Jam On Hawthorne — Restaurant in Portland

APRIL 9TH UPDATE. OK, so the breakfast food here really is good enough to wait for, but I don't like waiting so here's my solution and it works every time: get there before 8:30 a.m. and you will always be able to be seated without any wait. And the coffee is just as hot, the food just as good and the service just as pleasant, maybe a bit more so because they're not yet running at top speed nor worn out from several hours of constant motion. In any event, my only complaint might be that the kitchen is very fast and on this visit I got my order placed on my table before I could even connect to the Wi-Fi and start watching a catchup episode on Amazon Prime of One Mississippi. I guess that's a pretty small complaint, LOL. Pictures of my great food, including a small side of fruit, are posted. FWIW, I've taken 2 to ordering a side of ranchero sauce to go with hash browns. I love the hasaàh browns here, they are the grated potatoes, not chunks of stuff with other vegetables thrown in. Just good old grated potatoes cooked up nice and crispy. You can do them with hot sauce and or ketchup as I have loved them most of my life. After enjoying their pulled pork huevos rancheros, and the really good ranchero sauce they use Syosset with Karma I thought hey that would go great on the hash browns and it sure does. So anyways if you hate waiting like I do, just go there on the days you happen to wake up bright and early, and there is no way to. Also, Mondays and Tuesdays are the easiest days to get seeded, often times up to 10 a.m. with very little waiting time. Enjoy!

I would rate it 5 stars for the very good food, fast and friendly service, and nice touch of the coffee service and seats, tables and other accommodations for the folks who choose to wait, almost always, to get inside to eat that good food. It is good, solid Portland style breakfast fare, several dishes reminiscent of the menu items at the now re-opened Cricket Cafe, but executed much, much better. The "Pulled Pork Huevos Rancheros" I enjoyed today was much like Cricket's Ranchero Hash, but better. The open and large seating areas seem to amplify the sounds of happy diners, BUT: when did you last sit close to a "happy diner" in the age range of 2-4 years old, or high chair age? It seemed like there were more than the usual complement of high chair/booster seat shreakers trying best to entertain the entire place. It is good to very good+, bordering on but not great, I will be back, but right at opening...

After my last two visits here were mediocre experiences, I wanted to update my review. The first one was not long after things were opening up again after covid closures, so I overlooked the smaller menu and even the dip in quality. But my last visit was a year after that one and it was just the same with its smaller menu & lower quality. I had been there several times before, so it’s not like I just lucked out all of those visits.

It’s expensive and a little out of the way from the two areas of town that I usually stay at, so my last visit was probably my last visit. If you are in that area & need some food or just want to try it, it’s fine & you might even really like it, it just isn’t what it used to be. Maybe it will get there again.

Old review: The food is so good. It just is. There is usually a wait (which should indicate how good it is) and it can get really loud in there, 2 things that would normally turn me off in a place, but no. It's just that good. The staff is super friendly and efficient. When the house is packed, you'll still have your water & coffee topped off every 5 minutes. The coffee is a little darker than I like it (& I like it dark), but it's still yum. The atmosphere is loud, but so artsy & cheery that it feels good to be there even if, like me, you're not a huge fan of noise. 4 words: Grand Marnier French Toast. I was just in Portland for an overnight and I was hemming & hawing over what to eat while my husband was at a conference when I remembered Jam and then suddenly there was no other choice, I had to have that scrumptious treat! 20 minute wait to seat just me and worth every minute...

First time trying Jam On Hawthorne and I wanted to love it but I found melted Saran Wrap / plastic wrap in my food after eating a good amount of the plate. I had to pull at it to open it up and figure out what it was after I bit into something that wasn’t right. It was cooked into the hash browns and when I brought it to the attention of the staff they just took the single item off the bill. I wouldn’t have posted the review if they had comped the entire bill but I thought just taking $7 kids meal (of 1 egg/toast/hash and bacon) off when there was a huge foreign object in the food that was melted into what I was eating was not really the right move.

Eating melted Saran wrap (or any type of plastic wrap) can pose several health risks. When heated, plastic wrap can release harmful chemicals like dioxins, phthalates, or bisphenol A (BPA), depending on the type of plastic. These chemicals can

Disrupt Hormones: Chemicals like BPA and phthalates are known endocrine disruptors, meaning they can interfere with hormone regulation.

Toxicity: Ingesting plastic chemicals may expose you to toxins that can affect various organs over time, potentially leading to issues like liver or kidney damage.

Digestive Issues: Consuming melted plastic might cause irritation to the digestive tract, leading to nausea, stomach pain, or more serious gastrointestinal blockages if consumed in larger amounts.

Somehow melted plastic of that size that went unnoticed while cooking, plating, and serving the food? Call me Karen but I think the full bill should have been covered 🤪 check #112...