"Vines dangling from the ceiling and a colorful mural of Nina Simone and Erykah Badu to your left. No, you’re not chilling at your stylish friend’s North Loop loft, you’re eating brunch at Stepchld. Their menu has dishes that pull flavors from a variety of countries, like birria tacos seasoned with an Ethiopian berbere spice blend, and pork belly and ginger coconut rice upgraded with kimchi and gochujang aioli. The fried brussels sprouts flavored with apricot and curry are so good they’ll win over people who haven’t eaten anything green in the past decade, and the Cooper Burger is anything but basic, thanks to a sauce made with capsaicin-packed mitmita. For a sweet ending, split the crepe-style, einkorn flour ricotta blueberry pancakes." - stacy brooks
