
Photograph by Kevin A. Roberts
8509 Delmar
University City
314-993-5455
Brunch hours: 9:30 a.m.–2:30 p.m.
We admit it: Even the notion of a top-notch Sunday brunch at a place named Jilly’s Cupcake Bar & Café seems as odd as Justin Bieber with a buzz cut. Well, you just might want to call the barber. For $15 (less for kids), chef Dana Holland lays out a spread thicker than cold buttercream frosting. You thought those little cupcake wrappers had frills? Start with Jilly’s famous chicken salad, shrimp salad, or spaghetti-squash salad; warm up to Tuscan eggs Benedict, bananas Foster French toast, lattice-topped chicken pot pie, beef brisket hash, and slices of mushroom- and spinach-stuffed turkey breast. Plus, all the basics—and all homemade—including Holland’s own maple pork sausage. Should one exercise restraint, the reward is whoopee pies, cobblers, parfaits, and mousses, all served from deep glass bowls. Brunch patrons even get a deal on cupcakes to go! Incredible. Just as incredible: This cupcake bar takes brunch reservations. Oh, and should you hear young girls screaming within, it’s not Bieber—the buffet line also features a do-it-yourself mini-cupcake decorating station. Eeeeeee!