Portage Bay Cafe

Now some people are absolutely in LOVE with this place. I haven't gone so far. I appreciate their healthy ingredients and their support of locally grown produce. They do have a wonderful breakfast bar in which you can get unlimited fruit, syrup, jam, butter, etc... But beyond their breakfast, I haven't found their lunch to be anything beyond "eh." Perhaps I'm just not sophisticated enough to appreciate whole tuna and hard rolls for sandwich bread...

Although they have good ingredients (lots of organic products), their owner is a rude guy who treats their customers really poorly. As I was finishing my meal, my plate was taken away but I still had a full cup of coffee. My waitress had just refilled my coffee. While I was finishing my coffee, I was putting stamps on some letters I needed to send. He comes up to me and kicks me out, basically. Very rudely, he said I needed to leave or I could use the conference room. Why would I want to use their confereence room??? I was not doing some major project and using their table for hours. I had just finished my meal. Also it was not one of their busy times, which are on weekend mornings. Anyway, because of his jerkiness I will never go back.

PROS: Organic ingredients
CONS: Rude owner

This cafe in the University District stands alone with it's superior customer service--all of the staff, including the manager, are appropriately attentive and genuinely care that your meal is never "just satisfactory".

For gourmet omelettes with exotic spices, meats and cheeses, or for their uncomparable "Pancake Breakfast Bar" (which serves any fresh fruit you can think of along with fresh homemade cream, syrups and jams), the Portage Bay Cafe is the only choice for the ultimate brunch experience.

Try to get there early though, many people already know how good it is!