PDX Breakfast Blog

Simpatica Dining Hall

2009-06-02T10:37:00.000-07:00

Simpatica Dining Hall
828 SE Ash

Date: 5/31/09
Arrival: 8:50am

This past Sunday I was fortunate enough to eat brunch at Simpatica Dining Hall. It was hands down the best breakfast I've ever had in my entire life. Seriously.

Simpatica is a catering company during the week, but on the weekends they serve dinner on Fridays and Saturdays and brunch on Sundays. I had never heard of it before, but my friend Erin's co-worker, Hillary, is a waitress there on Sundays. Hillary treated us well. We received free breakfast cocktails (strong mimosas and a bloody Mary for Erin), free biscuits and gravy "appetizer" (the best biscuits and gravy that I've ever tasted, probably because I'm used to veggie gravy and this one was full of sausage and bacon), and a free strawberry rhubarb trifle dessert (amazing). Hillary just kept handing us free stuff. Needless to say, we tipped her well.

And that wasn't all that I ate...

I ordered the banana pancakes for my main course and they were absolutely the best pancakes that I've ever had. So fluffy and full of flavor, they just melted in my mouth along with the home made whipped cream and fruit syrup. Even Mandy, my friend who is not a fan of banana pancakes, practically died of happiness when she tried my meal and kept asking for bites while making obscene moaning sounds. Seriously, they are that good. This picture (that I stole off of the internets) does not do these pancakes justice.

Erin ordered the chicken and waffles. She said the waffles were good, but the chicken was probably the most flavorful chicken she had ever had. I didn't try it, but I trust Erin's judgment when it comes to meat.

Although Simpatica is not the most vegetarian friendly restaurant in Portland (it is very meaty and does not have the typical fake meat options that many PDX restuarants have and they have things on the menu like "chicken fried bison"), there are many veg options to choose from (strata, frittata, and of course the banana pancakes). I've also heard that they mix up the menu often, so there will probably be additional surprises in the future. I can hardly wait to go again.

Flavour Spot

2009-04-26T16:14:00.000-07:00

Flavour Spot
North Lombard (at Denver)

Date: 4/26/09
Arrival: 11:00am

Um, wow. Apparently I haven't written in the breakfast blog for 2 years. Don't worry, I still love breakfast. It's just that sometimes a girl just wants to eat and not write about it.

Today I'm in a writing mood, apparently. The Flavour Spot, the waffle gem of North Portland, has quickly become my new favorite quick-breakfast. For $3.50-$4.00, you can grab a waffle sandwich and it fills you up just as much as a breakfast at a regular restaurant but for less than half the price. I heard about the Flavour Spot when it first opened in 2006, but never gave it a chance until a couple of months ago. If it was located in my neck of the woods, let me tell you I would have been all over this place a few years ago and probably would weigh 300 pounds by now.

My only problem with the Flavour Spot is that I can never make up my mind -- Sweet v.s. Savory? Sweet baby Jesus, it's always a dilemma. This morning I went with a savory ham and smoked gouda cheese. De-lish.

George ordered a THB without the B (Turkey and Havarti without the Bacon). He said it was a little dry...I agree, it could use a little sauce or something. Perhaps it is better with the B - aka grease.

A month or so ago I ordered a strawberry waffle with sweet cream and, oh my god, I think the sweet waffles are the best. It just depends on what you are in the mood for. They have S'more waffles, fruit, homemade jam, nutella, chocolate, PB 'n J, and apparently in the summer time they have ice cream waffle sandwiches, which I definitely will be trying out asap.

For those who are located near Mississippi, there is a second location that opened up there. I haven't given it a shot yet, but I'm sure it's just as good.

Arleta Library Bakery and Cafe

2007-07-15T16:37:00.000-07:00

Arleta Library
5513 SE 72nd (at Harold)

Date: 7/15/07
Arrival: 11:30am

Wow, I think it has been 5 years since I've updated my breakfast blog. Sorry. I haven't been eating out for breakfast as much as I was earlier this year. I have, however, discovered my new favorite breakfast spot. I feel like I've cheated on my blog because I've now eaten there twice without taking any pictures. Oh well. A nice description is better than nothing, right? Oh, and I stole a couple pictures off of the internets.

My co-worker, Abbey, told me about the Arleta Library. I hadn't heard of it before, but she claimed it was the best breakfast ever. I only half-believed her but it turns out she was more than correct. Mandy and I went there about a month or so ago and I ate some delicious blueberry pancakes while she enjoyed the Hawthorne scramble. Oh, and there was nobody there except for a couple of people. Can you believe that? I think we went at around 11:30am, which is prime breaky time everywhere else in Portland.

Today Jeff and I were attempting to go to the Tin Shed at 11:00am because he only lives a few blocks away. It was packed (duh, I predicted that) so I suggested the Arleta Library. After driving for what felt like an hour (only because I got lost on some weird diagonal streets), we finally arrived at the Arleta Library at around 11:30am. Guess what? No wait.

(Use your imagination! Pretend that's us.)

I chose The Portlander (three-egg scramble with wild mushrooms and Tilamook cheddar). It was seriously the best scramble ever. Also, the Arleta "library fries" are delicious. It makes me happy when people know how to cook potatoes, y'know? Also, their homemade scones are delicious. Oh, and homemade ketchup? Yes, they even have that. It was awesome.

Jeff ordered the pancakes with a side of fruit and scrambled eggs. I think he was pretty satisfied with it, but honestly those pancakes looked like they needed blueberries inside of them (instead of outside). That's the way I ordered them last time and they were amazing.

I hope that the Arleta Library can remain my secret breakfast spot. Hopefully the Portland masses will never read my blog. It's just really nice to be able to go to breakfast at 10 or 11am and not have to wait 30-40 minutes.

Wait Time Inside: 0 minutes
Wait Time For Food: 10 minutes
Service: very friendly, cute wait staff
Food: Amazing!
Options: see their brunch menu at arletalibrary.com
Price: $7-9
Atmosphere: friendly, laid back, cute

Sweetness

2007-06-03T15:46:00.000-07:00

Sweetness
3524 SE 52nd Ave.

Date: 5/27/07
Arrival: 10am

Yes, Sweetness rules so much it deserves a second write-up on the PDX Breakfast Blog. I arrived at 10am to find my friend Kay behind the counter with SO many lovely pastries to chose from. She also mentioned that there were 4 different waffle brunch options that morning. WOW. I really had a hard time deciding, so I ordered a sticky bun to munch on while I waited for my friend Natalie to arrive. It was delicious.

Natalie ordered the savory waffle with chicken. Now, before you think to yourself, "Uh, what? Chicken 'n Waffles? WTF?!" Let me tell you that this is a pretty popular meal in the South. It also seemed to be a popular meal in Oakland, CA when I was last there. I don't normally eat chicken, but I tried a bite and it was pretty amazing, I must say. I've never had a savory waffle before, so I wanted to at least try it. I would recommend it to any meat-eater friend out there.

I ordered the strawberry rhubarb waffle. Look at how amazing it is! Dang, it was pretty awesome. Again, I was loving all of the fresh fruit on the side.

If you haven't been to Sweetness yet, do yourself a favor and go there for brunch. Not only is the food AMAZING, you are also supporting Kay and Gretchen, two of FoPo's finest ladies. I also hear that their chocolate chip cookes are to die for. I'll have to try them next time!

