Bread and Ink Cafe — Restaurant in Portland

This place was sadly laughable. Literally, my fiancé and I were laughing at how horrible it was the entire time. Neither of us had ever been there but we understood it to be a Portland staple since 1984. The experience does not do that reputation justice. We were in complete awe at the service and staff.

We (like everyone else who walked in) were confused about what we were supposed to do. There was no host, and no one greeted us or let us know what to do. There seemed to be some very unclear sections, one for Bread and Ink, one for the Waffle Window, and I guess one for a pick-up area. After walking out briefly to decide if we even wanted to eat there, we decided to continue in the experience. All of the staff were dressed in plain, casual clothes and indistinguishable from customers.The front of house staff were standing around in groups chatting and ignoring customers. Not once did I see anyone smile or greet anyone walking in. A few of them seemed to recognize that maybe people were confused upon entering, so they proceeded to discuss a remedy for 20 minutes (this in at least an hour and a half into being open on a Saturday morning -- Aren't you open everyday? Have you not thought of this before?) before finally moving some tables around to make it somewhat clearer, but definitely not any more inviting.

The absolutely most hilarious thing was that we sat next to a table at a prime window seat that had syrup and powered sugar everywhere. We spent a whole hour waiting for staff to do anything about it. We watched customers walking up, wanting what could have been a great table, and turning away because it was dirty. We watched STAFF walk by, see the mess, and WALK AWAY and start doing something else. We discussed whether we were going to ask for a washcloth ourselves, or if we'd request they do something on our way out. FINALLY, when we were about to leave, a staff member, who is apparently the only one allowed to wipe tables, comes along and very slowly cleans it off. That was probably the most satisfying part of the experience (except that they were wearing very revealing clothing and had to pull their skirt down as they leaned over the table).

The only reason this review is getting 2 stars for the food portion of the review is because my fiancé enjoyed his brisket. My smoked salmon benedict was plain, bland, and something I could have made at home.

There was clearly no management directing staff or love put into the food. Customers are expected to order, serve, and bus themselves. This was just fast food pretending to be Portland chic, at...

I've lived in Portland my whole life and I've always wanted to go to the bread and ink and I'm glad I did because now I don't ever have to again. Let's just start with easy stuff. First you have to order at the counter and pay before you receive your food. Personally I like to sit down look at a menu have a waitress take my order and pay when I'm done just my preference. Second if you want coffee or water it's serve yourself, again not my preference. Third when your food is ready you actually have to pick it up yourself. And lastly bussing your own table. Now I understand a lot of people nowadays think that all of those things are perfectly fine but I'm a traditionalist and when you're not getting the service that's universally recognized as the restaurant experience, I'll pass.

Moving on to the quality portion of this review. One would think that a restaurant that provides little to no service to its customers it must have extremely high quality product that it's producing. Sadly this is not the case. The eggs were underdone the bacon was overdone and the gravy was sub par.

There are 3 things in my opinion that make for a good dining experience. Quality, service, and value. Rarely do I find when a restaurant can meet all 3 of these Expectations. But they have to have at least one of those values and 2 would be preferred.

In this case the bread and ink simply does not provide any of those values and it is for this reason I will not continue to patronize their...

Well, this is heartbreaking. Both my husband and I grew up coming here. Years of the owner meticulously walking around with a coffee carafe and a discerning eye for anything that a diner could want to make their meal special. This, friends, is no longer that. It’s not out of complete nostalgia that I feel a well of disappointment. The eggs were cold, the beans on huevos were bitter and metallic in taste. The biscuits fell short and dry. It seems odd that there’s a $22 dollar crab Benedict on the menu (that you’re supposed to pick up and carry sadly back to your table btw) and an expectation that the eggs would be warm or that it’d be even the slightest bit delicious seems outrageous to the staff. If it’s strictly counter service and a patron is expected to pick a table to sit at, but they are all filthy with food, perhaps no scoffing when asked for a wipe down? The cadence and flow here is so disjointed; I watched as our Bloody Mary was made feet from us and then walked 10 yards back to the front counter in order to buzz us that it was ready. All the while, the person who made the drink did not break eye contact with us as they awkwardly walked our drink away from us to notify us to go get it from where they were-additionally garnish was rancid. There’s a way to do great, fast/casual counter service B&I,...