Where downtowners breakfast. Classics are prepared with skill, but the reason to visit is for the house specialties. How about a hash featuring slightly crisped-up walleye, Minnesota’s official state fish? Or a steaming bowl of porridge made with hand-harvested wild rice from the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, sweetened with cranberries and maple syrup? Or a short stack of tender hot cakes — the secret is ricotta cheese — with pops of lemon? Check out the weekend bloody Mary/Mimosa bar, and be sure to visit neighboring Angel Food Bakery + Donut Bar, the restaurant’s fried-dough-obsessed sibling. Doors open at 7 a.m. weekdays and 7:30 a.m. weekends.

Good luck trying to get a dinner reservation at the city’s top-performing steakhouse — its Final Four seats are a hot ticket. But breakfast? That’s likely another story. The standards are all present and accounted for, in plus-size portions, including buttermilk pancakes, brioche French toast, steel-cut oatmeal and a smoked salmon scramble. Then there’s the beef: a dry-aged sirloin with a pair of eggs; braised Kobe-style short ribs as the starring attraction in a Benedict and an omelet stuffed with prime rib. Don’t miss the hefty side orders of the pride of Wittenberg, Wis., Nueske’s bacon. Doors open at 6:30 a.m. daily.

This heart-of-downtown gathering spot is part of the Blue Plate Restaurant Co., which knows its way around breakfast, since it operates a half-dozen popular restaurants across the Twin Cities. The varied menu covers all kinds of ground, veering from basics (enormous buttermilk pancakes, eggs-any-style with toast, a straight-up Benedict) to livelier fare that includes a Denver-style frittata, tender biscuits buried under pork sausage gravy, a rib-sticking meatloaf hash and a feisty a.m. tostada with chorizo, black beans, guacamole and scrambled eggs. Doors open at 7 a.m. weekdays and 8 a.m. weekends.

What might qualify as the city’s best-looking coffeehouse is more than just a caffeine filling station, it’s also a fine quick-service breakfast destination, specializing in skillfully prepared crêpes, both sweet (salted honey butter, cinnamon-sugar) and savory (mozzarella-basil-sundried tomato, ham-Gruyère), at reasonable prices. Another draw? A boffo breakfast sandwich, featuring a fried egg and excellent sausage from Minneapolis’ Lowry Hill Meats, and tempting baked goods from chef Shawn McKenzie. Doors open at 7 a.m. weekdays, 8 a.m. weekends.

Siblings (and self-described “bread heads”) Kate Lloyd and Jen Lloyd are doing their part to improve the Twin Cities’ sorry bagel landscape. After taking a cross-country bagel-tasting odyssey and tinkering with a boil-and-bake formula, they hit pay dirt, first selling at farmers markets but recently launching a handy and appealing brick-and-mortar outlet, giving fans of these crusty, chewy and tantalizingly golden bagels a daily outlet for their obsession. Schmears, yes, along with egg-stuffed bagel sandwiches and fabulous gravlax. Doors open at 6 a.m. weekdays, 7 a.m. weekends.