Down to Earth Cafe — Restaurant in Portland

My family drove 25 minutes this morning from our home to Down to Earth Cafe because their website advertised "GLUTEN FREE" food. The sandwich board outside their restaurant said "gluten free options," which I excitedly pointed out to my 15-year old with celiac disease. We unfortunately found out the cafe's statements of it having gluten-free options are lies. This restaurant literally does not have a single gluten free option. Our waitress explained to us that the only gluten free substitute they have is toast and it is toasted in the same toaster as the wheat toast. The waitress also explained that the kitchen does not even have a separate space to prepare or cook food that is naturally gluten free.

Restaurants are of course fee to not offer gluten free options. There is no problem with that. I do have a problem though with a restaurant that aggressively advertises itself as having "GLUTEN FREE" options and then literally having none. As bad as that was, the bigger deal for me and my family was the waitress. Her conduct towards us was unbelievable.

When I politely asked the waitress what menu options could be prepared gluten-free she responded, "We cannot be responsible for people having food allergies." Ummm...wut? Are you kidding me? I am not making that up or misquoting her. Those are the exact nine words she said to us.

I cannot believe this is a person who works in food service. No one with celiac disease is asking restaurants to "be responsible" for a person's disease.

The waitress then said, "It's not possible to guarantee that gluten does not come into contact with the food." She truly seemed unaware that millions of gluten-free meals are prepared every day in homes and restaurants across this country. The waitress was visibly annoyed with me for having any expectation of gluten free food.

My family left the restaurant without ordering, and walked next door to Marco's. They provided my son with the best gluten-free french toast he's ever had.

Down to Earth Cafe needs to stop holding itself out as offering gluten free options until it truly does so and trains its workers on how to deal with customers who have celiac disease or a serious food allergy. Whoever this waitress is should probably be moved to a position requiring less interaction...

I went here for breakfast with my daughter and felt that we were ignored and disrespected at every turn. For starters we were rudely told to go wait outside in the cold for our table. When we were finally seated, I couldn’t even squeeze through the tiny openings between table sideways without bumping into the person at the next table. Our table was completely unsteady and the drinks were spilling. You’re literally pushed right up against other people on either side of you, so there is zero privacy in conversations. They took our drink order and then forgot about it. And came back 10 minutes later to ask again if we wanted to order drinks. When they finally took our food order, I asked to sub avocado for sour cream, she said “sure I’ll ask, but that should work.” When my food came, there were 3 minuscule slices of avocado and no sour cream. She said “by the way that’s an extra charge”. Which was news to me. If I would have known ahead of time, I wouldn’t have spent the money on avocado. It was literally maybe 1/6 of a small avocado! Next, we had to ask 3 different times for a refill on coffee. And my water glass was empty half of the time I was there. In summary, the service was TERRIBLE. At the end the guy asked if everything had been okay and I said “actually no it wasn’t.” He just shrugged and walked away like it was no big deal. I do not recommend this place! The food was marginal at best on top of the...

Down to Earth is easily one of the best restaurants in Multnomah village. I’ve dined in the restaurant several times in the past but I specifically had to write a review because of how amazing the delivery experience was as well. We ordered eggs benedict and a breakfast burrito and I seriously felt like we were dining in. I don’t typically have high expectations for delivery these days because everything is either made poorly, cold by the time it arrives, and/or missing items.

I shouldn’t be surprised that even ordering delivery, they did not disappoint. Everything was prepared perfectly, packaged thoughtfully and mindfully, and it was all delicious. The hollandaise and sour cream were packaged separately on the side so nothing was soggy. The eggs were poached perfectly and still warm. The tortilla for the burrito was warm and still intact. It was honestly one of the most high-quality enjoyable meals we’ve had in a while and if you’re wondering whether to eat here the answer is most...