Detour Cafe
Category: Breakfast & Brunch [Edit]
Neighborhoods: Southeast Portland, Clinton3035 SE Division St
Portland, OR 97202 (503) 234-7499
- Hours:
Mon-Sun 8:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. - Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Street
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: No
- Good for Kids: Yes
- Takes Reservations: No
- Delivers: No
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Good for: Breakfast, Brunch, Lunch
17 Reviews for Detour Cafe
I like this place but it always seems to take so long to get my food. It is nice for a quick cookie stop. They have good cookies.
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The Detour is by far one of my favorite restaurants in Portland.
It is one of the most consistently fabulous places I frequent. I always know that whatever I order is going to be delicious. I take people here more often than anywhere else.
It's run by an awesome husband & wife team. All the breads, jams, dressings, etc. are made in house. I actually consider the cardamom toast with apricot jam one of my favorite deserts.
I've never waited more than twenty minutes for a table. Personally, I am always impressed by how efficiently they run such a small kitchen and turn out a high volume of food relatively quickly. It's awesome. I realized all of this today as I stood near the register chatting with the wait staff & watching it all go down. They were crazy busy, and they ran like like a well oiled machine, fueled by skill & cooperation.
The staff here is always super rad. Totally knowledgeable and helpful with the menu, one of them actually loaned me their sweater once so that I could get a table outside on a chilly Fall day!
All right, that's probably the nicest, least snarkerrific, review I've written so far, so I'm out, but seriously (wokka wokka!)... you should eat here.
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Is this our new breakfast destination? Yes it is.
We just ate here for the first time, and I can't wait to go back. The place had two initial things going for it: no wait Sunday, midmorning, and a menu based on the build-your-own method, primarily of the Fritatta and Potato Skillet order. Despite this, I found myself venturing away from the menu's star attractions and decided on the Breakfast Focaccia: toasted house-made focaccia bread, tomato, basil and (drum roll) jalepeno cream cheese. You can opt for regular cream cheese, as well. The key to this sandwich's magnificence was its simplicity, and I could feel my heart ache everytime another portion of my breakfast disappeared.
Aside from the food, our dining experience was impacted by the table of obnoxious people next to us, but I can't fault Detour for that (Hey ladies, keep it DOWN. You're sitting in a restaurant, not doing a beer bong at someone's crappy keg party).
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Great location since it is write across the street from the Obama office I am working in.
The soup (tomato basil that had fresh veggies in it) and sandwich (heartwitch) were excellent for the rainy day that seems to be the norm in Portland.
I wish the sandwich selection was a little bigger but it is well rounded.
The waitress was incredibly friendly and when we over paid she tracked us done in the very large headquarters office (that is also a giant maze) and brought my dining companion change.
How very sweet. Portland is so polite.
EDIT: Their Red Beer is excellent. And Breakfast is almost more exciting than sandwiches and soup.
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It's both good and bad that this is close to my house. Amazing breakfast...You'd think an egg sandwich wouldn't be all that special, but its great. egg, cream cheese, basil, tomato, great bread. I have not been here for lunch, that will be my next mission. Service is not terribly fast but all the waiters are nice.
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What a wonderful place to have brunch! I suppose I could stop there but I will go on : P
A menu bursting with interesting options, eggs with cream cheese baked in, frittas, salads, pizzas and sandwiches. I had a hard time choosing what to order. I finally settled on an egg sandwich with artichoke cream cheese and bacon served on housemade potato focaccia bread. It was good.
I tried Lisa's Chai with the meal as well - a blend of black tea and spices, blended with steamed milk and honey.
I look forward to exploring other parts of the menu.
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This place is just OK. There's nothing specifically bad about it, it's just very dull. The fritattas are relatively flavorless, the potato skillets similarily boring. There's not a thing on the breakfast menu that I like...and I'm NOT a picky eater at all.
The focaccia is good, so go for a sandwich.
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Simply put, Detour is put together in the way a cafe is meant to be: Nice atmosphere and staff, comfortable outdoor seating, and good food. It's the kind of place you'll wish was in your own neighborhood.
