Lets Brunch: Bonfire

Brunch: It's not Breakfast, It's not Lunch, It's just Better.

Welcome back to our next segment of "Let's Brunch!" Our usual Brunch Guy had to take a week off from brunching. Too many eggs bennys and mimosas can take a toll on a person. But don’t worry, I’m just as well versed in the brunch game. This week we reviewed Bonfire, which is a relatively new to Southside from Chef Chris Bonfili.  If you’re looking for a brunch that is serving the staples you love but with interesting and exciting twists, Chef Bonfili absolutely will not disappoint you. Their menu is great for any meal. The first floor serves dishes like mac and cheese, flatbreads and sandwiches and the second floor features a more upscale dinner menu. The brunch menu is served Saturday and Sunday.

bonfire-pgh.com

Pittsburgh Locations: Southside

Environment/Vibe: Definitely walks the line between casual, but still upscale. It’s the fanciest roasted marshmallow you might ever have, and the food will be classics you love but with a creative twist.

Alcohol/Bottomless Mimosas?: They have a full cocktail list for brunch to mimic the creative cocktails they serve the with other meals, featuring blood orange mimosas among other things. I got the Midnight Pickup, which was rum, nitro cold brew coffee, vanilla, and of course garnished with a roasted marshmallow. I highly recommend if you need your morning coffee, but also believe brunch should be a little boozy.

What I ate: I got the breakfast calzone. The menu just said, “breakfast calzone- yeah you heard us.” No description, that’s bold, I like that. I’ve never had a breakfast calzone, but I could tell they were confident in it being great. They were right. It was literally breakfast inside of a traditional calzone, topped with hollandaise sauce. Eggs, bacon, sausage, you get it. I absolutely loved it. It was breakfast with a twist, which is what I love about brunch.

Menu Options: Do I regret my breakfast calzone? Absolutely not. But now that I’ve seen what the S’mores pancakes look like, do I need to go back? I sure do. Like, immediately. Like potentially next week. The restaurant is literally called Bonfire, why didn’t I try the s’more pancakes? The only trouble with their menu is that you’ll want to try it all. The eggs benedict is done with lamb and was absolutely delicious according to one of the people I brunched with. There’s chicken and waffles. There’s a brunch burger, spice rum banana walnut French toast, and more. It was exactly the kind of brunch I love because I felt I was getting the classics with higher quality and more exciting ingredients. It’s all beautiful too, iPhones eat first at Bonfire. If you read this, then decide to go next weekend, I’ll probably see you there.

Summary of the foods rating from my friends: plain and simple, it bangs.

Price: $$. Between $14-$20 entrées

GIF Rating: 

giphy.com

Overall Rating: 9.9/10

I’ve brunched at most of the places Aaron has, and I would personally put this between Café Mona and Twelve Whiskey BBQ. 

Have brunch spots you think we should try? Let us know in the comments below. Thanks for reading!

-Cara, substitute professional bruncher

Current Brunch Rankings

1.     Café Mona LA Bistro- 10

2.   Bonfire- 9.9

3.    Twelve Whiskey BBQ- 9.8

4.    First Watch- 9.5

5.    Pamela's Diner- 9.1 (Maybe a little Pitt bias here....)

6.    Waffles Incaffeinated- 9

7.    Point Brugge- 8.4

8.    Square Cafe- 6.5