The Best Dining Is Happening During the Day

Restaurants continue to approach daytime service with more intention and creativity than ever, but this is not a new trend; we reported on this last year with our list of the 14 spots waking up the breakfast menu. But our scouting team of editors observed that this year, hospitality pros are not phoning it in at lunch, happy hour, or even that late-afternoon slump.

At Babychan in Nashville, Japanese-inspired pastries like a black sesame Swiss roll are just as much a reason to visit as the sandos and curries. Inside the tiny purple-and-yellow interior at Chainsaw in Los Angeles, Venezuelan chef Karla Subero Pittol spins out everything from flavorful arepas to a rotating array of tropical-inflected desserts. Over in Philadelphia, La Jefa Café rises out of a tragic fire to dish out Guadalajara-inspired pastries, cocktails, and more.

This is more than a trend, and hardly exhaustive, but we found seven new daytime spots making the case that breakfast, lunch and happy hour plans can be just as nourishing and thrilling as dinner. —Kate Kassin

Nashville, TN

You could come to Babychan, the Japanese-inspired all-day café and bakery in Nashville’s Germantown from the team behind Kisser (a Best New Restaurant of 2024), and have a full sit-down lunch of kabocha salad with yuzu honey vinaigrette, a chicken katsu or egg salad sando, and curry rice or an unagi bowl.

Owners Brian Lea and Leina Horii are playing the Japanese comfort food hits, but also shining a light through specials on dishes like doria, a Japanese version of gratin—a seafood short grain rice with panko, gruyère, and seaweed, topped with a dashi-spiked béchamel. You could also stop by Babychan for a pastry and an Okinawan (made with Japanese brown sugar and various spices) latte on-the-go from the café’s takeout window. Similar to the owners’ first Nashville spot Kisser, Babychan’s magic can only be experienced by day with a closing time of 3PM. —K.K.

Los Angeles, CA

It’s no surprise that Chainsaw Cafe’s origins can be traced to a dinner-party series in Venezuelan chef Karla Subero Pittol’s Echo Park garage.

The pop-up, born in 2020, grew so popular and buzzy that it made the formidable leap to brick-and-mortar this year. That original “party in a garage” spirit translates to the new space in Melrose Hill: a colorful plastered wall painted in a warm yellow hue that melts into pink, reminiscent of a sunset; heaping bowls of citrus and avocados overflowing on the front counter; and mismatched chairs and crates set outside as makeshift dining areas for eager guests.

The menu is almost equal parts caffeinated drinks and savory dishes, toeing the line between café and true restaurant. Expect a tight selection of incredible arepas filled with stewed beef, cheeses, and beans, alongside a few larger plates, like pork milanesa and even a whole fried fish.

There are just a few desserts, including an infamous passionfruit-lime icebox pie—the kind of bright, puckery ending that makes you want to linger, order another coffee, and settle in just a little longer. —June Kim

Portland, OR

When Javelina opened in Portland early 2025, it became the city’s first Indigenous restaurant.

Helmed by chef Alexa Numkena-Anderson, the restaurant’s mission is an exploration of Native techniques and foodways, marrying North American ingredients with indigenous cooking. During the day, the menu reclaims fry bread, a dish with a knotty history among Indigenous groups, as they were forced to adapt to US government rations when forcibly displaced from their homes. At lunch, it is front and center as the vessel for seared elk or bison chili tacos, or the buns for an otherwise all-American-style cheeseburger.

At night, two adventures present themselves: an à la carte dinner menu, or the Inisha Table, a tasting menu centering proteins native to Turtle Island. Think bison, duck, goose, rabbit, and tribal-caught fish, served alongside heirloom corns, beans, and more.

There is a lot of ambition on display at Javelina; it may be the first, but it won’t be the last. —Joseph Hernandez

Philadelphia, PA

Philadelphia’s pioneering Tequila’s Casa Mexicana, the city’s first fine dining Mexican restaurant opened in the ‘80s, suffered a devastating fire in 2023, shuttering it for two years.

