Broder Café — Restaurant in Portland

Broder is a hard place to get into, unless you're patient. At least on the weekends, anyway. I'm not a fan of their pen and board sign in procedure: the list is always atrociously long, and more often than not, people give up and leave without crossing their names off the list, projecting the image of a wait that is longer than the reality, although not by much. And unlike most places, they don't call you when your table is ready, so you're obliged to loiter or wander about the neighborhood, hoping to return in time without being passed over by another party. Expect an hour wait, or more, for brunch. It's all very archaic, and is probably Broder's one (and only) weakness.

That being said, it's worth the wait. Trust me on this one.

As it was such an odyssey to get a table here, we went all out: Folorade Agg (a sort of custard-adjacent egg skillet with creamed spinach, mushrooms, ham, and parmesan panko breadcrumb crust), Tunnbrodsrulle (Swedish hot dog flatbread sandwich), side of pickled herring in lemon caraway dressing, side of pork apple sausage, Danish Mary, Midnight Sun.

Vad fan?! Incredible, all around. To start, the Danish Mary, which uses dill aquavit instead of vodka (if you so choose), a spicy mix and a dill-salted rim, makes it one of the tastiest Bloody Mary's around. The Folorade Agg was rich, creamy, cheesy and hearty, with a pleasant crunch from the parmesan-infused crust. But the Tunnbrodsrulle was the star of the meal for me, with its pleasant quirkiness: a beef frank, potato pancake, shrimp(?!) salad, pickles and mustard, wrapped in flatbread. On paper, several of those ingredients shouldn't work together, but when taken as a whole, it's enlightening. Hot dog detractors would do well to reevaluate their prejudices, and take this iteration seriously.

Even the pickled herring was great, and I say this as someone who has historically been squeamish with regards to fish in snack-food form. Maybe it was my recent dalliance with sardines at home that evolved my palate to a more elevated place? I wouldn't order it all the time, but it was a fun flirtation with a dish that would normally have me running screaming for the hills!

Further research revealed to me that there are two more Broder locations (Nord and Soder) in the Portland area, giving hope that these wonderful entrées might be acquired in a more expedited manner than loitering around out front on a chilly Saturday morning. Perhaps they coordinate their waitlists in a more modern manner? I hope so, because this inadvertent gatekeeping is holding a lot of people back from experiencing these incredible dishes, and that's tantamount to a crime against humanity. I mean, these people might be going to Ikea to get their Swedish meatball fix instead!...

Wow wow wow, this place is good

Coming after hiking Multuonmah Falls, we wanted food that was both hearty and healthy, and we couldn't of been more pleased with Broder. While I wasn't exhilerated by looking at the menu at first glance, it didn't take long for me to realize why this place was able to expand into 2 other locations and is a local favorite.

Our waiter was great, she was knowledgable on the food and even gave us the pronounciations of the different cuisines. We decided to each get a main and nibble on some of the other foods.

AEBESKIVER (8/10) Its not often that I like to start of my lunch with sweets, but these little puffies were very flavorful and the included lemon curd and jam added more yumminess. Really good for a group.

BORDER BORD (9/10) The menu said "great for sharing" and it is very true. This board of cheeses, trout, veggies, and crackers gives you a small glimpse of the various flavors you get in the main course. The cheese was soft but bold, with a great creamy flavor with just a hint of subtle sweentess, it all combined very well.

TUNNBRODSRULLE (9/10) I was expecting a hot dog and instead I got a sandwich with incredible pickeld vegtables and a delicious sausage stuffed inside. I loved every bit of it, using my fork to finish it as it started to fall apart a bit. There was a really good crispness with the vegtables and while the hot dog wasn't huge, it packed a really good amount of tanginess that stuck with me.

Other things I nibbled on: LAMB BURGER - This wasn't pink like a normal burger, but the goat cheese on it was shockinly yummy and allowed the chewy meet to sit just right KOTBULLAR - Oh these meatballs were gooood. I really liked how soft they were while still having a meaty tase. The jam was a little sweet, but it included bread to help balance everything out.

Broder Cafe is one of the more memorable meals we had in Portland. It had an incredible friendy staff, and unique Scandanavian food that was flavorful and fun. Highly reccomend...

My wife and I wanted to try something different for breakfast, Broder Cafe got good reviews and we were close by so we figured we'd stop and try it. The food was good and I thought that the wait staff were very nice. Just one male and one female working. We ate and boxed up our leftovers and the waiter came over with our bill, I paid it with a $100 bill, left a tip and then my wife and I exited the restaurant. Before we got two store fronts away, the waitress comes running out asking why I only left $12. I thought she was questioning my tip, and then my wife pointed out that she was accusing me of only leaving $12 for a $72 bill. Then she said something about a card being declined, and I said not sure what you are talking about because I paid with cash and you need to talk to your coworker. She apologized and went back to the restaurant. I don't like to feel this way, but in light of this, I couldn't help but noticed that I was the only black person in the restaurant, and although they have a black lives matter sign at the door, I don't think that they really embrace the concept that our entire life matters. I question if she would have jumped to that conclusion about the white couple sitting next to us. If she had taken a moment to talk to her coworker instead of just assuming we hadn't paid and chasing after us, we would have enjoyed a good breakfast and morning and been willing to give a good review and go back, but under the circumstances, we will not be returning to, nor recommending this...