Ah, brunch! The most important meal of the day. The perfect combination of breakfast and lunch—and our favorite excuse to pop some corks and celebrate in the mid-morning.
Brunch is one of the best things about life. For those who haven’t yet experienced the wonders of mimosas, brunch can be an almost overwhelming experience.
Brunch is more than just a big meal in the morning, though. For a proper brunch, whether at a restaurant or a friend’s home, a few often unspoken rules should be followed. Nothing crazy, of course, but if you don’t have the proper brunch etiquette, you may not have as good an experience as your fellow brunch buddies will.
Here at Ohza, brunch is our favorite thing in the world. From the company of friends, new and old alike, to the delicious breakfast recipes, we just can’t get enough. We want you to fall in love with brunch just as much as we have. That’s why we compiled everything you need to know to have the best brunch experience you possibly can.
Here are all the brunch rules you should follow and some tips and tricks to master brunch time like a pro.
What Time Is Brunch?
If you are the individual hosting brunch, it’s important to know the brunch timeline. Brunch is a combination of breakfast and lunch, but it generally occurs at a set time. If you are planning a brunch or attending one, the timeline will fall between 11 am to 3 pm for the event to be considered brunch.
Brunch is generally seen as a weekend activity. While no one says you can’t have brunch on a Tuesday morning, brunch is usually a celebratory activity. Most likely, your brunch buddies will be able to attend your brunch on the weekend rather than in the middle of a workweek. It gives people something to look forward to and celebrate at the end of the week.
The only real exception to this unspoken rule is if you are celebrating a holiday or big event that falls on a weekday.
Basic Brunch Menu: What’s Included?
Most brunch places have a standard menu. Depending on your location, you may have a chef's special, but generally, you can have a good idea of what will be offered before ever stepping foot inside the restaurant. You will find breakfast and lunch foods offered and sometimes combinations of the two.
A standard brunch menu will usually include delectable comfort food like pancakes, burgers, and egg dishes. When attending brunch at a restaurant, if you don’t order off a menu, you generally will participate in a buffet-style menu with a wide variety of dishes to choose from. The odds of you not finding something you enjoy on a brunch menu are slim to none. There usually is something for everyone to dig into.
If you are dining in with a large group, you may pay a flat rate that gets put on one tab. Not only does this help the restaurant make sure they can accommodate your big group, but it guarantees that everyone dining and serving is satisfied in the end. Don’t be surprised if your waiter puts everything on one tab, even if you didn’t eat as much or even more as the guest sitting next to you.
10 Brunch Time Rules
Believe it or not, brunch does have an etiquette to follow. No, we don’t mean elbows off the table kind of etiquette but rather a set of loose rules to follow to make brunch ebb and flow as it should.
Of course, brunch isn’t a science, and things don’t always go as they should, but these rules are great guidelines to make brunch the best overall experience it can be.
Here’s everything you need to know to rock brunch and know your stuff.
1. Be Polite
Whether you are a guest in someone’s home or are going out to a restaurant for brunch, never forget to mind your manners.
Brunch can be stressful. There’s food flying out the door, waiters scrambling to refill glasses, and generally a large group of people all in one area. The least you can do is be extra nice to the host and wait staff while they are working hard to give you a great experience.
Of course, this doesn’t just apply to brunch. This applies to anytime you go out to eat or go over to someone’s place for a meal. Common courtesy goes a long way.
Don’t forget to tip, too!
2. Be on Time
One of the worst things you could do is be late for brunch. Often your host will wait for everyone to arrive before digging in, and you want to stay in their good graces. Make sure you keep an eye on your pocket watch before you head out the door.
This is a great rule for any event you attend, especially brunch. It often takes a village to get brunch up and running, so the least you can do is be on time to eat.
Nothing says “I don’t care” like a tardy guest, intentional or not. If you want to make a good impression with your host and the other guests, it’s proper to be on time and ready to go when brunch begins, especially when you are in a large group in a public setting.
3. Keep It Simple
Brunch is not the time to modify the menu and make demands. Most restaurants will have a designated brunch menu full of delicious options. Don’t make your life more complicated or their life harder by ordering something custom or off the menu.
It’s brunch, don’t order off the dinner menu. You don’t want a steak at noon, trust us. It’s not worth fighting for.
If you have a food allergy or other dietary restrictions and need accommodations, of course, point those out to your waitstaff. One of the best ways to do this is to address the issue of allergies beforehand. It never hurts to make a phone call and get accommodations before the event begins. Again, this just helps everything be smooth sailing for all parties involved.
