Park Slope Brunch Beat: Pork Slope

With so many places in the neighborhood to grab a mimosa and a plate of eggs on the weekend, how can you decide which is the best spot to take your visiting in-laws or where you’ll want to sit quietly for a couple hours with the hair of the dog? The Park Slope Brunch Beat aims to guide you through the choices — we’ll break down the basics, share some special tips, and provide a quick scorecard to help you pick the best place for what you need next Saturday and Sunday.

The best occasion for having brunch at 5th Avenue’s Pork Slope might be following a night of drinking and snacking there. Just as their porky melt — a gut-buster of a sandwich stuffed with cheddarwurst and grilled onions and slathered with yellow mustard — is the kind of thing you want to dive into at 1am with your fourth (or so) pint, so is it the craving the next morning as you wake up to all those questionable decisions made the night before. This is the place for drunk food; this is the place for hangover food.

The first step to easing the pain is a little hair of the dog, whether you go with one of the 25 beers on tap (perhaps a pitcher for the table, as an apology for whatever antics you got into?) or one of the cocktails on the brunch menu. If you want to go with a brunch standard, the bloody Mary is available in a small ($6) or a large ($10), both around the same, or a bit less expensive, than other local brunch spots. Living up to its name, Pork Slope’s unusual, but tasty, version is decked out with a slice of pepperoni, and a layer of Guinness floats on top as it arrives at the table. It’s probably the manliest bloody Mary in town.

The food is just as dude-ly, and you’re likely to find yourself happily munching away at a table covered with plates of brown, fried things, nary a vegetable to be found (so it’s good you’re getting the tomato juice in that cocktail). You could grab a breakfast burrito ($15), filled with eggs and beans and tater tots, or a cheeseburger ($11 — add an egg, why not, for $2), or you can do as we often do and get a spread of bites to share — because how else are you going to attack a cafeteria tray of nachos ($17)? The tots ($5) are addictive, and if they’ve got biscuits and gravy on the specials when you’re there, the flaky, buttery biscuit blanketed in a spicy, creamy sausage gravy shouldn’t be missed.

Another favorite that’s always available at brunch are the chicken and waffle sliders ($12). Little waffle sandwiches with fried chicken, bacon, cheese, and a spicy maple syrup, they’re the sort of thing you’d think is a genius idea when you’re stoned, and you’re surprised to find that, while sober, they’re still pretty damn delightful.

Now, all this talk about the sort of state you might be in while eating here isn’t a reflection of the atmosphere at brunch. While some diners may be a little blurry-eyed as they’re ordering, there are just as many clear-eyed folks meeting friends for some fun food, or individuals pulling up a stool to nosh and catch a game on the TV above the bar. Those sliders, for instance, were just as amusing to us at a recent brunch here as they were to a young girl eating with her parents and little brother at a nearby table.

Compared to its sister restaurants Talde and Thistle Hill, brunch at Pork Slope is a decidedly more casual affair, and while perhaps it’s not as refined in its dishes, it’s just as crave-worthy. You know the days you’re in the mood for a sandwich that’s got waffles for bread, and, thankfully, you know there’s this comfortable place available to you on those days.

Park Slope Brunch Beat Rundown: PORK SLOPE
Where: 247 5th Avenue, between Carroll and Garfield
Phone: 718-768-7675
Brunch Hours: Saturdays & Sundays, 11am-4pm
Reservations: No
Outdoor Seating: No
Who To Bring: All the people equally in need of a little hair of the dog who you need to apologize to about the your behavior the night before, which you may or may not recall. But also good for families!
Best Time To Visit: Though it can get crowded at peak brunch hours, there’s a good amount of seating and turnover, so you most likely won’t have to wait long, if at all.
Best Bites: Don’t come looking for salads. Most of what’s going to end up on your table is going to be brown, probably fried, and will most likely contain meat in some form — even the bloody Mary ($6/$10) comes with a slice of pepperoni. Grab some friends and share some gut bombs, from the chicken and waffle sliders ($12) to the cafeteria tray of nachos ($17). Standards like the cheeseburger ($11) and the porky melt ($13) will satisfy, too.