Best Brunch under $15: Gum Tree
The Gum Tree café and gift shop harkens back to simpler times.
Weekend brunch is the most relaxed meal of anyone’s week, perhaps the only one where time means little and you allow yourself to relax completely and enjoy your environment.
It makes sense that our winner this year boasts a sunny outdoor patio, serene atmosphere, and an endearingly eccentric menu. Gum Tree serves the same menu on weekends as they do every other day, omelets, sandwiches, salads, and pastas with a distinctly Australian touch. This doesn’t mean a menu of meat pies or items that contain vegemite, that ‘love it or hate it’ condiment of the Antipodes. Rather, there are hints of the cuisine of British, Greek, and Asian cultures that are well established on that continent, served alongside simple local favorites. At weekend brunch locals slow down and appreciate this café and BOB-winning gift shop, an eclectic outpost of the land diagonally across the Pacific.
Gum Tree: 238 Pier Avenue, HB. 310-376-8744.
Runner-up: Martha’s, 25 22nd Street, HB. 310-376-7786.