In theory, summer is approaching, and in theory, that means decent weather. We shall see. Anyway, you’re probably looking for the best places in Portland to eat breakfast outdoors.

So here’s my handy list of the best dozen (in my humble opinion) Portland breakfast places with outdoor seating.

In alphabetical order, and based on a combination of tasty food and cool outdoor seating …

Aquariva

Find ‘em: 4640 SW Macadam. Sunday, 9:30 to 2:30. website.

The Scene: A few tables out back, away from all traffic noise, overlooking the Willamette Greenway Trail and just feet from the river.

The Food: Here’s the menu. For savory, go Pork Belly Hash with Fingerlings, Greens, Peppers, Preserved Lemon, Poached Eggs. For sweet, the Crispy Citrus Brioche French Toast
with Whipped Honey Butter, Grand Marnier Syrup.

Bumblekiss

Find ‘em: 3517 NE 46th. Weekdays 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., weekends 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Bumblekiss.com.

The Scene: Sweet little patio next to the colorful, charming and tiny house of a restaurant, safely distant from NE Fremont. Garage sometimes has ping-pong.

The Food: Here’s the menu. For savory, go bacon tacos, three grilled corn tortillas topped with pepper jack + filled with a bacon, onion, pepper + citrus salsa scramble.  served with potatoes. For sweet, cinnamon swirl French toast. Good combos, too.

East Burn

Find ‘em: 1800 E Burnside, weekends 10 to 3, theeastburn.com.

The Scene: Sprawling patio out back with flames on some of the tables.

The Food: Here’s the menu. Savory: Lobster and crawfish Benedict with fontina mornay sauce over sautéed spinach and two potato pancakes. Sweet: blackberry cream cheese stuffed brioche French toast, dipped in custard and cooked in a cast iron skillet, served with whipped honey butter and choice of house preserves or syrup.

Equinox

Find ‘em: 830 N Shaver, Weekends 9 to 2, equinoxrestaurantpdx.com.

The Scene: Get outta the line at Gravy and drop down at a table in this walled-off patio away from Mississippi Street.

The Food: Here’s the menu. Savory: the Breakfast Pillow, a puff pastry stuffed with roasted bell peppers, mushrooms and caramelized onions, topped with two poached eggs and pasilla cheese sauce. Sweet: Zander’s Craving, creme brulee french toast with seasonal fruit.

Hands on Cafe

Where and When: At the Oregon College of Arts and Crafts, 8245 SW Barnes Road. Sunday, 9:30 to 1:30. No website.

The Scene: A few tables outside the secluded, family-run spot in the west hills, surrounded by rhodies and other blooming flora.

The Food: The menu only has four options each week, including a meat like sautéed tenderloin on a roasted red pepper and tomato topped with pork demi-glaze sauce and served with two poached eggs, creamy polenta, shaved Parmesan, and greens with pancetta and mushrooms. A recent sweet was buttermilk cakes topped with winter fruit compote, crème anglaise, sweetened whipped cream, and toasted almonds.

John Street Cafe

Find ‘em: 8338 N Lombard. Breakfast served Wednesday through Friday, 7 to 11 a.m., Saturday 7:30 a.m. to noon, and Sunday 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

The Scene: 10 or so picnic tables is ringed by beds of fuchsia, bleeding heart, columbine, geranium, creeping phlox, Japanese maple, and bamboo.

The Food: Here’s the menu. Savory: Marinated Chicken Omelet, garlic-basil and tomato sauce over an omelet filled with marinated chicken cream cheese-mushrooms and black olives. Sweet: black currant and filbert pancake.

Meriwethers

Find ‘em: 2601 NW Vaughn. Weekends 8 to 2:30. meriwethersnw.com

The Scene: A big patio, part covered, patio, which is adorned with wrought iron, heat lamps, copper piping to hang canvas in cooler weather, bamboo fencing, fuchsias, hydrangias, hostas, and a fountain.

The Food: Here’s the menu. Savory: Quiche Lorraine with pancetta and gruyere. Sweet: Dutch baby with lemon and powdered sugar.

Pambiche

Find ‘em: 2811 NE Glisan. Weekends 9 to 2. pambiche.com.

The Scene: A row of tables out front, under heat lamps. Maybe the best “see and be seen” spot in Portland.

The Food: Here’s the really big menu. Savory: Bistec de Palomilla, thin-cut Cascade Natural top sirloin, tenderized and marinated in Creole herbs and spices, then pan fried with red onions. Served with eggs any style, yellow plantain mash Moros and Cristianos. Sweet: A wonderful world of pastries with super strong and smooth Cuban coffee.

