Breakfast & Brunch in Frankfurt: The Best Cafés

Few things reveal Frankfurt’s rhythm as clearly as breakfast. On weekdays the city is up early: coffee to go, a roll eaten standing up, then onto the train. At the weekend, though, the tempo flips. Breakfast stretches over hours, the tables on Berger Straße fill up before ten, and nobody is in a hurry. I like to have breakfast out myself, and what used to be a handful of cafés back in my student days has grown into a proper scene — above all in the Nordend and Bornheim, but by now in Sachsenhausen and the city centre too.

One thing first: this is about the classic café breakfast right across the districts — egg done your way, good coffee, permission to linger. If you’re after something specific, you’ll do better elsewhere on this site: at a lavish breakfast buffet, at breakfast with a view over the city’s rooftops, at a Turkish breakfast with its many little dishes, or at a purely vegan breakfast. For everything else, stay right here.

Nordend: where the breakfast day begins

For me, Frankfurt’s breakfast map starts in the Nordend. Around Merianplatz and the lower Berger Straße the classics sit so close together that you can spend half a Sunday here alone.

My first port of call for a leisurely brunch is Harvey’s at Bornheimer Landstraße 64, a few steps from Merianplatz U-Bahn station (U4). The café occupies a tall, listed period building with stucco ceilings, portraits of famous faces on the walls, and an atmosphere that’s warm and just a little glamorous — a Frankfurt institution for well over a decade. At weekends Harvey’s works with fixed breakfast slots spread across the morning, so book ahead or you’ll be queuing. During the week it stays open into the evening, which means a late afternoon breakfast is on the cards too.

If you prefer things lighter and more modern, head to Sunny Side Up at Gluckstraße 21. The menu is entirely vegetarian, with plenty of vegan and gluten-free options — pancakes, breakfast bowls, avocado toast, plus decent specialty coffee and matcha. Breakfast runs all morning here and the kitchen keeps going until 3 p.m. Sunny Side Up has two further branches (in the Westend on Bockenheimer Landstraße and in Sachsenhausen), but the Nordend one is my favourite for a quiet weekday.

And if it’s less about the food and more about the perfect espresso: Hoppenworth & Ploch at Friedberger Landstraße 86 was Frankfurt’s first dedicated third-wave roastery when it opened in 2014, and it’s still the place for coffee nerds and anyone hoping to become one. Freshly roasted single-origin beans, croissants baked each morning, vegan sandwiches alongside — it isn’t breakfast in the strict sense, but a “croissant and coffee” here is a small ritual in itself.

Bornheim and Berger Straße: from Israeli to house-roasted

Further up, Berger Straße turns into Bornheim’s lively promenade — and one of the best breakfast strips in the city. You can read more about the quarter itself in my portrait of Bornheim and Berger Straße; here it’s all about the food.

A genuine long-runner is GINKGO at Berger Straße 81, going since 1995. The pastes, spreads and jams are homemade to their own recipes, and breakfast is served until 2.30 p.m. — ideal for anyone slow to get going in the morning. At weekends and on public holidays the kitchen focuses entirely on breakfast and egg dishes.

My tip for anyone who wants something beyond the usual roll and jam: Café Morcolade at Eichwaldstraße 2, just behind the upper Berger Straße near Bornheim Mitte station (U4). This is Israeli-influenced cooking — shakshuka with poached eggs in a spicy tomato sauce, hummus, sabich — alongside classic breakfast plates and plenty of vegetarian and vegan choices. The proper brunch runs daily from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., so don’t turn up too late.

For coffee afterwards, it’s worth the short hop to Café Wacker at Berger Straße 185. The Wacker family has been roasting in Frankfurt for over a hundred years, and this branch, with just 15 seats indoors, is the smallest and cosiest of them — though in summer you’ll want to sit outside anyway and watch the goings-on on Berger Straße.

Sachsenhausen: coffee-house calm “dribbdebach”

On the other side of the Main — affectionately called “dribbdebach” (the far bank) by Frankfurters — the pace slows noticeably. If you fancy wandering through old Sachsenhausen after breakfast, my piece on Sachsenhausen with apple wine and green sauce has more ideas.

The loveliest coffee house in the district, to my mind, is Café Wacker at Schweizer Straße 18, a few minutes from Schweizer Platz U-Bahn station. It sits in a listed period building, seats around 50, and has a classic-modern Viennese feel. The coffee comes from their own roastery — the selection runs to more than thirty varieties — alongside breakfast options, fine pastries and cake. It’s open from early morning into the evening (as of 2026: from 8 a.m. Monday to Friday, and from 8 or 9 a.m. at weekends).

