Best Mother's Day Brunch in Eugene, Oregon

Brunch is the meal of choice for celebrating Mother's Day, and Eugene, Oregon, has a handful of restaurants with eclectic brunch menus. Here are three of the best:

Sweetwaters on the River

Featuring an extensive menu and river views from every table, Sweetwaters is a favorite weekend brunch spot in Eugene. Sweetwaters is located inside the Valley River Inn, on the banks of the Willamette River, and has a covered outdoor patio that's a perfect place to enjoy a sunny spring day. Sweetwaters describes its menu as "Pan Pacific Northwest cuisine focused on North American game, Pacific seafoods and locally gathered organic produce." Executive chef Michael Thieme has concocted a brunch menu that perfectly fits that description, with highlights ranging from a selection of eggs benedict entreés and omelettes to sandwiches and desserts.

Sweetwaters has four different takes on eggs benedict, including Dungeness crab benedict with asparagus and benedict florentine, which comes with spinach, mushrooms and grilled tomatoes. There is a build-your-own three-egg omelette menu with optional ingredients including spinach, mushrooms, Scottish lox and Tillamook cheeses. Also on the menu: stuffed French toast, Belgian waffles, quiche, tofu scramble and huckleberry pancakes.

If you're leaning more toward lunch, Sweetwaters has a rueben sandwich, salads and hamburgers. The dessert menu includes marion berry crisp, chocolate silk and vanilla bean creme brulée, and there's a wide range of drinks, including Starbucks coffee, teas, champagne, Spanish coffee and more.

Sweetwaters fills up quickly for brunch, especially on Mother's Day, so it's a good idea to make reservations ahead of time.

Sweetwaters on the River
1000 Valley River Way
Eugene, OR 97401
541-743-1000
valleyriverinn.com/sweetwaters

The Original Pancake House

The Original Pancake House is located near the University of Oregon and offers a large menu with a variety of mouth-watering breakfast items. True to the name, pancakes are the specialty here, and there are no less than 18 varieties, including sourdough flap jacks, bacon pancakes, Hawaiian pancakes - which are filled with crushed pineapple, dusted with powdered sugar and served with hot tropical syrup - Georgia pecan pancakes, coconut pancakes and buckwheat pancakes.

But the menu doesn't stop there. The Original Pancake House also features house specialties such as apple pancakes, which are more apple than pancake and are served with a cinnamon glaze, and oven-baked Dutch babies, which are served with lemon and powdered sugar. There is a delicious vegetarian omelette, corned beef hash and several types of crepes, including The Tahitian Maiden's Dream, which is filled with sliced bananas in sour cream and Triple Sec, sherry and brandy and topped with diced bananas in an apricot sauce.

The Original Pancake House has a half-dozen waffle entreés, omelettes, egg specialties and fresh fruit.

The Original Pancake House
782 E. Broadway Ave.
Eugene, Oregon 97401
541-343-7523
originalpancakehouse.com

Café Zenon

After closing due to economic difficulties, Cafe Zenon reopened in 2009 with a new owner and a new executive chef, Scott Whitus. The 25-year-old restaurant was remodeled and updated, and a bar was added.

One thing hasn't changed, however: Cafe Zenon is still an excellent place to go for brunch.

Whitus has made additions to the menu, but Cafe Zenon still offers many of the same great brunch items. Breakfast highlights include quiche, the roasted apple omelette, cajun oyster omelette, vegetable frittata, eggs florentine and the kimchi scramble, which has shredded lettuce, rice and folded eggs topped with kimchi and sriracha. There are several other egg dishes, including eggs benedict, eggs Jean-Pierre and red flannel hash, which is two poached eggs served with corned beef, beets, potatoes, sweet peppers, onions and cream.

The brunch menu also includes salads, such as the cajun blackened chicken salad, sirloin burgers, veggie burgers, reuben sandwiches and roasted turkey.

Cafe Zenon
898 Pearl St.
Eugene, OR 97401
541-684-4000
zenoncafe.com

Sources:
Sweetwaters on the River, Valley River Inn
Original Pancake House
Cafe Zenon