Hawthorne Street Cafe

I'd eaten at the Hawthorne Cafe before, and not been wildly impressed, but not incredibly disappointed, either. Today I was hungry, there was parking nearby, so I thought I'd try them again. Big mistake. The waitress recommended the smoked salmon benedict special (without giving a price), and as described it sounded great. When it came, though, it was far from great; it wasn't even good. The salmon didn't taste smoked, but had the texture and taste of canned salmon--very runny, so that the English muffin was so soggy I didn't want to eat it. The hollandaise was thin and watery, far from the rich eggy sauce served in decent cafes and restaurants. The upshot was that I paid $14 for an almost inedible meal (I did eat part of it, but only because I was really, really hungry; and also because, for various reasons, I don't believe in sending food back to the kitchen--though in this case I was very tempted). When the waitress asked me how I was doing, I told her that I couldn't really say I was enjoying the meal. Her response: ""Well, at least you're honest."" Not exactly what I expected; a ""What's wrong?"" or ""Is there anything I can do about it?"" would have been more appropriate. (She did later ask, as I was paying the check, what specifically was wrong with the meal, and I told her; but again, no offer of making things right was forthcoming.) I paid, left a smaller than usual tip, and vowed never to return. It was one of the worst meals I've ever eaten, as well as one of the most expensive breakfast dishes I've ever ordered. I won't make that mistake again. more

For all the years I've lived in Portland I somehow never got to this place, and I'm so glad I finally did. I really like the ambiance in the converted house: I like the plants and all the windows and the light light light. There's a welcoming feel and the staff were just the right touch of peppy and helpful. Food was excellent, prices were reasonable. I will recommend this cafe. more

I've noticed that negative reviews by random people can sometimes be absurdly harsh, so I thought I'd look up a place I know for comparison. I've been here, I'm sure nearly a hundred times. So let me say a few things about it: The food is not going to make you swoon but it's good, it's extremely consistent (there will not be two hairs on your plate), and it is not over priced. Like the food the wait staff is consistently above average, and never have an attitude. I cannot warn you strongly enough about the coffee! The owner is a character, he's foreign and the cultural gap is dramatic. Especially if he knows you well enough to come over and commandeer your table's conversation for 20 minutes, which will happen if you frequent the place . He can be hard on his staff but it's because he genuinely treats them like sons and daughters not because he's mean. The ONLY customers I have ever seen him take to task are any that are abusive to his 'kids'. Otherwise he's one of the most friendly people I've ever known. Pros: The cr?pe special, and comfortable atmosphere Cons: The coffee is brutal, the fruit cups are silly. more

I've always loved this restaurant, and it's high time to share. The owner/manager is simply a wonderful man to have serve your breakfast. The food choices are interesting - always fresh & delicious. The coffee is strong & plentiful, the juice exceptionally fresh. Over the 20 years I've been enjoying having breakfast at this cafe, I've probably tried everything on the menu, but my favorites are the omelets. They are a perfect size, fluffy, light and the filling ingredients are of the highest quality. Fruit is always an option to have with any meal, and the side potatoes are marvelous. Pros: creative, delicious european style breakfasts Cons: can't think of any more

This is a great example of why I love ""mom and pop"" businesses. The owner is often there greeting and waiting tables. He is professional and a complete pleasure. The food is great too. My husband and I just had an omlette and a marionberry pancake- scrumptious! One of the best omlettes I've had in a long time. To top off the experience, they had someone playing guitar and singing wonderful music- perfect atomosphere. I could have sat there all day. A must for Sunday morning brunch! Pros: Wonderful service and food Cons: I can't think of any more

Horrible food! We ate here on 8/30. I ordered a simple omelette; what I was served wasn't even close to my order. Server was very apologetic, and they made the correct one quickly. We could see and hear everything in the kitchen; the owner was verbally berating the cooks, who didn't seem to understand English. The owner was just awful to them. The accompanying potatoes were a strange orange color; I couldn't swallow them! My 13 year old, who was starving and eats anything, said his pancakes were disgusting, and he didn't eat anything but his side of blah ham. Pros: server was very nice Cons: food, verbally abusive owner more