4. Don’t Make Plans Before or After
If you are out at brunch, you are going to be living it up. This means bottomless mimosas and usually a large meal to go along with it. The worst thing you could do is rush your time at brunch, especially when alcohol is involved.
Take your time eating and enjoying each other's company, and don’t rush off to another activity. You don’t have to worry about anybody’s safety if there is a designated D.D or if everyone has allotted time to let their food (and booze) settle.
It’s also important not to pregame brunch. If you party hard the night before, brunch will not be as enjoyable with a headache. The bottom line is: don’t make plans before or after brunch. Commit the entire day to it.
5. Know Your Order Beforehand
To help brunch go smoothly for everyone involved, skim the menu before you even get to brunch. Knowing what you want to eat and drink before you even sit down to eat helps not only your waitstaff but you as well.
This is a great way to get your food quicker and help the entire morning go smoother. Not to mention, this helps satisfy your hunger quicker, so the party doesn’t come to a stop.
Thankfully, with the help of modern technology, this isn’t a hard ask. You can easily look up a restaurant's brunch menu and see everything that is offered. This even helps know how much money you should bring and how much you probably will end up spending. It never hurts to be prepared, especially with brunch.
6. Use Cash, If Possible
One of the most annoying things you could do at a brunch place is split a card 6 or 7 ways on a bill. Not only will it take a long time to get all your bills back, but it makes tipping harder, and it can be stressful on your waitstaff. If possible, pay in cash. This will guarantee a smoother checkout, and you know that your tip is going directly to your waiter or waitress. It’s a win-win for both parties.
If you absolutely have to use your card, consider using a third-party service like Venmo or Cashapp to keep everything on one tab. It’s not a necessity, but it definitely makes things a little easier for your waiter in the end. If nothing else, it’s a nice gesture that makes their job a little easier amongst the craziness.
7. Bring Your Own Booze
If you want to save a little bit of cash but still enjoy a mimosa or two, try looking into a restaurant that offers a BYOB option.
Most restaurants that sell mimosas for brunch are likely to charge a pretty penny for a bottle or two of sparkling wine. Kill two birds with one stone by bringing your own favorite bottle of bubbly if allowed and pop some corks to celebrate the extra change you are saving.
If you don’t want to go through the trouble of bringing your own bottle, pack some cans of Ohza for brunch. Just crack open your favorite flavor and let the good times roll. This is a great option even if a friend is hosting brunch. Help them out by bringing your own mimosas, and be willing to share the deliciousness with those around you.
Here at Ohza, we want to be a part of every celebration, especially the ones that involve pancakes. Celebrate brunch with a cold can of Ohza mimosas that are perfect for any celebration, big or small.
8. Buffet Is the Best Way
For larger brunch groups, you will want to invest in a brunch that offers buffet-style serving. Most restaurants that offer a brunch buffet will charge a set price for an all-you-can-eat brunch.
This is the best choice for large groups or folks who like to eat. Not only do you save money in the long run, but you get variety, too. Buffet style is almost always the way to go, especially with an event as grand as brunch.
9. Don’t Order a Complicated Drink
If the rest of your party is sipping on mimosas, don’t be the one person to order a complicated co*cktail. Not only will this drive the group bill up, but it may throw off the groove of the event.
The best bet for best service and best quality drinks is ordering a pitcher and sharing it with your party. For the sake of the brunch bartender, the wait staff, and your fellow brunch buddies, stick to a simple drink and make sure to sip on it slowly. Trust us; don’t be that guy.
10. Don’t Take It Too Seriously
Last but not least: don’t take the event too seriously. You can easily get caught up in all the rules and etiquette and lose sight of the fun of it all. Brunch is one of the best times to catch up with friends over a delicious meal. Make sure to enjoy yourself as much as you can with the people who love you most.
Brunch is a time to be celebrated and let go of some unwanted stress and anxiety. If you get hung up on trying to make it perfect or are distracted going into it, you won’t have as much fun as you could. Don’t let brunch become a bummer.
Eat, Drink, and Be Merry
Life is worth celebrating, and our favorite way to celebrate is with a good old-fashioned brunch. Brunch is an experience like no other, and it’s definitely more than just an excuse to drink at 11 am. Brunch is a time for bonding and celebrating food and friendship. It’s a wonderful way to unplug and unwind with your brunch buddies. It’s more than mimosas; it’s memories—memories that turn into traditions.
Brunch is a great tradition to start implementing with your best pals. Whether you’ve been to brunch a hundred times or this is your first celebration, make it a brunch worth remembering. Remember the brunch etiquette as you plan your next celebration out, and don’t forget to have fun with it. Happy brunching.
Sources:
What Time Is Brunch? | Beezzly