Wait Time Inside: 0 minutes
Wait Time For Food: 5-10 minutes
Service: the best
Food: Amazing!
Options: Usually 3-4 brunch options, plus a whole plethora of pastries, muffins, etc. on the counter.
Price: $2.50 - $6ish
Atmosphere: friendly, laid back, great music

Screen Door

2007-06-03T14:46:00.000-07:00

Screen Door
2337 E. Burnside

Date: 5/19/07
Arrival: 11:00am

The Screen Door has already been reviewed in my blog, but that doesn't mean it does not deserve a second write-up. Their specials menu is constantly changing, making it easy to try something new each and every time you visit. Mike McCusker was in town from England and we wanted to treat him to a good ol' fashioned American breakfast. The Screen Door is one of the best places to take a guest, so we quickly drove down Burnside and met up with some friends there.

Mike is a pretty adventurous eater. He wanted to try everything on the menu, but instead opted for the tofu & egg scramble with a side of cheese grits AND a side of biscuits and vegetarian gravy. This was Mike's first time having grits and he said it tasted similar to porridge or Chinese rice pudding. Hmmm, I guess I'll have to take his word on that. The waitress seemed enamored with his accent and kept smiling and saying "hun" to him every time he spoke. I'm pretty sure he could have got a free meal out of her if he would have asked.

My goal was to order something off of the specials menu. I went with the special mushroom scramble, which was slightly different from the one on the regular menu, but I can't recall why. It doesn't really matter because it was delicious. Also, Screen Door makes some of the best potatoes in town. They really know how to season them well and I think they've even improved from the last time I was there.

Mandy ordered the frittata on the specials menu which came with spinach, cheese, and some other ingredient that I'm forgetting. The Screen Door is Mandy's favorite breakfast spot, and she is always happy when she is there. She is pretty much their spokesperson.

I can't remember what Kara and Jay ordered, but it was either the Alabama Scramble or the Cajun Scramble. Or perhaps it was the Mushroom Scramble. Geez, I better take notes next time. I know f'sho that they shared an order of biscuits 'n gravy.

Really, you can't go wrong with anything on the Screen Door menu. We walked away completely satisfied . . . and ready to take a nap.

Wait Time Inside: 10 minutes, not long at all for our party of 5.
Wait Time For Food: 15-20 minutes
Service: Very friendly
Food: no complaints from anyone!
Options: Lots of options
Price: $7.95 – 8.95
Atmosphere: Southern hospitality in PDX

Sweetness

2007-06-03T13:55:00.000-07:00

Sweetness
3524 SE 52nd Ave.

Date: 5/6/07
Arrival: 10am

Sweetness is located in the heart of FoPo. What is FoPo, you might ask? Well, according to the Willamette Week, my friend Kay is FoPo. But in all seriousness, FoPo is a new "up and coming" neighborhood in the Foster-Powell neck of the woods. Kay and her mom, Gretchen, recently opened up a bakery there, carrying on the family tradition. Sweetness has a very neighborhoody feel, Kay greets most of her customers by name and they all seem excited to have this place a few steps from their homes.

Sweetness serves brunch on the weekends. When we were there, this was the brunch menu:

Southwestern Strata with sausage, cheese, eggs, chilis, spices, cilantro
Boursin Fritatta with potatoes and scallions
Red Pepper, Spinach, and Feta Quiche.

I wasn't going to let a big brunch stop me from trying one of the many delicious items on the counter. I went with an Apple Puff, and I just want to say that it was pretty much the best thing ever.

Mandy had the orange poppy seed muffin, and she claimed it was pretty much the best thing ever as well. Basically, you can't go wrong with anything at Sweetness.

Once the rest of our friends from NoPo arrived in FoPo (har har har), we ordered brunch. I chose the Quiche with Red Pepper, Spinach, and Feta. It was delicious and I was pleasantly surprised by all of the amazing fresh fruit on my plate. You don't see that at any other breakfast place in town, unless you order it separately. I think it was pretty much the PERFECT meal to eat before we went hiking later on that day.

I think we all ordered the same meal and everyone was completely satisfied. I should mention that Sweetness is also an internet cafe, which warms my little NERDY heart. Kay's fashionable children made an appearance towards the end of our breakfast.

Wait Time Inside: 0 minutes
Wait Time For Food: 5-10 minutes
Service: the best
Food: Delicious and we loved the additional bonus of fresh fruit
Options: Usually 3-4 brunch options, plus a whole plethora of pastries, muffins, etc. on the counter.
Price: $2.50 - $6ish
Atmosphere: friendly, laid back, smells incredible

Home

2007-05-14T20:30:00.000-07:00

Home
123 Fake Street

Date: 4/29/07
Arrival: whenevz

There's no place like home for breakfast, mmkay? Seriously. No waiting in lines, you get to wear your pajamas, and you don't have to brush your hair or your teeth. It's the best.

Do you know what's also the best? My roommate's blueberry pancakes. No joke. She still claims that Utopia's blueberry pancakes are better, but I would say that she's being modest and they are tied for first. They are so delicious. What better way to wake up in the morning, y'know?

Wait Time Inside: 0 minutes
Wait Time For Food: 5-10 minutes
Service: the best in town
Food: Delicious
Options: Not a lot of options, but it doesn't matter. Blueberry pancakes are all I need.
Price: Free
Atmosphere: warm, cozy, friendly

Equinox

2007-05-14T19:28:00.000-07:00

Equinox
830 N. Shaver

Date: 4/28/07
Arrival: 10:00am

After many months of hearing many people profess their love of Equinox for breakfast, we finally decided to give it a try. I had been there before for dinner and thought it was delicious, yet spendy. We were pleased to walk inside and immediately sit down at a table. The place was deserted, save for a few groups. This quickly changed later on.

The menu had many delicious scrambles, omelettes, and egg sandwiches to choose from. If you are craving pancakes or waffles, this is not your place, however there are plenty of other options. Check out their menu online here: http://www.equinoxrestaurantpdx.com/breakfast.html

I had a difficult time making up my mind, but I decided that the O'Failing omelette was calling my name (three egg omelette with roasted peppers, spinach, roasted garlic, topped with chipotle cheese sauce with potatoes and toast). There was nothing O'Failing about it (god, I'll stop the corny jokes, sorry). It was amazing. The potatoes were a little dry, but I just dipped them in the chipotle cheese sauce and was happy again. Their toast is great, by the way.

Kara decided that fish sounded delish so she ordered the Irving scramble (salmon, basil, roasted shallots and brie, topped with lemon fraiche créme with potatoes and toast). She was very happy with her meal. We both commented on the fact that this was the perfect amount of food. Normally, I feel like I eat way too much at most restaurants. At Equinox, I was left wanting more food, but that was probably a good thing. Portland breakfast portions are a bit too ginormous at times.

Who is that? Oh yes, it's Jay making a comeback to the breafkast blog. He ordered the Michele's Revenge (fried egg sandwich on grilled sourdough with avocado, roma tomatoes and provolone with harissa aioli, served over potatoes). I must say, I was quite jealous when his meal came out. I'm glad I ordered what I did, but I will definitely have to try an egg sandwich next time. In case you can't tell, he enjoyed it. He also had the same opinion as me on the dry potatoes. He would've preferred some greasy hashbrowns.

