DCGuide
Where To Get Bottomless Brunch For Under $50
photo credit: Reema Desai
The last thing anyone wants to do is to worry about the bill, plus after indulging an endless stream of mimosas nobody has time for mental math. Let’s face it, brunch can be expensive. But it doesn’t have to be. If you’re committed to having a bottomless brunch experience without spending more than $50, try these spots. Who knows, you might even hit your savings target this month (but then again, you might not).
THE SPOTS
The Deal: Unlimited drinks for $29 per person.
Eating at Lapis is a brunch rite of passage at this point. The Afghan restaurant in Adams Morgan is full of AU students who have spent a decade on their dissertation research, loudly talking about the merits of Bryon and Shakespeare. Don’t let that deter you because the smoky rosewater cardamom pancakes are both beautiful and delicious. Instead of ordering the brunch special (your choice of a pastry, entree, and sweet for $35), get a stack and pair it with bottomless drinks (mimosas, champagne and bloody marys).
photo credit: Chris Prosser
The Deal: For $36.96 per person, you get one brunch food item and unlimited drinks.
El Chucho is a Columbia Heights favorite because you can score a full meal and bottomless drinks for under $40. The neighborhood Mexican restaurant offers an array of brunch entrees like breakfast burritos, chilaquiles, and tacos that are okay. But the big attraction here are the drinks. You can’t go wrong with the tropical spiked tamarind and hibiscus agua frescas. Thank you to whoever came up with those.
The Deal: Unlimited mimosas, beers, and spritzers for $20 per person.
Brunch at Bar Chinois isn’t that different from dinner (the dim sum menu is mostly the same), except you can get bottomless booze and once a month, a drag show. The Chinese-French fusion restaurant in Mt. Vernon Triangle serves small plates like perfectly-spiced sesame marinated cucumbers and peppery shrimp congee (which you can order with the bottomless drinks for under $50). But be forewarned, the food here is delicious and you might be tempted to order everything on the menu—so you’ll have to be strong to stick to your budget.
photo credit: Taylor Mickal
The Deal: Unlimited mimosas, bloody mary’s and beers for $26 per person.
Duke’s Grocery is your spot if you’re looking for an affordable brunch option before a Nats, Spirit, or DC United game, or better yet, a place to drink while watching the game. Frankly, there are so many TVs mounted at the bar and throughout the dining room we got tired of counting. The Navy Yard restaurant offers bottomless drinks for $26 and includes a menu of British breakfast foods. Like seriously British. Think black and white pudding, roasted tomatoes…and beans. Though, we say skip breakfast all together and go for the proper burger. As the Brits say (thank you Top Boy), it’s a proper good burger—hence the name.
The Deal: Bottomless mimosas for $26 per person.
There are certain facts we always keep in our back pocket like the fact that more people live in Washington, DC than Vermont and that bottomless brunch at Barrel is really f*cking good. Which you might not expect from a lounge known best for its barrel aged whiskey drinks. But the crispy honey butter chicken sandwiches and caramelized bourbon basil waffles are so delicious that you won't even question why you're eating them in a wood-paneled room that looks like the inside of a giant whiskey barrel.
photo credit: Scott Suchman
The Deal: Bottomless brunch cocktail for $28 per person with the purchase of any speciality item or pizza ($9-22).
Few things are greater than pizza and bellinis, and All Purpose Pizzeria in Navy Yard reminds us of this fact. Sit on the patio or rooftop overlooking the Anacostia River yearound (they both have heat lamps) and toast to the good life. With an endless stream of aperol spritzes and grapefruit mimosas, you might even convince yourself that this is some of the best pizza you’ve ever had (it’s not). But for $50, anything is possible.
photo credit: Union Pub
The Deal: Bottomless bubbles, mimosas, and poinsettias for $26 per person.
If you think epic brunches require string lights and neon signs set against a leafy green backdrop, Union Pub is here to teach you a valuable lesson. This casual bar is right across from Union Station and has a small but mighty brunch menu that is the ultimate start to game day or your good-food-low-lights hangover cure—if you can stomach the cheers and groans of the sports fans. Get the crispy chicken and waffles, and enjoy them with the bottomless bubbles that flow fast and free, especially if you sit at the bar (which we recommend).
