Simpatica Dining Hall

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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