Overall, I was very satisfied with my experience at Equinox. It's very rare that you do not have to wait in line for an amazing breakfastat 10am in the city of Portland. That definitely earned some bonus points from us.

Wait Time Inside: 0 minutes
Wait Time For Food: 15-20 minutes
Service: Friendly and helpful
Food: Delicious! Potatoes were a little dry.
Options: lots of scrambles, omelettes and egg sandwiches. No pancakes.
Price: $7.50 - 11
Atmosphere: Cute inside, natural lighting, friendly service

Cup & Saucer Café

2007-04-17T18:15:00.000-07:00

Cup & Saucer Cafe
3000 NE Killingsworth

Date: 4/15/07
Arrival: 10:30am

Okay, so I've already reviewed this particular Cup 'n Saucer, but it doesn't hurt to check for consistency of awesomeness, right? Right. Plus this breakfast was completely in honor of the lovely Sara moving back to Portland the night before. The poor girl has been craving corn cakes for months while living in NYC. She was finally able to put that craving to rest this past Sunday morning. Our wait time was rather long (almost 30 minutes), but that's to be expected when you arrive at a popular breakfast spot after 10am. It was worth it in the end because we lucked out with the best booth in the back and an extremely friendly waitress who was not shy about refilling the coffee cups.

As I mentioned, Sara ordered corn cakes, or should I say corn CAKE, as one cake is definitely plenty! She gave it two thumbs up, wayyy up.

I can't recall the name of Kara's meal, but it was some sort of awesome potato scramble with eggs, green onions, cheddar, garden sausage, and maybe a couple of other mystery ingredients that I am forgetting. She was happpy with it, I was happy looking at it.

I just realized that I have neglected to mention in this blog one of the strangest things that Kara does during breakfast time. She creates these weird little Kara concoctions on the side of her plate. Usually it's ketchup with half a bottle of black pepper mixed in. This time it was ketchup with aardvark sauce swirled together. It looked quite disgusting, but she assured me that it's delicious. I'll be sure to document this next time with the camera.

I think I'm becoming somewhat of a predictable breakfast person. French toast, again? Well, I'm sorry but I've become a sucker for French toast on Challah bread (holllaaaa!). It's pretty much the best thing ever. The fruit cup on the side was also delicious.

In exciting breakfast news, Jay will be making a triumphant comeback to the world of breakast in the next couple of weeks due to a work schedule change. You may remember Jay as Kara's bearded fella who ordered biscuits and gravy quite often. He'll be back in full force soon (sans beard!).

Wait Time Inside: 30 minutes
Wait Time For Food: 15-20 minutes
Service: Friendliest out of all of the Cup 'n Saucer locations
Food: totes awes
Options: lots of scrambles, very vegan/veggie friendly.
Price: $7-8
Atmosphere: Busy, friendly, nice art on the wall

Juniors

2007-04-15T18:55:00.000-07:00

Juniors
1742 SE 12th

Date: 4/7/07
Arrival: 9:30am

Juniors is an old favorite of mine and has a special place inside my withered old heart. It is nestled inside a cute neighborhood on SE 12th. In my past breakfast life, I always arrived at Juniors at around 11am with about a 30 minute average wait. On this particular morning I was up early and so was my roommate, Mandy. We managed to arrive at 9:30am, beating the crowds and landing a cozy booth in the back of the restaurant. Juniors is not huge, there are only a small handful of green, sparkly booths and a couple of tables.

To prove just how early we were there - take a look at this cute old couple that was sitting next to us. I immediately fell in love with them (my apologies for the dark photos).

I convinced Mandy to order the Country Scramble (mushrooms, garden sausage, parsley, jack cheese, and black pepper). She gazed at the sausage with a suspicious eye, but I took a bite and reassured her that it was not real pork sausage. She ended up enjoying her meal a lot, thankfully.

I ordered the Greek Scramble (spinach, tomatoes, feta, and garlic). It was delicious and Juniors has great toast. I’m not sure why their toast is so good, it just is. I remember their potatoes being better about 4 years ago, but that’s okay.

This was yet another great breakfast experience at Juniors. Out of the 5+ years I’ve been eating there, I can’t remember a single time I’ve been disappointed. The wait staff also earns bonus points for having the same music taste as me, it’s nice to be serenaded by your favorite bands while eating an amazing scramble.

Wait Time Inside: 0 minutes
Wait Time For Food: 20 minutes
Service: Very friendly Food: Great scrambles, vegan and veggie friendly
Options: There are many options, sometimes I have a hard time deciding.
Price: $7.25 – 8.50
Atmosphere: fun, old school décor, great music!

Bijou Cafe

2007-04-15T18:51:00.000-07:00

Bijou Café
132 SW 3rd Ave

Date: 4/3/07
Arrival: 8:00am

I’ve already written a proper review for Bijou, but I just wanted to write a quick note to say that this place has become my new work hangout. It’s convenient for those who work in Old Town/China Town. Luckily I have co-workers that are breakfast fans. Robin and I ate breakfast at Noon a few weeks ago and I tried the French style mushroom & cheddar omelette. It was a mediocre omelette with not much flavor, but it did the job. The sautéed potatoes were great. Then a week later I had my 60-day performance review at Bijou with my boss. I ordered the Brioche French Toast that I had had before. It was just as delicious as I had remembered. There are only a small handful of decent breakfast locations downtown. Bijou’s service is always fast, I’ve never had to wait for a table. My only complaint is that there isn’t a good scramble on the menu, but I can always count on their French toast.

Wait Time Inside: 0 minutes
Wait Time For Food: 15 minutes
Service: Fast and Friendly
Food: Omelettes are just okay, French toast is great
Options: Hash, omelettes, pancakes, French Toast, oatmeal, but no scrambles.
Price: $9-11
Atmosphere: Classy & friendly

Sagittarius

2007-04-15T18:36:00.000-07:00

Sagittarius
2710 N Killingsworth St

Date: 4/1/07
Arrival: 11:00am

This NoPo bar quickly became a favorite for my friends and I when it first opened. The décor is fun, yet hard to describe – a mixture of 1960’s mod and Japanese design with old school diner flavor.

The staff at Sagittarius are all friendly. Perhaps that can be attributed to the owners, Mike and Robin Clark, who are two of the nicest people you will ever meet. I wouldn’t consider myself an official “regular”, especially since I live nowhere near the Overlook neighborhood, yet Robin always manages to remember my name. Her husband Mike’s second “job” is working as a full-time member of The Jicks, aka Stephen Malkmus’ band. This might explain why there are a couple of Pavement-themed drinks on the menu.

Recently Sagittarius added Sunday brunch to their menu. When a couple of Lurvely London Ladies came to Portland, we decided to take them to Sag to try out their new meals. The “Late Riser Brunch” does not begin until 11am. They were clearly catering towards people who were out partying the night before, as there was a drink on the menu called “hangover helper”, which Lynsey quickly ordered. Each meal came with tater tots, a fun alternative to the usual hash browns. I believe we got to witness history in the making when both Lou and Lynsey had their first ever tater tot. It was a beautiful moment.

