Beaterville Cafe
Category: Breakfast & Brunch [Edit]
Neighborhood: North Portland2201 N Killingsworth St
Portland, OR 97217 (503) 735-4652
- Price Range: $
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Street
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: Yes
- Takes Reservations: No
- Delivers: No
- Take-out: Yes
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: Yes
- Good for: Breakfast
- Alcohol: None
16 Reviews for Beaterville Cafe
The food at Beaterville is always pretty good. A touch bland for my tastes, but well cooked. They have freshly baked croissants that lack buttery lightness. I've had tastier Pillsbury crescent rolls.
Where Beaterville REALLY takes a dive is with service. It sucks, even by Portland standards. I've been here super early in the morning, when the cook was waiting tables along with cooking and the service was better. It seems the only job qualifications are that you ride a bicycle and can't remember more than one thing at a time. The bus boy seemed to be the only one able to multitask. I doubt he has a bike.
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This place feels like a route 99 diner. Its good and basic. For $5 you can get the poor boy, which is two eggs, toast, and potatoes. There are also more elaborate meals like Zephyr Scrambles, tofu replacement without extra charge! $8 you can get a nice scramble with cheese, vegetables, and possibly bacons. Vegans can eat with relief! Their homefries/potatoes are just as tasty. Stirfry with broccoli and scallion and garlic. They also have a good selections of smoothies and juice. This place is pretty cheap for breakfast and brunch. Compare to most other places. The wait is also pretty short, since the place is huge and really fast service.
PS: I hear the brioche french toast is delicious!
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Beater Bill has built a large following of regulars. I look forward to seeing his loyal staff; and have brought many friends in for their First Time Edsel. I've enjoyed every dang thing I've had here.
You pansies, quit whining about the wait.
Go weekdays instead.
Or just grab a cup o serve-yerself-Joe
and relax...read the neighborhood notices on the door,
thumb thru some pix of Art Cars, Beaters,
and maybe you'll see ME playing
in the Beaterville Hub Cap Band.
We do Parades.
Bring an Art Car or Beater -
or take the # 72 Bus.
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Before I knew of Yelp [Can you imagine LBY or Life Before Yelp!?], finding a place to eat in a city unknown was quite the task. Now if I'm ever in some random city, I can just do a search here, and VOILA! And if nothing shows up? Time to get adventurous and load up on the FTRs!
Somehow, I came across Beaterville in one of those old school searches. Had to give it a try. Ordered a scramble, substituting the eggs with tofu. YUM! While the food was delicious, it took forever and a day to get there. Another table seated about 15 minutes after us was completely served and enjoying their meal. There we were, without food. Suspicious! When we finally inquired on the status of our meal, it turned out that the order had somehow slipped to the ground... somewhere.
Fantastic.
So why no stars docked? 1) I am generous and forgiving of places outside of the Bay Area. I will even give 4 stars for Americanized Chinese food!? 2) The food at Beaterville is good. 3) Several meals comped because of the wait. Thanks!
If I ever move up to Portland, there is no doubt I will gain tons of weight. Lots of good brunch spots, and this would definitely be one of them. It opens early and closes late. How convenient!
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Things I love about Beaterville:
The strawberry freezer jam. I could eat it straight from the jar
The cracked wheat sourdough bread I can't find anywhere else
The cool retro decor
Biscuits and gravy
Things I don't like about Beaterville:
Being ignored by wait staff when its busy - c'mon, its not like its never busy on weekend mornings, freakin' ADJUST.
Getting stuck in the back room (see "ignored by wait staff")
Good food, good coffee, get there early on weekends or wait.
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Love Beaterville. For being such a popular place you actually get seated pretty quickly. If you have a bad experience, go back. Your next one will be better. only thing I don't like are the super boiled "homefries" but that's it, every thing else is yummy.
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I was a little apprehensive when we first walked in since it seemed like they were shorthanded, but we were very pleasantly surprised by the food and the service. They actually know how to cook tofu and the scramble I had with feta, olives, and spinach was delicious, as were the potatoes. Even the toast was yummy. My husband's omlette was also very good, although they were a little too generous with the sour cream. Overall probably the best breakfast we've had in town!
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Every time we get down to PDX to visit the in-laws we have breakfast here. I am always happy.
This last time we were a party of 12 with two small kids and 4 big 'uns. They put us in that backroom all by ourselves - nice. Had it all set up for us too (calling ahead seems to work).
