Brunch has been on the rise in recent years. Whether it’s to celebrate Mother’s Day or Easter or just a way to spend the morning with friends, going out for brunch has become a common activity for many diners, and restaurants are seeing the results of this surge of interest. According to the 2023 Restaurant Industry Report from Square, Saturday brunch has become the busiest part of the week for restaurants, dethroning the Friday lunch rush.
Breakfast food fiends are spoiled for choice when it comes to brunch options in Baltimore. We spoke with the owners of some of the area’s most popular brunch spots to learn what goes into planning a brunch menu, how they manage the brunch rush and more.
Easy Like Sunday – Cross Keys
Easy Like Sunday first opened three years ago in the Village at Cross Keys shopping development, and has continued to grow and expand since then. The brunch-focused restaurant opened a second location in Locust Point, with a third in Silver Spring on the way.
Brunch is Easy Like Sunday’s sole focus, but that does not limit the restaurant’s menu. Easy Like Sunday’s offerings are very diverse.
“We like to get a little creative,” says Sean MacCuish, Easy Like Sunday’s co-owner and executive chef. “We do anything that encompasses brunch, with different inspirations from different cultures. That includes French, Italian, Mediterranean-style and, of course, American breakfast food.”
MacCuish co-owns the restaurant with his wife, Anna MacCuish, and his business partner, Antonios Kokolis.
In addition to serving fan favorites like the Shrimp and Grits and the Fried Chicken and Cornmeal Pancakes, MacCuish also experiments with limited-time specials, which allow the restaurant to hop on food trends. Recently, the restaurant’s Dubai Chocolate French Toast proved very popular.
The fact that Easy Like Sunday focuses exclusively on brunch and is open seven days a week helps the restaurant’s staff offset the brunch rush, where restaurants are flooded with customers during brunch hours on the weekend.
Easy Like Sunday’s ownership credits its unique location for the restaurant’s popularity.
“It’s a hidden gem,” Kokolis says of Cross Keys, “and it’s the same with Locust Point. We’re kind of hidden in these cool areas.”
Chuck’s Trading Post – Hampden
Chuck’s Trading Post started its life in the 1950s as a corner store called Chuck’s Carry-Out & Market. While the original owners of Chuck’s Carry-Out are long gone, the property’s new owners decided to honor their legacy when they opened a restaurant there.
“We wanted to keep some of that history, and that convenience store aspect,” explains Tracey Sangria, owner and operator of Chuck’s Trading Post. “The walk-in remains as a bodega. We started out with a 15-seat counter diner, and just three [employees]. Now, there’s five times as many people.”
Chuck’s primary focus is on comfort food, and brunch has always been the restaurant’s main concept. Dishes are regularly served piping-hot in cast-iron skillets, ranging from classics like eggs benedicts and pancakes to less orthodox items like breakfast burgers and banh mi. Sangria notes that Chuck’s always has its fan favorites on the menu,
such as the breakfast burrito and the western skillet, but many of its offerings change with the seasons. Currently, the restaurant is serving wintry dishes like shakshuka.
“A lot of our customer base are regulars,” she adds. “Keeping things fresh means that people who come in often can always find something new and interesting to eat.”
Silver Queen Cafe – Hamilton
Silver Queen Cafe recently celebrated its 10th anniversary in November 2025. The Hamilton restaurant is well-known for its brunch offerings, winning the title of “Best Brunch” in Baltimore Magazine’s reader’s poll and making Yelp’s list of the Top 100 Places to Get Brunch in the Country.
The cafe’s menu is heavily dependent on what kinds of fruits, vegetables and fish are in season. Much of its offerings are influenced by Maryland’s local culture and exports.
“We’re a True Blue Certified restaurant, so we don’t use imported crab at all. All of our crab is Maryland crab,” says Nicole Evanshaw, who co-owns Silver Queen Cafe with her husband, Jason Daniloski. “In the colder months when [Maryland] crab isn’t in season, we’ll use domestic crab, but never from out of the country.”
Crab makes its most prominent appearance on Silver Queen Cafe’s Seafood Benedict, which is one of its most popular brunch dishes. Another fan favorite, the Blueberry Lemon Curd Crumble French Toast, is well-loved among diners who prefer sweeter brunch dishes.
Silver Queen Cafe experiences its biggest rush during Sunday brunch, which can be extremely stressful for many restaurant employees. But Evanshaw describes the Sunday brunch atmosphere as similar to a party.
“People are really into the food, the music… everything, really,” she notes. “We sell a shockingly large amount of brunch cocktails. You’ll see people dancing in their seats.”
