At Brickway on Wickenden, 234 Wickenden St. in Providence, Michelle Neal is ready to deliver a breakfast order. The cook who prepares the dishes is Wences Lao Barillas.

The Providence Journal / Sandor Bodo

Going out for breakfast can mean anything from grabbing a cup of coffee and an egg bagel at Dunkin’ Donuts to sitting down to a plate of lobster-corn pancakes with grapefruit-tarragon syrup in the elegant dining room of Temple-Downtown in the Renaissance Providence Hotel.

Some people say they almost never go out to breakfast: Why pay someone to cook for you what you can cook at home? Others, like me, embrace the chance to start the day in leisurely fashion over an omelet made with ingredients I’d never think of using, never mind have on hand.

So where can you go for a good breakfast out in Providence?

More places than you might think, and we’re just talking breakfasts here — a weekday morning meal rather than a more elaborate Saturday or Sunday brunch. While “brunch” implies a weekend midday meal that includes some pretty substantial main courses, “breakfast” is earlier, simpler, and available on weekdays.

There are all kinds of breakfast-goers — and all kinds of breakfast restaurants to suit them, from diner-plain to Renaissance elegant, from hip and trendy to traditional and French. Depending on what you’re looking for, here are some suggestions on where to enjoy the first meal of the day in Providence. Some have been around for years; others are new to town:

The newest place to have breakfast every day of the week in Providence is Temple-Downtown. Tucked inside the city’s fanciest new hotel, the Renaissance, between Veterans Memorial Auditorium and the State House, this restaurant is already one of the best dining spots in town. Even if you’ve been there for dinner and enjoyed the high-style-yet-comfortable look, you might not think of it for breakfast. But you should. Temple has breakfast daily from 6:30 to 10:30 a.m. and sometimes adds a brunch on weekends, depending on hotel occupancy.

If you like a quiet atmosphere at breakfast and comfortable seating, with friendly service and some creative twists on breakfast favorites, you’ll be charmed by Temple. You can sit in a plush red curved banquette in a window with a view of the State House dome while choosing from a menu that includes such items as the Temple of Eggs (two eggs any style with jonnycakes or hash, toast, and choice of smoked bacon or country sausage ($7), lobster and corn pancakes ($12), or French toast with real maple syrup, toasted pine nuts and maple gelato ($9). Temple also has great smoothies, including Strawberry Banana and Mocha Cappuccino for $6, and espresso drinks and fresh juices.

You’ll find that the other diners in the restaurant for breakfast tend to be travelers who are staying at the hotel or local politicians and businesspeople.

Temple-Downtown, 106 Francis St., Providence. (401) 919-5050. www.temple-downtown.com.

Altogether different in breakfast style is Julian’s, the “alternative” restaurant on trendy Broadway. Julian’s is a place where one day they’ll just decide it might be fun to drape the windows in mood-setting cloths, so they do, even if it makes it appear from the outside that the restaurant is closed. There isn’t even any sign on the place to let you know it is Julian’s — just a subtle J in a star.

But venture inside, and you’ll find a gang of people eating and talking at any time of the morning (breakfast is served all day here). Last week, the color-chalked specials board was headed “No new ‘Lost’ for a month day Specials.” And that gives you some idea of the mood of the place.

The waiters and waitresses have impressive tattoos on nearly every visible part of their bodies. Strings of red Christmas lights are strung from the ceiling and a neon Chop Suey sign is reflected in a black marble countertop. “What’s new?” a waiter asks a young man with an earring who has just sat down. “Just chillin’.”

It’s hard to say exactly what you’ll find to eat at Julian’s: The menu changes daily, but always includes a selection of the creative forms of hash that owner Julian Forge is known for, such as blue cheese and spinach; mushroom/boursin; and sweet potato, broccoli and Swiss. All are delicious and can be hearty breakfasts all by themselves. Drop a couple of eggs on them, and you will not need to eat for the rest of the day. Julian’s is open for breakfast daily, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays; weekends to 2:45 p.m.

Julian’s, 318 Broadway, Providence. (401) 861-1770; www.juliansprovidence.com.

On the East Side are a pair of restaurants that are poles apart in style but that each offer great breakfasts.

On Hope Street, you’ll find the Rue de l’Espoir (it means Hope Street in French), a lovely place on a quiet stretch of Hope not far from the Brown University campus. Popular for decades with the tweedy Brown crowd (the restaurant opened in 1976), the Rue has breakfast every day, from 7:30 to 11 a.m. weekdays, 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on weekends.

