The port city of Wilmington packs a punch when it comes to great spots for breakfast and brunch. Whether you are looking for a light bite before the workday begins or a long, lazy Sunday brunch with friends, here are some of Wilmington’s top spots for breakfast.
Blue Surf Cafe
The Blue Surf Cafe is a bright, rustic café with a laidback vibe that offers a creative menu of Californian-inspired fare for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The friendly, inviting bistro has nautical and ocean-inspired decor and a light and airy atmosphere and serves a variety of favorites for breakfast such as buttermilk waffles with bacon and maple syrup, huevos rancheros served Castro-style with pulled pork, and classic bacon, egg, and cheddar cheese breakfast sandwiches. Drinks include freshly brewed coffee and tea, along with infused lemonade in the summer and mouthwatering hot chocolate in the colder months. The Blue Surf Café is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, seven days a week.
250 Racine Dr, Wilmington, NC 28428, Phone: 910-523-5362
Boathouse Restaurant, Wilmington
The Boathouse Restaurant is a bustling eatery on Oleander Drive with a comprehensive menu of American cuisine and classic Calabash fare. Open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, the family-friendly restaurant is a great place for a full breakfast of fluffy omelets with various fillings, stacks of pancakes with sweet or savory toppings, biscuits and gravy, breakfast sandwiches, and a wide variety of seafood-based dishes. The restaurant offers daily specials every day of the week as well as lunch specials and an exclusive menu for children.
6328 Oleander Dr, Wilmington, NC 28403, Phone: 910-679-4224
Cast Iron Kitchen, Wilmington
If you are in the mood for North Carolina-based Southern cuisine, Cast Iron Kitchen on Market Street is the place to go. The hip eatery offers a seasonal and local product-driven menu with ingredients sourced from regional farmers and producers that are carefully prepared and made into delicious and wholesome dishes. Cast Iron Kitchen is open for breakfast, lunch, and Sunday brunch, and also offers special picnic packages for those heading out for a day on the beach or a boat. Sunday brunches and lunches are accompanied by a selection of handcrafted cocktails, artisan beers, and other libations.
8024 Market St Unit 6, Wilmington, NC 28411, Phone: 910-821-8461
Atlanta Bread Company Bakery Cafe
Located in the Mayfaire Town Center, the Atlanta Bread Company Bakery Cafe is a charming neighborhood bakery and café that produces freshly baked bread, bagels and rolls, pastries, cakes, and biscuits. The restaurant also serves a variety of freshly prepared and made-to-order sandwiches and salads, a selection of hearty, homemade soups, hot breakfast sandwiches, and signature desserts. The counter-serve chain also offers catering service for private events and functions and hosts special events throughout the year, such as live music on Thursdays and Free Coffee Fridays.
6886 Main St, Wilmington, NC 28405, Phone: 910-509-2844
Jester's Cafe, Wilmington
Jester's Cafe is a charming little eatery on Castle Street that offers a welcome respite when the central downtown is swimming with tourists. The cozy spot provides delicious breakfasts and lunches, with the kitchen producing mouthwatering quiches, freshly baked bagels and lox, hearty French toast casseroles with berries and maple syrup, and breakfast strata layered with eggs, sausages, cheese, and hash browns. The menu boasts seven different kinds of breakfast sandwiches, ranging from the basic egg and cheese to avocado and provolone on a toasted bagel, and a delicious vegetarian black bean Benedict with baked eggs, fresh cilantro, and homemade black bean patties. Diners can sit outdoors on the delightful porch, savor the sumptuous fare, sip their coffee, and watch the world go by.
607 Castle St., Wilmington, NC 28401, Phone: 910-763-6555
Jimbo's Breakfast & Lunch
Jimbo's Breakfast & Lunch is a classic greasy spoon diner packed with nostalgia that takes diners back in time to a bygone era. Opened in 1977, the family-owned and operated diner has served made-from-scratch, home-style meals to both locals and visitors for more than 40 years, and still does the same. The unfussy restaurant is a well-oiled machine with quick, friendly service and huge portions – tuck into steaming plates of eggs done any way with piles of bacon, sausage, hash browns, and grits, Greek omelets with delicious fillings, stacks of pancakes with sweet or savory toppings, and mouthwatering French toast with maple syrup. Coffee is served in heavy ceramic vintage cups on saucers, and always leave room for the homemade pie and cake – even at breakfast time. You won’t regret it.
1529 S College Rd, Wilmington, NC 28403, Phone: 910-799-2211
Our Crepes & More
Our Crepes & More is a French-inspired creperie that serves authentic and delicious crepes with a variety of fillings. Owned and operated by Jacqueline Rey and her family, this unfussy Parisian-style café offers a variety of sweet and savory crepes, such as the signature New Orleans crepe with cinnamon apple pie filling, glazed walnuts, and caramel sauce smothered in vanilla ice cream. The Morning Crepe is filled with bacon, eggs, sausage, cheese, and remoulade, while sweet crepe fillings range from honey and Nutella to sugar and fresh strawberries. The café also offers freshly baked, flaky croissants with a selection of fillings like bacon or sausage with cheese, brie and strawberries, and chocolate and raspberries. Our Crepes & More is open for breakfast and lunch, Tuesday through Sunday.