Tin Shed

Find ‘em: 1438 NE Alberta St. Daily 7 to 3. tinshedgardencafe.com

The Scene: Covered garden patio with fireplace. Dogs welcome!

The Food: Here’s the menu. Savory and sweet: Get both with the Everything Naughty sampler: potato cake, scrambled eggs, buttermilk biscuit with bacon gravy or rosemary-mushroom gravy, plus bacon or sausage (possibly vegan).

Veritable Quandary

Find ‘em: 1220 SW First Ave. Weekends 9:30 to 3. veritablequandary.com

The Scene: Flowerlicious patio with a view of the Hawthorne Bridge.

The Food: Here’s the menu. Savory: Herbed crepes filled Wild Mushrooms & Pulled Chicken, Leeks, Cave Aged Gruyere & served with Sauteed Tuscan Kale & Chard. Sweet: Johnny Cakes with Rhubarb Ginger Compote, Fresh Local Strawberries & Whipped Creme Fraiche.

Wild Abandon

Find ‘em: 2411 SE Belmont. Weekends 9 to 2. wildabandonrestaurant.com

The Scene: An almost secret, tree-enclosed porch out behind one of the funkiest breakfast places in town.

The Food: Here’s the menu. Savory: Pulled Pork Hash, slow cooked boston pork shoulder, caramelized onions, spinach, and toasted potatoes tossed in a some ground mustard horseradish cream. Sweet: Vegan French Toast with soy milk, soy butter, and real maple syrup..

I tell ya, leave town for a few weeks, and all hell breaks loose on the Portland Breakfast scene.

Not that I’m complaining: I was having a heck of a time hiking and eating in Tuscany. But while I was gone we’ve had more Portland breakfasts come and go, so here’s a little roundup.

Downtown Breakfast News

Eat me … now at a BrunchBox table.

Brunch Box managed to open their restaurant at 620 SW 9th Avenue … on 4/20. Not sure if I should comment on that one or not.

More breakfast cart news: DC Vegetarian is now doing breakfast. Haven’t been over there to write a review.

Breakfast at Hatch. If you didn’t get it, you ain’t gonna get it.

At the other end of the success experience, Hatch has probably set the new standard for short-lived Portland breakfasts. Eater PDX reports that they are closing after two months!

From Raven and Rose on Facebook

On a happier note, Raven and Rose — the place in that awesome building you’ve always wondered about — is now serving brunch. Again, thank you Eater.

And finally, the ongoing saga of the new location or Sugar Mama’s Cafe is … well, ongoing. The last Tweet from them was in April, talking about plumbers.

Breakfast in the Rest of Portland

Tosis is no more. A moment of silence, please. Same for Joe’s Cellar, which was basically condemned by the city for being unsafe. Dang! They must have gone into the bar at 8 a.m. like I did.

Another closing, and sadder, also from Eater: Three Square Grill in Hillsdale is no more. Apparently the owner wants to concentrate on his pickle business.

Pine State Biscuits closed shop on Belmont, but they say a new location at SE 11th and Division is coming soon. How many breakfast places can one intersection handle? We’ll see. Meanwhile, Pine State is still open on NE Alberta, and with longer hours.

Anything else? Let me know!

Keep up with all Portland breakfast news by subscribing to my Breakfast Bulletin, liking my Facebook page, or following me on Twitter.

And keep up with all things Paul – hiking, traveling, food and spirituality – over at PaulGerald.com.

Adorable Sweedeedee — screen door and all.

Last weekend I had a chance to eat brunch at Sweedeedee, in North Portland. It’s an insanely cute little place, and I had heard many good things about the food. Jen Stevenson, of Under the Table with Jen, said something like “favorite place ever.”

But I (in fact, we) have a serious reservation about the place. We’ll get to that.

First, it couldn’t be more Portland, from the screen door to the pies, the wood floors to the jars in windows, the iPad register, the pickled carrots, and the young folks running it. Adorable little place.

And it is little, like with 20something seats, tops. And herein lies the rub, for my money. We got there and got in line to order, but all the tables were filled. It seemed odd to place an order when there’s no place to sit, but I was told, “By the time your food comes out a table will come up.”

For the record, that did happen…

So maybe I’m just being grumpy. But why take my order if there’s no place to sit? Why create the anxiety of me (along with many others) standing around, waiting for food, while vulturing over tables? There’s also no designated waiting area, so you’re literally hovering over others while they eat.

