The most iconic breakfast restaurant in every state

The Waysider is a Tuscaloosa institution. In fact, it’s the city’s oldest operating restaurant. Legendary Alabama football coach Bear Bryant was a regular, and the restaurant is still filled with memorabilia for all devoted Roll Tide fans to enjoy.

It’s known for classic Southern breakfasts, including biscuits, grits, country ham, and gravy.

Snow City Cafe has been a popular downtown Anchorage breakfast spot since its opening in 1998.

During a 2015 visit to the state, President Barack Obama stopped by the cafe and ordered $18.25 worth of cinnamon rolls and muffins to go, the Anchorage Daily News reported.

The menu includes Alaskan takes on breakfast classics, including eggs Benedict with salmon cakes.

Matt’s Big Breakfast opened in downtown Phoenix in 2004 in a small, 800-square-foot space. It quickly became known for its long lines. They’ve since expanded into a larger location due to demand.

The restaurant focuses on simple breakfasts made with high-quality ingredients, including cage-free eggs, freshly squeezed orange juice, and real maple syrup.

The restaurant later appeared on an episode of Guy Fieri’s “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives,” cementing its status as a local legend.

The Pancake Shop has served breakfast in downtown Hot Springs since 1940, making it one of the city’s longtime dining institutions.

The restaurant is known for its made-from-scratch pancakes, fresh-squeezed orange juice, and homemade sausage, and its original 1940 menu still hangs inside for patrons to see.

Du-par’s has been a local institution since James Dunn and Edward Parsons opened it at the Original Farmers Market in Los Angeles in 1938.

The restaurant is best known for its buttermilk hotcakes, made with the same recipe the kitchen used in 1938. Along with its famous pancakes, the longtime diner is known for other classic American comfort foods, diner favorites, and housemade pies and pastries.

Opened by brothers Adam and Jon Schlegel in Denver’s Ballpark neighborhood in 2006, Snooze has become one of Denver’s best-known brunch spots.

It later expanded into a national chain and now operates about 70 locations across 10 states.

It’s particularly known for creative pancake flavors, eggs Benedict, and its pancake flight, which lets diners choose several pancake flavors.

Laurel Diner has been serving Southbury since 1949 and retains the feel of a traditional roadside diner. The small cash-only restaurant still has its counter stools and serves classic diner breakfasts, including its best-known dish, its house-made corned beef hash and home fries.

Kozy Korner traces its history to 1922, when John Vouras opened the original restaurant in Wilmington.

Although its original building was demolished in 1984, the family-run restaurant continued in a new location with another crowd-pleasing menu.

The restaurant has been repeatedly recognized by Delaware Today for serving the best breakfast in the state, according to its website.

Blue Heaven, which is located in a venue with a history tied to Ernest Hemingway, opened in Key West’s Bahama Village in 1992.

The restaurant is known for its outdoor courtyard, roaming chickens, and live music, as well as its popular breakfast favorites, including eggs Benedict, shrimp and grits, and pancakes.

Home Grown, which opened in Atlanta in 2010, has become one of the city’s best-known breakfast spots, serving traditional Southern comfort food in a casual, retro-country diner setting.

Featured in the Michelin Guide, the restaurant is especially famous for its Comfy Chicken Biscuit, which combines fried chicken, a large Southern biscuit, and sausage gravy.

Eggs ‘n Things, which has been serving breakfast in Honolulu since 1974, has largely become known for its large breakfast plates, particularly pancakes topped with local fruit and generous amounts of whipped cream.

The restaurant’s popularity in the community and among tourists has led to additional locations in Guam, Hawaii, and Japan.

Goldy’s Breakfast Bistro has been a downtown Boise breakfast destination since 1999.

The small restaurant is known for its eggs Benedict and large breakfast plates, including diner favorites such as chicken-fried steak.

Lou Mitchell’s has been serving Chicago since 1923, predating the establishment of nearby Route 66 by three years.

