Well into its second centennial, perennial breakfast-and-brunch favorite eggs Benedict shows no sign of flagging. Created in New York City in the late 19th century, its basic formula of poached eggs, smoked meat and hollandaise sauce over bread remains largely unchanged, though minor tweaks have included the adoption of an English muffin to replace the original toast and the use of Canadian bacon instead of the earlier strip bacon. A topping of truffles that initially burnished its indulgent image has largely gone by the wayside, but its perception as an upmarket specialty best left to the professionals remains intact.

Cross-Country Cravings

With the surging growth of the brunch daypart across the country, Benedicts have become the starting point for dishes that reflect a sense of place. The all-new brunch menu at Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant, for example, features a trio of regionally themed Benedicts: the Philly with griddled steak and American cheese, the Maryland with crab cakes and Old Bay seasoning and the Jersey with pork roll and tomato relish. Indecisive diners can tour all three states with the Benedict Trio that delivers one of each.

Norms, a Southern California-based, family-dining chain, adds fresh avocado and grilled tomato to the Cali-Cado Bennie. By contrast, Grace & Grit near Charleston, S.C., offers Charleston Hot Fried Chicken Benedict on a housemade toasted grit muffin. And in between the two coasts, The Sunflower Bakery & Café in Galveston, Texas, reflects its seaside locale with the Soft Shell Benedict, featuring battered and fried soft-shell blue crab.

Regional Standout: Southern Style

Credit: Huckleberry’s Breakfast & Lunch

Andouille sausage ups the protein and adds regional flair to Huckleberry’s appropriately named Cajun Benedict, which is served atop toasted sourdough bread.

In addition to Grace & Grit, several other concepts south of the Mason-Dixon line are embracing their roots and creating items that nod to regional culinary traditions. At Flying Biscuit Café, which operates throughout the Southeast and Texas, the Honey Butter Chicken Benedict marries crispy buttermilk chicken tenders and cheesy scrambled eggs atop a split biscuit. It’s served with a side of creamy grits.

Sister brands Ruby Slipper and Ruby Sunshine boast “brunch born in New Orleans,” and this past winter, the limited-time Croque Madame Benedict celebrated Big Easy cuisine, particularly its French influence. The special featured coffee-glazed ham, brioche French toast and a finish of Mornay sauce. Huckleberry’s Breakfast & Lunch dishes up “Southern cookin’ with a California twist” at its 33 units, and an example of that cookin’ is the Cajun Benedict with andouille sausage on sourdough toast.

Global Flavors

Credit: OEB Breakfast Co.

OEB Breakfast Co.’s Korean Bulgogi Benny taps the trending cuisine, with thinly shaved ribeye and peperonata atop a split croissant and finished with a brown butter hollandaise and micro greens.

Competitors in the hotly contested daytime-café segment take an international approach to the standard, and while most use poached eggs, all bets are off regarding the remaining essential elements of protein, sauce and bread.

Reflecting its Arizona base, Hash Kitchen promotes a quintet of Benedicts, including Latin-inflected options like Cristina’s Tamale Cakes Benedict with sweet corn cakes, green-chile pork and green-chile hollandaise. By contrast, the Chile Relleno Benedict starts with crispy potato cakes that carry the stuffed pepper of the title, along with queso fresco, crema and a finish of green-chile hollandaise.

Snooze an A.M. Eatery finds Old World inspiration in the Bella! Bella! Benny, which layers thin slices of prosciutto and Italian cheese on toasted ciabatta covered with cream cheese hollandaise and balsamic glaze. In March, Florida micro-chain TooJay’s Deli nodded to the Emerald Isle with the St. Patrick’s Day Irish Benedict, a returning promotional fan favorite made with corned beef.

OEB Breakfast Co., a Canadian transplant with units in California and Arizona, looks to Asia for inspiration: Its Korean Bulgogi Benny comes with Korean-style shaved ribeye and peperonata on a croissant crowned with brown butter hollandaise. And in Chicago, the all-day brunch menu at popular Little Goat plays a variation on the Benedict theme with This Little Piggy: Sichuan pork sausage, a sunny egg and chile-garlic-chive sauce on a scallion-cheddar biscuit.

Outlook and Opportunity

Credit: First Watch

First Watch’s BLT Benedict incorporates avocado and lemony greens into the standard bacon-lettuce-tomato build, proving the Benedict’s flavor versatility and ability to play well with other classics.

Thanks to the mix-and-match potential of the basic Benedict ingredients, few classics have been open to so much creative reinterpretation. It has become the launching pad for updated American standards, like First Watch’s nifty BLT Benedict, which puts the requisite sandwich ingredients of bacon, tomato and avocado along with lemon-dressed arugula on toasted ciabatta.

The Benedict is also the basis for dishes we didn’t know we needed, like the brunch starter at Hash Kitchen, in which Benedict Fries come fully loaded with ham, bacon, poached eggs and hollandaise plus a finish of jalapeños. And the dish inspires unexpected mash-ups, as demonstrated by French bakery-café chain La Madeleine’s new The Benedict Croffle, which starts with a croissant-waffle fusion filled with ham and Swiss, topped with an over-easy egg and hollandaise.

Given its proven patron appeal, the amped-up competition in the daytime-café segment and opportunity for fun and innovative culinary riffing, venerable old timer eggs Benedict may just be getting started on menus.