Meanwhile, you take what tables you can. I saw a party of four crammed around what should be a two-top, I saw someone standing at the counter, with their plate between her two seated friends … what’s the point? Why not seat us, then take our order? We’ll wait.

Alright, like I said, a table opened up, and we grabbed it, with three other parties hovering around. End of complaining.

What came out, a while later, was two little plates of perfectly-matched breakfast heaven. They, like the place, were adorable! I got the corncakes with eggs, bacon and greens. Why more places don’t offer a little sweet-and-savory variety plate like this is beyond me

Corncakes, eggs, bacon and greens at Sweedeedee

My friend got a breakfast plate (sorry, don’t remember the name, and they haven’t posted their menu online) with bacon, egg, salad, cheese, pear, bread and marmalade. All delightful.

Breakfast plate at Sweedeedee

The bacon was perfectly crisp, my eggs were just as I like ‘em, and in short everything was yummy — except for the logistics. Many of the reviews on Yelp mention this, as well, so I think it isn’t just me. We were there on a Sunday around 9, and it was packed. Not sure what it’s like during the week.

So, the bottom line: cute place, great food, hassle seating. Or I’m an old fart.

Read all of Paul Gerald’s Portland Breakfast Reviews. You can also like Breakfast in Bridgetown on Facebook and follow @PDXBreakfastGuy on Twitter.

Buy the breakfast book (plus 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles of Portland and others) here.

And keep up with all things Paul – hiking, traveling, food and spirituality – over at PaulGerald.com.

Sckavone’s practically hides at 41st and Division in Southeast Portland.

One thing about going to so many breakfasts is that after a while, I start to forget what places are like — or even forget them completely.

For example, it occasionally pops into my head that I had a couple of good brunches at Sckavone’s in Southeast Portland. I sometimes remember to mention it when people ask questions like, “Where should I go in Southeast,” and “What’s a good place with no line?”

But after eating in more than 130 places for my book, Sckavone’s sometimes drops off my personal radar. So, last weekend, I went back to check it out.

And guess what? It was half-full at 10 a.m. on a Sunday, the food was excellent, the staff super friendly, and the owner even came by to tell me that none of this is a problem in his world.

First, the scene:

Sckavone’s used to be a drugstore, and the counter is still there.

It was a drugstore for years, and is still owned by the same family. The friendly, neighborhood vibe is still there. In fact, the owner came over to say hi and told me they’re not trying to be anything other than a neighborhood place. He said sure, they like customers, but they’re not trying to be the Next Big Thing. I like that attitude, and I love the feel at Sckavone’s: casual, clean, airy, well lit, and friendly.

And they hand out a scone for everybody:

They give out a scone with honey to eerybody.

The menu hits all the classics, with egg dishes and pancakes and granola. When the Crew went with me, we sampled the corned beef hash, which was just right with a little crisp to the meat, and a French toast with cinnamon and cream cheese icing that was more like apple pie, and huge.

This time, I went with the Smoked Salmon Benedict, a classic Portland brunch dish, and it was really, really good. Here are two shots of it.

Smoked salmon benedict.

Let’s get in close on that Benedict!

Here’s what I wrote about the history of the place for the book:

Nick Sckavone came from Italy to Southeast Portland in 1908. He led a labor action against the Oregonian at age 15, and at 17 he formed a club of neighborhood baseball teams, and there’s a field in Westmoreland named for him. In 1930, he opened a drugstore at Southeast 41st and Division, and in 1980 his grandson took it over.

It’s just your basic neighborhood place, and it has been for 80 years. Kind of makes a guy want to move to the neighborhood and sit at that counter all the time.

And by golly, I had the same feeling last weekend, too! Could mean I should be more creative, or that I just eat at too many places. But maybe it just means I should go to Sckavone’s more often.

Read all of Paul Gerald’s Portland Breakfast Reviews. You can also like Breakfast in Bridgetown on Facebook and follow @PDXBreakfastGuy on Twitter.

Buy the breakfast book (plus 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles of Portland and others) here.

And keep up with all things Paul – hiking, traveling, food and spirituality – over at PaulGerald.com.

Blues City Biscuits is back on the scene.

Just got word last night — and confirmed this morning on their Facebook page — that Blues City Biscuits is back in business, as of tomorrow. They have changed owners and locations, with a soft opening at Good Food Here at SE 43rd and Belmont Street set for Thursday the 28th. Real opening is Friday, March 1.

