Guide to Breakfast in Kingston 2010
You asked for it, you got it. After the great response from our Summer Guide to Patios, I decided to create a guide for where to get breakfast and brunch in our fine city. I’ll begin by saying that I learned a lot putting together this post and I can tell you now that I’m sure I’ve missed some places. I made my way around downtown where I live and even in my own neighbourhood I found some new places to have breakfast. I went into the township but not beyond Days Road, so this is your chance to fill in the blanks. I like to think I hit all the major spots but I’m sure, as I discovered on my own street, that there are many great nooks and crannies to grab breakfast in Kingston. Tell us where you love to have breakfast, on or off the beaten path.
Hotels:
WJ’s – Confederation Place Hotel (237 Ontario St.): All Day breakfast starting at 7am.
Dox – The Holiday Inn (2 Princess St.): Sunday Brunch.
Aqua Terra – The Radisson (1 Johnson St.): Breakfast served daily from 6am to 11am.
King Street Sizzle – The Four Points Sheraton (285 King St. E): Breakfast served daily.
Bistro Stefan – Best Western Fireside Inn (1217 Princess St.): Breakfast served daily.
JM’s – The Ambassador (1550 Princess St.): Breakfast served daily, weekend brunch buffet.
The Cavalier Room – Travelodge (2360 Princess St.): Breakfast served daily.
Bars:
On LaRocks (35 Rideau St.): Breakfast – cheap and served daily.
The Toucan (76 Princess St.): Saturday 11-2 for $3.45 and Sunday 11-3 for $2.99.
The Kingston Brewing Company (34 Clarence St.): Breakfast on Sundays.
Ben’s Pub (105 Clergy St.): The menu says breakfast but they were closed when I was there at 10:30am.
The Brass (403 Princess St.): Weekday breakfast from 11am-3pm and weekend brunch from 10am-3pm.
Greasy Spoons:
Peter’s Place (34 Princess St.): All day breakfast – fast, cheap and delicious.
Morrison’s (318 King St. E.): A Kingston institution but I’m not entirely sure why. Breaky all day.
Right Spot (171 Wellington St.): Standard Mom and Pop operation. Breakfast is served all day.
Olympia Billiards (63 Charles St.): Never been in – this one was a surprise to me, I’ll have to check it out.
Dick’s Retreat (66 Concession St.): All day breakfast, quick and cheap.
Star Diner (849 Princess St.): A Kingston favourite. Standard diner fare.
Jiffy Grill (97 Bath Road – Kingston Centre): Breakfast available all day. Fast service, generous portions.
Carmelinda’s (2799 Princess St.): Standard family restaurant likely to serve breakfast all day.
Other restaurants:
Pan Chancho (44 Princess St.): All Day brunch on the weekends, breakfast during the week with a different menu.
Chez Piggy (68 Princess St.): Weekend brunch. Great if you want to try something a little different.
Chien Noir (69 Brock St.): 11:30-2:30 brunch on the weekends.
The Sleepless Goat (91 Princess St.): Weekdays 7:30am-11am and weekends 8am-1pm.
Cafe Le Matin (137 Princess St.): Served all day, fast and cheap!
Limestone Garden Grill (175 Bagot St.): Breakfast served in the morning. All day on Sundays.
Serves You Right (164 Princess St.): All day, every day.
Windmills (184 Princess St.): Breakfast 7:30am-11:30am daily and brunch on weekends and holidays.
Megalos (226 Princess St.): Weekend brunch. I recommend the Avocado and Eggs.
Wolf Island Bakery (311 Queen St.): All day breakfast.
Grizzly Grill (395 Princess St.): Brunch on the weekends from 10am to 2pm.
Aunt Lucy’s (1399 Princess St.): Sunday brunch buffet starting at 10am.
Smitty’s (2376 Princess St.): A personal fave. Famous for their pancakes and skillets.
Cora’s (841 Norwest Rd.): French Canadian, lots of crepes, cheese and fruit. Rich and filling.
Ramekins (1540 Bath Rd.): Friday, Saturday and Sunday breakfast.
So, the obvious question, what were your favorites – say top 1 or 2 out of each category?
I haven't been to them all, but my favorite spots are well represented in the guide. In the hotel category, the Cavalier Room is a pretty solid choice. Huge portions, great service and always a busy spot on the weekends. Haven't been to any of the other hotels listed, and to be honest the only one I'd consider trying is Aqua Terra, as I've heard great things about their brunch buffet.
For the bars, I definitely haven't tried any of those listed. When it comes time to choose where to go on Saturday or Sunday morning, there's just something strange about selecting a bar. Especially if you spent the night before at one. Kind of an undesirable habit I don't need to get into.
As for the greasy spoons, I've lots of experience with those listed. Kingstonist has reviewed a bunch of these spots including Morrison's and Peter's Place and The Jiffy Grill. The latter two are easily my faves, with just the right amount of grease.
As for the others, I think that I've been to all of these places for brunch. While I've got fond memories of Smitty's, the Goat and Aunt Lucy's, if I had to crown two of the best, Pan Chancho and Megalos are great selections.
You missed Lotus Heart Blossom, who serve a wonderful vegetarian brunch (albeit with a somewhat limited menu). Still, highly recommended even to non-vegetarians.
Ah! Lotus Heart! That wouldn't even have occurred to me. I'll definitely have to check it out.
I think Harvey pretty much summed up my feelings regarding my faves (we brunch together a lot). But I have to say, after writing this post, I'm very intrigued to try out some new places – specifically the hotels. I read a lot of menus while researching this and they were by far the most appealing.
