Big Ed's City Market
Rating
Family of 4
Roughly $45 to $80 for two adults and two kids at breakfast or lunch, which is the honest range for a Southern breakfast house where portions are large enough that two kids can reasonably split one plate.
Duration
1 to 1.5 hours including a wait, and much of that depends on when you show up. On a weekday at 8 a.m. you can be seated, fed and out in under an hour. On a Saturday morning, add the wait first and then plan on an hour at the table. Big Ed's is a table service Southern breakfast house, not a quick counter, so do not schedule it 30 minutes before a museum ticket time. The better plan is to make the meal the anchor of a downtown Raleigh morning and walk to whatever is next.
Best Ages
Best from about 3 up, and genuinely good for the 6 to 14 crowd. The reason is the room: Big Ed's is packed with antique farm implements and political memorabilia hanging from the walls and ceiling, so a kid who can look up and ask questions has plenty to do while the food comes. Younger kids do fine at breakfast because breakfast is served all day, and pancakes and eggs are the safest order on any picky eater's list. Teens who care about food or history both get something out of a restaurant that has been running since 1958. Infants are the hardest case here: it is a busy, loud, popular breakfast house at peak times, and we cannot confirm changing tables or high chair availability, so call (919) 836-9909 first if you are bringing one.
About
Big Ed's City Market Restaurant has been feeding Raleigh since 1958, and it holds a 4.6 star average across more than 3,100 Google reviews, which is a remarkable number for a breakfast house that closes at 2 p.m. and is shut on Mondays. If you are visiting Raleigh with kids and want one meal that feels like the city rather than like anywhere, this is the one.
The room does most of the work. Big Ed's is filled with antique farm implements, old tools and political memorabilia, including snapshots of presidential candidates who have stopped in over the decades. Founder Ed Watkins built the place on family recipes, and the story goes back to a great grandfather who cooked as a Confederate mess sergeant.
For a kid, all of that translates into a ceiling and walls covered in strange old objects to ask about while the food comes, which is the best distraction any Raleigh breakfast spot offers. Bring a curious eight year old here and you will get through the meal without a phone.
The food is traditional Southern breakfast: biscuits, eggs, country ham, pancakes, daily specials. Breakfast is served all day, which is the practical reason this works with kids, because a child who will only eat pancakes can order them at noon. Portions run large in the old fashioned country breakfast sense, so two young kids splitting one plate is a legitimate strategy rather than a stingy one.
Check bigedsnc. com for the current menu and daily specials.
Timing is the thing to get right. Big Ed's typically operates Tuesday through Sunday from about 7 a. m.
to 2 p. m. , closed Mondays, with no dinner service, and you should confirm current hours before driving downtown.
Weekday mornings between 7 and 9 a. m. are calm and you can walk in.
Saturday morning is the busiest stretch of the week, with City Market drawing a weekend crowd and waits that can run 20 to 45 minutes, and the line forms outside in the market walkway rather than in a warm lobby. There are no reservations, so timing is your only lever.
Two things we will not guess at. We cannot verify the restaurant's current payment policy, and Big Ed's has a long history as an old school City Market operation, so call (919) 836-9909 and ask before you sit down. We also cannot confirm high chairs or changing tables in this historic space, so ask about those too if you are bringing a baby, and consider a carrier rather than a full size stroller.
Budget roughly $45 to $80 for four, plus a few dollars for weekday downtown parking. Then use the location: City Market sits within a short walk of downtown attractions, Gipson Play Plaza at Dix Park is a nearby playground stop, and Morgan Street Food Hall is close if the wait here is longer than your kids can handle.
Age Suitability
Parent Logistics
Stroller-Friendly
Limited
Nursing / Changing
Unknown
Kid Meals
Limited
Setting
Indoor
Rainy Day
Great option!
Plan Your Visit
Best Time to Visit
Weekday mornings between 7 and 9 a.m., or after 1 p.m. if you want the room half empty. Big Ed's typically runs Tuesday through Sunday from about 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. and is closed Mondays, so confirm current hours on bigedsnc.com before you drive downtown, and know that there is no dinner service here at all. Saturday morning is the single busiest block of the week, partly because City Market draws a weekend crowd, so if you want the classic experience with the crowd, come Saturday, and if you want a calm breakfast with a three year old, come Tuesday at 7:30 a.m.