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Super cute little cafe on Division St. Very bright and cheerful inside. Service was a little slow, but this is Portland after all (and we did order a pizza which they said on the menu takes longer than usual). We ordered a pizza and a chicken breast sandwich, and split the two. The sandwich was OK, nothing special (and the side salad was pretty weak - just a handful of greens straight out of the bag with a little dressing), but the pizza was excellent, and a great deal for only $8. A few minor annoyances - the aforementioned salad; they ran out of iced tea after my first glass (the waitress explained that they don't usually serve it at all this time of year, but people had been asking for it, so they made up a batch), and like I mentioned, the service left something to be desired. However, overall it was a very pleasant experience, and I would definitely recommend the place.
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South East Portland is so damn great! There are a number of reasons why I love SE and one of those reasons is because of all of the wonderful, fun, and interesting places to go and eat; Detour Cafe is definitely one of those restaurants. Super yummy food, perfect portion size, and best of all, self-serve coffee (now no one but myself is to blame for my cup going dry). The frittatas are super good! They are made with three eggs and 2 other ingredients which you choose from a list of about 20-25 different things like smoked salmon, sausage, goat cheese, etc. If you want more than the standard two, each additional ingredient is only fifty cents more; one of the best breakfast deals around!
Detour gets pretty busy, and there is usually a line to be seated, but they are pretty fast, and the wait is not long at all.
I have not tried their lunches here, but judging by their breakfasts, I would bet they kick ass as well.
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i've been to detour so many times in the past 5 years that there is a separate account for it in quickbooks.
it doesnt really matter what people say about it here - they have excellent, whole food with fresh local and mostly organic ingredients. the food is made by people who love food and love those they serve. my extended "family" of friends goes here as frequently as i do and i know that whenever i go there i will see at least 2 people i know and we are all on first name basis with the staff - its like the cheers of se pdx.
my favorite dish was this seasonal beet salad they had last summer. but other favorites are the frittatas, egg sandwiches, tuna sandwich, and the yummy pomegranate salad dressing. also the "scone" with orange/cinnamon and white icing is completely addictive. the granola is housemade and incredible! also they recently began making veggie/lentil burgers which are very satisfying.
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With all homemade and baked meals (nothing fried), the Detour Caf offers more care in their meals than your mom does. Although small, there never seems to be too long of a wait. The staff is very welcoming and they are quite prompt with their "to go" orders. Located conveniently on SE Division this is a location many pass everyday, but should not pass up.
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The detour is great. It's one of the few restaurants I can suggest as readily for breakfast or lunch. Their take on breakfast is refreshing, as it doesn't focus so much on scrambles, and instead offers up customizable frittatas, though I usually go for the avocado egg sandwich.
Lunch is great too, although I haven't tried most of their sandwiches as their lunch options are a bit lacking for vegetarian offerings. But what I've had was good, and it's hard to go wrong with such a nice patio and stump town coffee on the side.
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I like the front patio and the self serve coffee. Our waitress was a little spacey but the Tradition Egg Sandwhich was so good I licked my plate clean.
Eggs, Cream Cheese, Bacon and Tomato. SOOOOO GOOOD!!
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I used to live down the street, and would get the tuna melt. A very good tuna melt, with really yummy salad and no dressing choice. I like it when you don't have to choose a salad dressing. Especially when it is yummy. They have good things, and price things well, and stuff is fresh and filling. They just changed owners, and I think things have gone a bit downhill. It used to be the owners who did all the cooking, serving, etc. Still good, and a nice patio under pretty trees.
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This place has the best egg sandwich in town, on focaccia and with fresh avacado. I could eat it 3 or 4 times a week (although I don't cause I'd be big as a house). Their prices are totally reasonable, the service is always friendly, and the decor is simple and comfortable. I wish I lived closer to Detour so I could go there more often. Yum!
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I like the Detour's french toast. It has almonds and a seasonal fruit (but I have only had dried cherries on mine). Great because you can order a "half order". The potatoes are only ok - and potatoes count a lot in the breakfast biz. At least for me.
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