Behind the Ellis Hotel, on the corner of Luckie Street and Forsyth, is the Landmark Diner www.landmarkdiner.com

Will you have a car? If so I HIGHLY recommend West Egg Cafe, which is about 5 minutes from downtown.

www.westeggcafe.com

Radial Cafe is also excellent.

www.radial.us

Landmark Diner is convenient but the food isn't that good. There's also a Corner Bakery.

I second the West Egg recomendation! Fabulous breakfast.

Thank you all!!! Very helpful suggestions!!!!

I go out to a big brunch almost every Sunday. West Egg is a favorite, and very close to my home. We ate at Highland Tap last weekend and I had the most amazing crab cakes benedict. I'd been here for dinner and drinks before but had not been for brunch. Usually with brunch I like to sit outside. Anyway, it was a great find - awesome bloody mary - and I'll definitely be back.

Also, we had brunch at the new Holeman and Finch yesterday. The pancakes were awesome, and the corned beef hash with poached egg and hollandaise was really good too. The portions were reasonable and the drink menu very creative. I had a Pimm's punch with cucumber and grapefruit that was delicious. As much as I love a good breakfast joint I also love my (Sunday) brunch booze. Those two options are great for that. Also great is the bloody mary bar at Einsteins and the mimosa at Murphy's.

i would check with his hotel to see what kind of breakfast they have. Hotel's are generally expensive, but most nicer hotels do have a good buffet on sundays. Since he is staying there, he might get a deal that makes it more reasonable.

If his hotel or another hotel that is close is not an option-- the closest waffle house is at the Northside Dr. / Howell Mill exits on I75North, just above the 75/85 split downtown.