Breakfast & Brunch in Helen

Helen wakes up late and slowly, which is the best reason to plan breakfast: a couple of the best spots close on weekdays you might not expect. The table lists who's serving, what they serve and when. Hofer's is the one most visitors want, and it keeps the most unusual schedule in town.

Hours can shift with the season. Call ahead for anywhere you're planning a morning around.

Hofer's cafe is set up like an old German coffeehouse, with imported furniture and a mural by Joseph Mahler showing the history of baking in Germany. The bakery behind it bakes all its breads in a stone hearth oven, and the family story goes back to Horst and Gerda Hofer, who came from Schwabach, Germany, in the late 1950s and opened the Helen shop in the old First National Bank of White County.

The posted breakfast menu leans German: potato pancakes with apple sauce, Apfelkuchle (apple slices battered, pan-fried and rolled in cinnamon sugar), a Bavarian cold cut breakfast with fresh rolls, and biscuits with Nuremberg bratwurst gravy, next to eggs, omelets and Belgian waffles. The kitchen is small, so there's a short changeover between breakfast and lunch, and the cafe doesn't take reservations. Send one person to stand in line. Cafe food is served indoors only, but bakery-case pastries can go out to the patio, and dogs are welcome out there.

Sweetwater has been keeping folks "Sleepless in Sautee" since 1995, and it makes a good slow morning outside the village. Pastries, cheddar biscuits and quiche are made in-house daily, there are bagels and sandwiches, and the coffee uses Thanksgiving Coffee Company beans. Vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free options are on the menu, and local milk from Mountain Fresh Creamery is an option.

JumpinGoat has two stops. The Nacoochee Village shop on South Main sits on the river, so you can drink your coffee watching trout swim. The roastery and tasting room on Helen Highway in Cleveland is where the beans are roasted, with a Mount Yonah view and live music on weekends. Neither opens before 8:30 AM. In town, Hoth Cafe on North Main pours coffee and boba tea and sells pretzels and pastries.

If your plan includes lunch in the valley, the Market at the Old Sautee Store serves sandwiches on fresh bread, baked goods and ice cream from 10:30 AM to 4 PM daily. It doesn't do breakfast.