Breakfast in the Lehigh Valley: 14 Spots Compared by Hours (2026)
Quick Answer: Our directory tracks 14 Lehigh Valley restaurants that Google lists as serving breakfast and that open by 9am on at least some days: 7 in Easton, 4 in Bethlehem and 3 on the Allentown side. For the earliest start, East Penn Diner opens at 6am every day. For a 7-day option with the deepest review record, Diner 248 carries more than 5,000 reviews in our directory data. The highest ratings belong to The Goosemen, The Market Grille and Wafa's Kitchen, all at 4.9 stars. The catch is the calendar: only 4 of the 14 are open all seven days, and Monday and Tuesday take out a big share of the list.
Key Takeaways:
- Earliest start: East Penn Diner opens at 6am all seven days. Diner 248 and The People's Kitchen follow at 7am.
- Only 4 of 14 open every day: East Penn Diner, Diner 248, Sunny Side Up and Brooklyn Eats.
- Monday gap: 4 of the 14 are closed Monday: The Market Grille, Smile Cafe, West Side Cafe & Grill and Jumbars.
- Tuesday in Bethlehem is thin: three of the four Bethlehem spots (The People's Kitchen, Mitzi's Table and Jumbars) are closed Tuesday, which leaves The Goosemen.
- Two are weekday-only: Wafa's Kitchen and Betty's Luncheon are open Monday through Friday and closed both weekend days.
- Get there early: 6 of the 14 close by 2pm, and The People's Kitchen closes at 1pm.
- Shortcut: For a single city, use our Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton breakfast guides, or browse the breakfast category.
Where Can You Get Breakfast in the Lehigh Valley?
We already have a breakfast guide for each of the three cities. This one covers the whole valley because a lot of people searching for breakfast here are willing to drive 15 minutes, and what decides the trip is usually the clock, not the city line. Is it open yet? Is it open today? Will it still be serving at 1:30?
To build the list, we took every restaurant in our directory where Google's service data includes "Serves breakfast" and kept the ones that open by 9am on at least one day. That rules out places that tick the breakfast box but don't open until 11am or later. Fourteen made it:
- Easton (7): Diner 248, Smile Cafe, West Side Cafe & Grill, Sunny Side Up, Brooklyn Eats, Betty's Luncheon and Giacomo's Italian Market and Grille
- Bethlehem (4): The People's Kitchen, Mitzi's Table, Jumbars and The Goosemen
- Allentown side (3): The Market Grille, Wafa's Kitchen and East Penn Diner, whose address is on Chestnut Street in Emmaus
Every one of the 14 holds a rating between 4.5 and 4.9 in our directory data, so a star rating won't separate them much. Hours, days open, reservations and parking will.
Which Breakfast Spots Open Earliest?
If you need breakfast before work, the list gets short.
- 6am: East Penn Diner, every day of the week, Sunday included.
- 7am: Diner 248 (every day) and The People's Kitchen (every day except Tuesday).
- 7:30am: The Goosemen (weekdays), Wafa's Kitchen (weekdays) and Brooklyn Eats (every day).
- 8am: Sunny Side Up, Smile Cafe, West Side Cafe & Grill, Jumbars and Betty's Luncheon on the days each is open, plus The Market Grille on Friday and Saturday.
- 8:30am: Mitzi's Table.
- 9am: Giacomo's Italian Market and Grille Monday through Saturday, and The Market Grille on Thursday.
Watch out for Saturday at The Goosemen. It opens at 7:30am on weekdays but not until 10am on Saturday, and it's closed Sunday.
Which Ones Are Open on Monday and Tuesday?
Most of the day-off pattern in this category falls early in the week. Ten of the 14 are open Monday. The four that aren't are The Market Grille, Smile Cafe, West Side Cafe & Grill and Jumbars.
Tuesday is worse in Bethlehem. The People's Kitchen, Mitzi's Table and Jumbars all close that day, so of the four Bethlehem spots we track, only The Goosemen is open on a Tuesday morning. Across the whole valley, 9 of the 14 are open Tuesday.
Local rule of thumb: If it's Monday or Tuesday and you don't want to check hours first, go to one of the four that never close: East Penn Diner, Diner 248, Sunny Side Up or Brooklyn Eats. All four are open every day of the week in Google's verified hours.
The Market Grille has the narrowest week on the list. It is open Thursday, Friday and Saturday only, 9am to 6pm Thursday, 8am to 6pm Friday and 8am to 5pm Saturday. It holds a 4.9 rating across 544 reviews in our directory data, so it's worth planning a Thursday-to-Saturday visit around.
Where Can You Get Breakfast on the Weekend?
Twelve of the 14 are open Saturday. The two that aren't are Wafa's Kitchen on Hamilton Street in Allentown and Betty's Luncheon on Northampton Street in Easton. Both are Monday-to-Friday operations and closed all weekend.
Sunday is tighter: 9 of the 14 are open. Closed on Sunday are The Goosemen, The Market Grille, Wafa's Kitchen, Giacomo's and Betty's Luncheon. The Sunday options split like this:
- Easton: Diner 248, Smile Cafe, West Side Cafe & Grill, Sunny Side Up and Brooklyn Eats
- Bethlehem: The People's Kitchen, Mitzi's Table and Jumbars
- Allentown side: East Penn Diner
The Allentown side is the one to plan for. The Market Grille and Wafa's Kitchen are both closed Sunday, which leaves East Penn Diner in Emmaus as our directory's only Sunday breakfast pick on that side of the valley. If you're in Allentown on a Sunday and want something other than a diner, the Bethlehem spots are the nearest alternatives.