I ordered the Rising Sign Scramble (spinach, roasted red peppers, carmelized onions, basil, and parmesan cheese). It was good, but I’m thinking it would have been better with cheddar instead of parmesan cheese. The tater tots were delicious, but I found myself wanting potatoes and/or hash browns instead. I really shouldn’t complain because this was the cheapest breakfast menu I’ve seen in quite some time. I ordered a mimosa to wash everything down, because it just didn’t feel right to be inside the Sagittarius without alcohol by my side.

Kara was impressed with her Siesta Scramble (black beans, cheddar ‘n jack cheese, topped with salsa and sour cream). She was very excited to have tots on her breakfast plate.

Lou ordered scrambled eggs with toast. I think she was secretly wishing that she had some tots on her plate as well, especially after trying some of ours.

Lynsey was happy with her Rising Sign Scramble without parmesan cheese. She described the “Hangover Helper” drink as tasting like cough syrup. Don’t let it stop you from ordering it though, as it is a delicious cough syrup!

If you find yourself hungover at 11am on a Sunday, Sagittarius is the place to be for a quick and cheap breakfast. Even if you arrive before 11am, there are Tuffy Toilets outside to save the day.

Wait Time Inside: 0 minutes
Wait Time For Food: 15 minutes
Service: Fast and Friendly
Food: Tater Tots for breakfast!
Options: Not a lot of options, just a few scrambles.
Price: $5-6, cheapest breakfast ever
Atmosphere: fun and hangover-friendly

Noah's Bagels

2007-04-15T18:17:00.000-07:00

Noah’s Bagels
3541 SE Hawthorne

Date: 3/17/07
Arrival: 10:00am

Noah’s is a good place to stop for a cheap and quick breakfast bagel, especially when you are busy shopping on Hawthorne. If you are an observant Portlander, you'll probably notice that the picture up above is not the Noah's on Hawthorne but instead is the one on NW 23rd. I didn't get a chance to snap a picture of the outside, so this one will have to do for now.

I could’ve easily gone to the Cup ‘n Saucer across the street, but did I want to wait alone for 5 hours to get my food? No way. Noah’s is fast and reliable. It is most definitely not the best breakfast in town, but if you are on the go, it is a perfect power meal. All you need to do is stand in line for 5 minutes and voila, breakfast bagel. It’s like fast food without the guilt of eating at a fast food chain (that only makes sense in my brain). Their “egg mits” are pretty tasty. I ordered the egg mit with spinach, mushrooms, and swiss. It could’ve used a bit more flavor flave (perhaps garlic), but that’s okay. I was happy, satisfied, and able to move on to more important things like shopping for a birthday present.

Wait Time Inside: 5 minutes
Wait Time For Food: 5 minutes
Service: Fast! No table service, just stand in line.
Food: Not the greatest, but always reliable.
Options: “Egg Mits”, breakfast paninis, and bagels with shmears, of course.
Price: Egg Mit + bottled water = $5.48
Atmosphere: fast, lots of seating, nice windows for prime people watching

Crush

2007-03-24T14:01:00.000-07:00

Crush
1400 SE Morrison St

Date: 3/11/07
Arrival: 9:53AM

I first discovered Crush way back on my 26th birthday. We were supposed to head to Holocene for happy hour drinks. Holocene was closed, but the owner begged us to head up the street to visit his friends at Crush. Ever since then I have fallen in love with their happy hour menu, which is full of tasty cocktails and delicious snacks. Now Crush has added one more meal to their arsenal – brunch on Sundays!

We arrived just before 10am. Since today was the first day of Daylight Savings Time, it felt more like 9am and there was only one other group eating breakfast in the back. Although the staff was tired because of the time change, it didn’t stop them from being excited to see us. My favorite Crush bartender was actually our server that morning, which made me really happy. She quickly seated us and pointed out the coffee and corn bread on the table. The corn bread was amazing. I could’ve sat there all morning munching on that, but I didn’t want to waste an opportunity to test out their breakfast menu, so I stopped myself after two pieces.

The Crush menu consisted of a couple of breakfast cocktails, a few scrambles, and several omelet options. It was a difficult decision, but I decided to order the Rehab omelet (zucchini, tomatoes, mushrooms, and smoked gouda). This was one of the best omelets I’ve had in my entire life, and I’m not even exaggerating in the least. It was delicious. Their potatoes were also some of the best I’ve ever had, with a few sweet potatoes thrown for good measure. I like that they added a few apple slices on my plate just to make me feel slightly healthier.

Mandy also ordered the Rehab and she agreed that it was pretty amazing. She had them throw in some mushrooms so that she could be slightly different than me.

Kara went with the It’s All About The Baby scramble, featuring roasted red pepper, onion, and Gorgonzola. This dish usually contains chicken apple sausage, but Kara substituted that with mushrooms. She said it was pretty much the bomb.

The lovely Katie and Sean also joined us for breakfast this morning. I was happy because they have not been featured in my breakfast blog yet, which is such a shame since Katie is a true breakfast aficionado. Sean is more of a lunch kind of guy, but he was a real trooper that morning and ordered yogurt with granola, fruit, and . . . 2 slices of bacon!

Katie ordered the Chilaquiles scramble (tortilla chips, Tillamook vintage white cheddar, roasted jalapenos, and enchilada sauce). One of Katie’s favorite Crush happy hour menu items is the mac’n cheese. She was hoping that this scramble would use the same sauce as their mac, and she was correct!

We were all pleased with our experience at Crush. It was nice to have the place to ourselves, with fast service, quiet music, and delicious food. This will easily go down as one of my new favorite breakfast spots in Portland.

Wait Time Inside: 0 minutes
Wait Time For Food: 15 minutes
Service: Fast and incredibly nice server. She's the sweetest.
Food: Amazing omelets and scrambles.
Options: Not a whole lot of options, but everything on the menu is great.
Price: $7.50 - $9
Atmosphere: Fun art on the walls, cute, friendly, a quiet breakfast experience.

Caffe Minnie's

2007-03-08T19:07:00.000-08:00

Caffe Minnie’s
101 Denny Way
Seattle!

Date: 2/25/07
Arrival: 11:45am

I’m going to do something so totally against my blog’s rules - I’m posting a breakfast review for Seatthole. Please forgive me, fellow Portlanders. I will not let you down next time, I promise.

It was 11am when we checked out of our hotel in downtown Seattle. I had heard that a restaurant called The Dish (located in Fremont) was quite good, so we decided to drive there and check it out. Unfortunately The Dish was about the size of my closet and there were 10 groups ahead of us on the waiting list with parties of 5, 7, etc. No thanks! We drove back to downtown and headed to a famous Seattle landmark, Minnie’s.

Awww, Minnie’s. I have such fond memories of eating breakfast here in college late at night. Minnie’s is open 24 hours a day, which means if you go after midnight, you will probably be seated next to drunks and crack whores. It’s got a certain charm, though. Every time I go there, it’s like visiting an old friend. Kara and I had fun retelling old stories of going to Minnie’s during Bumbershoot.

Kara had the eggs benedict. She said it was delicious but very rich. I stole a bite and I would definitely agree with her.

I had the brioche French toast. It was made from croissants and each bite was like a big taste of awesome. I was incredibly impressed with this meal, considering that Minnie’s is not known for being the best breakfast in Seattle. People go to Minnie’s because it’s fast and in a convenient location when the bars close.

