Saigon Harbor remains one of the East Bay’s strongest weekend dim sum options — the fried taro dumplings, steamed rice rolls, and sticky rice in lotus leaf all rank among the tops in the area.

The historic San Pablo Avenue brunch spot, set in an actual log cabin, is offering its entire menu — pancakes, scrambles, hashes, and all — for takeout, curbside pickup, and delivery. Keep an eye out for the daily blue plate specials, which run the gamut from a classic Monte Cristo to a carnitas torta.

The popular West Berkeley chaat house, known for its huge crowds on weekend mornings, is open for takeout, curbside pickup, and both indoor and outdoor dining — and still serving all of its customer favorites, including its dosas and its bhatura cholle (aka the “big puffy bread”), which almost everyone orders.

Sistory Thai Kitchen serves a menu that appeals to those who want the standardest of standard breakfasts — i.e. a proper buttermilk pancake or an eggs benedict — but it’s when the menu branches out that the food truly shines. For instance, the Get Up N Fly features crisp russet potato wedges (topped with a fried egg, it’s breakfast after all) with a yellow curry sauce perfect for re-dipping bites of potato. On the sweeter side, the pancakes with the Thai tea syrup might be up your alley.

Perhaps best known for its weekday focaccia sandwich brown bag lunches, Chez Panisse alum Kelsie Kerr’s West Berkeley breakfast and lunch spot also serves up a mean Saturday brunch — a weekly tradition that the restaurant revived after staying closed on weekends for the bulk of the pandemic. The menu changes every day, but keep an eye out for sticky buns, sourdough waffles, and picture-perfect fried eggs.

Huge classic American breakfasts are the calling card of this West Oakland diner, a newly reborn version of a beloved El Cerrito spot. Well-stuffed omelets and fluffy, buttery pancakes are the way to go here, but the Asian-leaning dishes (teriyaki plates and such) are worth trying too: The Spam-and-egg rice bowl really hits the spot.

This North Oakland institution serves a mean fried chicken breakfast plate, with or without the waffle, but the real star of its breakfast and brunch menu is what’s probably the creamiest, most delicious side of grits you can find in the East Bay. No one will blame you if you finish your morning meal here with a slice of pie.

You’ll find all the classics here, but also slightly more contemporary and hard-to-find options: Buried in the restaurant’s vast menu are gems like pan-fried daikon cake with XO sauce; crispy-garlic-topped “typhoon style” taro cake; and cute, Instagram-ready piggy-faced steamed custard buns.

The classic downtown Berkeley brunch spot, a favorite for generations of Cal students, is still welcoming long lines of diners to enjoy pain perdu, French-style omelettes, and combo plates like the “Cote Ouest”: a three-egg omelette with ratatouille, homefries, and a choice of toast. The garlicky breakfast potatoes alone are worth a visit.

Split has finally branched out to Oakland, and it’s possibly one of the best brunch menus to satisfy the varying appetites of a group. Not only is there a good selection of sweet and savory breakfast options, but now your “I don’t really eat breakfast” friend has some decent burger and sandwich choices — a buffalo crispy chicken sandwich being just one example — and your “I try to eat healthy at all times” friend will thank you for picking this spot.

FOB Kitchen has resumed its three-day-a-week brunch hours, which means you can snag one of their silogs (garlic rice breakfast plates) — say the one with tocino or a Filipino eggplant omelette — on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday mornings.

San Francisco Cajun institution Brenda’s is serving the restaurant’s time-tested classics including a flight of beignets, a po’ boy, or a hearty plate of shrimp and grits from 8 a.m to 8 p.m., Thursdays through Mondays.

This Rockridge restaurant is serves its brunch dishes every day. The menu aims to offer something for everyone, from pancakes and Benedicts to morning fare with Korean and other international influences: omurice, morning tacos with kalbi, and Korean fried chicken and waffles.

By far the most popular brunch spot in the vicinity of Lake Merritt (the weekend lines are legendary), Grand Lake Kitchen has its all-day brunch menu that includes both sweet and savory versions of French toast. The restaurant has a second location in the Dimond that’s also open.

Indulge in classic American breakfast and lunch fare at this homey little spot, where the dining room winds past the kitchen and a patio wraps around the side. The menu stars big platters of pancakes, eggs, hash browns, and the usual breakfast meats — think, sausage patties and bacon. Everything is cooked with attention and care and there are some unexpected options worth exploring such as the corn waffle and orange rice flour pancakes.

The chic Laurel District diner is open for breakfast, lunch, and weekend brunch, Wednesday through Sunday. The waffles and biscuits are spectacular, as are the breakfast sandwiches, and there are plenty of vegetarian-friendly options — and mimosa and bloody maria kits to boot.

Of course it’s wonderful to eat your dim sum freshly cooked at the restaurant, but it does feel like an extra treat to be able to take home some frozen versions — you know, just in case hunger strikes late at night — like you can at all the Koi Palace locations, including the Dublin spot. Koi Palace offers a selection of frozen dim sum for customers to steam (or bake) at home — everything from har gow to chicken feet to Portuguese egg tarts.