Smaller and more homely is Amélie’s Wohnzimmer (“Amélie’s living room”) on Affentorplatz 20, right by the riverbank. The name says it all: snug, lovingly furnished rooms with living-room charm that make you want to settle in at once. Breakfast is served until 3 p.m., classic on Saturdays and as a brunch on Sundays. Because the café is small and popular, reserve at the weekend — dropping in on the off-chance rarely works out.

City centre: breakfast between the Goethe House and the Römer

Even in the very middle of town, between shopping streets and sights, you can breakfast beautifully — if you know where to go.

The institution par excellence is Café Karin at Großer Hirschgraben 28, right next to the Goethe House and only a few steps from the Hauptwache. It’s one of the city’s very first breakfast addresses and has kept going for more than three decades — charming proof that a good breakfast never goes out of fashion. The breakfast variations here are named after Frankfurt districts, and you can order breakfast until 6 p.m., so late risers get the whole day. One important note: it’s closed on Tuesdays, so plan around that.

If all you need is a quick, seriously good espresso standing at the counter, you’ll find it at the original Café Wacker on Kornmarkt 9. This tiny spot opened back in 1955 and has barely changed across its eighty-odd square metres since — a time capsule in the middle of the city. For coffee and pastries around the Römer, the New Old Town branch of Hoppenworth & Ploch at Markt 22 is ideal (daily from 10 a.m.). And for a proper, unhurried breakfast, drop into Walden at Kleiner Hirschgraben 7, which serves a varied breakfast alongside its understated world cuisine.

Bahnhofsviertel: specialty coffee and a deli

The Bahnhofsviertel has transformed from a rough red-light quarter into one of the city’s most interesting places to go out — and at breakfast that shows less in grand café halls than in ambitious specialty-coffee bars, where the flat white takes centre stage with a croissant or bagel on the side. Perfect for a quick, good start before a train.

A special case is Maxie Eisen at Münchener Straße 18, a Jewish-American-inspired deli that’s been known since 2013 for its pastrami sandwiches and matzo-ball soup. It’s not a classic breakfast café — the kitchen doesn’t get going until around 11.30 a.m. — but if you’ve slept through the morning and still want something hearty before moving on, this is your address.

What belongs on a good Frankfurt breakfast table

Frankfurt’s breakfast culture is gloriously international, but there are a few things worth seeking out on purpose:

• Shakshuka: the Israeli-influenced scene — Café Morcolade above all — has made poached eggs in a spicy tomato sauce a fixture. Eat it once on a Sunday and you’ll rarely go back to plain scrambled.
• House-roasted coffee: at Hoppenworth & Ploch and Café Wacker the beans come from their own roasteries. Order a filter coffee instead of the usual cappuccino for once — the difference is striking.
• Fresh morning pastries: croissants are everywhere, but the ones baked fresh each day at the roasteries and at Café Wacker are a clear cut above the supermarket standard.
• The egg done your way: the Frankfurt breakfast classic is both unremarkable and wonderful — fresh rolls, cold cuts, cheese, an egg however you like it. GINKGO or Café Karin give it to you in its purest form.

How to plan your breakfast morning

A few things I’ve internalised as a local that will save you grief:

• Weekend means booking. Harvey’s, Amélie’s Wohnzimmer and Sunny Side Up fill up fast on Saturdays and Sundays. Reserve — or be there before 10 a.m.
• Breakfast takes its time here. Many kitchens serve until 2.30 or 3 p.m., and Café Karin until 6 p.m. A late, relaxed breakfast is entirely doable.
• Keep closing days in mind. Café Karin shuts on Tuesdays — easy to forget in the centre, where you tend to drop by on impulse.
• Carry a little cash. Smaller cafés don’t always take cards; a few notes in your pocket never hurt.
• Make the most of the weather. In summer Berger Straße lives off its outdoor tables. There’s no better place to fritter away a morning than over a second coffee in the sun.

My Frankfurt breakfast Sunday

When friends come to visit and ask me for the perfect breakfast Sunday, my suggestion usually goes like this: we start early and without a reservation, with a filter coffee and a croissant at Hoppenworth & Ploch on Friedberger Landstraße, simply to wake up. Then we stroll up Berger Straße, browse the shops, and around eleven sit down to the actual brunch — either at GINKGO for the classic version, or at Café Morcolade if everyone’s in the mood for shakshuka. Anyone with time to spare then heads “dribbdebach” to Sachsenhausen, takes a last espresso at Café Wacker on Schweizer Straße and rounds off the morning with a wander along the river.

A morning like that shows Frankfurt at its most relaxed — no banking towers, no rush, just the best coffee in the city and the certainty that the next good café is guaranteed to be only two streets away. Pick a district, give yourself time, and let the day begin of its own accord.