If you find yourself under the Space Needle and you are craving breakfast, Minnie’s is an old friend that you can rely on. It may not be the best breakfast in town, but at least you won’t have to wait 5 hours to eat.

Wait Time Inside: 0 minutes
Wait Time For Food: 20 minutes
Service: Fast and Friendly. They refilled our coffee and water every 5 seconds.
Food: More delicious than you would expect
Options: Lots of options, each named after a famous movie star.
Price: $7-8
Atmosphere: Purple ‘n black walls, fun

Detour Cafe

2007-03-08T18:50:00.000-08:00

Detour Café
3035 SE Division

Date: 2/17/07
Arrival: 9:30am

It was a sunny Saturday morning. Kara, Katie and I had plans to eat breakfast and ride on the new Portland Aerial Tram. We decided to check out Detour Café on Division. Neither of us had been there before, but we were all game for a new breakfast location.

Detour is located in a cute little place right next door to Mabel’s Café & Knittery on Division. The menu is quite different from most restaurants in Portland. They have a build-your-own Italian frittata and potato scramble section on their menu. They are also well known for their breakfast sandwiches. I did not see a traditional scramble or hash browns on the menu, so if you are craving that, don’t ever go here.

I went with the make-your-own frittata option and chose avocado, cheese, and veggie sausage. Detour bakes their meals, therefore the waiting time is a bit long. The friitata was bland and I was not impressed. The bread was crunchy, and the potatoes were just okay.

Kara also built her own Italian frittata. She added mushrooms, veggie sausage, and cheese. She also thought her frittata was boring to the max!

Katie ordered a breakfast sandwich. She said the bread was good, but the breakfast was bland overall. Uh oh, this is turning into a bad brekkie review.

Conclusion? Cute restaurant, boring meals. Maybe add a few extra toppings and our meals would've been delicious. Anywho, unlike the frittatas, the new Portland Aerial Tram was fun and well worth the wait.

Wait Time Inside: 0 minutes
Wait Time For Food: 40 minutes
Service: Friendly, but you have to get up and get your own coffee
Food: Bland
Options: not a lot of options for traditional breakfasts. I appreciated their creativity, though.
Price: $7-8
Atmosphere: Very cute

Tin Shed

2007-03-08T18:32:00.000-08:00

Tin Shed Café
1438 NE Alberta

Date: 2/4/07
Time: 11:30am

Ah, the Tin Shed. I’m extremely surprised that this restaurant has not been written up in my blog already. It is an old favorite of mine. At the beginning of February, Portland received a surprise visit from 2 of our favorite Aussies, Jacobus and Caroline. They were in town for a few days during their West Coast tour. The last time I saw them was when Kara and I were in Amsterdam (AKA a million years ago). We decided to treat them to a good old fashioned ‘merican breakfast. It was entertaining to hear them ask such questions as, “What are grits?” and “What is a buttermilk biscuit?”

We were seated in the outdoor covered area, featuring heaters (yes!), a fireplace, and serve-yo-self coffee. After explaining our strange food to the foreigners, Jacobus and Caroline decided to go with the Alberta scramble, a side of grits, and potato cakes. They were happy with everything, except they refused to eat their grits. (I’ll share a little secret, I’m not a fan of grits, either. I KNOW! Shhh, don’t tell anyone! I really try to like them each and every time I’m at a new restaurant, but I just don’t. Sorry.)

Tiah ordered the biscuits and gravy. Look at how tiny those biscuits are! She was not too happy with that. Who could blame her?

Kara and I both ended up ordering the How Latin with veggie sausage. I usually order the Goat Boy, but I decided to give this one a try and it’s delicious! Look at that avocado! Tin Shed’s potato cakes are the best in town. I crave them dailyy.

Tin Shed still rocks my socks. We were happy to share our meal with the lovely Jacobus and Caroline.

Wait Time Inside: 25 minutes
Wait Time For Food: 15 minutes
Service: Very friendly
Food: Delicious. Potato cakes = awesome. Biscuits & Gravy = tiny.
Options: lots of scrambles, veggie friendly (although they have been known to accidentally put meat into veggie dishes.)
Price: $7-8
Atmosphere: Laid back, very Alberta

Cup & Saucer Café

2007-03-08T18:17:00.000-08:00

Cup & Saucer Café
8237 N Denver Kenton!

Date: 1/21/07
Arrival: 10:30am

Okay, I am so far behind in breakfast bloggin’ that my memories of this particular breakfast in January are a bit hazy. Luckily I have the pictures to refresh my memory! Before I begin, please note that Blogger kind of screwed up the formatting of my blog when they revamped their website. Maybe you didn’t notice, but I’m super anal about formatting for some reason. At least there is now the added bonus of ENLARGED PICTURES! That’s right, now you can click on each breakfast picture, which will lead you to a giant plate of awesomeness.

Where was I? Oh yes, breakfast. Way back in January the lovely Sara was in town representin’ NYC. I was excited to eat breakfast with her because Sara used to own Wax, a restaurant that was located on Interstate. This girl KNOWS breakfast, okay? The breakfasts at Wax were some of the best I’ve ever had.

Moving on, we decided to head up North to Kenton in order to try out the brand new Cup & Saucer up there. Don’t let the boring exterior fool you, the interior is quite cute and the menu is just like the other Cup & Saucer’s. The restaurant was packed and we waited for about 20 minutes to get a table.

I decided to order the Brioche French Toast. It was delicious. Check out how big the slices are! Yum.

Kara had a scramble, and I don’t remember what it was called. Again, I am having a hard time remembering this breakfast experience because it happened almost 2 months ago! I don’t even recall what Kara thought of this meal. Sorry, Kara!

Sara pretty much ordered the entire menu. Just kidding (sort of). She decided to go with the corn cakes, scrambled eggs, and veggie sausage. She was extremely happy with her cakes! All in all, we had a good breakfast in Kenton.

Wait Time Inside: 30 minutes
Wait Time For Food: 15-20 minutes
Service: Friendly
Food: Delicious
Options: lots of scrambles, very vegan/veggie friendly.
Price: $7-8
Atmosphere: Busy, friendly, cute on the inside

Screen Door

2007-01-16T15:54:00.000-08:00

Screen Door
2337 E. Burnside

Date: 1/14/07
Arrival: 9:47am

After opening in 2006, Screen Door has quickly become a favorite amongst locals for it’s Southern food and friendly service. If you are ever in the need for some comfort food, this is the place to be. Their dinner menu is meat-heavy, however it does have a few delicious side dishes for the vegetarians. I was very impressed with the options on the breakfast menu, which contained a “build-a-breakfast” section, scrambles, biscuits & gravy, grits, benedicts, French toast, pancakes, etc. It seems that no matter what you are craving for breakfast, Screen Door can make it for you.

Screen Door always seems to tempt me with their special chalkboard menu items. I glanced over and noticed “homemade cinnamon rolls” written down as one of today's specials. Okay, fine. I took the bait and ordered one for myself. It was very delicious, yet not as gooey as I would have preferred. Kara agreed.

For the main menu option, I decided that the tofu & egg scramble (w/ onions, peppers, spinach, mushrooms, and cheddar) was calling my name. This is quite possibly one of the best scrambles I’ve ever had. When restaurants know how to cook tofu properly, it’s a beautiful thing. Their potatoes are very delicious and seasoned to perfection.