3810 Oleander Dr., Wilmington, NC 28401, Phone: 910-395-0077
Sawmill Restaurant
Located in the Village at Myrtle Grove, Sawmill Restaurant is an unpretentious dining establishment that serves homestyle American cuisine for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. This Southern-style comfort food eatery is uncomplicated and inviting and offers a menu to match with favorites such as egg sandwiches, omelets, and waffles and signature plates like the Lumberjack Special, which is a bit of everything from eggs, grits, potatoes, and sausage to bacon or cured ham, pancakes, waffles, and biscuits and gravy. Lovers of legit, old-school country cooking can tuck into liver pudding, red-eye gravy, and cinnamon apples.
Sawmill Restaurant, 5611 Carolina Beach Rd, Wilmington, NC 28412, Phone: 910-350-6909
Spoonfed Kitchen & Bake Shop
Spoonfed Kitchen & Bake Shop is a friendly café and catering company that serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner in a comfortable, welcoming environment. Owned by Kim and Matt Lennert, who founded the catering company Moveable Feast, Spoonfed offers hearty and healthy breakfast dishes such as breakfast grains, burritos, sandwiches and tartines, freshly baked pastries, and build-your-own-breakfast plates of eggs, bacon, biscuits and gravy, and dark leafy greens. Spoonfed Kitchen & Bake Shop also offers catering services for special events and functions.
1930 Eastwood Rd #105, Wilmington, NC 28403, Phone: 910-679-8881
Sweet & Savory Cafe
Sweet & Savory Cafe is a lively restaurant close to Wrightsville Beach that serves a menu of wholesome made-from-scratch dishes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Signature breakfast plates include the Flanagan’s Surprise, with scrambled eggs, sausage, sautéed onions, and Swiss cheese on toasted three-cheese semolina bread, and the Skinny Morning, with scrambled egg whites, turkey sausage, avocado, and spinach on multi-grain toast. Other dishes range from Benedicts, traditional egg breakfasts, and omelets to freshly baked pastries and treats from the bakery, such as apple tarts, croissants, cobblers, and cookies.
1611 Pavilion Place, Wilmington, NC 28403, Phone: 910-256-0115
The Basics
This off-the-beaten-path restaurant on downtown’s north end blends a little gourmet and a little Southern with a little rock and roll to create a neighborhood gem. Located in the Cotton Exchange, once one of the largest and busiest cotton export companies in the world, The Basics is a favorite breakfast and brunch spot that serves classic dishes like crab cakes Benedict, blueberry oatmeal pancakes with maple syrup and walnut butter, fried chicken biscuits with homemade mayonnaise, and shrimp and grits with green tomato bacon gravy. The cozy restaurant features exposed brick walls covered with rock and roll posters, two dining rooms, and a full bar with an extensive variety of creative cocktails.
319 N. Front St., Wilmington, NC 28401, Phone: 910-343-1050
Fork 'N' Cork
Formerly known as the Patty Wagon food truck, the Fork 'N' Cork is an epic culinary dive in downtown Wilmington that takes brunch to new heights. Renowned for their heart-stopping burgers, the pub-style restaurant also serves other delectable dishes such as the Brisket Biscuit – a mountain of tender, 14-hour smoked meat served with two runny eggs and homemade Creole mustard cream sauce. House masterpieces include the deep-fried Scotch egg served with stout mustard and the Hot Mess Burger of piles of grilled onions, blue cheese, and jalapenos on top of a beef burger patty and served with fries. Don’t miss the Rattlesnake Bites, which are roasted jalapenos stuffed with shrimp, bacon, cheddar, and cream cheese, deep-fried and served with habanero jelly.
122 Market Street, Wilmington, NC 28401, Phone: 910-228-5247
The Harp
The Harp is an authentic Irish pub on 3rd Street that offers a traditional Irish experience with hearty fare served in a casual yet elegant conventional pub atmosphere, with a fully stocked bar featuring your favorite Irish beer and spirits. Offering breakfast, lunch, and dinner, the pub serves a morning menu that boasts a variety of tavern-style food prepared using the freshest locally sourced ingredients. Menu favorites include the Full Irish Breakfast, which features free-range farmhouse eggs any style, bacon, imported Irish sausage, black and white pudding, grilled tomato, and Irish brown bread, the Ploughman’s Platter, with pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, and grits, as well as shrimp and grits and eggs with liver and onions.
1423 S 3rd St, Wilmington, NC 28401, Phone: 910-763-1607