Each weekend, we would search online to find a new cafe or diner to go to. Not too long ago, we were by chance, driving past Hawthorne Cafe while making our way to another location. We did not like the ambiance of our weekend choice, so we headed back to the beautiful antique corner house on Hawthorne. There we were greeted with smiles, welcomes, and ""I Love You's"" from the owner. We found the staff and owner to be refreshing, friendly, obliging and humourous. Our breakfast was so flavorful that we were wanting to hold onto the taste far into the morning. We returned the following weekend, where not only were we greeted in the same manner, but the owner remembered us, our order and our preference for coffee. We have been back numerous times now, and each has been a relaxing and enjoyable experience. The food is fantastic, the karma positive, and the staff incredible. So to you Moe, I Love You too! Pros: Food, Service, Seating Area, Location, Servers, & Owner Cons: Parking more

The only good thing about this resturant is the server. My 3 friends and i went there for lunch today. I ordered the eggs florentine, and one of my friends ordered the chicken salad sandwich. My other friend had a chicken gyros. My eggs florentine was awfull!!!. Absolutely awful. My friend who had the chicken gyros also was greatly dissapointed as it tasted and smelt like fish. now, i understand that in a resturant things happen and sometimes the food may not be what one may expect, however, that is not the worst of it. The way that everyone involved was treated (including the server), was absolutely apauling. First off, i told the server that i did not like the taste of the eggs benedit. She appologized and then soon after the owner came to our table and became confrontational with me. He proceeded to tell me that hollandaise sauce is supposed to be served cold and so on. Then he turned around and yelled at his server in front of everyone in that resturant. I felt absolutely awful for that girl. It was not her fault that the owner does not know how to cook. I will absolutely never, ever return to this establishment again. This man has no idea how to treat a customer or his employees and his food is absolutely disgustind Pros: server Cons: everything except the server more

Visited Hawthorne Cafe today and couldn't believe how we were treated by the owner. Their marionberry coffee cake was burnt and the owner would not substitute another item or credit the bill a little. He, you will not believe this, cut off the black part on the bottom and returned it to our table. We left completely dazed and could not believe what had just happened. I highly recommend you skip this place! Cons: Owner is very rude and food bad more

I love the Gyros!!!! Was a wonderful taste. Almost ordred to of them. Owner is awesome. The people that worked for him were losers! Pros: Yummy Gyros!!!! Cons: Parking more

decided to stop in while i waited for a neighboring store to open. i was sincerely and very pleasantly welcomed. i didn't eat, i just had a few mimosas (which were very good and reasonably priced) and was still treated very well. i have been to many places where service seriously declines once the staff learns you will not be spending money on food-this was far from the case here. the people at the tables around me ordered food that looked very good, and even though i wasn't hungry, the smell almost enticed me to eat anyway. my experience leads me to believe that there is yet another owner since other reviewers have posted, or that they just went at the very wrong time-the staff that was present during my visit was attentive and i don't think the ""boss"" would dream of yelling at anyone-ever! i will definitely return to try the food. :) Pros: great service, nice atmosphere Cons: none so far more

We really love this place. The building is perched up high which makes for great people watching too! The food is better than any breakfast place I know of for the money. Go for the omelets, a sure fire win. I don't care for the Benedict here nor the salsa but overall its highly recommended. The staff are wonderfully perky to boot. Pros: price, location, views Cons: parking more

i gave this place a try for the first time today. just looking for a simple breakfast, i had very low standards walking in. the server was charming and my meal arrived promptly. my side of hollandaise, however was gloppy, ice cold, and electric orange(strangely the potatoes had so much turmeric that they were almost the same color). worse, the sauce didn't even taste like hollandaise. i have been a professional cook for 10 years and recently managed a breakfast joint. i know how one of the mother sauces taste and know that ice cold hollandaise is broken. (unless it's cut with a starch... yuk/why). i politely sent back the sauce and salvaged what i could from my plate. before i finished my meal the cook/owner approached my table and launched into a tirade, ticking off points on his fingers. he explained that: more

