Mother’s Day is May 14, and there are plenty of options for celebrating on our Mother’s Day calendar, including a chance to learn about ocean mothers at the Seattle Aquarium, the 9th Annual Flower Festival, and a Mother’s Day improv show at Unexpected Productions. But, if you want to go the traditional Mother’s Day brunch route—which, be forewarned, has the reputation of being one of the worst holidays on which to get brunch due to crowds and screaming children—here are recommendations from our food critic, Tobias Coughlin-Bogue, where you’ll find the best food and, hopefully, the least amount of Hallmark cliches.
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1. Bar del Corso
Chef Melissa Miranda’s popular Filipino pop-up is back at Bar del Corso, this time for Mother’s Day brunch. Celebrate with the women in your life and enjoy traditional Filipino breakfast dishes with a twist.
2. Cafe Flora
If your mom happens to be vegetarian, or if she just happens to appreciate vegetarian food done right, consider taking her to Cafe Flora for Mother’s Day. They’ll be offering a three-course brunch for $45 per person and a kid’s menu for $15. Go for the house pastry basket to start (includes petite croissants, blueberry almond poppy seed scones, Meyer lemon curd and midnight berry jam), then continue with the jackfruit sopes and end with the chocolate rhubarb rose trifle.
3. Goldfinch Tavern
For a truly decadent Mother’s Day, take your mom to Goldfinch Tavern for its Moët-happy brunch buffet and complimentary photo booth. The brunch includes an appetizer section featuring yummy little things like crab-avocado parfait and goat cheese pastry puffs. Choose from numerous entrées (the morel mushroom scramble, for example) and then finish with dessert—the peach melba panna cotta sounds especially tantalizing.
4. The Georgian
For a truly ritzy experience, treat your mom to an Afternoon High Tea at the Georgian in the Fairmont Olympic Hotel downtown. The price includes a selection of loose-leaf teas, tea sandwiches, savory dishes, and house-made scones, plus a special dessert buffet.
5. Lecosho
Join Lecosho, Madres Kitchen and The Congolese Integration Network (CIN) for a Mother’s Day brunch and benefit. The event will include a traditional Congolese lunch buffet, drinks, live music and raffle prizes, and all proceeds will go towards the CIN, a new organization aimed at facilitating the inclusion and integration of Congolese immigrants and refugees into local community and society. The mission for the event “is to honor and show support to Congolese refugee mothers who have experienced systematic rape and abuse. For the past two decades, Congolese women have been used as tools during war, to destroy communities in their entirety.” Show up and enjoy delicious food while supporting an emerging local organization committed to urgent, crucial work.
6. Ray’s Boathouse
Spoil your mom this Mother’s Day with brunch dinner at Ray’s, in both the boathouse and the café. During brunch, the cafe will have a buffet with items including eggs Benedict, French toast, oysters on the half shell, and prime rib; the boathouse will have a la carte brunch items and other appetizers, salads, and seasonal entrees. During dinner in the boathouse, options include roasted sablefish in sake kasu, grilled wild King Salmon, and house-made tagliatelle. The café dinner menu includes pan-seared scallops, filet mignon, and the restaurant’s beloved Alaskan King Crab legs.
7. RN74
It’s a shame that RN74 doesn’t serve brunch on a regular basis, but then again it makes it all the more special when they do. For Mother’s Day this year, the restaurant will open its doors for an à la carte brunch, complete with a $22 bottomless bubbles feature if you’re looking to get extra merry. Dishes include warm French crullers (with orange cardamon, sugar and Meyer lemon curd), grilled asparagus, steak tartare, and boudin noir. At the end of your meal, they promise a “special chocolate gift just for Mom.”
8. Seattle Hebrew Academy
Join Chabad of Capitol Hill for a festive Lag BaOmer Brunch, complete with activities and cookie decorating for Mother’s Day. Lag BaOmer is a festive day on the Jewish calendar, known for its emphasis on mysticism and the Kabbalah. Lag BaOmer (sometimes spelled Baomer or B’omer) also celebrates the life of the legendary Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, who was said to be incredibly wise. The holiday is also known for bonfires, haircuts and weddings, all of which represent happiness and rebirth.
9. Tilth
Celebrate Mother’s Day at Tilth with its special three-course prix fixe brunch menu. Start with the house-made carrot muffin, then move on to cheddar biscuits and Skagit River Ranch sausage gravy breakfast sausage with fried eggs and preserved lemon. Wrap up the meal with Tilth’s sourdough waffle, complete with rhubarb butter and maple compote.
Get all this and more on the free Stranger Things To Do mobile app—available now on the App Store and Google Play.
This post has been updated since its original publication.
