The New Deal Café — Restaurant in Portland

I am a retired owner of well known restaurants and bakeries in the Pacific Northwest, and respected restaurant management consultant. I always aim for results and there is no better result than to earn the loyalty of a customer! Loyalty means trust and - again - we know that trust is earned. Now, I have been a daily breakfast customer of New Deal Cafe and have a pancake with either blueberries or bananas inside. Occasionally I have a scramble with side potatoes. Evidently, I got to know the servers and interacted with them with joy and fun, as a loyal customer would normally do. Now, a loyal customer might (God forbid) also have an observation and suggestion to make, would it not? As I was first customer most of the mornings I sadly noticed that the potatoes were (sometimes) not freshly cooked but freshly reheated, that is correct, REHEATED!. That is not just saying it but the most evident, incontrovertible Truth! A thermometer would have settle that score. I did communicate this to the server I trusted most and said that I don't wish to ruffle feathers but that is the reality. I must say that when I had potatoes later in the morning they were freshly done. Need we say that there is a difference between freshly cooked and reheated potatoes, especially when the reheated ones are still cold inside?! So here is today when the one server who never treated me nicely did not listen that I wish to have a pancake with bananas inside as opposed to bananas with whip cream on top, which is what I had every day for the last two weeks. I got exactly what I did not asked for. Now, a customer might have the right to ask that an order is to be done as ordered, isn't that so?! Shortly after a gent came to my table who introduced himself as the kitchen manager and handed me the money back and informed me that I complain too much on account of potatoes (true, I did it twice over the course of six months) and banana pancake (I did it once but the gent made that twice). There was no room for what would be a suggestion or talk, the slightest effort to please the customer, A Loyal Customer At That! So I informed the gent - a scruffy and not social individual at all - that I shall not set foot in the place again. Gingerly and in measured language as I tried to communicate - for I know all too well how touchy a 'chef' could be - my attempt was soundly rejected and I insulted. Oh, if only the owner/s would know the history of my professional carrier and effort to help the colleagues in...

Everyone who works here is upbeat, professional, and just generally pleasant to be around. The food is good, though I wish there were more options. However the kitchen is SO fast, that I think complicating the menu would be detrimental, so I get it.

EDIT: what follows is a complaint about ordering/seating, which has been addressed by staff putting signs on all the tables. I’m leaving up the rant that follows, but have changed my overall rating from 3 to 5 stars, because the awesome staff/management has addressed the issue. Thanks, New Deal. Y’all rock!

My main gripe is the ordering/seating system. You’re supposed to order before getting a table, but every single time I go, there are multiple groups who have one or more people who immediately go save a table. Everyone in line likely has some level of table-anxiety, but the entitled seat-savers just make it worse for everyone. It makes me not want to come back.

I understand that staff does not have the time (or likely the desire) to police the policy, but it’s very frustrating. I just wish better/bigger/more signage existed to advertise the seating policy. Por que no, for example, has this same system, but with signs on each table, so self-policing is usually better there. Do yourself a favor and visit during non-peak hours to avoid the entitled...

I wanted to love this place but unfortunately it's just alright. They have great coffee, nice baked goods, and wonderful staff but their breakfast dishes is just alright. They are rather bland. Gravy had a good underlying flavor but it desperately needed more salt or seasoning. Biscuits were ok. They aren't big and crumbly like you would want for biscuits and gravy. It came with eggs and breakfast potatoes so it was plenty to eat but it was just very mid in my opinion. Even though it's filling, I just didn't like it enough to think it was worth paying $15 for. If it were cheaper I probably wouldn't complain as much but for that price I would rather spend a few more dollars per dish and go to Petite Provence instead. The dishes there are far superior. They also have their workers doing way too much. They had two people taking orders at the kiosk, running orders from the kitchen, and making drinks to order, etc. That's too much for two people to manage when it's busy. I felt...