I had a fine meal there once, and I’m glad that somebody who understands Memphis-style breakfast is back on the street!

Keep up with all Portland breakfast news by subscribing to my Breakfast Bulletin, liking my Facebook page, or following me on Twitter.

And keep up with all things Paul – hiking, traveling, food and spirituality – over at PaulGerald.com.

I am still plugging away on the third edition of my Portland breakfast book, Breakfast in Bridgetown. And by “plugging away,” I mean mostly stuffing my face. I am a procrastinator when it comes to writing, but I can’t really put off eating at something like 60 breakfast places until the last week or two. That would be a bit much.

You can catch up on all the recent reviews if you want, but here’s where things stand with the book as of this morning:

I plan to have a little over 100 places in this edition, down slightly from the last edition, but I think I will actually mention more places this time. Here’s how that makes sense: Let’s take the Portland Penny Diner. It’s a nice little place with pastries and sandwiches, and it’s associated with a nice restaurant, Imperial, in the Lucia Hotel. But is it really worth a whole chapter? I think not. Nor are, in my opinion, sandwich places like Meat Cheese Bread and Bunk. Nor is every coffee shop in town that has an egg sandwich, nor every tavern with a $2.99 bacon and eggs special, nor all the bakeries, nor every diner.

The solution to this is to develop a set of criteria — real restaurant, been open for a while, puts serious effort into breakfast or brunch, etc. — thus limiting the size of the endeavor.

But what about the sandwich places, bakeries, carts, and so on?

My answer: Lists.

For this edition, I’ll be tossing in lists and other features between the restaurant chapters. Lists will include sandwich places, downtown hotels, bakeries of note, and so on. I’ll also inject a little more analysis and opinion like “10 Benedicts to try” and “8 pancakes I dream about.” The numbers don’t matter, but I think people want to know stuff like that: weirdest dish, best combo platter, biggest portions, places with no lines, etc.

For features, what I have in mind are chef/owner profiles, funny stories I’ve run into along the way, and various people’s answer to my standard question, “What’s the best breakfast you ever ate?”

What other ideas or suggestions do you have? Put them in the comments below, and I’ll pick somebody to win a free book.

Otherwise, I still have about 40 places to check out, which even as I write that makes me think I should be out eating instead of sitting here writing about it. Then I’ll write those up (or rule them out), then review the 60 or so others I’m not visiting for this edition, work on the lists and features, arrange photos, hire an editor and designer …

And now I feel overwhelmed again! Right. Back to it.

Stay tuned. We’ll get this thing done and in your hands by July, promise.

Read all of Paul Gerald’s Portland Breakfast Reviews. You can also like Breakfast in Bridgetown on Facebook and follow @PDXBreakfastGuy on Twitter. And keep up with all things Paul – hiking, traveling, food and spirituality – over at PaulGerald.com.

Downtown Portland seems to be the epicenter of a breakfast and brunch explosion these days.

First Morning Star will be replaced by Hatch as of this Friday, then Sugar Mamma’s says they will re-open the same day, then Tasty N Alder opens to much fanfare (I visited on opening day), then the Brunch Box cart announces plans for a restaurant, … and now Mama Mia Trattoria has started serving brunch.

The menu doesn’t have a lot of surprises or anything, but there’s a solid lineup of cocktails, frittatas, egg dishes, griddle fare, Benedicts and specials.

The fact that all this is going on within easy walking distance of my office is not necessarily good news. The gym is farther from here than any of these!

Keep up with all Portland breakfast news by subscribing to my Breakfast Bulletin, liking my Facebook page, or following me on Twitter.

And keep up with all things Paul – hiking, traveling, food and spirituality – over at PaulGerald.com.

(via thekitchn.com)

Tasty, Sugar, Oven — that was my scribbled note to remind myself of Portland breakfast news I need to post about. I thought that was kinda funny.

So …

• Tasty N Alder is finally open, so let the media frenzy end and the eating begin. I went there on opening day, and here’s what it was like.
• Sugar Mama’s Cafe announced their opening date will be February 19 at the new location on SW Alder between 3rd and 4th. They are trying to raise money to make it happen, too.
• Oven and Shaker has started serving brunch. The menu is pretty limited at the moment, but interesting: Broiled grapefruit, anyone? They will also have breakfast pizza (house cured ham, mozzarella, leeks, pecorino, duck egg), which is apparently becoming a thing.
• Work continues on my Third Edition, still looking good for a July 2013 pub date.

