The Back to Back Café is a cozy, vegetarian-friendly cove on 614 E Burnside, across the street from Ozone. It was built from the ground up fairly recently by the Wobblies (aka Industrial Workers of the World), who have their office right next door. Aside from its pleasant environment, it's nice to know the Back to Back's small fee for food and service doesn't go towards funding some creepy rich dude's fancy loft in the Pearl--it's a fair and equal, worker-owned collective.

Ken Siedler is one such worker/owner. He says he receives one meal per shift, but has certain health and food specifications (he "eats right for his blood type," if ya know what I mean), therefore doesn't dine out very often: "Usually I'm scraping together half a banana here and there."

But after a little prodding, Ken reveals his secret. "I love the burgers at the Bijou Café (132 SW 3rd). There's something almost psychedelic about them. The first time I ate one, I felt this subtle shift in the space-time continuum." Ken finds the Bijou's burger so mind-altering, in fact, that it actually tempted him away from herbivorism. "I was a vegetarian for four years. It was the burger that did it, I swear."