A charming Victorian Home renovated into a lovely restaurant. The glassed in porch is gorgeous. The place holds a remarkable number of tables, so there's rarely a significant wait, but with the three or four small rooms, one never feels like one is eating in a crowd. The small rooms also help to cut noise so one can actually have a conversation without straining to hear. Service has always been professional and courteous. My boyfriend and I arrived there once an hour before the normal opening time and the gentleman I believe to be the owner welcomed us in and quickly got us fed and caffeinated. The food is usually very good - particular favourites are the marionberry pancakes and the Mexican potatoes. They're always happy to let me order their omlettes as scrambles. Oh! And the crepe special is wonderful! It comes with the crepe of the day, plus one Eggs Benedict or Florentine and potatoes. The perfect mix of sweet and savory - YUM! Pros: Short wait, good food, professional service, nice atmosphere. Cons: So convient to my home that I go there when I should go get groceries. more

I am really surprised to read all of the negative reviews of the Hawthorne Street Cafe... I've been there twice and I have been absolutely satisfied both times. The first time I went I was with a group of people- the waitress handled the group perfectly well and the food was not to die for but it was good. Last week I went with my mother and sat outside and ordered the breakfast burrito and it was delicious. In fact, I have been talking about it so often that I went on citysearch only to find the exact address so I could go back for another breakfast burrito! This place isn't gourmet breakfast, but they don't claim to be. If you're in the mood for a reasonably priced meal that tastes good and is in a nice, friendly environment, go to Hawthorne Street Cafe. Oh, and my mother ordered the daily crepe (it was apple that day) and she, highly opinionated about food, loved it! Pros: Outdoor seating, pleasant waitstaff, reasonable prices more

We sat at a table in a room that slanted downhill at a far more than noticeable degree and I thought ok, this might be fun. Coffee came 10 minutes later in cups so worn the glaze had gone and the surface was pourous and rough like a loofa on my lips but that wasn't too problematic either since the server only metered out 1/3 cup doses of coffee at a time and with a comically unsteady hand and unsure demeanor making the 1/3 cup the safest bet. Food was fairly prompt however lacking in half the ingredients posted, completely without toast at all and with what must be the newest trend of Half Raw Bacon. Delicious when washed down with the nothing we were given to drink. Ah shoot, time to pay up and go. Even though it has been awhile and no bill so I wander up to the counter where I am ignored and shuffled out of the way by the disgruntled wait staff, probably in perpetual fear of the drill seargent owner demeaning them from the open kitchen for another long while and finally say please, can I pay you for my fabulous experience? Handing them my passport card which is valid and I saw the person in front of me use theirs. In reply the waitress hissed that she just can't deal with that or any card and to just pay cash as she just can't be bothered. Pros: Carnival ride like seating, hot trends like raw bacon & beverage free eating. Cons: The door opens to let people in. more

We stood outside for at least 20 minutes waiting to be seated at an outdoor table and the waitress forgot about us. They were shortstaffed-only 1 waitress for the entire outdoor seating area. The table never got wiped down, we never got the coffee we ordered and the $7 veggie sandwich was wonder bread with sundried tomato cream cheese spread, 2 slices of tomato and 1 piece of avocado. I'm definitely not returning. Pros: outdoor seating and location Cons: terrible service and overpriced low quality food more

I am sure the Health Dept will be shutting this place down soon. Seriously rude owner/host. He was actually seen yelling at wait staff when they would not take fruit cup off of a customer's plate as it was not part of the special deal. He then served that same fruit cup to another customer!!! Gross! That's gotta be a health code violation, right? We felt really bad for the server as you could tell she was trying, but got absolutely no guidance or help from the owner. We think she was new cuz she kept asking him to show her what he wanted done. I guess it must be hard for him to keep employees if he's so mean to everyone...including customers! Not one smile or thank you while there. To be sure, we won't be back! Disgusting! Pros: Health Dept hasn't shut them down yet! Cons: Health Dept hasn't shut them down yet! more

i would rate this zero or even negative stars if i could. Pros: it was a short meal Cons: everything else more

Had breakfast their one Sunday. Service was good and friendly. The Spinach Omelette was OK. Nothing to write home about. It would have been better if there wasn't two hairs on the plate. more