Off The Griddle — Restaurant in Portland

Went there for brunch, about noon. Place was somewhat packed, as it was a nice day outside. There are some people outside looking at menus, as there is seating out there. There was a sign in sheet out there, and it took about 40 minutes for my party & I to be seated. I am reading through the menu, and everything looks good and I settle on biscuits and gravy with sausage, only when ordering the gentleman taking my order went on to tell me that this place was Vegan only. I stopped looked around all over the front, and the menu, but no where did I see the words "Vegan" anywhere? One person in my party referred to the sausage as "mystery meat" and the waitor confirmed it, that this place was all Vegan. So, I scrambled to find something quickly and just chose a simple waffle, no fruit, just a basic waffle with syrup. When I finally got it like 20+ minutes later, it was dark brown, and grainy. I pourned my thin syrup all over it, and perceived to eat a bite, and it was so unlike any waffle I have ever tasted. It was so horrible, I put my fork down, that was it, no way was I eating that. Now I can see why people were ordering these things with all this creme and fruit loaded up on these waffles. To hide the taste of the waffles, horrendous is a good description. Is this what I am supposed to eat, to be Vegan? No thanks, give me the real stuff!!! I am rating so poorly from the poor service, extra long, unorganized wait times, before and after being seated, and the fact that this place does not advertice anywhere that this is a "Vegan" place only. Not on the front of the establishment, nor on the menu, as they describe "sausage", as sausage. The other reason was how expensive just a little bit of fake food really costs. Very expensive just for a fake, basic waffle. Not recommended on my end.

**Edited In response to the owners response. We had already waited for a long time to eat (party of 3), and at first glance of menu, I saw the word "sausage" and I kept going. If it were fake sausage or other than sausage, then state it. Someone, such as myself, that is unfamiliar with the world of Vegan, I was unaware that you substitute what ever it is that you substitute for sausage and other meats. Another thing, if you are going to make a basic waffle into something else, why not put what your waffle is made out of (ingredients)? But the biggest farce of all is your name, and the face front of your business, should have something that states or shows that you are a Vegan place only. Because to me it looks like a good old country breakfast place, and that had drawn us in. To me, that was false advertising. For a guy raised up eating those wonderful breakfasts that mom would make, after trying your idea of it, there is no substitute for taste at all, much less pay twice as much for something so far from the original. I totally repect that you have a Vegan restaurant. I do, just so something that tells a person when they drive by that it is a Vegan place only, not when they were fooled to think so, and only noticed it after a long wait, and were seated with...

On our last day in Portland my husband and I were excited to check out this vegan breakfast spot. Our baby was sleeping in the car and we didn’t want to wake him up so we ordered take out initially. We then called 2 mins after having put in the order in person and asked if we could dine in since our baby had woken up.

We were met with a very awkward “umm normally no, you can’t do that after placing an order… but we’ll let you do this for today but you HAVE to eat inside since the outside will get full shortly”. Mind you we had arrived at 9am right when the restaurant opened and there was maybe one group outside and the inside was empty. We thought maybe she said that because people came through with appointments?.. after we arrived inside and sat down we were met with an awkward vibe from the employees. Another employee questioned the lady that had taken our order and had allowed us to eat indoors. The other employee then said “oh yeah for next time we can’t do this because this is a full service restaurant”. After that instance all the employees demeanor changed towards us. They were not friendly or welcoming. We later started seeing people coming in and no one had an appointment.. they were greeted kindly and seated with groups of 5+ people. Why were they so weird and sketched out about paying customers dining in after only having placed an order 2 mins ago?.. I have no clue. It definitely left a sour taste in our mouth and made an exciting last breakfast in Portland a not so enjoyable one.

The employee later brought out our food and after having said we can dine in, she brings out our food in to go boxes.. that was a big slap in the face ‘you’re not welcome to dine in’. She added “please let me know if you need bags or anything”. What the actual heck.. we just grabbed our to go boxes and left the restaurant. No goodbye, have a nice day or anything from the employees who were just standing by the door as we walked out. The inside of the restaurant had only us and another single customer. Such a rude bunch and unpleasant experience.

As for the food I got the “Full Mess”, it was OKAY.. the hash browns were undercooked. The tofu lacked flavor. There were like 3 pieces of spinach and the tomatoes were the palest tomatoes I had ever seen and the taste compared. The biscuits were okay. The fries were highly over salted. Also their “fresh squeezed Oj” is definitely not fresh squeezed. Tastes packaged for sure. Not worth $3. The chorizo burrito per my husband was good and flavorful. The tempeh bacon was also good.

I lived in Portland for 3 years and definitely tried most vegan spots in the area. I would probably go somewhere else, Portland is too saturated with good food spots to be rude to...

Food 4 stars, expierence 2 maybe 3 stars..

A really tasty spot for breakfast/brunch! Good spot if you have a group of mixed diets/lifestyles (omni, vegan, gluten free).

I got the chikn n waffles. Wasnt a legit version but still pretty good! The chikn tasted more like fried stuffing w/ a more meaty texture.

Boyfriend got the "full mess" which was amazing.. I thought no bones had the best vegan hollandaise but theirs is a lot better.

Also really happy that they have a extensive options for vegan shakes! Wanna come back to try their dinner for sure.

My one complaint is about their seating/how they handle rushes. We came here for my birthday brunch w/ a newborn. It looked busy but there were 3 empty benches outside so I figured the wait wouldnt be too bad if we were open to sitting outside...wrong. The benches are reserved for people with dogs only.... so our wait ended up being an hour long despite even more benches opening!! All the people waiting ended up sitting on the benches to wait anyways. I dont get how this is a logical business tactic.

I get maybe saving a bench or two... even at that I dont get why someone with a dog shouldn't have to wait, especially if someone with a brand new baby does.

That aside.. it seemed to die down after noon. I do want to come back to try more food but will try to come during...