A hugely comprehensive list, thanks! I am certainly going to check out some of these places I’ve never heard of. Personally, for straight-up breakfast food, I've really enjoyed the Toucan (a seriously wicked deal) and Cafe Le Matin (their big breakfast for $6.49 is quite good). I'd go to any of these places before I drove all the way to Cora's. I'll be honest. I know I am in the minority but I find Cora's below average. I had their cream cheese stuffed blueberry crepe and the crepe was gummy and there was probably a good 1/4 cup of an unmelted cream cheese block sitting in the middle. I’ve given it maybe 3-4 chances but I don’t think I’ll be heading back. People do seem to love it though as the line-ups on Sunday mornings are pretty insane.
I wound up at Chien Noir when I was entertaining out of town guests and Aqua Terra was booked up. I was thoroughly impressed. Great ambience, it isn't too busy, great service especially for large parties (we were 8). My personal nod goes to the Black Dog Hash (Root vegetable and beef brisket hash, two fried eggs, veal jus) for $15.
Good list. You are right about the Cavelier Room. Can't go wrong there.
You could also add Coffey's (143 Princess) and the 611 Truck Stop (for those trapped in the West End) to the Greasy Spoon listing…
Coffey's is now called Cafe Le Matin. I believe it's the same owners but I'm not sure. Anyone?
Yea, Coffey's is now called Cafe Le Matin. Not sure if the owners are the same though. I really liked this place. I talk about it here.
Hey, check out the $7 all-day all-night breakfast at The Mansion. For you older Ktowners, the current owners are Bram Fisher's sons. Bram brought the first vegetarian restaraunt to town, The Scarecrow on Princess (and also presented all the then current folk and world musics in abundance.). And his son Casey is the chef, with 12 years experience behind him. And yes, they do offer the old Scarecrow/Banyan sandwich, but the whole menu is fantastic!
I went along to The Mansion yesterday for lunch as a result of reading your post. The food wasn't too bad although certainly nothing special, but what didn't impress me was that they were unable to take cards, but of course they had a cash machine that you had to pay for – which effectively added another 20% to the cost of the meal. The waitress said that there was a a sign on the door (which I missed – but in any case, it certainly didn't say that you would have to pay to withdraw cash and nor did they say anything when I placed my order). Not impressed.
Good observation, however they do take credit cards…unless something has changed since my last visit.
It was / is a temporary problem. Not sure how temporary. I just really dislike being forced to pay to access cash.
I was there on Tuesday. Their machines are down right now. It's just temporary. The guys running the place have their hands full but are doing a great job. Patience is key. I have great hopes for the Mansion as an amazing musical venue in Kingston. Oh, and taco Tuesdays rule.
Taco Tuesday's are overrated in my opinion.
didn't stop you from ordering three more though did it? ; ) I thought they were pretty delish.
This is a guide to breakfast…not tacos.
I ate at the Mansion. I ask if a difhbulator came with the meal. It was terrible and what dump of a place to eat at too. It maybe fine for the young and cheap..but Ill never go back, nor a date with me will ever go/
Best breakfasts I have had were at Peter's Place* and Pan Chancho's (entirely different styles but both great), although Windmill's was also nice for a weekend brunch. If I just want a muffin or a scone and a coffee, The Goat beats everywhere else hands down and that's where you'll find me most mornings not too long after it opens.
*I have a friend who swears by the Star Diner though – claims their potatoes are much better than anywhere else. Haven't managed to get up there yet myself. Of other diners, Wolfe Island Bakery has a good 'classic diner' feel, but they couldn't even poach eggs properly when I had Eggs Benedict there (the yolks were not remotely runny) and the service was so slow. Morrisons has okay food but bad coffee. Serves Your Right took almost 30 minutes to make me a take-away sandwich and homefries when I was in a hurry and there was no other customer in the place… I'm not into 'fast food' but that's a bit ridiculous!
Great list! I now have many new places to try!
As an Eggs Benny fiend, Windmills is my brunch place of choice. Plus I love their coffee. Wolf Island's Eggs Benny is ok, but I always I exit that place smelling like I was fried up for brunch.
I haven't been to the Right Spot in years, but last time I went I had the cutest Silver Dollar pancakes, they just kept bringing them over to me, and I swear the bill was about $4. Morrison's is over rated I find, the old owner now runs John's in Napanee (or used to), he' s good for a chat on a slow day.
I used to like Aqua Terra better a few years ago, but the waffles are still good and if you bring your apetite I'm sure you won't be let down.
As far as going all out with indulgence, I love going to Pan Chancho on a sunny day. Sit on the patio, have a mimosa, a pastry (maybe a side of bacon!) and a latte and reflect on how good life is!
I found this article through your "Hot Topics" masthead. If it's still up there, you should do annual updates. I need to know about breakfast in Kingston, ok thanks bye!
Thanks for the prompt Bill. We try to re-visit our guides regularly, and update them so that they are current. If there's a new spot in particular that you'd like us to consider adding, or otherwise some places that no longer exist, name changes etc… please let us know with a comment or two.
Seems like a long list but I feel like there's still gaps in the breakfast market. Who makes adventurous omelettes? Not standard ham and cheese… I haven't found that spot yet. I've been envisioning the empty Pizza Hut on Princess as an all day breakfast spot…
Thanks for the list, definitely a good compilation.
Cora's is gone now. In it's place is Fuji Sushi (not breakfast I know, but it's what is where Cora's was).
Nearby though is Eggsquis @ 2774 Princess St between Gardiners and Bayridge. Heading over that way myself this morning.