Weekend Brunch Spots in NEPA: PRIME at City Market

DALLAS — The weekend is here again, and that can mean only one thing…waking up late but being in the mood for breakfast, lunch, and an adult beverage all at the same time. That’s where brunch comes in. To kick off my new NEPA brunch spots series, I’m trying PRIME at City Market.

As a lover of breakfast foods who doesn’t believe in leaving the house before noon on weekends, I’m making it my personal mission to experience more brunches in Northeastern Pennsylvania. I scoured the area for avocado toast and bottomless mimosas to discover that we do have quite a few nearby brunch spots…if you know where to look.

After arriving at one restaurant that was closed and apparently doesn’t serve brunch anymore, my best friend and brunch buddy, Miranda Miaris, and I relied on Google to locate a backup brunch spot. Thankfully, we were delighted by what we discovered in choosing PRIME at City Market as our next stop.

PRIME at City Market is a new restaurant on the Memorial Highway that opened in 2020. They serve brunch every Saturday and Sunday from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The place was packed (apparently everybody else heard about their brunch menu too) and we didn’t make a reservation, but we were able to be seated right away at the bar anyway. As two twenty-somethings dying for a hair of the dog at this point, we were just fine with that.

They definitely served mimosas, although not bottomless, but PRIME also has a full cocktail menu, currently winter-themed. So, we got two mimosas ASAP and browsed their weekend brunch menu.

Food-wise, I ordered the Big Boy Breakfast Burrito and it was indeed a big boy, but it was deliciously jam-packed with eggs, home fries, peppers, sausages, onions, and cheddar. The salsa and chipotle enchilada sauce on the side created a nice balance to the hearty dish. It was big and messy but, in my experience, any burrito that is easy-to-handle is probably not worth it.

Each dish was thoughtfully presented and garnished.Miranda had the Chicken & Waffles, which consisted of cornflake-fried chicken over cast-iron waffles topped with local maple syrup, all this alongside a unique blueberry honey mustard. She said she was amazed by how perfectly the waffles were cooked and everything was lovely.

I ordered the Cold Brew Martini after my meal to keep sipping and chatting. With a sprinkle of coffee beans floating at the top, this cocktail was the winter pick-me-up my day needed. I wouldn’t mind starting more mornings off with a Cold Brew Martini in place of coffee…

The entire restaurant exhibited a great atmosphere. The walls were neutral grays, accented by colorful, eye-catching art with a metropolitan theme. The service was also excellent, with friendly servers who never let our glasses empty and delivered our food in no time. No complaints.

City Market itself is such a creative local establishment; combining a deli with a convenience store and a grocery store. You really can’t go wrong with City Market, whether you’re looking for gourmet cheeses, grabbing dessert, or are just taking a salad to go.

I couldn’t have asked for a better brunch spot to review first in this series, and with the original restaurant I picked closed, it was truly meant to be.