There have been two great pieces of machinery at work lately in downtown Portland.

One is the growing empire of one John Gorham, owner of Toro Bravo and co-founder of two of the best brunches in Portland: Simpatica and Tasty N Sons. Gorham got a place downtown and announced plans to open Tasty N Alder, basically another Tasty N Sons to rock the downtown Portland brunch scene. Gorham is a machine in the good sense, with multiple successful restaurants, a cookbook in the works, and now this. Good for him, and us!

John Gorham, the genuis behind Tasty and Sons and now Tasty and Alder. (by Gideon Bosker at portlandmonthlymag.com)

The other machine at work has been the Portland Media Machine. It fell in love with Gorham years ago, and the number of blogs and publications lining up to hump this man’s leg lately has been awesome to watch. The Media Machine has showed us pictures of Tasty N Alder before it opened (Oregonian), previewed its staff (Eater PDX), typed in its menu (Food Dude), posted a food slideshow (Examiner), interviewed one of his chefs (Willamette Week),  and along the way even let us know that Gorham likes the doughnuts at Helen Bernhard Bakery (Eater) but hates the whole “hottest (looking) chef” thing (Zester).

For the record, I am not hating here. I had John on my podcast a couple years ago and heaped praise all over him in my book.

So by the time Tasty N Alder opened, I mean … how can you not go? It started brunch on February 6, with dinner coming February 20, and a grand opening March 1. So, yes, that’s three more chances at praise-heaping and leg-humping. You’re warned. I even teamed up with another blogger, Jen Stevenson of Under the Table with Jen and, with me, Operation Big Belly.

from EaterPDX.com.

Meanwhile, what’s up at Tasty N Alder? It f–ing rocks, just like Tasty N Sons does. Go back and look at that menu from Food Dude, and here’s a little taste of what it was like to eat brunch there on opening day.

The thing to remember about brunch at Tasty is that you need to get past the idea of “to each their own.” Instead, think of it as “from each, a contribution to the whole.” That is, the plates are small, so everybody order something that sounds good, and let’s share.

The first thing we got was the yams glazed in cumin and maple. They went way too fast for photos.

Next out was Robin’s Steakhouse Sandwich, which might look like a burger but actually was Cascade Natural smoked coppa steak with fried onions & horseradish. We are talking tender, luscious meat in scrumptious sauce.

Steakhouse Sandwich

Next out was Jen’s Korean Fried Chicken, which again sounds like fried chicken but comes with house kimchi and two easy eggs.

Korean Fried Chicken

I was getting jealous and hungry by this time, so it’s a good thing the Potatoes Bravas came out. They don’t share many details about this dish, but according to Wikipedia it’s chunks of potatoes that are boilded to soft, then fried, then covered in a sauce of either tomatoes, red pepper, vinegar, and spices or olive oil, red pepper, paprika, chili, and vinegar. At Tasty, it comes with an egg on top and aioli on the side, and it’s amazing.

Potatoes Bravas

Are you hungry yet? I was ravenous by this time, and that worked out, because out came my Pork Schnitzel. That would be a breaded and fried (and super tender) pork cutlet, served with a slice of ham, havarti cheese, over-easy eggs and mustard braised cabbage.

Pork Schnitzel

After a while we were all pretty giddy and happy, and then Jen suggested we finish things off with the Budapest Coffee Cake. I don’t know what’s up in Budapest, but apparently they do their coffee cake warm and soft and loaded with cinnamon. I couldn’t even get the girls to wait before I snapped a photo of it!

Budapest Coffee Cake

I am really worried about Tasty N Alder being downtown, and in fact a block where I board the Streetcar going to and from work. I am trying to lose weight even as I eat all these breakfasts, and having this huge menu of awesome food nearby isn’t going to help.

Count me, therefore, as part of the Tasty N Alder Brunch Machine.

Tasty N Alder is at 580 SW 12th, at Alder. It’s open for brunch 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily. You can follow them as Tasty N Sons on Facebook. You can also follow The Breakfast Guy’s Twitter list of Portland Breakfast Places. And here’s The Breakfast Guy on Facebook.

Read all of the Paul Gerald’s Portland Breakfast Reviews. You can also like Breakfast in Bridgetown on Facebook and follow @PDXBreakfastGuy on Twitter.

And keep up with all things Paul – hiking, traveling, food and spirituality – over at PaulGerald.com.