Weekday brunch is the best way to experience Haberdish without the wait

Counter to all other restaurants, Haberdish rolled out its brunch menu on weekdays only. It’s available Tuesday – Friday 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. and isn’t served on weekends (yet).

Adding brunch in the middle of the week was a natural evolution.

It had become something of a tradition at Haberdish that when the kitchen staff arrived in the morning, they’d use the leftover biscuit batter from the previous night to mix up cinnamon rolls for the staff. It began as a nice treat, but the outcome was undeniable. They were good. Really good.

It’s a fitting origin story for one of the more popular items now on Haberdish’s weekday brunch menu. None of it feels forced, and there are no vast departures from the unpretentious Southern food that’s made Haberdish one of Charlotte’s most popular restaurants. It’s just a morning version of those evening favorites.

“It’s been something we felt really fit the south and what we were doing, and it’s always been an aspiration,” owner Jeff Tonidandel said. “We feel like there’s a lot of stuff on our menu, like making biscuits, that we’re good at. We wanted to showcase those.”

The benefit to that serendipitous approach to brunch is it’s served as a perfect way to enjoy what makes Haberdish great without the need to wait for a table to open during the busy dinner rush.

There are some obvious dinner favorites missing from the brunch menu, like the full bone-in chickens. But overall, you can visit for brunch and leave with a real feel of what it is that’s made Haberdish a hot spot for dinner.

The cinnamon rolls are warm and flakey on the outside, but soft and milky inside and very much indulge in the aesthetic of a biscuit.

Of course, chicken is still king — from the chicken and waffles to bone broth chicken soup. Eggs, waffles and fruit are all served with the expected Southern flair, and a delicious assortment of brunch cocktails are on the menu for those with limited plans for the afternoon.

Given the usual wait times for a table at night, brunch is the perfect way to try out Haberdish without the hassle of a huge crowd.

“We’re getting some success in that group that’s like, your parents came to visit and you take off work because they’re in town, and you come to Haberdish on a Wednesday and have a nice brunch,” Tonidandel said. “It’s great, and it’s been really fun.”

Brunch was always a plan for Tonidandel, but the busy dinner shifts made the transition on weekends nearly impossible.

There simply wasn’t enough time to go from made-to-order eggs to bone-in chicken thighs. So Tonidandel got to thinking about the weekdays.

That’s also made Haberdish something of a rarity in Charlotte. Few places outside of the traditional breakfast establishments offer a weekday brunch, and none do it quite like Haberdish — with coffee served in a therms and everything from a daily pickle selection to bruleed fruits accompanying the traditional favorites.

Eating a traditional Southern brunch is a major departure from the usual weekday grind.

Given the restaurant’s popularity, the biggest perk is that those relaxing mornings aren’t filled with the stress of waiting for a table. There’s usually a crowd for brunch, but not a wait or need to do 10 laps around the block looking for parking.

Perhaps that changes a bit as more folks catch on to the idea of a high-end dining experience on a Tuesday morning, but for now, it’s still an easy chance to taste, sip and enjoy the best of Haberdish without the nighttime crowds.