Long before Portland was a destination food city, it was a coffee town. In many ways, Portland’s deep fascination with coffee and cafe culture is what put us on the map to begin with, projecting an aura of studied nonchalance, creative energy, and intense devotion to craft into what had once been one more fading timber town between Seattle and San Francisco. And just like other famous cafe cities like Vienna or Paris, Portland coffee shops represent a core component of urban life here. Relationships begin and end with an afternoon cold brew, novels are written incrementally over oat milk lattes, and about half the city has a favorite spot to park a laptop for an afternoon.
This update adds a couple of longstanding classic spots as well as a few
newer entities into the cafe scene, but in all cases, both the beans and the ambiance are impeccably curated. And exciting news for night owls, many are either cafe-bar hybrids or open a fair bit later than the usual 3 p.m. closing time. For more caffeine solutions, check out Eater’s love letter to Pacific Northwest cafe culture and our list of the best tea shops in Portland.
— Additional reporting by Paolo Bicchieri