Its location near the highway’s historic starting point made the restaurant a longtime stop for travelers beginning the drive west, and it’s also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The restaurant is also known for handing out complimentary doughnut holes to customers waiting for a table — a tradition that dates back decades.

The first Cafe Patachou opened in Indianapolis in 1989, and the café has since built its reputation on made-to-order breakfasts and relationships with local farmers and producers.

Bon Appétit later named it one of the country’s best breakfast spots, according to the restaurant’s website.

Waveland Cafe has been serving Des Moines since 1984 and is best known for its hash browns, which the restaurant calls the “best hashbrowns in the galaxy.”

Its customers over the years have included politicians, journalists, and celebrities, including Iowa local Jason Momoa, who called the establishment his favorite breakfast spot.

The restaurant even named its signature breakfast, the “Da Momoa,” after the actor. It includes a full order of hash browns, a full order of biscuits and gravy, two sunny-side-up eggs, and a side of bacon.

Doo-Dah Diner opened in Wichita in 2012 and built a following with its oversize takes on classic breakfast plates and complimentary sticky monkey bread.

Other menu favorites include banana-bread French toast and the Brutus, which combines chicken-fried steak, hash browns, sausage gravy, onions, and eggs.

Open since 1922, Wagner’s Pharmacy has been located across from Churchill Downs and has spent much of that time feeding horse trainers, jockeys, owners, and racing fans who gather there from near and far.

Its walls are covered in horse-racing memorabilia, and the restaurant has appeared in movies including “Secretariat,” making it a local institution, particularly during Derby season.

Café du Monde has been serving customers in New Orleans’ French Market since 1862. Its menu is famously limited, with its best-known order consisting of three fried beignets covered in powdered sugar and a cup of chicory coffee or café au lait.

The combination has become one of the foods most closely associated with New Orleans, making the café not just a breakfast spot but also a tourist destination.

Palace Diner may be small, but it is entirely worth the cramped quarters. The restaurant, housed in a former train dining car, has been in operation since 1927.

Visitors flock to the unique restaurant for a classic diner breakfast, fried chicken sandwich, and other diner specialties.

Miss Shirley’s Cafe has been putting a Maryland spin on Southern breakfast since it opened in Baltimore in 2005.

Named after founder Eddie Dopkin’s friend Shirley McDowell, the restaurant is known for dishes like shrimp and grits, chicken and waffles, and several takes on eggs Benedict.

In a state famous for seafood, the menu also finds plenty of ways to bring local flavors into brunch.

Miss Florence Diner doesn’t have to try overly hard or stock up on kitschy decor to look like an old-fashioned diner.

Operating from a preserved Worcester Lunch Car Company dining car, the vintage diner still has many of its original features and was even added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.

More than 80 years after its founding, it’s still serving pancakes, eggs, bacon, and other classic New England diner breakfasts.

This small Lansing restaurant is covered in colorful signs, stickers, and artwork inside and out, making it hard to miss when driving through town.

In addition to its quirky decor, this restaurant is equally well known for its over-the-top breakfasts, from creative pancakes and French toast to massive omelets. It’s also known for long waits, limited seating, and a daily menu written on whiteboards that changes frequently.

Al’s Breakfast in the city’s Dinkytown neighborhood has been a Minneapolis institution since 1950, and customers regularly line up behind the restaurant’s limited number of stools waiting for their turn to eat.

The tiny restaurant has also received one of the industry’s biggest honors — a James Beard America’s Classics award — and has also been featured on “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.”

Billy Gail’s is the kind of breakfast place where ordering pancakes can become a photo opportunity. The Branson-area restaurant is famous for its enormous omelets and pancakes, which stretch well beyond the edges of the plate, along with oversize portions of biscuits and gravy, French toast, and other diner favorites.

The large portions and cozy diner setting have made it a popular breakfast stop for visitors and locals alike.

