It should be no surprisal that coffee shops are grotesque foster spaces for those of us who either have no aliveness room , or would much rather be anywhere than on our couch when it come fourth dimension to put the nozzle to the grindstone . If there ’s anyone who knows a thing or two about loitering at coffee berry shop within the accepted opinion of what ’s moot reasonable , it ’s definitely the hombre with innumerous part - time pen gig who lived in a 50 satisfying - ft efficiency with no internet or plumbing ( I lived in a avant-garde ) .
While the deep brown scene has changed substantially since the halcyon days of my # vanlife experimentation , the parameters of what makes a deep brown store a upstanding office are mostly the same : WiFi should be stable and easy accessible ( e.g. “ spare ” ) , office electrical outlet should be abundant , light snacks should be on offer , and staff should be at least tolerant of your idling . The etiquette here is mere : do n’t be a tool .
Now that you ’re primed on how to exist in public , seize your laptop and battery charger , go away your pressman and keto bowl behind , and join us on a journey through all five quadrant ( and the suburb ) to find the best position for you to get jacked on caffein and address through the pile of free-lance assignments you just could n’t say no to .
Martha’s at Revolution Hall|Portland Internetworks
Best for tattooed biker bros (and babes):See See Motor Coffee Company
KernsGiving off the impression that your aliveness is a harum-scarum whirlwind of two - wheel pleasure is hard work , and even though you ’d rather die than be get in a carrell , there ’s still shit that need to get done every now and then . Though not everyone who hangs at See See is actually a biker , their nouveau - greaser esthetic infects most who consider it their local irrespective . It serve that they have a respectable motorcycle operation across the street , but the jazz band of custom - jest at Stumptown coffee , cheap beer , and grab - and - go food items is more than enough to convert mild - mannered office drones into fledgling dirtbags who are just one boom forth from purchase an old Honda so they can ride it to See See for weekend deep brown runs .
Best for bingeing on buttery baked goods:Crema Coffee + Bakery
BuckmanFull disclosure : I worked here for 5 years , which is why I ’m completely qualified to call it one of the best .
You know that awful ham actor and swiss croissant or hot chocolate chip cookie your favorite neighbourhood coffee spot sells ? There ’s a undecomposed chance it was bake in the wee hours of the Nox by this Buckman mainstay bakery and coffee workshop , so why not cut out the wholesaler and go directly to the source ? Crema gets packed to the gills by 10 am each day with a host of devoted grad scholar , oeuvre - from - home warrior , and byplay bros who ’d rather thrust their case with top - tier up quiche , plump gem , and the buff - favorite Kickstart ( dark-brown sugar bacon , Tillamook sharp cheddar , and baked egg grill on a fresh ciabatta axial motion ) than while away in their flat or office all Clarence Shepard Day Jr. . It ’s wanton to get frustrated at how busy it gets , but a few minutes of lurking while sipping on coffee from Coava and Stumptown usually yields a communal table seat at the very least .
Best for seeking divine inspiration:Taborspace
Mt. TaborIf a Presbyterian church service in an upper - impertinence neighborhood on the East Side vocalise like a unearthly place to get some work done , you ’re in exactly the right framing of intellect to enjoy a morning at Taborspace . Located in an old chapel attached to Mt. Tabor Presbyterian , this offbeat quad feel a lot like a high school subject hall minus the nuns on a mogul trip who dole out detention like it ’s going out of vogue . A rotating casting of local umber roasters and pastelike purveyors are the obvious drawing card , but the real ground most folk keep coming back is the unuttered agreement to keep your voice down and your thoughts to yourself , just like the well sure-enough days of getting shushed in church . Even if that was n’t part of your young person , it may as well be once you ’ve hung out here long enough .
Best for strong coffee and sturdy sandwiches:Bipartisan Cafe
MontavillaMontavilla ’s status as an up - and - come in neighborhood has come and pass , and the passage of time has done relatively piffling to the smattering of businesses on the principal stretch of Southeast Stark that like more about offer an understated place to enjoy bullshit - destitute food and beverage than chase tendency and novel money . One such berth is Bipartisan Cafe , a spanking coffee shop line with church pews , vintage political propaganda , and warped wooden floors that are certain to make you spill your coffee berry no matter where you sit . The Francis Scott Key is to bring your own mug or grab a cold brewage with a eyelid , and you ’re probably going to need a piece of refreshing - bake pie or a neatly - stacked beigel sandwich while you ’re at it . While the sandwich counter shuts down at 8 necropsy , their 9 postmortem examination windup time is almost unheard of in these parts , making it a corking place to pass an entire day taking down sandwiches and treat through body of work .
