Vita Cafe | 3023 NE Alberta
Before the metastasization of Portlandâs Industrial Brunch Complex, our city had a lot more places like the Vita Cafeâwelcoming and comfortable, with charmingly hodgepodge decor and a varied clientele. Thankfully, the Vita remains a stalwart brunch destination, with solid vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options, cocktails (like a vegan bloody mary), good music (A Hard Dayâs Night was on the last time I stopped by), and solid taps (the lineup during that Beatles-soundtracked visit: Eel Riverâs mocha stout, Buoyâs IPA, Reubenâs Brewsâ pilsner, and a blackberry cider from Cider Riot). Your best bet: the huevos rancheros, featuring egg or tofu stacked with corn tortillas, chili, salsa, guac, and vegan sour cream. You wonât go away hungry, and itâs so hearty youâll even overlook the inclusion of cilantro, the cursed devil weed. ERIK HENRIKSEN Brunch hours: Mon-Fri 9 am-3 pm, Sat & Sun 8 am-3 pm, $$
Juniorâs Cafe | 1742 SE 12th
Iâm a fan of any breakfast joint that proudly displays a copy of Dr. Jeff Meldrumâs revered Sasquatch Field Guide: Identifying, Tracking and Sighting North Americaâs Relict Hominoidâand bonus if you score the Bigfoot coffee mug. Aside from the hirsute cryptid theme, there are other reasons that the vegan- and vegetarian-friendly Juniorâs is one of inner Southeastâs longstanding breakfast favorites: The comfy booths and wide windows looking out onto a sleepy portion of Southeast 12th offer an excellent start to the day, and itâs hard to pass up a Superhero Scramble (vegan sausage, tomatoes, green onions, and spinach) or a Vegan Covered Wagon (baked red potatoes, green chiles, mushrooms, herbs, and sautĂ©ed spinach), especially when accompanied with a house-made buttermilk biscuit. Would Bigfoot like buttermilk biscuits? Seems like he would. EH Brunch hours: Mon-Fri 9 am-3 pm, Sat & Sun 8 am-3 pm, $$
Harlow | 3632 SE Hawthorne
Donât take it from the line of yoga-mat-toters streaming out the doorâtake it from a carnivore: Harlow serves straight-up amazing food. This mostly vegan, gluten-free cafĂ© serves jalapeño cashew cheese instead of pepper jack. Kale is listed on the menu as often as pork belly appears on most others. In this non-satirical Harloworld, tempeh and quinoa are fungible counterparts to eggs and tots. The Outlaw Scramble (which can include eggs if you deign) is a bountiful heap of chipotle black bean chili, dark greens, and wilted spinach topped with the aforementioned cashew matter along with a scoop of guac and a mound of brown rice (or quinoa) on the side. Collectively, the faintly smoky, tangy/savory concoction impresses across the spectrum of texture, flavor, and heartiness. And lest ye think thereâs no room for decadence, hidden among the spirulina and echinacea juices and smoothies is the Stumblebee, a hedonistic mĂ©lange of chocolate, peanut butter, and banana. Then again, cacao nibs are a superfood. BRIAN YAEGER Brunch hours: Mon-Sat 8 am-2:30 pm, Sun 8 am-3 pm, $$
Petuniaâs Pies & Pastries | 610 SW 12th
Portlandâs leisure class might think itâs a good use of time to wait six hours to squeeze into Tasty n Alderâfor everybody else, itâs a good thing that a 10-second walk from Tasty n Alder gets you to Petuniaâs Pies & Pastries, a significantly more chill vegan and gluten-free bakery. Bright and friendly, Petuniaâs has both sweet and savory offerings (plus gluten-free beer), though they can be hit or miss. (On a recent stop, both the vegetable frittata and the pesto mac and cheese had that bland, rubber-band texture that often mars GF foods.) On weekends, though, Petuniaâs offers a Belgian waffle with fruit compote (try to argue with THAT), and if itâs not the weekend? Well, good thing that another 10-second walk gets you to the Alder Street Food Cart Pod. If you canât patch together a great brunch from any of the billion carts there, you deserve to languish in the Tasty n Alder line. EH Brunch hours: Mon-Fri 9 am-1 pm, Sat & Sun 9 am-2 pm, $$
Paradox Café | 3439 SE Belmont
Once I saw my regular Paradox waitress at a party and was starstruck, because she always remembers my order even though every dish here is infinitely customizable to oneâs particular brand of food avoidance. Tofu or tempeh? Sausage or veggies? Cheese or âcheeseâ? Thereâs something for everyone among Paradoxâs menu items with names that tell you nothing about their contents. I get the Belmont Combo (which a gluten-free friend called âone of the top three meals of her lifeâ): potatoes that taste like Cajun Doritos in the best way, tempeh, and a corncake with apples, walnuts, and a pool of Earth Balance. This counter spot serves diner food in the new old-fashioned way, leaving no room for complaints about not getting exactly what you want. ELLEN FREEMAN Brunch hours: Mon-Fri 9 am-3 pm, Sat & Sun 8:30 am-4 pm $-$$
No Bones Beach Club | 3928 N Mississippi
Eleven in the morning may be brunch oâclock to some, but by that hour I usually like to have one meal already down the gullet and the next one planned. Brunch at No Bones Beach Club, though, which opens at 11 am on weekends, is worth sleeping in for. Before they opened last winter, I never realized that a 100 percent vegan tiki bar was missing from my life. Something I did know was missing from my life, ever since I stopped eating flesh, was a bagel with lox. Brunch generally isnât hard to veganize, but until No Bones, I had never tasted a plant-based attempt at smoked salmon. Thereâs nothing fishy about their briny, smoky carrot âlox,â but it fills a hole in my heart. The passionfruit mimosas help too. EF Brunch hours: Sat & Sun 11 am-3 pm, $$
Blossoming Lotus | 1713 NE 15th
The next level vegan brunch is the Live Doughnut Bites with a beet bloody mary from this Northeast neighborhood restaurant, which should be followed by the Lotus Benedict. Thereâs no reason to even look at the rest of the menu unless you hunger for live nachos at 11 am like the savage herbivore you are, lost in the sprawling Lloyd District. There are tired options too, like scrambles, burritos, and biscuits and gravy, I guess. (YAWN.) When I go here, I bring new friends and family to show them what an upscale vegan brunch looks like, served by a down-to-earth staff. KATHLEEN MARIEÂ Brunch hours: Sat & Sun, 9:30 am-3 pm, $$
A.N.D Cafe | 6526 SE Foster
Every time I go here I know exactly what Iâm ordering: everything vegan off the menu, in any combination. My low-key choice is the plate-sized crispy sausage, with the creamy biscuits and gravy, complete with a Bloody Tio, but you can wake that up with a specialty waffle like pumpkin cheesecake or the sweet but savory gluten-free fried chickân and maple blue corn waffle with the buffalo sauce. Since their move into Off the Griddle on Southeast Foster, the menu divided up some âold schoolâ and ânew schoolâ dishes and opened up a lot more seating options. Bye, nests, and hello, lost boyritos (essentially a breakfast burrito stuffed with hash, soycurls, and mushrooms). This place offers egg and cheese as alternatives, which make it a great place to take friends and family where you know youâll have just as many options, if not more, to choose from without meat. KM Brunch hours: Wed-Mon 9 am-2 pm, $$