It’s hard to imagine a more inviting environment for the first meal of the day: A pretty French bistro look, deep-cushioned booths next to lace-curtained windows looking out on the street, art on the walls, warm Provençal colors. It is the only place I know of in Rhode Island where you can regularly get popovers, huge crusty rolls filled with air — a love-them-or-hate-them kind of thing. (I love them.)

There are also muffins and great sticky buns.

All the traditional egg dishes are available, such as the breakfast special of two eggs, homefries, corn muffin and coffee ($4.95) and an omelet du jour, with home fries and muffin ($7.95).

You can also get something fancier, like cheese, lemon or Nutella crepes ($5.95 to $6.95) and a bacon-egg-and-cheese crepe for $7.95. On weekends, you can get fluffy, light lemon and ricotta cheese griddle cakes ($7.95).

Rue de l’Espoir, 99 Hope St., Providence. (401) 751-8890; www.therue.com.

On always-hip Wickenden Street, nearly across the street from the Coffee Exchange, is the Brickway. Despite its bright green painted facade, Brickway is easily missed because it’s a long narrow building whose front door is down an alley between it and the next building: the Brickway of its name. In here, you will find a funky space of ’50s-style Formica-and-aluminum tables and Crayola colors — different ones on the same wall. Breakfast is served all day, every day, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays and from 8 a.m. on weekends. The waitstaff is efficient, the atmosphere lively and — it must be said — noisy when it’s full, which it nearly always is. If you find a line waiting to get in, fear not: It moves along quickly.

Brickway is student-oriented, cheap and reliable. Two eggs, home fries, toast and coffee is $3.75. Omelets are creative and good, with special combinations like Alburquerque (tomato, onion, black beans, avocado and salsa), and Norwegian (smoked salmon, potato sour cream and chives). Depending on who’s cooking, the buttermilk pancakes can be okay or sublime, especially when topped with real fresh strawberries or real maple syrup.

Brickway on Wickenden, 234 Wickenden St., Providence. (401) 751-2477.

Some other breakfast spots around Providence are wildly popular with certain crowds.

Butcher Shop Café, 157 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. (401) 861-4627. There is also a butcher shop and deli here, but many East Siders come for the daily breakfast, all day, 6:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays, and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sundays. The dining area is bright and spacious, and in warm weather there are tables set up on a patio in front. You can choose from traditional breakfast fare such as an egg sandwich ($2.99) or breakfast burrito ($4.99), as well as lox , pancakes, French toast and waffles.

Creperie, 82 Fones Alley (off Thayer Street), Providence. (401) 751-5536. This tiny place is popular with students for its excellent French-style folded savory and sweet crepes. With only a few stools, the place itself is so small that many people take them to go. It’s open daily, 10 a.m. to midnight weekdays, 9 a.m. to 2 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 9 a.m. to midnight on Sundays.

Louie’s, 286 Brook St., Providence. (401) 861-5225, has a diner-type breakfast daily, 5 a.m. to 3 p.m. and is a local institution beloved by both college students and working people who appreciate an early, cheap breakfast.

Modern Diner, 364 East Ave., Pawtucket. (401) 726-8390. The Modern is just over the city line in Pawtucket, but it’s so close to the East Side of Providence that most people don’t know the difference. (East Avenue is the extension of Hope Street after the Blackstone Boulevard intersection.) You can’t talk about breakfast in Providence without mentioning the Modern, which is in a Depression-era Streamliner diner attached to another dining room. Full of vintage atmosphere, the place has lines out the door and into the parking lot on weekends, but on weekdays, it’s much less busy. (The breakfast menu is limited to diner basics on weekdays, too.) On weekends, though, the list of specials is out-of-this-world, with each one posted on its own sign next to the dining room entrance. Everything from polenta with Italian sausage and eggs to the very popular cranberry-almond pancakes is offered here. You won’t mind waiting in line, because it will take you so long to study the choices that you’ll be seated before you know it. Open Mondays through Saturdays, 6 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Sundays 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Nicks on Broadway, 500 Broadway, Providence. (401) 421-0286; www.nicksonbroadway.com serves breakfast daily except Monday and Tuesday. Weekdays and Saturdays, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Sundays from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. The look is uptown sleek, and the crowd packs in to order fare such as omelets ($8.50 for two ingredients), frittata ($9.75 with asparagus, tomato, herbs and mozzarella), or the Special Plus ($7.50 for two eggs, home fries, a breakfast meat and toast). Seating is tight, and the noise level is loud, but local foodies flock here, having followed owner/chef Derek Wagner from his previous and even smaller location several blocks closer to downtown.

kimbrie@projo.com