It was a loss keenly felt by Philadelphians, but the owners, the Suros family (father David and son Dan), quickly rebuilt and reimagined the space. In 2025, Tequilas came back to life, and they carved out the space for La Jefa (an homage to the Suro's family matriarch, Annette Cipolloni).

The café, mezcal bar, and restaurant is a celebration of the foodways of Guadalajara, where the elder Suro originally immigrated before landing in Philly. During the day, expect Mexican-style pastries like various conchas, fragrant morning buns, and savory danishes, alongside larger seasonally driven lunch and brunch fare.

Agave, corn, and jamaica (hibiscus) flavor the house coffees, teas, and other drinks, nodding to heritage flavors. By afternoon, the vibe shifts in the chic, moody space as tightly crafted mezcal cocktails take center stage, served alongside bar bites like chicharron tetelas, nopales, and others.

Despite its tragic beginning, La Jefa has emerged from the ashes thanks to the Suros’ singular vision of melding heritage and innovation. —J.H.

Chicago, IL

Milli by Metric is one of those all-day cafes you want in your own neighborhood.

From the loose typeface logo, to the woodsy details, sage-green banquettes, and wavy orange wall treatments, it feels like a rec room from a groovy bygone era, updated for a modern aesthetic. It’s also sprawling, with three distinct areas that invite keyboard warriors to linger for hours—with a space so inviting, can you blame them?

Coffee heads and tea aficionados will get their fill on the extensive, rotating offerings. Head baker Lou Turner captains the ship here, turning out masterful laminated creations powered by imaginative flavor combos.

Deploying everything from pickled green strawberries and fresh peas to whipped labneh with Banyul vinegar glaze, artful Viennoiserie evokes more than a little whimsy that spans sweet and savory. And when it’s time to power down your laptop? Milli softly shifts into apero mode, and buzzy coffee drinks are replaced with cool-kid natural wines, available by the glass or bottle. —J.H.

Brooklyn, NY

It's an exciting time to be a burrito connoisseur.

Vato in Brooklyn’s Park Slope has built a Northern Mexican menu around exceptional house-made flour tortillas, wrapping them around fillings like burnt ends and cheese, pollo en mole, beans, and mushroom chorizo. The sweets are equally compelling: Yuzu conchas pair a crackly shell and a pillowy crumb with puckering yuzu curd Guava donuts shimmer behind a glass case. The generously frosted cinnamon roll has inspired a following of its own.

Owned by chef Fidel Caballero of Michelin-starred Corima, Vato is the kind of neighborhood spot that quickly becomes part of your routine. Pro-tip: Grab your haul and walk a couple of blocks for an easy picnic in Prospect Park. —Emma Jacobson

Los Angeles, CA

On any given day, you’ll find a swarm of cool, young diners at Wilde’s. Co-owned by best friends Natasha Price (executive chef) and Tatiana Ettensberger (wine director), Wilde’s has truly charmed Los Angeles.

I can’t imagine anything bolder than opening a British restaurant in the perpetual 80 (or 90) degree setting of this city. During the day, you’ll find a more relaxed and breezy atmosphere: patrons sipping coffees, nibbling on pastries, and ordering from a breakfast-leaning menu. Daytime items include lofty scones with a side of clotted cream and seasonal jam, flaky sausage rolls hefty with Peads & Barnetts pork, and egg soldiers served with streaky bacon.

When the sun sets, the vibe is moodier and sexier, the room warmed by candlelight and tables furnished with pints of Guinness or glasses of natural wine. The evening menu rotates heavily based on seasonal produce with a few mainstays like the battered skate that is crisp and light, meat pies so rich it’s best to split one amongst at least four, and of course, bangers and mash.

What works about Wilde’s is that it doesn’t treat British food as a novelty, instead living comfortably in its identity, while also remaining cool, completely effortless, and without a hint of gimmick. —J.K.