Columbia is experiencing a brunch boom as restaurants lean into biscuits, mimosas and more

It’s the only meal where customers with bedhead and wrinkly pajamas are welcomed to sit alongside others with freshly-pressed suits or sundresses and sip on cocktails while basking in the midday sun.

It’s a meal that invites hungry students to pass time waiting for a table by playing question games with their friends, and one where you can expect to spot children running around tables filled with morning newspapers and cups of coffee.

It’s the beloved brunch.

Anyone who has ever waited in line for more than an hour at longtime favorites like Cafe Strudel or the Cinnamon Roll Deli knows there is a hungry market in Columbia. Five Points’ Flying Biscuit and the Main Street district’s Toasty Hot Spot warmed up their griddles and opened their doors in recent years, and more spots soon will join the Columbia brunch scene when Ruby Sunshine fills in Yesterdays previous Five Points location and Vicious Biscuit opens on Forest Drive.

What’s so special about this odd meal that sits in between breakfast and lunch and normalizes a morning glass of booze?

“Its culture is palpable,” said John Robert Barth, the owner of Flying Biscuit.

Brunch fills a need for community and adds in good food, drinks and often, sunshine, said Heather McDonald, director of the association of merchants in Five Points — which, with the Gourmet Shop, Publico, Drip, Flying Biscuit and more, and soon even more options, is one of Columbia’s hottest concentrations of weekend brunch spots.

“I’m not a big goer-outer on the weekend, and brunch fills that need,” McDonald said. “I can still go out and see my friends on the weekend, but I can also get my chores done and plan for the week ahead.”

McDonald, who has lived in Columbia since 1996 and attended the University of South Carolina, has seen the brunch market boom over the years. Even though her taste buds don’t prefer breakfast food, the flexibility of brunch allows her to order lunch classics while catching up with friends.

“It’s crazy how much brunch has become a phenomenon and the thing to do,” McDonald said. “I kind of feel like I’m having FOMO (fear of missing out) if I don’t go to brunch on the weekend.”

Some of her favorite brunch spots include the Gourmet Shop, the Flying Biscuit, Home Team, Salty Nut Cafe and Jack Brown’s Beer and Burger Joint.

“Brunch is a fun idea in the sense that it’s not a traditional meal,” Barth said. “You can kind of split the difference” and get both lunch and breakfast.

When Mike Duganier, the owner of Publico and Boku restaurants, traveled for his previous job and lived in 19 cities in 26 years, he’d always look for a new brunch spot on his Sundays off.

It’s what led him to create Publico’s “Sunday Funday” concept.

When the Latin-Asian fusion restaurant opened in Five Points in 2015, Sunday was one of the slowest days. Once it began marketing “Sunday Funday” on the patio with a variety of traditional brunch items and others that fit into Publico’s existing food concept, Sunday became one of the busiest days of the week.

“I think we’ve become one of the staples as a go-to on the weekend for brunch,” Duganier said.

When he later opened the pan-Asian style restaurant Boku in the Vista, Duganier said he was most excited to create the brunch menu. Today, customers can enjoy dim sum brunch, or portions of sharable items to eat with groups, from Boku on Saturdays and Sundays.

“Who doesn’t enjoy great food, atmosphere, sunshine, friends, family?” Duganier said.

Still, Duganier doesn’t think Columbia’s brunch market is large enough yet.

Neither did Sai Williams, who opened the Toasty Hot Spot on Lady Street in 2021. Breakfast is the top seller, and because of the demand, Williams transitioned her business to selling the breakfast menu all day within months of opening.

“All of our customers wanted to come in for our breakfast items in the afternoon,” Williams said. “We decided to run the breakfast all day, and it’s been crazy ever since.”

Along with breakfast classics, The Toasty Hot Spot is known for its weekly specialty items. These specials are items that other restaurants don’t sell on an everyday basis, like a fried bologna, egg and cheese sandwich.

Everything is made to order, so customers can expect to wait about 15 minutes to get their food. Wait times are common at brunch spots across Columbia.

In Five Points, new brunch spots on the horizon mean that customers have options and can pass their time by stopping into the local boutiques, book stores and other businesses.

Barth, who recently opened the Flying Biscuit on Harden Street with Kevin White, said he’s heard that their opening has increased foot traffic in neighboring stores. He said he’s excited for Flying Biscuit to be part of the “new Five Points.”

When Ruby Sunshine opens in June, Five Points will be a “brunch destination,” according to McDonald.

“It’s an opportunity where you can come grab something to eat, have a couple of mimosas and go shopping (in Five Points),” McDonald said. “It provides an opportunity for folks to get out and enjoy your city.”