Mandy ordered the biscuits w/ vegetarian gravy. This is kind of a big deal because Mandy normally hates gravy, but Screen Door is an exception. I’m not normally a biscuits & gravy kind of gal myself, but I took one bite and was won over. It’s delicious, but very filling.

Kara and Katie both ordered the mushroom & egg scramble (w/ caramelized onions, fresh herbs, and gruyere). Katie ordered a side of cheese grits and Kara went with the potatoes. They both had zero complaints and were very pleased with their meal.

Alicia ordered the tofu hash. When asked about her meal, she said, “No complaints.”

My only complaint of the day might have been the waiting time, but it was well worth it in the end.

Wait Time Inside: 33 minutes
Wait Time For Food: 15-20 minutes
Service: Very friendly
Food: no complaint from anyone!
Options: Lots of options for meat and veggies. See menu above!
Price: $7.95 – 8.95
Atmosphere: Southern hospitality in PDX

Bijou Café

2007-01-13T11:32:00.000-08:00

Bijou Café
132 SW 3rd Ave

Date: 1/2/07
Arrival: 8:00am

My first breakfast of 2007 was spent at Bijou Café in downtown Portland, two doors down from my current place of employment. This was a very important breakfast because I was meeting up with three of the people that I would be interviewing with later that morning for a position that I really wanted. I had already gone through round one of the job interviewing process, and I was really excited when they invited me to breakfast before round two. Obviously if anyone wants to win me over, a free breakfast is the easiest route. Due to the importance of this meal, please note that I did not take any of these photos in this review (they were found on the internet)! Although, it would have been hilarious had I brought my camera and started snapping photos of their food while trying to have a conversation about their organization. Oh well, maybe next time.

The last time I was at Bijou Café was in the summer of 2002, I believe. I vaguely recall having some fruit, but that’s about it. I have worked two doors down from Bijou Café for the last two years, but my current co-workers are not big breakfast fans. What a shame! The people I ate with this time were all regulars of Bijou and could point me to the most delicious options on their menu.

While they all went with pancakes and Bijou’s famous oatmeal, I decided to go with the Brioche French Toast. It was fancy and delicious. I highly recommend it. Their oatmeal and pancakes looked very good, too. I may have to try that next time.

I was very happy with my meal at Bijou. Unlike Southeast, downtown Portland is not known for having a lot of breakfast locations. Please keep Bijou in mind, especially if you work nearby.

Wait Time Inside: 0 minutes
Wait Time For Food: 15 minutes
Service: Friendly
Food: delicious
Options: see menu above!
Price: $9-11
Atmosphere: Classy & friendly

Utopia Café - Part Deux

2007-01-13T10:04:00.000-08:00

Utopia Café
3308 SE Belmont St.

Date: 12/31/06
Arrival Time: 11:00am

Wow, I am so behind in my breakfast blogging! I am going to have to take a DeLorean back to the year 2006 in order to write about my very last breakfast of that year.

It was Sunday December 31, 2006. I was so young and full of energy back then. Natalie was in town from Austin, TX, and I wanted to pick one of my favorite breakfast restaurants in honor of her visit and the last day of the year. I was craving pancakes, she was craving waffles, and so I thought that the perfect place to go would be Utopia Cafe. We arrived at around 11am to find a huge crowd and a long waiting list. As I’ve mentioned in previous reviews, this is pretty typical of an 11am crowd anywhere in town, which meant that we joined the crowd and waited for about 20 minutes. Not bad at all.

Unfortunately after looking at the menus, we quickly discovered that Utopia does not have waffles! Ack! I felt bad for Natalie, because I was certain that they had them on their menu. She ended up going with their buttermilk pancakes and a scramble containing bell peppers, bacon, and cheese. I believe she was happy with her meal, but very disappointed in the lack o’ waffles.

For my last meal of 2K6, I of course chose Utopia’s blueberry pancakes. Yes, I realize that I have already written about them in this blog, but they are good enough to write about again. They were even more delicious than I remembered. I dare anyone to find a better pancake in the great city of Portland.

Unfortunately Utopia did not have their wonderful potato cakes this time! Last time they were a special item featured on their chalkboard. I was so sad that I couldn’t eat them again and I had to go with a side of eggs instead. C’est la vie.

Wait Time Inside: 20 minutes
Wait Time For Food: 17 minutes
Service: Friendly
Food: their pancakes are heavenly
Options: lots of scrambles and pancakes, but no waffles!
Price: $7-9
Atmosphere: Cute, very busy, small café

Cup & Saucer Café

2006-12-26T11:04:00.000-08:00

Cup & Saucer Café
3000 NE Killingsworth

Date: 12/24/06
Arrival: 9:30am

The Cup & Saucer in NE Portland tends to be less crowded than its sister location on SE Hawthorne. The Hawthorne Cup & Saucer is often overflowing with people; consequently the service is not quite as fast. I can attest to the fact that the Killingsworth location has a laid back, NoPo atmosphere with a friendly wait staff. Kara informed me that there is now a new Cup & Saucer location in Kenton on N. Denver. We hope to eat there soon to see how it compares to the others.

We arrived at 9:30am and were pleasantly surprised when we didn’t have to wait for a seat and immediately began looking at their extensive menu. The Cup & Saucer is known for its scrambles and homemade scones. They are also vegetarian/vegan friendly and allow tofu and garden sausage to be substituted into any of their scramble options. I opted to go with the basil, pesto, and spinach scramble. It was very delicious and much better than the garden scramble that I had the last time I ate there. The potatoes were good, but could have been cooked a bit longer.

Jay had just received a New England Christmas package from his mom, which contained Patriots pajama pants and a Boston Red Sox ski cap. He was sporting his new threads at breakfast and I tried to capture that in a photo, but unfortunately it was too dark, so you’ll just have to trust me. I think Jay inspired us all to start wearing our jam pants to breakfast. Moving on to Jay’s breakfast. He decided to order the biscuits and gravy with a side of potatoes, which he then later nicknamed the starch bomb. Jay said that the gravy was not very flavorful and he felt like he had just swallowed a big serving of flour.

Kara ordered the salmon scramble. She said it was very rich, but very tasty.

I was quite pleased with my meal at Cup & Saucer today, but I will keep a mental note to not ever order the starch bomb.

Wait Time Inside: 0 minutes
Wait Time For Food: 17 minutes
Service: Very friendly and fast
Food: Tasty, but don’t order the starch bomb.
Options: lots of scrambles, very vegan/veggie friendly.
Price: $7-8
Atmosphere: Laid back, NoPo, friendly

Stepping Stone Café

2006-12-23T17:03:00.000-08:00

Stepping Stone Café
2390 NW Quimby

Date: 12/10/06
Arrival: 9:30am

I’ve been so busy with getting ready for the holidays that I have slacked on my breakfast blogging. Right now I am currently multitasking like a madwoman by wrapping presents, doing laundry, making my brother a mix CD, watching The Breakfast Club on TV (how appropriate), and updating the blog.

