare is at The Gate, inside the Murieta Inn and Spa. The restaurant, which serves breakfast daily and brunch on weekends, sources many of its ingredients from the inn's own 5-acre farm and greenhouse. Breakfast items best showcasing such fresh, seasonal produce include a a vegetable frittata with herbed goat cheese and a parfait of house-made granola and Greek yogurt with fresh berries and local honey. Other highlights include the beet-cured lox and bagel sandwich and the goat cheese toast on grilled country wheat bread with arugula, shallots, and pickled green tomatoes. For those with a sweet tooth, there's a Belgian waffle with whipped butter and pure maple syrup, plus optional chopped bacon or blueberries.

The chic Midtown bistro Paragary's, open since 1983, presents a weekend brunch from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Its leafy outdoor terrace is an ideal spot for a sunny weekend morning meal. Highlights among many sweet breakfast items featured on the brunch menu include a warm cinnamon roll with maple glaze, lemon-ricotta pancakes with blueberry compote, and French toast with apple-walnut compote and vanilla cream cheese. Those who prefer a savory breakfast might consider the smoked salmon and avocado Benedict on a buttermilk biscuit, the breakfast burrito, avocado toast, or huevos rancheros, among other options.

On Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., the Porch Restaurant and Bar showcases its southern-meets-California cuisine as a lavish brunch. The menu changes frequently, but always includes numerous vegan and vegetarian options. Some take inspiration from New Orleans, such as the beignets with house-made jam and fresh fruit; others from the low country, such as shrimp and grits. Other tempting Southern comfort fare includes Tuscaloosa-style fried green tomatoes, a vegan Frito pie with spicy soyrizo chili, and the pig and fig, a spin on eggs Benedict with crisp-fried pork belly, fig BBQ sauce, pickled asparagus, and jalapeno hollandaise. Diners might also make a meal out of shareable sides, which include classic breakfast items like biscuits, pancakes, bacon, and sausage along with creamy gouda grits, candied yams, and Cajun-fried beets.

Rio City Café, a riverfront dining landmark of Sacramento for over 25 years, presents its weekend brunch from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sacramento Magazine's best river dining/best view winner offers patio dining with views of the historic Tower Bridge, and an indoor dining space designed to resemble a turn-of-the-century steamship warehouse. Rio City Café specializes in farm-to-fork California cuisine with global influences, which for breakfast translates to options like the chorizo breakfast burrito, cheddar biscuits and gravy, prime rib chilaquiles, country-fried steak, traditional eggs Benedict, and crab cake Benedict. The brunch menu offers both plain and chocolate chip pancakes, as well as bottomless mimosas.

Market Tavern, a from-scratch restaurant and bakery plus grab-and-go-market in Stockton, presents brunch from 10 a.m. every weekend. The menu includes dishes baked in a wood oven, including a shareable dish of baked organic eggs with house-made lamb sausage, chickpeas, roasted peppers, and feta, and a breakfast pizza with chorizo and eggs. Bakery-fresh items include breakfast doughnuts with seasonal preserves, a sweet potato biscuit with maple butter, and griddled corn bread with Calabrian chili-honey butter. The pancake offerings include sweet options (classic buttermilk and lemon-ricotta) and a savory bacon and cheddar sourdough pancake with sunny-side-up eggs. Six signature bloody marys with meal-like garnishes are another brunch menu highlight.

A trendy yet authentic Mexican cocina, Zocalo is popular enough to have expanded to three locations in the Sacramento area, including one at University Village. It presents a weekend brunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., complete with Mexican-inspired brunch cocktails and an exclusive coffee blend roasted by Old Soul Co. in Sacramento. Egg-based dishes with bold Mexican flavors dominate the brunch menu, among them huevos con chorizo, carnitas, or grilled hanger steak, an authentic chilaquiles, and huevos rancheros in vegetarian and slow-cooked beef versions. On the sweet side, consider French toast infused with Amaretto and topped with whipped cream, berries, candied almonds, and maple syrup.