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Where To Get A Good Breakfast

By Linda Perney | Staff Writer

4:01 PM EST, October 30, 2003

At Balthazar for breakfast.

Forget the leftover pizza, here are 10 places to chow down on a hearty breakfast.

MANHATTAN

Time Cafe. This is a cheery spot to start the day -- a big, airy room with large windows open to the street. The menu isn't huge, but there's plenty to satisfy a morning appetite: home-made granola, breakfast burritos, eggs just about any style, fruit, and bagels. (8 a.m.-11:30 weekdays; 10 a.m.-4 p.m. brunch on weekends; 380 Lafayette Street; 212-533-7000)

Brasserie. Alas, this Midtown standby doesn't stay open 24 hours anymore. But it does open bright and early for breakfast and draws a busy-looking crowd of office types, many of whom are getting the jump on meetings over their scrambled eggs. For breakfast, there are the usual eggy dishes plus French toast, oatmeal (and a choice of other cereals) and fruit. (7 a.m. weekdays; weekends, 11 a.m.; 100 East 53rd Street; 212-751-4840)

Sarabeth. This Uptown favorite has made a reputation on its hearty breakfasts. Weekends, you'll find the place (and its sister establishment across town) overflowing with families; weekdays the pace is a touch more sedate, with locals chowing down while they pore over the paper before setting out for work. Specialties here include porridge, eggs benedict, French toast, and the justly famous muffins. (8 a.m. every day; 423 Amsterdam Avenue; 212-496-6280 or 1295 Madison Avenue; 212-410-7355)

City Bakery. The real metier here is sandwiches , soups, and salads, which marks it as more of a lunch place. But there are plenty of people who swear by their breakfasts: egg dishes (particularly the salami and eggs or the bakery's version of a certain fast-food staple -- scrambled eggs on a muffin with cheese). Pastries are among the city's best (another don't miss: the pretzel croissant). French toast lovers buy it by the slice. And don't forget the hot chocolate with its home-made marshmallows. (7:30 a.m. every day except Sundays, when they open at 9. 3 West 18th Street; 212-366-1414)

Balthazar.The morning shift starts at 7:30, when neighborhood people start stopping by for coffee and a look at the papers. The menu is the classic one, with eggs done all kinds of ways, including folded into an herby omelette or en cocotte (baked with cream). Other choices: crunchy granola, a caramelized onion quiche, oatmeal (with bananas or raisins) or French toast. There are pastries from the bakery next door -- apple galette, fruit focaccia, sticky buns -- that alone are worth the trip. Forget the diet and order a basket of them. (7:30 a.m. weekdays; 10 a.m. weekend brunch; 80 Spring Street; 212-965-1414)

Barney Greengrass. The Sturgeon King isn't going to win any prizes for decor -- the dining room looks as it has for generations (the place has been around for close to a century). But the Nova is very fine served up with scrambled eggs and a bagel (a real bagel--not one of those puffy things out of the frozen food case). If you're adventurous, you could order the pastrami lox; non fish eaters (shudder) are welcome to the chopped liver, pastrami, or blintzes, to name just a few offerings. (Tue-Sun, 8:30 a.m.; closed Mon.; 541 Amsterdam Avenue; 212-724-4707)

BROOKLYN

Junior's. You already know about the cheesecake, but did you know about the corned-beef hash? Other breakfast dishes include eggs any way you want them, French toast, pancakes and country sausage and blintzes. Then, there are those who stick to what they know -- the cheesecake. Mom would never approve, but think about it: eggs, cream, cheese, and if you pick the cherry-topped variety, you've got your fruit, too. (6:30 a.m., seven days; 386 Flatbush Avenue; 718-852-5257)

Boerum Hill Food Company. This small place on Smith Street picks up where the neighborhood left off the night before with omelettes, pancakes, home-made granola as well as muffins and bagels. (8:30 a.m.; 134 Smith Street; 718-222-0140)

QUEENS

Georgia Diner. Everyone has a favorite diner, and this is one whose name comes up often in discussions of the city's best (look for the big peach on the sign). Breakfast, of course, is a diner specialty, and the Georgia doesn't disappoint, with just about any combination of eggs, potatoes, sausage, bacon, and toast you can come up with. Pancakes, French toast and waffles, too. (24 hours; 86-55 Queens Boulevard, Elmhurst; 651-9000)

BRONX

The Irish Bakery. At this simple bakery/restaurant, you can order up the kind of hearty breakfast the sons (and daughters) of Erin are used to at home: a fortifying meal of sausage, bacon, black and white puddings, broiled tomato, eggs any style, home fries, and if you can manage it, toast on top of all that. Better still, you don't have to be an early riser to order it; they serve breakfast all day long. (5 a.m. weekdays; 4268 Katonah Avenue; 718-994-0846)