Ross Island Grocery & Cafe — Restaurant in Portland

I have a bad habit of ordering Uber Eats for breakfast almost every single day and have tried practically every place that delivers in my area. This morning, Ross Island Grocery & Cafe popped up for the first time (or at least the first time I noticed it) so I checked their menu and they had what I was looking for (poached eggs) so I ordered their classic breakfast and a coffee and waited for my food.

I'm honestly not sure if the eggs that came were actually poached or not, at first glance they looked like they were cooked over easy so I was a little disappointed at first but they also did not have any browning which is normally a tell tale sign of being cooked in a pan with oil or butter instead of in water. They also came as a single mass with two yolks as opposed to two separate eggs, which was different. But when I transfered them to a bowl and stirred them up into a glorious eggy soup for spooning onto my toast, I found that they were perfectly cooked with wonderfully runny yolks and were absolutely delicious so my disappointment quickly disappeared. The lack of browning and overall texture of them makes me think they might just have a different poaching technique than I'm used to but whatever the case, they were phenomenal. A+.

The bacon was a little thinner than I would have liked but it too was delicious and PERFECTLY cooked, so I can't really complain. Especially when the relatively low price for the meal is taken into account.

The breakfast potatoes were great. I'm normally a hash brown guy but I had no problem making the switch for this meal. They had a really nice crisp to them.

The toast was also perfectly toasted and was still plenty crispy after making the 15 minute journey from the restaurant to my house. When I order from most other places, by the time it arrives the toast is limp, soggy, and sad. Not this toast.

There's not much to say about the coffee other than it's just a great standard drip coffee. It's better than what I make at home by a wide margin and they put in the right amount of cream and sugar so it gets another thumbs up from me.

Honestly aside from the very minor complaint about the bacon thickness, I couldn't have been any happier with this meal. Everything was absolutely delicious and perfect and considering it was over $5 cheaper than basically anywhere else, it's probably going to become my new favorite breakfast place...

I would heavily advise against ordering food online from here. I placed an order (2 orders actually, one in the a.m and one in the p.m) for a work meeting for 16 people, 5 days in advance and the restaurant canceled my order 40 minutes AFTER the delivery time. I was never called beforehand to be alerted that something was up with the order and when I called to check on it, they said they had never received the order--yet I was given a confirmation that my order was placed and received. I ordered directly through their website, however, it linked somehow to door dash, yet the owner told me they do not have a door dash account.

Since I ordered through their site, it was supposed to have gone through Square. The owner told me that they do not receive online orders in advance and that they do not know when an online order is placed UNTIL the driver shows up for the order. So ultimately, I had 16 Foreman who had been working since 5am, join our meeting where they were told lunch would be served, only to have no food arrive. The owner and her employees did some heavy arguing with me back and forth on this matter and best they could offer was to make the sammys for half off. At this point it had been over an HOUR after the delivery was supposed to arrive. So I told the owner, the sammys should be free and if she couldn't do that, then we will gladly discontinue our business there.

Needless to say, we ended up with no sandwiches. The owner said she didn't think that was fair to bring them for free, yet somehow it was fair for me to place the order 5 days in advance & have 16 people left hungry. I was pretty fired up and it got worse when the owner told me "it was just sandwiches". This was our first time ordering through Ross Island Cafe and it will definitely be the last. We got that memo loud and clear. It may be best to change that set up because this is a terrible way to...

Lovely place, even lovelier people! Staff were very kind. The coffee has a nice, moderate amount of flavor, so if you're a normal person who likes to taste their coffee you'll love it. If youre a freak like me who likes it sweetened up dutch brothers-level, we're in luck too! They were very kind to a accommodate that request! The mocha was great extra-sweet. I want to say it was 5 pumps of mocha to a large size drink to get that sweetness, but I could be wrong.

All the employees are great, fun people to be around. Super nice and made the visit much more enjoyable.

The Ross Island burger came with crispy fries, a pickle spear, and a side of ketchup. Everything had great texture and flavor and the serving was generously sized.

The atmosphere was beautiful- its a very cozy little spot, and the plants everywhere add to the comfort. I admire the love it must take to keep all these things alive.

They have live music on fridays! I sadly ended up missing it today because my travels took me a bit far before I could return to the building. But the tickets are reasonably priced- for tonight's performance it was 10 dollars, and tickets can be purchased via posted QR code!

There is a very cute, very clean bathroom for customers- But if you're reading this review because you're looking for a bathroom nearby (we all do sometimes), take it with a grain of salt- I don't come here enough to promise it's always going to be open haha. Don't go yelling at any employees that some review promised a bathroom if it's not open!

I'm rarely in this side of town but i will absolutely be back. Overall it was nothing but a joyful exprrience, I hope they get all the support a great local business deserves for...