Papa Haydn — Restaurant in Portland

Your Cake Is Legendary, But Your Staff Is a Disaster Let me be clear: Ive been a loyal customer of Papa Haydn for years. Your mint chocolate ganache cake is one of my favorite desserts in the world. I supported you during COVID not because I had to, but because I wanted to. I placed order after order just to help keep you afloat, to do my part for Portland, and selfishly? Because I didn't want to lose that cake.

They already discontinued my partners favorite dessert, and I was scared mine was next.

But heres the problem the people inside that restaurant treat customers like an inconvenience. I went there on my birthday, and was met with eye-rolls, apathy, and a staff that looked like they couldn't care less about me being there. It was MY special day. Ruined with their uppity low class energy.

Then, on a different night after a play at the Arlene Schnitzer, my aunt and I decided to stop at the NW 23rd location for dessert. We were told by the hostess, with a tone, that they were sold out of everything!!!!! Huh....?? Then seconds later? Well... there are a few things left. Okay? So which is it?

We asked for two things: a scoop of caramel ice cream for my aunt (which I didnt even know they made it was actually handcrafted and delicious, and surprisingly reasonably priced) and my usual mint chocolate cake. THEY HAD BOTH.... We sat down. And immediately? The passive-aggressive countdown to closing began. We were reminded three separate times that they were closing soon.

We had to ask for water. The service was cold and miserable. My aunt asked to order a slice of cake to-go before they closed, and the waitress said flat-out: NO. That wont be possible.

WTF.....?! Who runs this place and how are they still in operation?????? We should have gone to Voodoo donuts..

Fast forward to another occasion.. this time the Sellwood location, in celebration of my nieces baby shower. It was a beautiful day. We sat outside.

I ordered a drink off the menu and politely asked if they could add berries from another cocktail into my mimosa. I was told: I'll have to ask the bartender. Then Ms. Snooty came back and said he would.. do it... Great! Thats literally his job, right?

I finished that drink, asked for a second and was told he NO he wouldn't make it again. Not couldn't..... WOULDN'T. She said it was too much work, and he was refusing to make it again. It's out of his job scope!!?!! WHAT?! As a business owner I was floored....

Ive never in my life had a bartender decide what he would and wouldn't make from his job menu. At that point, I was done.

I didn't even order dessert which is why I go there in the first place. Not even a piece to go for my son. I actually excused myself from the party. I don't reward bad service.

Let me ask: Who trains these people? Who manages this restaurant? Who owns it? Is it cool to be rude, it feels like that culture runs deep.

My family and I have spent ((A LOT)) of money with Papa Haydn. We've hosted events, ordered cakes, supported them as long as I can remember. And time and time again, the service is ruder, more dismissive, and entitled.

It's like they've forgotten they're a dessert restaurant, not the gatekeepers of fine dining. I haven't been back since the 23rd location mess, and while Id love to take my 7-year-old son there for a special date night so he can see the magical dessert displays I wont do it. Cause if they treat my child how they've treated my family and myself.... I will not be holding back. I'm pulling out my phone and going LIVE.

I refuse to be treated like trash by staff who clearly think customers are the problem.

Will I probably order my cake again on DoorDash? Yeah. Im being honest. I love the cake. But I'll never dine in again.

Papa Haydn: Your cakes are world-class. Your service is world-worst.

Fix it before your last great dessert is served at your closing party.

If you've had a bad experience here leave a review!!! Maybe with enough voices, they'll finally hire leadership that matches the quality...

Halfway through the 25-minute wait on my French onion soup, I asked my server about a wine pairing. The 2021 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir on the glass pours menu had my attention, as it's a favorite vintage of mine, but I suspected that the Columbia Valley Cabernet blend might suit the beef base of the soup better -- I didn't remember which cheese would be melted on top, though, and wanted a recommendation based on the knowledge of the staff.

