Cup & Saucer Cafe

Recommends

coco vaughn

Joined 2 years ago

so glad I finally gave it a try!. WOW! a lot of you are bitchy (and poor) and apparently need servers to treat you better than I bet you treat anyone. Some of you should not go in public. From the minute we stepped in this morning until we left, it was a great experience! Great host, great coffee, scones, breakfast, server, all of it, can't wait to return and avoid the long lines at other supposed "great" breakfast places. Seriously people, if you have to bitch so much maybe you need to journal more, there may be more to your breakfast anger than appears.

Recommends

AnonymousOneThree

Joined 4 years ago

Just better than Bread & Ink. My husband and I usually go here for breakfast when we're on Hawthorne. We had a really terrible experience at Bread & Ink, so that and the decent French Toast are really the only reasons we choose this place. The second time we came, which was after the B&I experience, we walked in to see a waiter talking on the phone to a complaining customer, and apbruptly hang up the phone on the customer and roll his eyes, about which all the other employees snickered. That alone almost made me want to turn and run, but we were hungry and didn't know of any other places nearby. I got my requisite French Toast, which is not the best I can get in Portland (Mother's Bistro) but I've had it a couple times and I feel that I can count on it. I don't like the atmosphere of these types of places, and the employees all need to shower with some soap and shampoo, and put on a shirt that isn't hanging off them by threads.

Doesn't Recommend

PDXAndrew1

Joined 3 years ago

Going down hill..... Ate at Cup and Saucer twice this week and both times the entree was thrown together lacking taste and missing part of the order. I got the feeling the people working in the cafe were not interested in being in the restaurant biz....I hope they get their quality and service improved for the prices they are charging.... Good Luck.

Recommends

abalama

Joined 4 years ago

Great breakfast!. This cafe has been a favorite of mine for over 15 years. I just love their scones & jam. The cup & saucer was one of the first places in Portland that would substitute tofu for eggs-and do a decent job of it, which they still do, of course, and it's still delicious. My husband enjoys eggs & also adores the oatmeal. The breakfast potatoes are possibly my favorite on earth, with salsa, cheese & sourcream, what's not to like, but seriously, the potatoes are terrific, even plain. They are red potatoes cooked in a home-fries style, not greasy & well browned, marvelous! Sometimes the service is difficult, several times we have had servers "misunderstand" a side order of meat for a side order of fake meat. Since when do vegans order sausage? But other than that, we've never had a bad meal, poor coffee or anything unfortunate. A sure win for out of town guests as well.

Doesn't Recommend

decernment

Joined 4 years ago

i pay to sit where i want to. I was there on Friday September 11th for lunch. The place was less than half full at eleven thirty. We asked to sit in the inner room and at the window. The rude man doing the seating was clearly irritated that we didn't want to sit next to people in the outer room. He took us to a far table in the corner away from the window and said "you will have to sit here".

We had requested a table that sat four by the window as it was the only one open in the inner room. He gave us a small two person table. Later, he seated two people at a four person table.

There are too many good restaurants in Portland who, especially given the economic climate here, will be glad to see me and treat me as if i am the one paying to eat there.

Recommends

kanino

Joined 4 years ago

blueberry pancakes are good. the original c&s is the better one. blueberry pancakes are good, as are most of the breakfast items.

my gripes 1)service can be slow, 2) cost. breakfast should not be noticably expensive. why should i pay 9-10 bucks for something i can make at home for about 2 bucks, even after paying retail for raw materials?

also, the expansion c&s over on whatever street just is not as good.

Recommends

CoffeeMaster

Joined 4 years ago

Best Club Sandwiches on Earth. Cup and saucer has the best club sandwich on the face of the earth, period! It's huge, full of fresh ingredients, and comes with their amazing house potatoes. If I could eat there every day, I would. they also make amazing hot chocolate. The food is only made better by the brisk and professional staff. Many of the waiters have the tattoos, scars, and emaciation of former heroin addicts, but they are friendly, and they do a great job. It just adds color. Add some AC in the summer and a few fly strips, and I would never leave.

Recommends

MechaXian

Joined 4 years ago

My girlfriend and I have gone to a few of their locations a bunch of times, and it's always fantastic. The only problem I have is deciding on which of my menu favorites to order. I loved the regular reuben before I became a vegetarian, but the vegetarian reuben does not disappoint or leave me wishing I still ate meat. The high quality of the ingredients makes a good reuben easy, but the delicious local jam and fantastic, baked to order, doughy and crispy scones are testament to an impressive culinary artistry that doesn't usually come at these lowish prices. The omelets and scrambles (my favorite is the spanish!) are good but not too heavy or oily and the portions are large enough to leave all but competitive eaters asking for a box. My girlfriend and I always either share or wish we did, and I'm certainly a "lover of food" (yes, a euphemism for "fatty"). Specials are often great, as are the soups, and though a better quiche is very easy to find, their specials often include a quiche with an interesting flavor combination. And their other sandwiches are only just a little better than what you expect for the price. Peak hours are just as crazy as they are at the other great breakfast places (genies, cricket, fat alberts), but a recent large expansion makes the list move a lot faster. The laid-back atmosphere off the peak hours, with comfy booths, a fun view of one of Portland's most interesting streets, good music, and sometimes great art, make for a good place to take a date, some friends, or even the family.

The company has a low turnover, which means you can count on becoming familiar with the staff over the years and enjoying a "regular status" but the flip side is you should be prepared for servers who won't go out of their way to hide the fact that their day has been especially bad (or good). Their kitchen appears to be quite streamlined, so you will usually get your food quickly, but otherwise your speed/quantity of service depends greatly on how busy the place is. i.e., if you judge a place by your number of refills, you may prefer some place else.

Doesn't Recommend

blastik

Joined 5 years ago

"Cup and Saucer"?. More like "Cup and Hipsters". This place is more of a haven for young people to spend their trust fund dollars as they try to look more cool than the people at the table next to them. It's in a trendy location, so it attracts the same in its people. The food is mediocre at best. They only have whole food items, and certainly do not have more traditional breakfast offerings like waffles, pancakes, etc. The food itself is greasy spoon style, really not that great. There is almost constantly a line waiting to get in to the place, so sitting around for 30 minutes before you get a decent table is standard practice. I'm not sure why this place has such a good reputation. I'm guessing the good rap was created by the hipsters who flock there.

Doesn't Recommend

untoherselfalone

Joined 5 years ago

no way. i really think you can do better for breakfast. walk to 36th and hawthorne and go to the waffle window. you will thank me.