Do you know what the best thing in life is? Puppies playing? Nope. Sleeping with the windows open? Wrong. A good book paired with a cup of coffee? Uh uh. Grammatically correct text messages? Incorrect. Free alcohol? Well, that’s pretty great, but no. Ladies and gentlemen, the best thing in life is…(drum roll, please)…brunch. The reason is quite simple: brunch is basically a no-holds-barred, gastronomic free-for-all. The conventional rules of what’s acceptable to eat at any given time of day are thrown out the window. Tequila with breakfast and steak before noon? Yes, please!
This weekend marked the beginning of a new era for Distrito, the Jose Garces modern Mexican spot in University City (3945 Chestnut – entrance on 40th), with the addition of an alcohol heavy, surprisingly affordable brunch. The building itself is a bit too much, and doesn’t fit in with the landscape and architecture of the city. (It looks more like it should house a bunch of condos in Williamsburg.) 
Having never been, I was not prepared for the pink – pink walls, pink napkins, pink cushions, pink accents in/on the chairs. I actually felt like I had walked into a Stephen Starr restaurant, which was not the best first impression, at least in my book.
Once my eyes adjusted to the pepto bismol-colored decor, I was able to take in the overtly gaudy and kitschy touches, including the “Hecho en Mexico” t-shirts that the Latin busboys wore. Over the top, to say the least. My friend and I were the first people there (we take our brunch seriously, and new brunch = no line), and the service was pretty great, though waiting on one table isn’t really much of a feat. The first thing we did was order a drink (surprising, right?), the nitro caipirinha (cachaça, canton ginger liqueur and lime; pretty much tasted like a mojito – sorry Brazil) for me and the hemingway (chile infused hornitos tequila, maraschino and grapefruit) for her.
We decided to share so we could enjoy both the sweet and savory options (always the hardest of the brunch decisions) and went with the huevos rancheros (fried egg, roasted tomato, asparagus and black beans) and the waiter-recommended torrijas (deep fried tres leches battered french toast, goat’s milk cajeta, fresh berries and chantilly cream). The waiter commented on the torrijas being the food version of crack, and he may have been right – absolutely, delightfully, lip-smackingly delicious. 
The huevos were also pretty tasty, but the drizzle of crema (not mentioned on the menu) was something we both could have done without (though it surprisingly didn’t seem to negatively impact the flavor for either of us sour cream haters).
We also ordered coffee (nice and strong) and got suckered into ordering the fresh pan dulce (sweet breads) to complement it. Completely unnecessary – we had plenty of food without, so they basically just took up space on the table. However, the couple of bites I had – most of which were dunked into my coffee, leaving an unappetizing mess of floating crumbs behind – were pretty damn fantastic.
Overall, Distrito offered a fairly good brunch in an overdone atmosphere that, despite being a touch excessive, still had some charm. Not a bad way to start a perfect Sunday that will include a nap (with the windows open) and a homemade meal with friends.