Following the darkness of night, breakfast food transforms tired zombies into functional humans. The brunchy bounty of eggs and coffee brings near-magical properties to the table. As Ron Swanson, a character on NBC’s Parks and Recreation said, “there has never been a sadness that can’t be cured by breakfast food.”
Breakfast food enthusiasts tend to flock to the restaurants that can fulfill their mimosa-fueled desires. These brunch spots can hold a key place in weekend culture. However, not everything is sunny-side up. Critics of brunch note how the meal is a marker of gentrification and the “gaping divide between America’s haves and have-nots.” The New York Daily News labeled brunch as a decadence and “ritual that is corroding the soul of America.”
Whether brunch butters your toast or scrambles your eggs, the U.S. hosts a multitude of restaurants that cater to breakfast lovers.
The data scientists at FindTheHome, a real estate intelligence site powered by Graphiq, crunched the numbers to determine the best cities to find the top breakfast or brunch restaurants. Using data from Yelp and the 2014 American Community Survey, we created a comprehensive rating that accounts for quality, popularity and quantity. Our “Breakfast Score” equally weighs the following data:
- Density of 4+ Yelp Star breakfast establishments
- Reviews per restaurant, normalized
- Number of breakfast and brunch restaurants per 10,000 people
Only cities with a population over 100,000 people and at least 50 breakfast or brunch restaurants were considered in our analysis. Restaurants needed at least one Yelp rating to be included. The following list of top cities for breakfast aficionados is ranked from lowest to highest “Breakfast Score.”
Note: Because some cities are simply more active on Yelp than others, we used the number of reviews at chain restaurants (IHOP, Denny's Starbucks and Applebee's) to normalize the "reviews per restaurant" figure across locations.
Washington D.C.
Breakfast Score: 73.8
Density of 4+ Yelp Star Breakfast Restaurants per 10K People: 0.8
Reviews per Restaurant, Normalized: 174.0
Number of Breakfast Restaurants per 10K People: 2.8
Number of Breakfast Restaurants in Washington: 175
Population: 633,736
New Orleans, LA
Breakfast Score: 76.3
Density of 4+ Yelp Star Breakfast Restaurants per 10K People: 1.7
Reviews per Restaurant, Normalized: 128.0
Number of Breakfast Restaurants per 10K People: 3.3
Number of Breakfast Restaurants in New Orleans: 121
Population: 368,471
San Diego, CA
Breakfast Score: 77.9
Density of 4+ Yelp Star Breakfast Restaurants per 10K People: 1.1
Reviews per Restaurant, Normalized: 184.9
Number of Breakfast Restaurants per 10K People: 2.1
Number of Breakfast Restaurants in San Diego: 287
Population: 1,341,510
Denver, CO
Breakfast Score: 84.0
Density of 4+ Yelp Star Breakfast Restaurants per 10K People: 1.1
Reviews per Restaurant, Normalized: 282.1
Number of Breakfast Restaurants per 10K People: 2.4
Number of Breakfast Restaurants in Denver: 155
Population: 633,777
San Francisco, CA
Breakfast Score: 85.1
Density of 4+ Yelp Star Breakfast Restaurants per 10K People: 1.8
Reviews per Restaurant, Normalized: 168.9
Number of Breakfast Restaurants per 10K People: 3.6
Number of Breakfast Restaurants in San Francisco: 298
Population: 829,072
Paradise, NV
Breakfast Score: 86.0
Density of 4+ Yelp Star Breakfast Restaurants per 10K People: 0.9
Reviews per Restaurant, Normalized: 272.4
Number of Breakfast Restaurants per 10K People: 3.3
Number of Breakfast Restaurants in Paradise: 74
Population: 223,182
Minneapolis, MN
Breakfast Score: 90.0
Density of 4+ Yelp Star Breakfast Restaurants per 10K People: 1.5
Reviews per Restaurant, Normalized: 299.1
Number of Breakfast Restaurants per 10K People: 2.9
Number of Breakfast Restaurants in Minneapolis: 114
Population: 394,424
Charleston, SC
Breakfast Score: 94.6
Density of 4+ Yelp Star Breakfast Restaurants per 10K People: 1.9
Reviews per Restaurant, Normalized: 226.1
Number of Breakfast Restaurants per 10K People: 4.5
Number of Breakfast Restaurants in Charleston: 56
Population: 125,458
Berkeley, CA
Breakfast Score: 95.3
Density of 4+ Yelp Star Breakfast Restaurants per 10K People: 2.0
Reviews per Restaurant, Normalized: 209.1
Number of Breakfast Restaurants per 10K People: 4.5
Number of Breakfast Restaurants in Berkeley: 52
Population: 115,688
Portland, OR
Breakfast Score: 95.9
Density of 4+ Yelp Star Breakfast Restaurants per 10K People: 2.2
Reviews per Restaurant, Normalized: 248.0
Number of Breakfast Restaurants per 10K People: 3.7
Number of Breakfast Restaurants in Portland: 220
Population: 602,568
Posted on June 28, 2016 by Kelsey Warner
