Jam on Hawthorne Cafe and Arthouse

I've written a couple of times about our visits to Grand Central Bakery. Whenever we've been to the Hawthorne location we've been amazed by the apparent crowds of people waiting to be seated at a little restaurant across the street. As it turned out, this last weekend we were at the bakery again and this time it looked like there wasn't a huge line across the street so on a whim we jaywalked across and entered the doors.

Now this place is anything but fancy but don't let that discourage you. There are secrets hiding behind all of that plain Jane decor.

We quizzed one of the servers (each of the wait staff that we interacted with was friendly and helpful) regarding the restaurants current situation. Apparently, they recently expanded into the space next door. The city gave them trouble about modifying the walls so they just went ahead and decided to use both spaces without taking out the connecting wall. The espresso maker is still in the original unit so if a patron orders one the waiter walks outside and east a few steps and makes one and brings it back to you. You just have to shake your head when you think about how difficult Portland tries to make it for the small business person. OK, I digress.

You're probably wondering what kind of secrets lie inside the restaurant. The menu was pretty diverse. There were a lot of interesting options including a number of vegan possibilities. I, however, am a carnivore and tend to look for food made at least in part with meat. My dining companion, Debbie and I each chose something called a scramble though they each had different ingredients other than the eggs, of course.

Unfortunately, the restaurant doesn't have a web site for me to offer a link to their menu.

All I can say is that the food was really good and there was far too much for either of us to finish our portions. We inquired as to whether or not they would offer a half plate if it were requested and we were pleased to hear that they would be happy to serve half portions. That is good because normal people just couldn't possibly want to eat all of that food in one sitting.

Oh yeah! Since they don't have a web site yet, let me just add their address. This place is located in Southeast Portland at: 2239 Se Hawthorne Blvd, Portland, OR 97214