I fell in love with brunch while living in Manhattan. Though I wasn’t very well off financially (I was a poor college student at New York University), brunch was my splurge. It was time to bond with friends, roommates and out-of-town guests who had never seen the likes of bottomless Bellinis and DJs rocking out over scrambled eggs. When I moved back to Chattanooga last May, I was worried that all the fancy brunches I had grown accustomed to were a thing of the past. In fact, I almost moved to Atlanta instead in part due to brunch attachment issues.
Fortunately, I made the scenic city my home because Chattanooga’s brunch scene is blowing up. Just from the time I started working on this site to today, the amount of local restaurants that serve brunch has vastly increased. This isn’t just great news for my taste buds (and for squelching the occasional ache for New York); It substantiates the need for Chattanooga Brunches‘ existence. I’d like to say we had the foresight to be at the front of this growing trend, but the reality is that I just love brunch… which leads me to the ultimate question:
“If you love brunch like I do, you’ve certainly met a few brunch naysayers in your lifetime. “So, it’s just a combination of breakfast and lunch…” “Brunch is for hipsters!” “How can you have brunch after lunch time? Isn’t it supposed to be between breakfast and lunch?” Sound familiar? Whether you’re a naysayer yourself or find yourself looking for retorts to these people, I have composed a list of why I, Jenna Haines, love brunch.
- It combines the tastiest foods of the day. Brunch is essentially permission to eat breakfast at noon but with all the delightful things you might miss from the lunch menu. In layman’s terms, it’s like showing up at McDonalds and realizing you can order whatever you want from both the breakfast menu and the normal menu. Hello, breakfast burrito and fries.
- Because brunch is cool (like bow ties if you’ve ever watched Dr. Who). It’s trendy without the exhausting characteristics of most hip things, i.e. staying up late and spending lots of money. If nothing else, it is, without a doubt, the coolest thing you’ll be doing on a Sunday before 2 p.m. Pinky out.
- Heard of the hair of the dog? No, not the restaurant–though you can find them on our list of brunch spots. If you’re not familiar with the phrase’s origins, it’s the concept that consuming a little bit of alcohol in the morning alleviates the symptoms of a hangover. This is why brunch exists. Brunch was intended to be the meal after a night out, which is why it’s both later in the day and includes alcohol. Whether or not you actually drank the night before is moot at this point because waking up late and enjoying a tasty glass of bubbly and OJ or a spicy Blood Mary is going to brighten up your day regardless.
- It’s its own event. Brunch is a reason in and of itself to brunch. It is a go-to excuse for fun. Want to catch up with old friends? Go to brunch. Bored? Go to brunch. Need a date idea? Go to brunch. It’s NEVER a bad time to brunch. Just the word brunch is like a shield from all potential judgment (at least from mutual brunch goers). Gluttonously eating and drinking with strangers? No problem. It’s brunch!
So why do you love brunch? Where do you love to go and why?
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