Wait Times
Weekdays early, close to a walk in. Saturday and Sunday mornings, expect 20 to 45 minutes at peak, and know that the line forms outside in the City Market walkway rather than in a comfortable lobby, which matters with a toddler in January. There are no reservations for a place like this, so the only lever you have is timing: arrive at opening or after 1 p.m. and the wait mostly disappears. Confirm current hours before you plan around a late arrival, since the kitchen closes at midday.
Nearby Food
Big Ed's is the meal, but City Market and the blocks around it give you options if the wait is too long. Morgan Street Food Hall is the nearest alternative in our directory and is a strong backup with kids because everyone picks their own thing from a different stall. The surrounding downtown Raleigh blocks add coffee shops, bakeries, ice cream and casual restaurants within a five to ten minute walk. Note that Big Ed's closes at midday, so if you arrive in the afternoon expecting breakfast you will need one of these alternatives instead.
Why Kids Love It
The ceiling. Big Ed's is filled with antique farm implements, old tools and political memorabilia including photos of presidential candidates who have stopped in, and for a kid it works like a museum you get to eat in. Then the food arrives, and it is the kind of Southern breakfast that makes an eight year old's eyes go wide: biscuits, eggs, country ham, pancakes.
The restaurant has been in Raleigh since 1958, and there is something kids genuinely respond to about a room that feels like it has been there forever and is still busy.
Pro Tips from Parents
- Go early on a weekday. Big Ed's is open roughly 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday and closed Mondays, and there is no dinner service, so an 8 a.m. Tuesday breakfast is the calmest version of this restaurant and a 9:30 a.m. Saturday is the most crowded.
- Confirm accepted payment methods when you call (919) 836 to 9909. Big Ed's is an old school City Market institution and we cannot verify its current card policy, so a quick call avoids an awkward moment at the register.
- Order breakfast whenever you come. Breakfast is served all day here, which means the pancakes and eggs that solve picky eaters are available at noon as well as at seven.
- Split a plate between young kids. Portions are large in the traditional country breakfast sense and two small children rarely finish two orders.
- Give kids the room to look at. Point out the farm tools and the political photos on the walls and ceiling while you wait for food. It is the best built in distraction in any Raleigh breakfast spot.
- Ask about high chairs and changing tables before you go if you are bringing a baby, since we cannot confirm either in this historic City Market space.
What to Bring
- Cash as a backup, since we cannot confirm the current card policy
- Coins or a parking app for downtown Raleigh metered parking on weekdays
- Wipes and a diaper kit, since we cannot confirm changing facilities
- A jacket for the weekend wait, which forms outside in the City Market walkway
- A small quiet activity for the table
- A carrier rather than a large stroller, since the dining room is a historic space and we cannot confirm aisle width
- An appetite, because portions here are traditional Southern large
Cost Info
Estimated Cost (Family of 4)
Roughly $45 to $80 for two adults and two kids at breakfast or lunch, which is the honest range for a Southern breakfast house where portions are large enough that two kids can reasonably split one plate.
Confirm current menu pricing on bigedsnc.
com, since menu prices change and we would rather you check than budget off a stale number.
Also confirm accepted payment methods when you call, because Big Ed's has a long history as an old school City Market operation and we cannot verify its current card policy.
Downtown Raleigh street and lot parking around City Market is metered or paid on weekdays and generally easier on weekends, so add a few dollars for parking on a weekday visit.
Tips to Save
- Split plates.
- Portions at Big Ed's are large in the traditional country breakfast sense, and two young kids sharing one order of pancakes or eggs is both cheaper and less wasteful than two full plates that come back untouched.
- Come on a weekday and park on the street rather than in a paid lot, or walk over if you are already downtown.
- Order breakfast rather than lunch, since breakfast is served all day and breakfast plates at a place like this are usually the best value on the menu.
- And ask about payment methods before you sit down, because a surprise trip to an ATM is its own kind of cost.
