Hungry Heart Bakery — Restaurant in Portland

Came for the coffee; stayed for the sandwiches; will DEFINITELY return for the soup!

My wife wanted a hot cup of coffee on a cold, soggy October morning. I wasn't in the mood for coffee, but I was hungry for something warm and comforting; thus, I began poking around online for a café reasonably closed to home that looked intriguing, and could satisfy both of our cravings. Hungry Heart checked all the boxes.

The interior is a little sparse, in terms of seating and indoor dining (fallout from the height of COVID, perhaps?), but we grabbed an empty table near the (artificial) fireplace, placed our order: a tuna salad sandwich, a classic Everything bialy, a golden milk, double shot espresso, two oat milk lattés, one using horchata, and a bowl of the tomato soup. Drinks arrived first, in a handful of minutes, with the food hot on its heels.

I have nothing but rave things to say about everything: the tuna salad sandwich was fantastic (bonus points for using capers, dill, and pickles instead of celery!), the Classic bialy hearty and satisfying, and the soup - otherworldly! Among the best I've had, anywhere, all by itself; but the addition of creme fraiche and basil oil elevating it even higher. Too often, the inclusion of basil can be a bit overwhelming, as it is quite often overused, but infusing it in oil? Stroke of genius.

As a former barista, I can be critical of boutique café beverages, but the staff here know what they're doing. Thick, rich foam, correct temperature, quality grounds - you're in good hands here. The staff were also friendly and helpful, offering suggestions, clarifications, and general conversation.

Although we didn't utilize it (this time), online ordering is also available, and seems pretty easy to navigate. You can even order ahead for pickup the next day, after they've closed, and choose your preferred pick up time. Pretty great for a local operation!

All in all, Hungry Heart PDX has left me, well...hungry (and thirsty) for more. We will...

This review is not about the food, I wasn't able to order. The women working here seem friendly except for One woman who kept yelling and demanding things of the other employees while they clearly were already doing something and then yelled at a customer who didn't respond quickly enough for her and then didn't even give him his whole order, the customer had to ask for it and got snapped at for doing so. When my daughter and I got to the front of the line we asked for a menu since there was none posted anywhere in the restaurant and the girl taking orders said they are serving breakfast, like that told us what was on the menu, so my daughter looked online and ordered biscuits and gravy and was told they weren't serving brunch just breakfast. So we stepped out of line and left. It smelled good in there except for the stink of bad attitude that the one employee or possibly the owner was thrown around and the fact that a menu is a four-letter word to them. Definitely left with a Hungry Heart sense I couldn't eat there. Have to say kudos to everybody who solved the mystery of what you can order. Found it interesting that when my daughter and I got home and went on to the website we were able to place an order for pickup that included biscuits and gravy, since we'd already been told that wasn't an option we didn't...

Really really good! Got a nitro cold brew with vanilla cold foam, a vanilla cardamom morning roll, and The Classic sandwich with bacon on a cheddar jalapeno bialy.

The nitro cold brew is maybe the best coffee I've ever had, and has essentially ruined all other coffee for me. Couldn't really taste any vanilla, but it is so damn smooth and not too sweet, with crushed ice YESSSS 🙌🏼

The vanilla cardamom roll was simply heavenly. Do it, get it.

The Classic was delicious and a very generous size. My only criticism is that it was very poorly constructed, like the person who made it wasn't looking at it while making it. The ingredients were lumped together off to one side with about a quarter of the bialy empty. Even the bacon was all wadded up. After a 10 minute car ride home, the ingredients were all melted together, so it was a pain to reconstruct. But again, it was super delicious. That cheddar jalapeno bialy is to die for.

The space itself is very small, but really cute and inviting, and the staff was pleasant!...