A couple of weekends ago I ate my very first breakfast in Northwest PDX. The NW generally has the stereotype of being expensive. Don’t let this stereotype fool you, as there are some hidden gems sprinkled in the alphabet district. The Stepping Stone Café must not be overlooked. I completely fell in love with its friendly diner atmosphere. Super hero action figures dangle from the ceiling at Stepping Stone. They are connected to the front door by fishing wire, so every time someone walks inside the café, Spider Man may drop down in front of your plate if you are sitting at the bar. Amazing, right? I tried to capture that in this photo, but I don’t think it worked.

The food was not the most amazing breakfast food I’ve ever had, but it was tasty and it did the job. My only complaint was that the hash browns were not shredded or crispy, and that is how I prefer them. I ordered the cinnamon French toast and it was delicious, but unfortunately I am now comparing every piece of French toast that I eat to the French toast that I had at Genie’s Café on Division Street last month. Perhaps I just need to erase that meal from my memory so that I can judge future French toast fairly? I think so.

Jay ordered the avocado omelet. He said it was very delicious and he had no complaints about the omelet. I seem to remember him complaining about the hash browns, though. Again, those were NOT hash browns, or at least not by our standards.

Kara was not too adventurous and decided to go with a basic 2 eggs, toast, and the infamous hash browns. She enjoyed the “hash browns” because they reminded her of what her mom used to fix her when she was a kid, but she agreed that she prefers the good ol' shredded 'n crispy variety that we have all grown to love.

Overall, I was quite pleased with my first breakfast experience in NW Portland at Stepping Stone Café.

Wait Time Inside: 0 minutes, yes ZERO!
Wait Time For Food: 15 minutes
Service: Very friendly and fast
Food: Tasty, but not the best breakfast ever.
Options: I don’t recall a plethora of options
Price: $5-8
Atmosphere: Fun! Superhero action figures, Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody blasting in our ears, and the Grinch painted on the front door. What more could you ask for?

Beaterville Café

2006-12-07T19:12:00.000-08:00

Beaterville Café
2201 N Killingsworth

Date: 12/3/06
Arrival: 10:30am

There was a brief hiatus in breakfast-blogging, but that's what happens when you stuff yourself full of mom's Thanksgiving feast. The thought of eating a big breakfast seemed like a foreign idea. After 2 weeks of digesting, I was ready to get my breakfast game back on last Sunday at Beaterville Café in NoPo. It had been a couple of years since I had last had breakfast at this popular café on Killingsworth. My memories of it were a bit blurry, but I did remember the charming atmosphere, including the old hubcaps and grills that adorn the colorful walls. It's fun and it feels a bit like stepping back into time, or walking into my grandpa's old house. Kara decided to get her free WiFi action on while we waited for breakfast. She brought in her iBook and was kind enough to take breakfast notes for me (nerd alert!).

We were quite disappointed by the coffee situation. I guess by "we" I don't mean me, as I don't drink coffee. But if I did, I would've been disappointed, okay? Nobody came around to refill my friends' coffee and they were a bit upset by that; it's an essential part of their breakfast.

I should have written this entry earlier because I am having a bit of trouble remembering the menu. I do know that there were a lot of omelet and scramble options. Kara, a neighbor to Beaterville and a fellow breakfast expert, informed me that she prefers Beaterville scrambles over their omelets, so I took her advice and went with the Supernova (tomatoes, green onions, garlic, feta, mushrooms, and spinach). It was quite tasty, although I don't know if I needed that much feta. It was still good, though. The potatoes were good, but they could have used a bit more flavor, in my opinion.

Jay's breakfast looked more delicious than mine and I don't remember hearing any complaints from his side of the table (aside from the coffee situation), so I'm assuming he was satisfied. He decided to go with Zoe's Eggs (an omelet containing salsa, green onions, cheddar, and sour cream).

Overall, I was satisfied with my experience at Beaterville. As we went up to the cash register to pay for our meals, we encountered a huge 11am crowd waiting for a seat. The front area was overflowing, and I was thankful that we had arrived at a decent time. Again, the early bird catches the worm.

Wait Time Inside: 10 minutes
Wait Time For Food: 15 minutes
Service: Friendly, but two thumbs down for coffee service
Food: Tasty, but not the best breakfast ever.
Options: Lots of scrambles and omelets.
Price: $7-8
Atmosphere: the beatermobile decor is charming and fun

Genie's Café

2006-11-21T19:43:00.000-08:00

Genie’s Café
1101 SE Division St

Date: 11/19/06
Arrival: 9:30am

Ah, Genie’s. I have fond memories of venturing to Genie’s 4 or 5 years ago, but for some reason I had never returned until this past Sunday. It was a rainy morning, but that didn’t stop the Breakfast Mafia from enjoying the most important meal of the day. Genie’s seems to be known for its breakfast cocktail atmosphere. With a bar in the back room, and Black Sabbath’s Iron Man blaring in the speakers, we almost forgot that it was 9:30am and most of our friends were asleep in their beds at home. I personally cannot partake in alcohol before Noon, but that certainly did not stop me from admiring the sea of Bloody Mary’s all around me.

Armed with Stumptown Coffee, the mafia and I endured the rain outside until we were seated near the bar. Now, just a forewarning, this is not going to be the most extensive breakfast review ever. The reason is this – the food was amazing and I personally was lost inside my French toast stuffed with pear aguadulce, drizzled with sweet cream sauce. Yes, I know that sounds exotic and sexy. It was. I was too busy falling in love with that to take down quotes from the rest of the breakfast crew, but I do know that nobody had any complaints. Actually, my only complaint is that I wished that my French toast slices were larger. I know what you are thinking, didn’t I just complain LAST WEEK about how large my French toast was at Gravy? I know, I guess I’m never completely satisfied. Trust me on this, I did not want my meal to end.

And now for some pictures, as always...

My petite French toast (this dark picture doesn't do it any justice!)

Alexis - Scramble w/ tortilla chips, black beans, scallions, and cheddar. Sadly, no guac.

Jay and Kara - Veggie Benedict with Obrien's potatoes

Anne - Buttermilk pancakes

Wait Time Outside: 23 minutes
Wait Time For Food: 14 minutes
Service: Friendly, almost forced us to order cocktails
Food: Very tasty, hardly any complaints from us.
Options: Lots of scrambles and benedicts.
Price: $6-8
Atmosphere: breakfast cocktail atmosphere with Black Sabbath

Gravy

2006-11-11T15:17:00.000-08:00

Gravy
3957 N Mississippi Ave

Date: 11/11/06
Arrival: 9:20am

I am proud to report that the breakfast mafia is growing. How, you may ask, did I convince people to wake up before Noon on a Saturday and join me for breakfast? The answer is simple: a good old-fashioned guilt trip. I informed them that I would be flying to Chicago tomorrow and that if I were to die in a plane crash, this could be the very last time they would ever have breakfast with me. The guilt trip worked and I was pleasantly surprised when half of the LAK house (a famous house in NoPo, home to many wonderful ladies) showed up sleepy-eyed and ready to eat.

I was excited to travel to the great country of NoPo this morning to try out Gravy on Mississippi. We were immediately taken with the place; it was very cute inside.

A few of us noticed an “Animal Lovers” section on the menu. I think “Meat Lovers” would’ve been a more appropriate word choice, but I quickly forgot about that and began drooling all over the rest of the menu. Amongst the scrambles (featuring a "make your own" option), the pancakes, the fried egg sandwiches, and the “animal lovers” sections, I found French toast on Challuh bread. Aha, I made my choice.

