There are certain comfort foods that leave me feeling warm all over. Mac & Cheese. Grilled Cheese Sandwiches. Bacon.

Those are all live links to posts I’ve done previously in my quests to find the best dishes Bend has to offer in each of those categories. Since we’ve had a lot of requests lately from folks wanting the inside scoop on finding a great breakfast in Bend, I decided it was my patriotic duty to embark upon a mission to the city’s best eggs benedict.

Here are some of my favorite spots:

The Victorian Café

Scrumptious eggs benedict at The Vic. Add a little avocado and tomato if you feel like being healthy.

This Westside hotspot has been voted Bend’s best breakfast so many times they should probably stop counting. While I’ll admit there’s often a part of me that sees long lines outside some renowned Bend eateries and scoffs “overrated,” that’s not the case with the Victorian Café. The breakfasts here are worth every bit of buzz they generate, and then some.

Their creativity when it comes to eggs benedict is unparalleled. They offer seemingly endless variations, ranging from Naples eggs benedict (housemade Mediterranean sausage, shitake mushrooms, feta, roasted red peppers, with two poached eggs on a Big Ed’s English muffin, topped with housemade hollandaise) or the Caribbean benedict (Cuban seasoned ham, mango, black beans, fresh cilantro, plus all the usual benedict goodies).

For the purpose of this blog post though, I stuck as closely as possible to traditional eggs benedict. I was definitely not disappointed here, as the hollandaise was rich and flavorful, and the ratio of egg to ham to muffin to sauce was somehow precisely perfect. You can pick between their homestyle potatoes or homemade applesauce as a side, and while both are delicious, I highly recommend the applesauce. Wash it down with one of their award-winning (and monstrous bloody marys) and you’ve got the perfect Sunday brunch.

Rockin’ Daves

These guys are famous for their delicious bagels, so they make good use of them when they create an order of eggs benedict. If you arrive right as Rockin Daves opens, be prepared to wait a few minutes while they whip up the hollandaise sauce from scratch. It’s well worth the wait, and you can definitely taste the freshness of the ingredients.

The bagel-based eggs benedict at Rockin’ Daves is perfect for those who like a hearty foundation.

You’ll find a lot of creative seasonal specials on their menu as well, including specialty benedicts and to-die-for veggie scrambles. Be sure to grab a few bagels to take home, or have them whip up some bagel sandwiches for your afternoon hike.

Even if the food here weren’t amazing, I’d still love visiting Rockin’ Daves for the creative way they take your order. Rather than asking for your name, they request your favorite band or musician. Few things are as entertaining as sitting there on a busy Saturday morning hearing the server call out, “Justin Timberlake? Milli Vanilli?” and watching who raises a hand.

Café Sintra

I’ve been to this cozy little Mediterranean bistro plenty of times for lunch, but I’d never tried their breakfasts until I posted a Facebook query asking folks to share their favorite eggs benedict in Bend. The volume of commenters who raved about Café Sintra was enough to send me scurrying over there to see what all the fuss was about.

Linguiça and chipotle hollandaise add a little zing to your breakfast at Café Sintra.

I opted to sample two variations on the dish. One was their version of a traditional eggs benedict with sourdough toast in place of the English muffin and a serving of ham on the side as opposed to layered beneath the hollandaise. There was something about the flavor and texture of the sourdough that added an amazing zing to this dish, and the hollandaise was sinfully buttery. There’s also a slice of roma tomato in the mix, adding another dimension of flavor to the dish.

At the urging of several Facebook fans, I also tried their specialty Sintra eggs benedict with Linguiça (a traditional Portuguese sausage) and their chipotle hollandaise. This is a dish to wake you up in the morning! I loved the combination of spicy, creamy, zingy, and crunchy. Added bonus: my dining companion declared both their pancakes and their bacon some of the best he’s ever tasted.

McKay Cottage

Regular blog readers may recall McKay Cottage earned my effusive praises for offering some of the best bacon in Bend.

Don’t forget to nab a side of bacon when you enjoy eggs benedict at McKay Cottage.

They’ve also got some of the best hashes around, especially when they whip up seasonal specialties to the enchantment of fans who’ve named them Bend’s Best Breakfast in The Source Weekly every year since 2010.

The classic benedict here is every bit as scrumptious as you’d expect, with housemade hollandaise that’ll leave you licking the plate. The wait at McKay can be lengthy on weekends, but it’s especially worth it if you can nab one of their sunny outdoor tables before the weather turns too cool. Vegetarians will appreciate that you can choose an organic veggie patty over the ham in their benedict.

If you’re not a vegetarian though, be sure to order an extra side of bacon. You’ll thank me for it.

Chow

This charming Westside eatery always wins my undying love for their commitment to fresh, locally-sourced ingredients. You’ll see it in their expansive on-site gardens, and in their creative daily specials featuring meats and produce purchased directly from local farmers.

The blackstone benedict at Chow perfectly showcases this restaurant’s commitment to seasonal, locally-sourced food.

You’ll see it in their eggs benedict, too, with fresh local eggs and locally-sourced meats. Chow’s traditional eggs benedict is always a good staple, with a choice of béarnaise or hollandaise for the discerning palate. Folks craving a creative twist will love the Blackstone benedict, which features corn-crusted tomatoes in place of the English muffin, spinach, bacon, and béarnaise sauce.

This is another restaurant where I’ve been known to lick the plate if I think no one’s looking. Be forewarned, it’ll bring out that urge in you, too.

Palmer’s Café

I’ll confess I was a little surprised when I saw Palmer’s Café popping up over and over in comments on our Facebook page. This tucked-away little diner on Greenwood doesn’t seem like anything remarkable from the outside, and I hadn’t ventured inside for 17 years.

The potatoes at Palmer’s Café are like nothing you’ve ever experienced. Trust me here.

Boy, was I in for a surprise. The line outside clued me in that the little diner that touts itself as “Bend’s best kept secret” isn’t a secret from everyone. They had hot coffee for folks who had to wait, and the service was cheerful and speedy.

The eggs benedict itself was your classic fare—a large English muffin, thick ham, well-poached eggs, and generous ladles of hollandaise. But it was the side dish of housemade potatoes that really had me swooning. Holy cow, you guys, these potatoes blew me away. I know that seems weird to say about potatoes, but trust me when I say I’m going back for these alone. A drool-worthy hybrid of potato chunks smooshed and fried like hashbrowns, they perfectly complemented the meal and had me using them to mop up any leftover hollandaise.

I’m getting dizzy just thinking about those potatoes, so I probably need to stop now. Who wants breakfast? And who has YOUR favorite eggs benedict in Bend?