This did not prove a successful communication with my server, who initially attempted to enthusiastically sway me toward the Pinot that I mentioned liking, calling it "bold" even knowing I was considering the Cabernet as well (which didn't exactly foster trust in the capacity for selection assistance of my server). I had to really push to even get the server to offer to ask the bartender for a recommendation, who apparently liked both red meat and red wine more than this server did, leading the server to believe that the bartender would be a more reliable source of basic menu knowledge.

I was surprised when, several minutes later, a glass of the Cabernet blend was delivered to my table by someone whom was neither my server nor the bartender who might have been more knowledgeable. I had not yet received the information I was looking for to make my decision, nor had I even decided on ordering a glass at all; and yet, it seemed the decision had been made for me.

Now, in attempt to ease the impression that this review is written in bad faith, I do understand that Sunday at noon is likely the height of Papa Haydn's busy lunch rush, and the wait time was not something I would reasonably take issue with; in fact, I could have happily waited even more time to ensure an experience worth returning for. I don't blame the server for being woefully under-informed and simultaneously over-zealous to please the customer with as little pressure on the bar as possible: in my experience, that particular quirk of service is the direct result of unsupportive management with irresponsible training, and I made sure to tip appropriately so my server didn't suffer further negative consequences of an establishment that needed to comp a botched wine sale ($6 on a ticket that would have had a $15 glass with the $12 soup).

I decided it wasn't worth attempting to resolve this issue in the moment because the staff were so obviously swamped already -- far be it from me to increase the stress of a shift like that by refusing to adapt my expectations to the clearly-evident chaos.

The only reason that this review of service is receiving a single star is the host who greeted me at the front, who was warm, inviting, professional, and highly competent. If my entire experience had reflected that initial impression, there would be five stars for service. (To clarify, my server was very friendly whenever I did see them, but seemed to rely on personability in lieu of actual service capability -- again, not the fault of this individual, but reflects poorly on the management responsible for training their staff for service worthy of the prices charged on a menu that sells itself on classic charm.)

Food-wise, the soup was fine. Not great, not inedible--just a well proportioned, if slightly jammy, French onion.

Even though the Cabernet blend was probably technically the right call, I still found the mishandling of a simple recommendation request distasteful enough to disappoint for my first dining experience at a longstanding establishment in my...

During our visit to Portland, one of the places I was most excited about was Papa Haydn. They seem to have loads of amazing looking desserts! I saw that they also have tasty looking food too. So was double excited.

We were welcomed with warm and friendly staff. And we arrived about 10 minutes before their happy hour ends, which they call “Cocktail Party.” We quickly put in our drink orders, Papa Haydn Espresso Martini. It was so good! Strong and sweet, decadent and flavorful.

We also ordered some food food from their Cocktail Party. Roasted Cauliflower Bites and Cubano Slider. Cauliflower came in a small, beautiful copper pot. They had a nice amount of cream coating, but cauliflower pieces were a bit harder texture than I preferred.

Cubano Slider had an amazing aroma, and packed with flavor. It had melty cheese, every bite was delicious. It came with loads of fresh salad too.

Then, from regular menu, we added an order of French Onion Soup ($12). The soup came piping hot! Broth was earthy and flavorful, very comforting. It was a perfect soup!

Now, time for desserts! Deciding which dessert to order was not an easy task. Everything looked and sounded so good! There were three of us, and we ordered four desserts in total.

Raspberry Gateau was velvety and creamy, very chocolate-y but somehow not heavy. Raspberries were ripe and tart, a great way to balance the sweetness of the chocolate. So good!

Baked Alaska had chocolate in the middle that was a bit thick, making it hard to cut/slice to eat. Otherwise, it was delicious! I wish if the cake was a bit bigger, as it was sliced thin. It sure was delightful.

Passion was mostly passion fruit mousse with raspberry mousse center. Mousse was light and velvety, and passion fruits puree was amazing!

Boccone Dolce is one of their most popular and well-known dessert. This one was quite big, and was like a Pavlova, melt in your mouth. It was just unbelievably delicious, every bite was heavenly!

Our visit to Papa Haydn was a success! We enjoyed all the food, drinks, and desserts! The staffs were all friendly and polite. Every dessert was as good as I had hoped. I am so happy we got to go try...