Elephants on Cedar Hills — Restaurant in Beaverton

My family and I which includes a 5yo have visited this place multiple times. First, here is warning to big groups: this place has limited seating inside. The patio seating can accommodate groups of 5 or maybe 6 but it does get a little cold out there even in the fall/spring. If your group is 3 or 4 then I recommend getting here before the rush hours for breakfast/lunch/dinner. Inside there are a few individual tables and a bar while there’s also a large shared table in the middle. We had a bad experience with a rude staff member regarding seating (see below) however management cared enough to contact us and make up for our bad experience. We’ve been back since and it seems mgmt is working on offering customer service training to some of their staff, so that is a plus; and they do have a couple of very nice and warm staff members. Our favorite item off the kitchen menu is the Bistro Burger with the Salad or the Fries. Pre-cooked food off the glass case is hit and miss but in my opinion there are more hits than misses. For example, I liked the Enchiladas off the glass case. I like that they offer a nice variety of drink options on the back of the store as well as an albeit small but tasty ice cream bar together with small dessert options. The atmosphere has dwindled down a bit since they opened but overall is still pleasant. In general, I think this place is worth a visit while keeping in mind some limitations.

PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE: If you value good service and not having your meal ruined by rude staff, then I recommend going elsewhere. The tables are scarce here and there is no wait staff but the busboys seem to be empowered to rush you out before being done. I originally recommended this place but my family, which includes a 5yo kid, had a terrible customer service experience here. We arrived for lunch before the rush on a Sunday. This place is often short on tables so we often try to arrive early to avoid the wait. We are 3 people, so a table for 2 wouldn’t work for us. Luckily since we arrived early we managed to get two small tables for 2 for all of us to have a seat and a surface to eat. We didn’t take very long but as anyone with kids knows, our son was taking the longest as my wife fed him a few last bites. It was then when a busboy (this place has no wait staff) approached my table and literally asked with an annoyed and rude tone if he could take my table and give it to someone who was waiting for a table. We were all perplexed. My son was still eating, my wife was sitting across him feeding him, and I had no place to sit other than where I was sitting. What was I supposed to do??? Sit awkwardly between a stranger and my son without a table in front of me? Stand awkwardly next to my wife and son’s table for two? Honestly, I can definitely understand the challenge with the shortage of tables at this place, and can understand even understand having empathy for those waiting. But the place has extra tables on the covered, enclosed and heated patio; there were tables available there. We were almost done with our meal, others next to us were almost done. It wasn’t as if we were taking too long or lounging around carelessly. The aggressiveness and attitude of the staff member who approached us was completely out of line and he was totally oblivious to the fact that we are parents of a young child; trying to do our best to finish lunch in a timely manner. I have never been asked to vacate a table before being done at any restaurant; in or outside of the US. As someone who frequents all sorts of types of restaurant establishments, this amounts to a total failure in customer service and a complete lack of common sense. If the busboy had paid attention, he would have seen that there was no need to push us out as it was obvious we were almost done feeding our son and close to leaving. Instead he chose to be aggressive with us and...

My dining partner and I wanted a quick lunch, and have enjoyed Elephants many times before. We were thrilled to see a Beaverton location, closer to us! We figured it would be a typical Elephants experience - higher quality soups and sandwiches with reasonable prices and quick service.

Unfortunately, things weren't as great as we hoped. The food was fine. A few quibbles, the sandwich was oily from too much cheese and the soup stock was a bit light, but overall a serviceable meal.

The main issues are with the absolutely mind-boggling poor design of the restaurant.

Similar food sections were split apart. Multiple ordering lanes with no clear marking. No diner flow. No order flow. No waiting areas. No clarity on pickup vs. order points. Insufficient seating. Inefficiently organized seating. Poorly planned ingress / egress. Large areas of poorly utilized or entirely dead space, in spite of crazy jams in other areas. No accommodations for diners with disability.

We feel so terrible for the staff who were running around having to redirect diners, guide people from place to place, correct criss-crossing lines, apologize for the layout confusion, and more. My background is in efficiency and flow in manufacturing, so I know I'm overly critical in these areas, but I without a doubt have never seen a more inefficient and poorly designed eatery. And none of these issues will resolve passively over time - this needs an active redesign with signage, flow assessment, and consideration for how people navigate the space.

So, while the food was alright, the experience was bad. We really hope the location thrives, but with it designed as it is, it takes forever to move through (more than 30 minutes from walking into getting one sandwich and a cup of soup?). While we love the idea of Elephants, using local, high quality ingredients, and elevating this style of eatery, the experience is so poor, largely rooted in a terrible design, that it doesn't make the list for lunch options now. In honesty, it may have been quicker to drive to the Lake Oswego location and eat there since we had things to do in south Beaverton.

Here's hoping it gets...

I've not had a bad meal of any kind at any Elephants location I've visited (I've tried four so far), including the new Beaverton Cedar Hills location. There is a wide array of baked goods, soups, salads, comfort food (the chicken pot pie and meatloaf are outstanding), unique creations with influences from all over the world (I love the chimichurri steak sandwich), and many options for carry home to heat up.

The quality of the food is top shelf and the people working there are astoundingly friendly and treat you like family. They remember my preferences and go the extra mile to advise me and accommodate my dietary needs.

The 22nd Avenue NW ("uptown") store and at least the south Corbett store have very good pizza. I haven't had a bad slice yet (cheese, arugula, Italian sausage, are my favorites).

If you time things well before closing time, you can get some of this wonderful food at half price. I've managed to get some good sandwiches, pizza, other entrees, breakfast sandwiches, salads, cookies, and that ridiculously good cardamom bread at a great price. As if that weren't enough, even the containers make it easy to carry this good food home and heat it up.

All the locations I've visited so far have this wonderful atmosphere and energy. The music, the dècor, the friendly staff, the seating (the Cedar Hills store has handy outlets for your devices and fast internet), and meeting space make Elephants a nice place to get work done and meet colleagues while drinking in that energy of the customers, who seem to be happy to enjoy such good food (and good Stumptown coffee and other drinks) together.

I could say a lot more about Elephants, including the handy market, the delicious offerings in the deli case, and the top-notch catering service (I see a bunch of people at all locations picking up large orders, I'll tell you, each time I'm at any store), but suffice it to say that somebody did their homework in setting this place up.

This place is a Rose City jewel: it deserves to be cherished and is a must-visit for your...