We all noticed that breakfast at Gravy was a bit on the spendy side. Most menu items were between $8-12. We quickly discovered that it’s because the portions are GINORMOUS at Gravy. Were they expecting most of their patrons to be Sumo wrestlers this morning? I’m not sure, but I do know that not one person at our table finished their meal today. In fact, we were all so stuffed and unable to speak. I leave you with the few brief quotes that I managed to obtain from my friends.

Mandy: Greco Scramble
Quote: “OMG, this cheese smells. It’s good, but I recommend splitting meals. At least I’ll have breakfast for tomorrow!

Lex: Make-Your-Own Scramble w/ avocado, cheddar, and black olives. Hash browns on the side.

Quote: “Great portions, but I need more flava!”

Anne & Melinda: French Toast on Challuh bread
Quote from myself: “I liiiike, but I can’t finish. The jew bread is so good.”

Kara: Romeo scramble w/ onions, provolone, peppers, and veggie sausage.
Quote: “Portions are definitely too big!”

Jay: 1 biscuit w/ veggie gravy, 2 eggs, hashbrowns.
Quote: *grabs stomach* “uhhhhhhhghhhhhhhhhhhhh.”

I decided that the food was very very delicious, but if I ever go to Gravy again, I would probably share one meal with 6 people.

Wait Time Outside: 23 minutes
Wait Time For Food: About 25 minutes
Service: Friendly, but it took them a while to take our order.
Food: Everything was tasty, but the portions are made for Sumo wrestlers.
Options: Lots of options. I liked that they had a make-your-own-scramble.
Price: $8-12, scrambles were either $8.75 or $9.75. Spendy due to the portions.
Atmosphere: cute, awesome art on the walls, kid-friendly, Van Morrison in the background.

Utopia Café

2006-11-05T11:02:00.000-08:00

Utopia Café
3308 SE Belmont St.

Date: 11/5/06
Arrival Time: 9:28am

Today we got an early start to our breakfast adventure and arrived at Utopia Café at around 9:28am. I tried to recruit more friends to join the breakfast club, but most of them scoffed at the idea of eating breakfast before Noon on a weekend. Fear not, I will try and peer pressure them again next time. In my opinion, true breakfast afficionados are willing to sacrifice their time for a more pleasurable eating experience. It usually pays off, and today it definitely did. It was a drizzly Portland morning, the type of morning where you don't want to arrive late and wait outside for a long time. Because we arrived early, we only had to wait 9 minutes inside the warm café as the friendly staff offered us coffee.

We had a very difficult time deciding what to order for breakfast today. There were many eye-catching specials written on the big chalkboard near the kitchen (ricotta pancakes, cajun curry tofu scramble, potato cakes, etc.). The main menu featured many delicious scrambles, pancakes, brioche french toast, oatmeal, potatoes, etc. I could not decide, it was like a crazy breakfast war inside my head. My roommate always raves about Utopia's pancakes, so I decided to go with blueberry pancakes and a side of potato cakes. I was extremely impressed when our food came to us 14 minutes after we ordered.

I must admit that I could probably be classified as a pancake snob. I don't want to toot my own horn or anything, but I can make pretty decent sourdough and swedish pancakes because of the great recipes that were handed down to me from my mother. So when I say that these blueberry pancakes at Utopia Café were so divine, so fluffy, and so delicious, just know that I really mean it and that I would not say that about just any pancakes. The potato cakes were also quite tasty, a bit smooshy in the middle, but overall I was pleased with the flavor.

Jay ordered the Cajun Curry Tofu Scramble that was featured on the specials' list along with a side of potato cakes. He was not too pleased with the scramble and mentioned that it didn't have enough spice. He thought that the tofu should have been cut into smaller pieces or perhaps crumbled. Jay was pretty much in love with the potato cakes, though, and was happy to not have to add ketchup.

Kara ordered the Veggie Saute, which featured potatoes, green and red bell peppers, mushrooms, zucchini, basil, and goat cheese. She said it was tasty, but after having a bite of my blueberry pancakes, she wished she would've ordered those as well. Our friendly waitress noticed Kara's shirt and asked if she had seen Quasi at the City Hall show this summer. We had a nice chat with her about that.

Even though Kara and Jay were not 100% impressed by their choices, they both agreed that they would love to come back to Utopia to try other options (aka my blueberry pancakes). I think next time I will have to try their famous French toast.

Wait Time Inside: 9 minutes
Wait Time For Food: 14 minutes
Service: Very friendly, always refilling our coffee/water, appreciated Kara's shirt
Food: Very tasty, I heart their pancakes. Don't order the tofu scramble.
Options: So many options, esp. w/ weekend specials. Veggie sausage is available.
Price: $6-8, all scrambles are $7.95
Atmosphere: cute, friendly, art on the walls, very Belmont.

Cricket Café

2006-10-29T15:09:00.000-08:00

Cricket Café
3159 SE Belmont St.

Date: 10/29/06
Arrival: 11:10am

It was 10:30am when my friend Kara called and asked if I'd be up for eating at the Cricket Café. She reminded me that it was actually 9:30am due to the time change. It was as if the breakfast gods were smiling down upon me while granting me an extra hour to enjoy my favorite weekend meal. For blogging purposes, I am going to note the arrival time as 11:10am, even though technically it was 10:10am. The size of the crowd waiting outside was more of an 11am crowd (the later you eat breakfast in Portland, the longer the wait time) and our internal body clocks definitely agreed.

We arrived and Jay was able to grab a delicious cup of Madera fine roasted coffee while we waited outside. [Author note: I don't drink coffee (I know, sacrilege, right?) but I will rate it when possible because I realize that a good cup of coffee can make or break a breakfast for most Portlanders.] We waited for about 30 minutes outside while listening to Chris Isaak wail along to Wicked Game on the radio station that the Cricket Café chose for its patrons. Not exactly our music of choice, but we did enjoy singing along. After being seated, we noticed that the menu contained a variety of scrambles, skillets, omelets, French toast, as well as an ample amount of vegetarian options. Our waitress came immediately and she was very friendly.

Kara and I both ordered the Southeast Scramble (eggs, cheese, onions, and bellpeppers) with hashbrowns and sourdough toast. I was quite happy with my choice. The scramble was delicious, the toast (from Grand Central Bakery) was wonderful, the hashbrowns were fluffy and crispy. I wasn't able to finish it and declare, "OMG, best breakfast EVER!", however, I do not have any complaints.

Jay decided he wanted to out-breakfast the both of us by ordering the Cricket Omelet, which he special ordered with veggie sausage instead of bacon. The omelet contained 4 eggs, cheese, onions, the aforementioned veggie sausage, and hashbrowns stuffed inside the omelet topped off with gravy. If that doesn't say food coma, I don't know what does. Jay took one bite and said it was pretty much the best thing ever. 50 bites later, he was about ready to pass out as he decided that this menu option was "too much!".

Overall I was happy with my experience at Cricket Café today.

Wait Time Outside - 32 minutes
Wait Time For Food - 27 minutes
Service - very friendly, took our order quickly
Food - tasty, food-coma-inducing
Options - plenty of choices for meat and veggies, large menu
Price - $6-8
Atmosphere - cute place, music could have been better