Best for aspiring influencers seeking good vibes:Cathedral Coffee
St. John’sA lynchpin among students at nearby University of Portland since opening its doors , Cathedral Coffee is one of the few places that ’s both cozy and forward-looking without ever feel like it tries too severely at either . The monolithic slab of lacquered woodwind instrument are utter for rifling through piles of paperwork , and if communal co - working is n’t your matter , there are plenty of photogenic nooks and crevice that are complete for curling up with a journal and slacken with an orange - cardamum latte and one of the many neat sweet and savory baked goods Cathedral makes from kale each first light . Do n’t draw a blank the Natalie Wood potato chip - covered terrace out the side threshold , which offers a serene setting for outdoorsy types to riff through their Instagram feed while mist rises from the Willamette River just beyond the treeline out back .
Best for hiding in a dimly-lit corner:Coffee Time
Alphabet DistrictSpeaking of rare operations that stay subject past 6 pm , Coffee Time might have most cafes west of the Willamette beat with their generous daily closing time of midnight . cheat player unremarkably dominate the sidewalk seating in the summer , but the erectile back rooms are perfect for feeling like you ’ve pout off to some far away planing machine inhabited by vagabond and dilettantes who are hell on earth - bent on lastly finishing that manuscript that ’s been ping around in their head for a X .
Best for donning Airpods and talking to clients (or yourself) all day:Lovely Rita
ChinatownFor a sure type of remote office staff renegade , few affair stoke creativity better than the sempiternal bustle of a hotel third house . It ’s a great way of life to drown the episodic conference call you ’d feel like a jerk for answering anywhere else , and sometimes it just feels cool to pretend you ’re a jet setting business magnate , too . Located on the earth floor of Chinatown ’s firebrand new boutique hotel , the Hoxton , Lovely Rita is a fine place to fake it ' til you make it . It technically let in a sit - down eating house born from the ashes of a monolithic flop from the folks behind blockbuster restaurants like Ava Gene ’s and Tusk , but low coffee heel counter adjacent to the lobby is where you ’ll get an invincible selection of Mexican - inspired pastries , flaky delicacy fromTwisted Croissant , speedy breakfast burritos , fulfil egg sandwiches , and a revolution of stellar coffee good manners ofProud Maryand a handful of other local(ish ) heroes . You do n’t need to check in to check this stead out , and it should be near the top of your list next sentence you discover yourself anywhere near the eye of Downtown Portland .
Best for highly-Instagrammable midday “work” shots:Coava Coffee Roasters
DowntownThe first affair you take to know about Coava is that it ’s arguably the comfortably give coffee roaster of its size of it in Portland . Thatshouldbe enough to get you in the threshold of their opulent business district outpost , but the reality of populate in a market that ’s oversaturated with top - flight coffee berry roasters is that a beneficial gimmick or two seldom smart . Selfie freak will ghost over the luxuriant foliation that trace the back wall of the revered roasters former position , and normal masses who just want a bloody good cup of coffee and a wide change of sit down options will chance plenty to sleep together as well . Your unspoiled bet is to stare out the windowpane and watch the wild and weird humans that is Downtown Portland go by while the barista readies your pour - over ( but their dripping coffee and espresso - based options are fantastic as well ) . You really ca n’t go wrong here , and it ’s rarely packed due to the prevalence of Starbucks emplacement that lure away most of the educatee from nearby Portland State University .
Best for bringing your four-legged friends along:Martha’s at Revolution Hall
BuckmanThe changeover of the Washington High School building from a perennial question mark to a multi - use urban department store has been the gift that keep giving since it reopen its doors as Revolution Hall in 2015 . Martha ’s get the light end of the stick when compare to tenant like the indie music locus in the old auditorium or the voguish rooftop bar that ’s one of the coolest places to see and be view when the weather cooperates . But it ’s easy to respect its status as the beer - and - umber vendition workhorse that observe the brightness level on when the other portion of the construction remain unused . Pastries from Crema and coffee from Stumptown keep the throngs of habitue caffeinated and full of bread while they take a interruption from mold from home to let their dogs campaign wild in the massive off - tierce area just west of the building ’s main entrance . The patio seating is a hunky-dory WiFi - enabled perch to watch out your pooch play with the many other cad admirer from around the neighborhood , and there ’s plenty of splendid beer on water faucet to sip on while your mind drifts off and daydreams about sunny daylight when the rooftop is back in business .
Best for snacking on vegan food and rocking out to old-school emo music:Jet Black Coffee Company
GatewaySituated next to emplacement # 2 of Food Fight , the popular vegan market memory that anchors Southeast Stark Sreet ’s “ vegan strip center , ” Jet Black is an environmentally conscious choice to the many rinky - drop shot coffee kiosks that live on in the murkily - lit corners of Portland ’s final frontier of affordable housing . bunch - pleasing Pastries like Shoofly ’s Peanut Butter Charlie Brown Bar are always stocked in the casing next to the register , and a vegan taco hand truck ( with breakfast tacos ) is normally parked down the stair of the generous patio out front . Jet opprobrious commissions Water Ave . Coffee Roasters to create a usance portmanteau word that pairs wonderfully with Oatly or almond milk , and a motley of bubbly beverages are a great fail - good when you max out on caffein .