The Western Cafe has been part of downtown Bozeman since it opened in the 1940s and is now run by three generations of the same Montana family.

Its menu is about as Montana as breakfast gets, with dishes like chicken-fried steak and eggs, biscuits and gravy, and its famous “Bobcat” French toast, a nod to the nearby Montana State University.

You might want to bring someone along if you’re looking to split a cinnamon roll at Tina’s Cafe.

This small Lincoln restaurant is known for scratch-made cinnamon rolls that are roughly the size of a dinner plate and dripping with icing, along with hand-shredded hash browns and other classic breakfasts.

The Peppermill has been serving the Las Vegas Strip since 1972, and its neon-lit, over-the-top interior still pays homage to that era. The restaurant is known for large breakfast portions and its adjoining Fireside Lounge, complete with a sunken fire pit.

The restaurant has also appeared in iconic movies and TV shows, including “Casino,” and in 2024, the James Beard Foundation named the Peppermill an America’s Classics award winner.

Polly’s Pancake Parlor has been serving pancakes in New Hampshire’s White Mountains since 1938, when Polly and Wilfred Dexter began making them to promote their homemade maple products. Back then, you could order all-you-can-eat pancakes, waffles, and French toast for 50 cents.

The restaurant won a James Beard America’s Classics award in 2006.

Tops Diner in East Newark, New Jersey, opened in 1942 and has been serving its iconic breakfast plates, burgers, meatloaf, and famous disco fries ever since.

In 2017, Time Out named Tops the best diner in the country, and in 2015, Thrillist called it the “most iconic” restaurant in New Jersey.

Frontier has been a favorite among University of New Mexico students and Albuquerque locals since it opened in 1971.

It’s best known for Southwestern breakfast staples like burritos, homemade tortillas, and its famous Frontier Sweet Roll, a large cinnamon roll.

Clinton St. Baking Company has been open on the Lower East Side of Manhattan since 2001 and has become known for its fluffy pancakes with specialty toppings like maple butter or wild Maine blueberries.

Prepare to wait a while to grab breakfast here — wait times can stretch up to two hours at peak weekend brunch times.

Big Ed’s was opened in 1958 by Wake County native “Big Ed” Watkins, who used recipes from his family’s farm to inspire the first menu.

The City Market location opened in 1989 and has become one of the most popular breakfast destinations in Raleigh, specializing in old-fashioned North Carolina country breakfasts with plenty of biscuits, eggs, country ham, and grits.

The Shack on Broadway isn’t anything fancy, but its all-day breakfast has kept locals coming back again and again.

Famous for its buttermilk pancakes, omelets, hash browns, and other classic diner breakfast staples, this breakfast spot’s straightforward menu has made it a longtime favorite in Fargo.

Sugar n’ Spice has served the Cincinnati community since 1941, and very little has changed at the diner since then.

Known for its thin pancakes and fluffy, oversize omelets, this longtime favorite breakfast spot also sends each guest home with something less edible, but just as memorable: tiny rubber ducks.

Cafe Kacao, which opened in 2006, stands out among Oklahoma City institutions for its focus on Guatemalan and Latin American flavors.

Featured on Yelp’s list of the 100 best restaurants in the country and named best breakfast in Oklahoma by the Travel Channel, one bite of this family-owned restaurant’s breakfast will show you why it’s so acclaimed.

Otis Cafe was originally housed in an iconic historic building before a 2019 fire forced it to relocate to a new location in the Taft district.

This family-run restaurant is known for serving scratch-made breakfast all day and for a few German breakfast classics, including German-style potatoes and marionberry pie.

Shady Maple is one of the most famous breakfast buffets in the country, but even that reputation doesn’t quite capture its scale.

Opened in 1985, Shady Maple has grown into a 161,000-square-foot restaurant that can seat nearly 1,200 people at one time.

Its breakfast offerings include an enormous spread of eggs, pancakes, meats, baked goods, and Pennsylvania Dutch specialties — all served in what has been described as the largest buffet in the country.