How Late Do They Keep Serving?
Breakfast places here close early. Six of the 14 are closed by 2pm: The People's Kitchen at 1pm, and Wafa's Kitchen, Smile Cafe, Mitzi's Table, Jumbars and Sunny Side Up at 2pm. Giacomo's and Betty's Luncheon close at 3pm. The Goosemen closes at 4pm, and so does Brooklyn Eats on most days.
A few stay open past mid-afternoon on certain days:
- Brooklyn Eats is open until 6pm on Friday and Saturday.
- West Side Cafe & Grill runs 8am to 4pm most days but stays open until 8pm on Friday and Saturday.
- The Market Grille is open until 5pm or 6pm on its three days.
Only two are open into the evening every day. Diner 248 runs 7am to 9pm, and until 10pm Friday and Saturday. East Penn Diner runs 6am to 10pm Monday through Saturday and 6am to 9pm Sunday. Google's data doesn't say whether either one serves breakfast all day, so call ahead if you want pancakes at 8pm. Both do list breakfast, lunch and dinner service.
Which Spots Have the Highest Ratings and the Most Reviews?
Three spots share the top rating of 4.9 stars in our directory data:
- The Goosemen, 806 reviews
- The Market Grille, 544 reviews
- Wafa's Kitchen, 225 reviews
Four Easton spots follow at 4.8: Smile Cafe (445 reviews), Giacomo's (513), West Side Cafe & Grill (183) and Betty's Luncheon (95).
The diners have far more reviews. Diner 248 holds 5,093 reviews at 4.5 stars and East Penn Diner holds 2,332 at 4.5. Between them they have more reviews than the other 12 spots combined. A 4.5 average across thousands of reviews is a different kind of number from a 4.9 across a couple of hundred. It tells you the place is consistent at volume, not that it's worse.
The rest sit at 4.7: The People's Kitchen (780 reviews), Mitzi's Table (704), Jumbars (538), Sunny Side Up (373) and Brooklyn Eats (107).
In the review text, breakfast comes up most often for the spots built around it. Reviewers of Smile Cafe, Jumbars, Mitzi's Table, Sunny Side Up, The People's Kitchen and West Side Cafe & Grill all describe going specifically for breakfast. Reviews of The Goosemen, Giacomo's and Betty's Luncheon talk mostly about sandwiches and lunch. Google does list breakfast service at all three, but treat them as early grab-and-go stops rather than sit-down breakfast rooms.
Can You Make a Reservation?
Six of the 14 list reservations in Google's service data: Diner 248, Smile Cafe, Brooklyn Eats, Wafa's Kitchen, Betty's Luncheon and The Market Grille. The other eight don't, and that includes several of the busiest weekend spots: Mitzi's Table, Jumbars, Sunny Side Up, The People's Kitchen, West Side Cafe & Grill and East Penn Diner.
Reviewers mention short waits on weekend mornings at a couple of these. One Mitzi's Table reviewer expected a long Sunday wait and got 5 to 10 minutes, and a Jumbars reviewer notes it's a small place where you may wait a few minutes. With no reservations at those places, the practical fix is to arrive close to opening time.
What About Parking and Outdoor Seating?
Seven of the 14 list a free parking lot: Diner 248, East Penn Diner, Sunny Side Up, Smile Cafe, Mitzi's Table, Giacomo's and The Market Grille. Those are the easy ones on a busy weekend morning.
The other seven rely on street parking. The People's Kitchen, West Side Cafe & Grill, Brooklyn Eats and Betty's Luncheon list free street parking. Wafa's Kitchen and Jumbars list both free and paid street parking, and The Goosemen lists paid street parking only.
Four list outdoor seating: Sunny Side Up, Smile Cafe, Jumbars and Giacomo's. If you're bringing kids, eight list a children's menu: Diner 248, East Penn Diner, Sunny Side Up, Brooklyn Eats, Mitzi's Table, West Side Cafe & Grill, Giacomo's and The Market Grille.
Diner 248 is the one place on the list where Google's data includes beer, wine and cocktails, if your group wants a brunch drink.
Bottom Line: Which Breakfast Spot Should You Pick?
- Earliest start, any day: East Penn Diner, 6am, seven days a week.
- Open every day with reservations: Diner 248 or Brooklyn Eats.
- Highest rated: The Goosemen, The Market Grille or Wafa's Kitchen, all at 4.9. Check the day first, because none of the three is open Sunday.
- Tuesday in Bethlehem: The Goosemen, the Bethlehem spot on our list that's open that day.
- Sunday sit-down in Bethlehem: The People's Kitchen (7am, closes 1pm), Jumbars (8am) or Mitzi's Table (8:30am).
- Outdoor table with a free lot: Sunny Side Up or Smile Cafe.
- Late breakfast after 2pm: skip the cafes and go to Diner 248, East Penn Diner, Brooklyn Eats or West Side Cafe & Grill.
Hours in this article come from Google's verified listing data as of our latest directory update. Breakfast places change hours more often than most restaurants, so check the listing page before a holiday-weekend trip.
Find the best local businesses in Lehigh Valley. Our directory ranks restaurants, home services and local shops across Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton using verified Google ratings, review counts and hours. Compare the full breakfast list in our breakfast category, or start from the Lehigh Valley restaurant directory.
