Bread And Ink Cafe

Bread and Ink is a Hawthorne beloved staple in Portland! The have is all: great atmosphere with large windows, friendly staff, and extraordinary food. Bread and Ink is one of those restaurants you know you can order anything off the menu and be thrilled with your selection. They are super knowledgeable about food, and know all the savory and sweet combinations. One of our favorites is their fried chicken and waffles. Their coffee and tea drinks are excellent.

The staff was delightful as was the food. We went on a Sunday afternoon and we were the only people in the dining area. The waitress tells me sometimes Sundays are super dead and sometimes they are super busy so it's worth grabbing a reservation just in case. I split a charcuterie board with my date and I got the artichoke soup which was served with a chunk of bread I'm pretty sure they made in-house because it was still oven hot and crispy. I'm rarely on this side of town but if I make it back over there I will very likely drop in again.

Stopped in for a quick bite before I had to rush off to get my haircut. You order at the counter and you get to choose between Bread and Ink Cafe and the Waffle Window. Completely different menus so it really doubles your options. I got the smash burger with waffles fries and my friend ordered 1/2 chicken & waffles. We both shared our meals so we had the best of both worlds. My burger was juicy and had just the right amount of crunchiness. The chicken was also very tender and paired well with the waffle. Will we were there we definitely noticed that they do a lot of delivery app orders so read in to that what you will.

The chicken was nicely seasoned, not dry but could use some salt. The gravy was okay, could have been better if the chicken or the gravy had a little more salt in it. The bacon was 10/10. I ordered takeout and unfortunately didn’t receive any ketchup for my potatoes. The waffle reminds me of a Belgium, which is more on the dessert side than breakfast. Overall, I was very satisfied.

01/19/18: 4.5 out of 5 - This place is typically wonderful. The place serves a really good Chicken & Waffle. So good that they have a separate window on the side of the building specifically for the Chicken & Waffle. However, my Saturday running group sat inside had enjoyed ourselves. The service was attentive and the place was clean. In the past, the food has been okay, when before it was very tasty. As a group, many of the runners didn't want to go back, but this time around, and after almost two years, we figure to give it another try. This time around the food was just better and definitely tastier again. However, my only issue would be that I feel the "thick-cut" peppered bacon didn't pass muster still. Afterall, it's $5.00 for a side order of thick-cut peppered bacon; only 3 pieces at that. For anyone in the area, it's still worth trying once and deciding for yourself. Enjoy!