Where to Eat Brunch Outdoors Around Town
Everyone loves brunch. Just in time for Mother's Day! (Updated 4/30)
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Lunch is, maybe, the second most important? So it stands to reason that brunch must be pretty crucial. Luckily there are a lot of great options to get brunch around Cambridge and Somerville, including many where you can eat outside (handy during a pandemic). Unfortunately, many places that did brunch in the before-times have since dropped it, so this list is up to date for May 2021. This list is not exhaustive but it’s our take on the best and tastiest options in each neighborhood.
Ball Square
The Avenue is a fairly new addition to the Ball Square area. While they are mostly known for Detroit-style pizza, they also have a full brunch menu with benedicts and brunch grain bowls in addition to the pizza. They have a cozy back patio with heat lamps.
Sound Bites is a brunch institution, along with Ball Square Cafe next door, which together have made Ball Square the Somerville brunch destination for years. Ball Square Cafe does not seem to have any outdoor seating, but Sound Bites has a back patio where you can enjoy their long menu of breakfast foods.
Central Square
The Dial is a new restaurant in the 907 Main hotel that opened up over the winter. The menu is inspired by dishes from all over the globe, including shakshuka (middle eastern), chilaquiles (Mexican), brunch carbonara (Italian), and kimchi fried rice (Korean). They have a cozy patio in a courtyard behind the restaurant.
Viale is open Saturdays and Sundays, with tables set up in a protected street enclosure. It’s an Italian restaurant, so there are pizzas and pastas in addition to traditional breakfast food.
Davis Square
The Burren has a large streetside patio in front and even more outdoor seating in their back lot. The small brunch menu includes standards like pancakes and omelettes, as well as a full Irish breakfast. And starting May 1st, there will be live music at Saturday and Sunday brunch.
Five Horses Tavern has some tables set up out on the sidewalk. They have a large brunch menu ranging from chicken and waffles to a breakfast chimichanga to a fried chicken sandwich made with french toast, in addition to pizzas and more traditional breakfast items.
Foundry on Elm has a selection of traditional brunch eats like biscuits and benedicts that can be paired with shrimp cocktail or oysters. Their seating area is on a closed-off portion of Elm St.
The Painted Burro has a selection of Mexican brunch items like huevos rancheros and chilaquiles, and they even offer a $21 all-you-can-eat brunch option. They have just built a large outdoor dining structure on the Elm St curb with partial protection from the elements and dividers between parties.
Rosebud is basically a fancy diner, and so like any good diner, they offer brunch every single day til 3pm. They offer traditional diner-y favorites like eggs benedicts, omelettes, and hash, as well as chicken and waffles and lobster mac & cheese. Their outdoor seating is in a side patio area and is partly protected by a roof.
East Cambridge/Lechmere
Lone Star Taco Bar has taken over a lot of the sidewalk and Cambridge St with tables, which were up all winter long. Choose from breakfast tacos, breakfast burros, chilaquiles, jalapeno corn cakes, and more. Note that this is pretty far west towards Inman Square.
Loyal Nine has a massive back patio area with tons of seats. The menu is inspired by traditional New England cuisine and so brunch can include not just oatmeal and eggs but also fiddleheads, a fried oyster sandwich, toad in the hole, or spaetzle. Note that this is pretty far west towards Inman Square.
Harvard Square
Russell House Tavern has a really cute patio area built on the side of their restaurant. The brunch menu has some elevated takes on classic dishes, like avocado toast with smoked salmon, nutella-stuffed French toast, duck bratwurst, and a breakfast sandwich with avocado ketchup. There are plenty of other breakfast and lunch options as well, including pizza, a lobster roll, and crab cakes.
Inman Square
*If you’re on the eastern side of Inman Sq, see above for East Cambridge.
Trina’s has always been an industry favorite, and as a nod to that their brunch is offered not just on the weekends but also on Monday nights, so it can be accessible even to those working weekend shifts. Their festive patio is located in a lot behind the restaurant.
Kendall Square
Cambridge Brewing Co has a massive patio in the One Kendall Square plaza, complete with heat lamps and some covered areas for hot or rainy days. They have a large brunch menu, ranging from avocado toast to a chicken and waffle sandwich, and of course plenty of breakfast beers to choose from (no judgment).
Shy Bird is a fairly new all-day cafe on the river side of Kendall Square. Rotisserie chicken is their specialty, and that is still available at brunch, along with breakfast sandwiches, avocado toast, benedicts, french toast sticks, and huevos rancheros. Their patio area is in a little sidewalk alcove near the building entrance, and it is heated.
Vincent’s is the new name for Cafe du Pays, and while there is still some French-Canadian influence, the brunch menu is mostly inspired by the food of Texas. You’ll find a selection of breakfast tacos and savory kolaches (a Czech filled pastry popular in Texas). Vincent’s has a few tables out on the sidewalk and in the street outside the restaurant.
Union Square
The Neighborhood Restaurant is another longtime brunch institution, known for their unfussy breakfast food served with free cream of wheat. They have a handful of tables out in their front patio area in the middle of Union Square.