The covered decks, beautiful grounds, garden patches, melodic bird song and unpretentious menu at Liberty House deliver an easy like Sunday morning brunch tempo. On weekends, chef David Beverly (owner with wife Sydney) pares down the daily menu from 15 items to about ten and adds three brunch specials. Locals bliss out on the fluffy sourdough blueberry pancake, cooked in a cast iron skillet for perfectly crisped edges. No alcohol — but plenty of hot and cold coffee and tea drinks.

The bones of the former Esso gas station that began operations in 1928 frame the retro structure that has been operating since 2018 as All Day Darling, where residents in the historic Montford neighborhood fuel up on Counter Culture coffee, regular or premium.  As the name implies, the casual restaurant has an all-day menu served daily from open to close, including healthy-ish breakfast plates like a breakfast bowl with poached eggs, beans, veggies, and toasted seeds; a GF frittata with seasonal vegetables; and a shakshuka twist with kale and feta.

This downtown late-night haunt’s Sunday drag brunch is fit for a queen — and kings — with a cast of bedazzled fabulistas strutting their stuff and belting torch songs. Noon is the fashionably-late start for the breakfast buffet of eggs, bacon, and biscuits, plus vegan mac and cheese, Swiss and ham rolls, broccoli salad, and seasonal muffins.

Rhubarb’s relaunch of Sunday brunch service is cause for celebration and an edible ode to local growers, makers, Appalachian culture, and scratch-made biscuits, the foundation for spreads that includes house-churned sorghum butter, pepper relish, and country ham-pear chutney. Speaking of ham, chef John Fleer’s favorite pork smoker — East Tennessee’s Allan Benton — makes multiple appearances through the menu, which leans to savory, but grilled coconut and rum bread pudding is a sweet standout.

The more casual iteration of Katie Button and Felix Meana’s Curate, La Bodega operates multiple concepts over two floors. The first-floor cafe begins counter service at 9 a.m. but upstairs is where guests belly up to the zinc bar and dive deep into authentic Spanish pintxos and larger plates like  the tortilla vaga (lazy omelet), tortilla Espanola (egg, potato and onion) and the intriguing croissant bikini.

Shannon and Josiah McGaughey’s intimate restaurant nestled amid galleries and studios in the River Arts District is imbued with warmth and artistry, and the husband-and-wife team creates an ambiance of casual elegance. Vivian’s sophisticated brunch menu includes beef tartare, lobster parfait, a souffle omelet, and smoked lamb Benedict.

For two decades, this mother-daughter owned cafe has been locals’ weekday breakfast destination. Weekends, visitors surge to the corner in West Asheville distinguished by local artist Gus Cutty’s murals of Julia Child and Edna Lewis and do brunch from the breakfast-lunch-dinner all-day menu that commences at 8:30 a.m. While anticipating carrot hotcakes and a Southern breakfast benny, diners can pass the wait time meandering lush garden paths with a mega-mosa or spicy bloody mary.

Historic Biltmore Village’s enduring dining destination has not only resumed brunch service, it has supersized it, expanding to seven days a week, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Corned beef hash and bagels and house-smoked salmon are back; bacon cheddar tater tots and chicken and waffles make their debut. Lunch items like the burger, Reuben, and portobello melt remain.