Lunch, Anyone? Brothers Restaurant

Brothers Restaurant offers one of the most eclectic menus around. It is owned and operated by three chefs, each bringing a separate expertise and culinary flair to the job. You’ll find classic Italian dishes like shrimp scampi ($18), a nod to Mexican cuisine with dishes like the fish taco platter ($15) and short ribs taco ($9), and traditional American fare like steak and eggs ($14.99) and homemade corned beef hash ($13.95).

Brothers Edison and Cesar Gutierrez, both originally from Colombia, and “honorary brother” Concepcion Perez, who grew up in El Salvador, opened Brothers last January after working independently in several Boston-area restaurants. In the heart of Coolidge Corner, in what had been Persian restaurant Khayyam, Brothers is open daily for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and the menu is packed with delicious dishes, all at reasonable prices.

We ventured in recently for an early lunch on a dreary afternoon. Our mood brightened as soon as we entered: a friendly woman greeted us and showed us to a table. Three other couples were already seated.

Brothers serves its popular breakfast until 3 p.m. every day, and because it was still early, we decided to stick to the breakfast menu. There’s plenty of choice: from eggs Benedict ($10.95 to $14.95), pancakes ($7.95 to $9.95), and waffles ($7.95 to $12.50) to stuffed challah French toast ($11.95), breakfast sandwiches ($8.95), omelets ($9.95 to $11.95), and combination plates with bacon, hash browns, and eggs ($9.95 to $11.95).

We ordered the Baby Blue Breakfast Plate ($9.95): a small cheddar omelet (fortunately, it wasn’t that small), bacon, hash browns, a muffin, and a fruit cup with blueberries, cantaloupe, watermelon, and pineapple. Because it sounded so good, we also ordered the challah French toast stuffed with Nutella, topped with bananas ($11.95).

Before our food arrived, our waitress brought over a complimentary basket of four homemade chocolate chip, banana, and coconut mini-muffins. They were warm and fresh, slightly crispy on the outside, with a melt-in-your-mouth quality. We devoured them.

Our meals came shortly thereafter, served on enormous square plates. The Baby Blue Breakfast Plate was very good: the cheddar omelet was perfectly cooked and nice and cheesy, the zesty and crunchy home fries were not greasy or too salty. The bacon was crispy and the large blueberry muffin, though slightly overbaked, was flavorful, as was the fruit cup. Despite the many items, this was a classic light breakfast.

The challah French toast stuffed with Nutella was even more delicious. The bananas were fresh and sweet, the French toast was warm and had a nice crunch on the outside, without being overcooked. And the Nutella filling was amazing: there was just enough to get the full hazelnut flavor, but not so much that it overpowered the dish.

Seeking more traditional lunch items? No problem, there’s lots to entice a hungry diner, including the Brothers Burger—black angus ground sirloin with fried eggs, lettuce, onions, cheddar cheese, and the restaurant’s special sauce ($14), a BBQ pulled pork sandwich ($13), crab cakes ($10), and the aforementioned short ribs taco—a soft shell taco with beef braised in a Korean soy marinade, napa cabbage slaw, and chipotle aioli ($9)—as well as a variety of salads ($8 to $13).

The dinner menu (available as early as 3 p.m.) has an assortment of flat bread pizzas ($13), fish and chips ($16), chicken Parmesan ($17), marinated steak tips ($17), and oven roasted salmon ($20). The restaurant also features a nice but fairly small wine list and a full cocktail menu, and it offers live jazz each Saturday evening from 7 to 9 p.m. and trivia on Tuesday nights, also from 7 to 9 p.m.

As we were leaving, a woman with a young child told us that they “come here all the time. We love this place.” We couldn’t agree more. We’ll be back.

Brothers Restaurant, 404 Harvard St., Brookline, is open Sunday through Wednesday from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Thursday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. and accepts all major credit cards; phone: 617-383-6268. Take an MBTA Green Line B trolley outbound to Harvard Ave. and walk 10 minutes or take a MBTA Green Line C trolley to Coolidge Corner.

This is part of a weekly series featuring Boston lunch spots of interest to the BU community. If you have any suggestions for places we should feature, leave them in the Comment section below. Check out our list of lunchtime tips on Foursquare.

Jennifer Bates can be reached at jennb7@bu.edu.

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