Best for being impossibly millennial:Trailhead Coffee Roasters
Lower BurnsideTrailhead now has the unenviable task of competing with CoSuBe and the second Crema localisation for coffee store domination on a corner it used to occupy all alone , but it ’s holding its own quite well thanks to a being one of the best cafes in townspeople to cop a sexy slab of avocado pledge . The standard oblation here features skilfully carved slice of everyone ’s favorite alternative to homeownership dashed with lemon zest and fortified with ricotta cheese , which pairs marvellously with Trailhead ’s incredibly strong house brewage or one of the handful of cocktails or draft beer you may move on to when the coffee is no longer doing its task .
Best for edgy youth pastors in search of a vibey spot with comfy chairs and chill music:Sisters Coffee Co.
The PearlIt ’s a known fact that Portland is one of the least religious with child cities in America , but that does n’t mean suburbs like Clackamas and Vancouver are n’t jam - packed with alt - Jesus people with an updated worldview that allow punk tilt and craft beer in their lives . Nestled in the heart of the west side ’s premiere condos and yoga pants dominion , Sisters Coffee is as sleek as it is agrestic , with an aesthetic that meshes perfectly with Pastor Chet ’s excessive habit of panoramic nature scenes and slow - building post - rock in the videos he uses to promote his hebdomadary daddy - up jams for JC at nearby event spaces . This is one of the few coffee shops in town where you’re able to reliably find dark knock , which pairs quite well with the satisfying breakfast sandwich and oat - tamp down power bars the kitchen churns out with telling speed . You do n’t ask to believe in a higher power to transfer some sort of spirit of productiveness while perched in the entresol with a stiff cup of coffee and a nutty goody , but it sure wo n’t smart consider the Sin of excess that plague the bougie Pearl District .
Best for eating loose granola on an old couch while updating your yoga blog:Common Grounds
HawthorneThe dreaming of the ' 90 ’s is decidedly still alive at Common Grounds . This beloved second - waving coffee shop is a time warp back to the days when crunchy locals sip latte from giant mismatched mugs on musty couches while knit a beanie for their andiron or chatting about the riskiness of NAFTA . Common Grounds has rolled with the clout and added some modern creature comforts like WiFi , oat milk , and a stereo system with euphony that ’s not just Rusted Root or the New Bohemians – but the chance of it “ evolving ” into a third - wave shop with white subway roofing tile and Pinback radio on a loop are incredibly slender . And that ’s exactly why we lie with it .
Best place for drowning out the noise of the daily struggle:Spin Laundry Lounge
MississippiPortland has no shortage of clientele operating under the “ coffee shop plus [ unrelated thing ] ” format , but make no misunderstanding about what ’s actually happening at Spin Laundry Lounge , which is a uncoiled - up launderette . A damn good one too , complete with a cute small cafe that serves splendid coffee drinks , vegan snacks , and beer . They even aim a projector at the rampart to show Blazers games when the mood strike them . It ’s a howling post to smash spreadsheet or address through other forms of mindless piece of work while the gentle hum of laundry political machine whir in the next way over mince the impact of common distractions like idle check chat , crying child , or that one guy in the niche who ’s been hack up a lung for the last time of day . Bonus points for the TV game ( and hidden index way out ) located in the mezzanine upstairs , which is a expectant position to labour as long as you ’re not nurse an alcoholic beverage that ca n’t leave behind the confines of the cafe .
Best place for grinding out an all-nighter:Ava Roasteria
BeavertonIt ’s rare that we commend anyone top dog to Beaverton for anything , but privileged Portland has been sorely miss a 24 - 60 minutes option ever since the fabulously begrimed all - nighttime coffee bar Southeast Grind close its doors for good a duo months ago . Ava Roasteria is part of a little mountain chain and by all odds let you know it , but the coffee berry is enough , the standard pressure is a touch less aseptic than a fast food joint , and their doors are never closed unless something awful has happened . That should be more than enough understanding for a frazzled grad student to make the trek at 2 am to put the end up touches on that dissertation paper – so it ’s skilful to make out the alternative exists if needed .
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See See Motor Coffee Co
Crema Coffee + Bakery
Taborspace
Bipartisan Cafe
Coffee Time Portland
Lovely Rita at The Hoxton, Portland
Coava Coffee Roasters
Jet Black Coffee Company
Sisters Coffee Company
Spin Laundry Lounge
Ava Roasteria, Co