I'm getting back on my coffee grind, because I love coffee and a bunch of you love coffee, and if you come to Portland, I want you to get to some great shops and skip ones that are mediocre. I'm hoping to get up a new tour post each month.
I'll post about 2-4 Portland (metro area) coffee shops in each post in the series, depending on how many I can get to in 4-6 weeks. Here are 3 that I've gotten to recently:
Hold the Wheat
This shop has all the vibes and it comes through on all of it. Located in Beaverton, it is a gluten-free coffee shop that just opened last June and has a ton of in-house baked goods that all look amazing in the case.
Eric and I made this a stop on a Sunday morning and bought a selection of items and two coffees. It wasn't cheap. We ordered 6 things and it came out to $49. Eric got a sugar-free vanilla latte, a butternut squash pesto fancy pie (with the leaf on it), and a little pumpkin loaf. I got a cappuccino, a bacon breakfast sandwich, and a strawberry pop tart. All of these things were amazing and really flavorful, but also really heavy, because gluten-free dough always seems to be. So, I was extremely full from my little breakfast sandwich and had to take my pop tart to go and eat it later. Not only do I recommend this for those who have special dietary needs, but anyone else in the area should stop in as well. I really want the great family-owned businesses to thrive.
We were on our way to shop at the Columbia employee store on a weekend morning, so I Google Mapped breakfast restaurants and coffee shops and this came up. It got really good reviews. If you know me at all, you know I don't get out of bed for anything less than a 4.6 star rating, but I feel like the Google reviewers failed me on this one. They are located in a wonky strip mall in Beaverton, but I was still able to find parking. They still had all their Christmas decor up in January, after Epiphany, as well. (I only mention this, because when I started looking around, waiting for my food and drink, they seemed to be outwardly religious in their non-Christmas decor, too.)
The shop was packed, which is usually a good sign. I ordered a breakfast croissant without the sausage (there was no bacon option available) and a maple latte. Eric ordered a sugar-free caramel toffee latte and caprese panini. I've never had a wheat croissant, and I wasn't mad at it. The sandwich was pretty good, but the strawberries were the sourest fruit I've ever been served, to the point that I didn't even finish chewing the first piece I put in my mouth. I just couldn't do it. Apparently, this sandwich had chipotle pesto on it, but it didn't really come through. I'd eat it again though. My coffee wasn't anything special, and it's the whole reason I eat breakfast in coffee shops. It was a latte and didn't really have much flavor.
Eric said his coffee was just sweet and had no discernable toffee or caramel taste. His panini looked good and the chips were basic chips. He wasn't enamored with either and said he wouldn't come back based on those. I have to agree, because I can get a great coffee and breakfast sandwich much closer to my own house.
Kiss Coffee
This shop was recommended and is located in NE Portland, so if you're on your way to or from the airport, it's kind of convenient. I do a lot of events at a hotel down the way, so it's an jaunt over and back from there. They have all-day breakfast, and that's huge for me, because sometimes I just want eggs in the middle of the day. It's got a cute little shop front, an outside ordering window, and quite a few outside tables to sit at if it's nice out. The whole place feels very welcoming and like it just belongs right in the middle of the neighborhood it's in.
Looking at their menu, a lot of things sounded delicious, but I specifically went for the gravy burrito, because what?! We pulled up and parked on the street, ordered and sat inside to wait for our breakfast. It's pretty minimal, but also kind of perfect. I don't particularly know how to explain that Portland feel, but it has it.
I think Eric ordered the sugar-free mocha and I got a iced dirty chai, and we both ordered a gravy burrito. He did sausage gravy and did mushroom gravy, because I feel like a veggie/vegan gravy is indescribably Portland and also a good judge of whether a place can actually make good food. And if you still have questions about what it is, I'll tell you. You get three eggs, seasoned potatoes, cheese, and breakfast gravy, but like, the perfect amount. And when I tell you that this was one of the best things I've ever put in my mouth, I can't stress how much I'm not kidding. It's so simple, but it's amazing. If I lived over in the neighborhood, I'd get so fat from eating these. Also, the coffee was very good, so that makes it worth the trip alone. I stopped by since to just grab a coffee, but I can't wait to go and eat another one of these burritos...and maybe figure out how to make it myself at home. It's not messy. It's just straight up delicious.
Okay, that's my coffee round-up for January. I'm excited to bring you more next month, because I have some fun ones on my list.
Tell me your favorite coffee shops from Portland or where you live, or one you'd like me to try for a future review.
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