Good Cheap Eats: Breakfast in Portland
If you are heading to Portland, Oregon for work, consider yourself lucky. No matter how busy that business travel itinerary gets, there’s always time to eat. And this destination will only leave you wanting more. Even better is that fact that Portland has a city feel yet it’s easy to get around town. So even if you’re staying by the convention center, there’s no reason you can’t hop over to Mississippi Avenue or the Pearl District to check out the restaurant scene there.
To kick off our Portland recommendations, we are sharing 11 of the best breakfast restaurants in town.
Caffeine Fix
Case Study
When you need a place to wait out the Portland rain or grab a great cup of coffee with a client, stop by Case Study. The toasted hazelnut lattes come highly recommended. For the non-coffee drinkers, they have a house made hot chocolate and a variety of pastries to compliment the drinks.
Heart Roasters
Heart Roasters will serve a delicious cup of coffee and a great atmosphere for getting some work done. It’s also a good place to pass the time, enjoy a cup of coffee and knock out some emails while you wait for a table at Screen Door, if you happen to go for brunch on a busy day.
Powell’s Books
Powell’s Books is a huge local bookstore with five locations around the city. Inside of Powell’s City of Books you can find a coffee shop, seating and plenty of books to peruse while you get your morning caffeine fix.
Quick Breakfast Bites
Fried Egg I’m In Love
This food cart serves up some of the best breakfast sandwiches in the city along with Stumptown coffee or mimosas if it’s that sort of a morning. There are also gluten-free and vegan-friendly options. When you need something quick and delicious for breakfast, this place will hit the spot.
Voodoo Doughnuts
It shouldn’t take you long to figure out that Portland has a long-standing debate around where to find the best donuts in town. Voodoo Doughnuts is perhaps the most famous donut shop. Tourists will line up, cash in hand, ready to pick out a variety of the crazy, fun donuts piled high with toppings like fruit loops and oreos. Definitely stop here for an Instagram-worthy snack.
Blue Star Donuts
Blue Star Donuts is the fancy and artisanal option. This is where you’ll find creative like matcha green tea and lemon poppy seed buttercream. There are locations on Mississippi Avenue and 23rd Avenue, both of which are fun areas to explore.
Tonalli’s Donuts
Tonalli’s sticks to a classic lineup of donuts and they do it well. Their maple cake donut is a local favorite, and they also serve up a good chocolate glazed buttermilk donut. Their donuts are fried which creates a slight crunch that gives way to a doughy inside.
Brunch Spots
Tasty n Sons
This popular brunch spot serves up the usual variety of sweet and savory breakfast dishes. For a taste of something different, try their delicious take on shakshuka. The staff are friendly and the restaurant is a short walk from Mississippi Avenue.
Mother’s Bistro
Mother’s Bistro is a good breakfast spot near Downtown. While best known for their breakfast and brunch menu, it’s also very popular for lunch and dinner. The best part? If you’re having trouble deciding what to order, you can select a few half orders and try a variety.
Screen Door
Screen Door is a short six-minute drive from the Portland convention center. It’s known for putting a unique twist on traditional southern fare, serving up dishes like buttermilk-fried chicken, praline bacon and glazed hushpuppies.
Pine State Biscuits
Pine State Biscuits has three locations on the East side of the city. It’s diner-style seating, so after you order at the register you can grab a seat at a table or along the counter. The portions are big and the gravy makes the experience (vegetarians rejoice, their mushroom gravy is top notch). And apparently their biscuits and sweet tea are the real deal because our CTO from North Carolina couldn’t stop raving about them. That’s the true test, right?
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