Forsake your faux-nutritional breakfast bar or your everyday plate of diner eggs and bacon, and start your day where breakfast is the most celebrated meal rather than an afterthought or routine. Just a few blocks south of Central Park in the Parker Meridien, Norma's gives the first meal of the day a deluxe, over-the-top treatment. Bleary-eyed hotel guests and a young, in-the-know brunch crowd congregate in the elegant, high-ceilinged space with soft jazz in the background and a solitary tulip at every table. It's the little details that give diners the relaxed, pampered experience. A shot glass full of the fruit smoothie of the day greets every diner. Each table that orders coffee receives its own French press, so that cups may runneth over. Plates are piled high with colorful fruit and architecturally impressive pancake, crêpe and egg dishes. From the breakfast nachos (banana, pineapple and strawberry on tortilla chips, drizzled with chocolate) to foie gras brioche French toast or the $1,000 lobster frittata (with caviar), Norma's proclaims that decadence need not be reserved for 5 pm or later. The potato pancakes recipe garnered a James Beard award, as these lightly browned cakes come with a sweet, subtle carrot payasam and a bold, standout cranberry apple sauce. No alcohol available. Serving breakfast and lunch (breakfast menu always available) daily. Sat–Sun brunch (7am–3pm).
Where the Locals Eat Rating
Best Breakfast
Top 100 Restaurant, New York City
"Breakfast has its Cinderella moment at Norma's, a bright and smart dining room in the Parker Meridien Hotel in Midtown Manhattan, where the specialty is breakfast and nothing but. ... 15 griddle selections include superbly light, lemon flavored pancakes, dense blueberry pancakes with Devonshire cream and brioche French toast that actually tastes like brioche."
—The New York Times
"The dishes – pancakes larded with blueberries and clotted cream; a rustic eggs Benedict with artichoke and porcini-truffle sauce-are like diner food for, well, rock stars."
—New York magazine
"Gourmet egg and pancake concoctions are served in impossibly huge portions. ... It's all as good as it sounds."
—Time Out New York
"Here it's breakfast that's the art form. ... [it's] the kind of food to soothe the weariest of souls or palates ... utterly fulfilling."
– Newsday
How Others Rate Norma's
The New York Times
Top Pick
New York magazine
Critics' Pick
Zagat 2008
25 Food Rating (Very Good to Excellent)