Brunch is back at Red Restaurant, reincarnated as the “Red Eye Brunch Buffet” and better than ever.

The buffet includes just about any type of brunch food that one can imagine – fresh fruit, biscuits, sausage gravy, country ham, sausage, potatoes, eggs, bacon, as well as fresh baked pastries – and a couple of “extras’ that you wouldn’t expect. A different type of pasta dish and meat dish will be available each Sunday, as well as a made-to-order omelet station, a $6 loaded Bloody Mary bar and a special dessert station (a bananas foster station was set up on the Sunday that this writer visited) .

“And it’s only $12.95,” boasted Red Restaurant/Tribe Senior Manager Bud East. “It’s a supreme buffet for a great price.”

The price does not include beverages. Hours are from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. each Sunday.

The Red Eye Brunch team is also looking at adding a waffle station within the near future.

The first Sunday (Jan. 13) that the brunch was “officially” offered, more than 80 people sampled the buffet. East said it showed that the community was hungry for a reasonable priced buffet.

“Nashville only offers limited buffets for a Sunday brunch,” East said. “This is Red’s first time to offer a regular brunch buffet and we wanted to reinvent Sundays with the Red Eye Brunch and give the community a place to gather during the day rather than night.”

East said to enhance the dinning experience and to improve on customer service, the restaurant hired Jay Kill, a local culinary expert and trainer, to work with the wait staff

“Jay and Missy Simon, Red’s executive chef, have done an exception job in preparing the menu, staff and food,” East said. “I think anyone that hasn’t been to Red in awhile is in for quite a treat.”

Students from the International Culinary of Schools of Art Institute of Tennessee – Nashville are heading up the omelet station. Diners fill out an order slip circling the ingredients they want in the omelet, which can include ham, bacon, sausage, crab, shrimp, mushroom, onion, black olives, bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, hot peppers, garlic, salsa and cheese. The omelet is prepared by the students and then brought to your table.

“We are excited to be able to team up with the culinary school,” East said. “This gives the students some great experience, and allows our diners to have a delicious custom made omelet.”

Jimmy Smith is heading up the Red Eye Brunch Bloody Mary bar, which, for $6, allows a diner to custom make their Bloody Mary, selecting from Absolut, Absolut Citron, Absolut Peppar,  or Skyy vodka (or a Bloody Maria made with Jose Cuervo tequila). The rim of the glass can have salt only, Cajun spicy, Chesapeake or nothing at all. Ingredients include horseradish, Worchester sauce, Tabasco sauce, black pepper, cayenne pepper, Chesapeake old bay, olive juice, lime juice and lemon juice. Finally, the drink can be garnished with pimento olives, blue cheese olives, jalapeno olives, black olives, celery stalk, cherry tomatoes, lump crab meat or shrimp.

“I think we are the only restaurant in Nashville to offer up this special way to order Bloody Mary’s during Sunday brunch,” East said.