Looking for an excuse to visit the River Oaks District in Houston? Look no father than Taverna for brunch. It’s an Italian restaurant with a classic brunch menu. It’s positioned on the Westheimer side of the complex, which is super easy to access. If you go on a Sunday morning, there is plenty of parking and you don’t have to deal with parking garages or valet attendants. They don’t take reservations on Saturday or Sunday mornings, which is fine because its a huge restaurant with plenty of seating.

We started off our brunch by sharing a plate of the beignets because why not!? The dish had five puffs of fried dough and came with a caramel glaze for dipping. I’m not one for sugary things but I totally enjoyed the sweet start to the meal. The best part about them? They’re located under the “Salad” section of the menu. Because somehow that makes sense.

For the main course, you can choose from classic brunch dishes like eggs benedict and omelets or choose something off their traditional Italian menu. Below is eggs two ways with fruit and breakfast potatoes.

I went with the homemade ravioli. I’m a sucker for anything with “homemade” in the title and these ravioli didn’t disappoint. They were filled with swish chard, spinach and ricotta and topped with a butter sage sauce and even had a few sprigs of fried sage for decoration. Taverna does a really good job about portion sizes. When you get your food, you might look at it and be concerned about the petite proportions, but if you eat slowly and enjoy your company you’ll find that its the perfect sized amount of pasta. I would definitely go back for this plate.

Taverna had a bunch of specials for brunch that included a freshmade daily soup, a fish dish, and a daily salad. My roommate went with the salad of the day which had arugula, goat cheese, and candied nuts. She ate every bit. The server tried to take her plate at one point because there was only a few sprigs of arugula left and she made them leave it so she could enjoy every last bite.