Ida Claire Named to OpenTable's 100 Most Popular Brunch Spots in America

Brunch is Dallas' quintessential meal. In fact, this past weekend we had a big brunch party, The Morning After, with all our friends at City Hall Plaza. Not being biased at all here, but it was great. The food, the drinks, the drag queens, the people dancing and even the hula hoop circle were spot on.

Today the restaurant reservation site, OpenTable, released its 100 Most Popular Brunch Spots in America: 2023 Edition. We fully expected a few Dallas places to be on the list: alas, there is only one. But, it is certainly a good one.

We nodded wholeheartedly, not spilling a drop of our mimosa, when we saw Ida Claire, which happens to be a frequent flyer on our list of top brunch spots. Ida Claire has both good looks and good food. Southern charm is served via creamy shrimp and grits and jalapeno mac and cheese. The Monte Cristo has thick peppered bacon in addition to ham with a house-made jam that is a giant hug.

The space is decorated to the tens and there's an Airstream trailer outside for an extra-classy dining experience.

Picking through the other brunch spots, as we're wont to do, we do have some questions. We get Atlanta's four restaurants on the list given the thriving restaurant scene there. For sure. And Hawai'i weighing in with four feels about right considering the cost to travel or live there; an unforgettable brunch better be on the menu.

But evidently, a big sleeper brunch city is Philadelphia, with eight of the best brunch restaurants in the country. Wow. Maybe this snark comes from a long-standing hatred of the Eagles and Flyers, we'll admit to that, but we're suspect. The City of Brotherly Love was topped in the number of spots by Washington, D.C., (11) and Los Angeles (12).

For other cities in Texas, Austin had just one, Steiner Ranch Steakhouse in west Austin, with its great lake view. It's a little formal for Austin, but the bots know better than we do.

a'Bouzy in the River Oaks neighborhood of Houston was that city's only top 100 brunch. On the site, a review says it has the best Champagne list in town.

San Antonio has two restaurants on the list: Cappy's Restaurant (with more than 4,000 five-star reviews) and Brasserie Mon Chou Chou.

We often opine about our favorite brunches here. Our newest crush is Cafe 43 at the George W. Bush Presidential Center. Oh, and Parterre downtown is a new one, too. Here's our 2022 List of Best Brunches, which we last updated in August. But we've covered so many new brunches since then (we brunch a lot-a lot around here) and you can peruse those on our site.