In so many ways, the new location of beloved Sellwood coffee shop Either/Or feels just like what owner Ro Tam wanted to do all along.
Opened five years ago in Sellwood, the original Either/Or remains a quaint spot to grab Tamâs famous Tanglewood chai or a coffee mocktail, and read poetry magazines. But it seems that Tam had an eye for more: In 2016, she and her brother Simon opened Tam, serving excellent wonton soup harkening back to the familyâs Taiwanese roots. After just a few months, however, a flood closed the shop for good.
Now on North Williams, the second Either/Or is a restaurant, coffee shop, and/or bar, depending on the time of day. Tam teamed up with two of the former minds behind the Scandinavian-influenced Fenrir, Tyler Hauptman, Angela Fink, and Ian Wilson. Fink is the bar manager behind the slushy and cocktail program, Hauptman is their wine guy, while Wilson is the menu man.

The result is a place where you could hypothetically spend an entire day inside Either/Orâs emerald green walls, listening to whateverâs spinning on the twin turntables. Start in the morning with an espresso flight ($8) starring a strangely salty but great Costa Rican blend and one adorable shortbread cookie, alongside a plate of griddle-fresh breakfast tacos heaped with egg, beans, and salsa ($9). Ease into afternoon with an âam cocktailâ of Campari and cold brew, and finish the night sucking down a classic steak tartare with capers and egg yolk ($12), and the amazingly smoky yet fresh Devil in a White Dress ($10), a blend of Scotch, crĂšme de cacao, St. Germain, lemon, and egg white.
The food menu is a mish-mash of influences, with a plate of two soft boiled eggs in cups with bread, cheese, and jam ($9) sitting next to a Chinese sausage bowl ($10), rice topped with sweet sausage, kimchi, bok choy, and a six-minute egg. The bowls are available all day, and Iâd happily eat the pork belly bowlâbraised super soft and oozing soy richnessâat any time. (Like any proper coffee shop, pastries are also available at the counter). The only misstep we tried were the nachos, with chips fried to order, mostly because to fully load the plate with house-made chorizo and avocado (because duh), this usually cheap bar food classic runs up to $15. Theyâre good nachos, but theyâre not $15 good.
In the winter, Tam promises to bring back her long-lost wonton soupâand between this ball-sweaty July heat and that, Iâm stanning January big time.

Either/Or in Sellwood made its name on non-alcoholic coffee cocktails like the cold brew Old Fashioned ($5). On North Williams, the menu is expanded to include newcomers like the excellent Coffee Flip ($7), cold brew and Tanglewood chai shaken with a raw egg, and topped with nutmeg and an orange twist. In a city where I constantly think Iâve had ALL things coffee, this was a delightful something Iâd never seen before.
Hauptman, whoâs coming off a couple of years at Pizza Jerk, took his slushie game with him to Either/Or, and itâs worth grabbing a cup of whatever is swirling away. But donât skip the mixed drinks, which make great use of coffee, Tanglewood chai, and sodas, like the Dirty Chai ($11), which mixes bracing blackstrap rum with chai and cold brew. Just donât have more than one or you risk being up all nightâunless thatâs your goal. A tall glass of tequila with Tanglewood honey grapefruit soda, Campari, and lime ($10) sounded excellent, but wound up watered down on too much ice. No mind, every one of the $7 happy hour classic cocktails we tried packed a super solid liquor punch.
There have been a welcome stream of coffee shop-meets-restaurants opening across town (hey there, Proud Mary and Guilder!), but Either/Or seems to be the most successful at making the bar/restaurant/coffee shop prospect anything but an either/or choice.