I had the biscuits and gravy this time - they were good. Nothing too exciting, but flaky and nummy and covered in cream gravy with chunks of sausage. Love that stuff.
My hub had the Spudebaker (tons of veggies and taters) and felt all healthy and happy for it. One of the kids got the French Poodle (croissant french toast) and was very pleased - this one is accompanied by real maple syrup. I have had the good old fashioned french toast before and been very happy - you get like a full loaf of bread, it's nuts. Pancakes are huge too - all hangy over the plate.
They give you a trough of crayons and hot pink paper for the kids, which is good because something has to distract them from the antique toys that litter the place. Such temptation!
It;s always been a tad bit slow (except for this last time, I think the strategy was to get us in and out quickly) but as long as my coffee cup stays full I don't mind a little wait for a lazy weekend breakfast.
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I wanted to like this place. I really, honestly did. But after numerous chances over a period of about 3 years, I have officially given up. Although their menu looks appealing, with a number of egg and tofu scrambles, veggie and turkey burgers, and homemade vegan soups, nothing was EVER consistent. The quality and quantity of the food varied so drastically at each visit that sometimes I would receive on my plate (literally) half of what I would receive at other times. And although the staff is friendly, they tend to have no sense of memory (pot break, anyone?) and almost always screw up someone's order at our table, if they didn't already COMPLETELY FORGET one of our orders in the first place. I feel Beaterville would be much better suited in Eugene where their customers might not notice they are just as high as them.
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I'm not sure I should be writing this review yet, seeing as how I haven't actually tried the food at the Beaterville. But atmosphere counts a lot for a rating, so I'm throwing caution to the wind.
I've been meaning to try out this place for a while because it is less than a block away from my house. So when I made plans for breakfast with my mom, I thought it was a perfect opportunity. Right before I left my house, the power went out. Apparently, it was a neighborhood thing, because when I got to the cafe the first thing they said to me was, "Our power is out, but you can have coffee!"
I grabbed myself a seat and waiting for my mom. Three different people came up to me and pleasantly informed me about the situation, saying that the only items they could make were omelets (I don't eat eggs) and they could only take cash.
Uh-oh.
I only carry cash if I'm going to Nicholas'.
The menu looked like it was full of good stuff, but neither my mom or I had cash on hand, so we ended up going to Tin Shed. But the staff here was super friendly, and I'd like to go back in the future to see if the food is as good as it sounds.
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Find me some more of their strawberry jam!
Some local friends brought us to this out-of-the-way gem for breakfast during a recent visit. It was very tasty, and everyone had plenty to eat. There are lots of options, large and small. The main event seems to be the egg dishes.
I had a "Volvo" - a mushroom, green onion, and swiss cheese omelette. The amount of filling was "just right", the potatoes (on the side) were slightly spicy, and the cracked wheat sourdough with strawberry jam was PERFECT. My kiddo had the "1+1+2". She wasn't fond of the crispy bacon so I rescued (and enjoyed) it. The pancake disappeared without a trace, and the egg was just the way she liked it: over easy and runny (white and yellow, both).
Happy, full tummies... fueled up and ready for a day of enjoying the big city. We'll go back the next time we are in town!
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was a really nice place not that long ago but its now it's
way too crowded, rude staff , you may get good food,
if you get any one to wait on you.
last time we were there it was a good 15 mins before
we got coffee, then at least a half hour went by before
our order was taken - we left without ever seeing our food,
we paid for coffee and got attitude instead of any kind of apology.
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Kooky, hipster breakfast den. Hubcaps on the walls, crazy collection of coffee cups, uber friendly staff, and yummy basic breakfast! Omelets are fantastic! A good choice for lazy weekend mornings.
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Nopo breakfast spot of choice. Never disappoints for simple breakfast fare with vegetarian options as well. A good place to go with one person or with a group. It is usually full up on the weekends, but the wait shouldn't be too long.
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Oh how I miss Beaterville on Saturday mornings! Those of you lucky enough to still be in Portland should certainly head here for breakfast as soon as you can. Their omelettes are stuffed and the potatoes have just the right amount of spice. They are pretty quick with the coffee refills too. While you are waiting for your food you can check out all the kitchy car paraphernalia on the walls and the hipster clientele.
in all my travels i've yet to encounter an omelette that could match up with ye old beaterville. expect long waits on weekend mornings. absolutely worth every minute of it, though.
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