While Rhode Island may be better known for its seafood, this classic Ocean State diner also reflects the small state’s culinary history.

Housed inside a 1940 Sterling Streamliner, Modern Diner was the first diner in the country to be accepted onto the National Register of Historic Places — it was listed in 1978. It is a Pawtucket landmark, famous for its classic breakfast plates and distinctive decor.

Millers All Day may not be the most historic restaurant on this list, but it’s just as iconic.

Opened in 2018 and helmed by chef Nathan Thurston and farmer and miller Greg Johnsman, the menu features a modern spin on classic Southern breakfast favorites like biscuit sandwiches and shrimp and grits.

Phillips Avenue Diner is known throughout the state for its retro feel and massive breakfast plates, including pancakes, omelets, and other classic American breakfast items.

The restaurant operated as the Market Diner inside a silver Airstream trailer until 1996, when it moved to downtown Sioux Falls and became known as the Phillips Avenue Diner in a new brick-and-mortar location.

The Loveless Cafe opened in 1951, when Lon and Annie Loveless began serving homemade fried chicken and biscuits to travelers from their home along Highway 100. Their food was so popular that the Lovelesses turned their house into a full-blown restaurant and added a 14-room motel to expand their business.

More than 70 years later, Annie’s famous biscuits are still a signature item on the menu, and the Nashville landmark welcomes more than half a million visitors a year, according to the restaurant’s website.

Opened in 2001, The Breakfast Klub has become one of Houston’s most iconic institutions, thanks to its famous “Katfish” and grits and wings and waffles.

The Black-owned restaurant has garnered national recognition from outlets including “Good Morning America,” USA Today, Esquire, and Forbes.

Ruth’s Diner allows guests to dine in a former trolley car that operated in the early 1900s, but has since been moved and restored. The restaurant focuses on brunch foods, serving cinnamon roll French toast, huevos rancheros, and deep-fried mac and cheese.

When “Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives” host Guy Fieri visited the restaurant, he said he couldn’t get enough of the fluffy biscuits.

Perhaps nothing is more signature Vermont than pancakes with maple syrup. Maple Sugar & Vermont Spice is located right where the action is, on the grounds of a historic Mendon maple farm, where visitors can watch sap being boiled into syrup.

In addition to pancakes, guests can try the famous syrup with other breakfast staples, or purchase maple candy and other products to take home.

Pocahontas Pancake and Waffle House has been serving up breakfast in the Virginia Beach oceanfront area since 1974, but rose to national fame in 2002 when the Food Network’s “Best Of” series named it the best pancake house in Virginia Beach.

Its most popular menu item is, unsurprisingly, its pancakes drenched in butter and maple syrup, but it also serves other breakfast staples like Belgian waffles, French toast, eggs, and omelets.

Built in 1937, Maltby Cafe has served breakfasts for decades from the basement of a former schoolhouse gym.

The restaurant is known locally for its massive portions and oversize cinnamon rolls, which have become one of the café’s signature dishes.

If there’s one item this Beckley diner is famous for, it’s omelets.

The restaurant serves breakfast around the clock, seven days a week, making it a favorite for locals and travelers looking for eggs, pancakes, biscuits and gravy, and, of course, omelets at any hour.

Franks Diner has been serving the city of Kenosha since 1926 in an original Jerry O’Mahony lunch car, where it still stands today.

Wisconsin’s oldest continuously operating diner, this local favorite is best known for its Garbage Plate: a hefty breakfast of eggs, hash browns, meat, cheese, and vegetables that has become the diner’s signature dish.

Nora’s Fish Creek Inn has been a Jackson Hole breakfast staple since Nora and Marvin Tygum opened it in 1982.

Housed inside a rustic 1930s-era log cabin, the restaurant is famous for its large portions of breakfast favorites like huevos rancheros and pancakes, as well as fresh pan-fried Idaho trout.