RFK Rankings · Portland
Best Restaurants for Brunch in Portland (2026)
Weekend brunch · Portland, Oregon · 7 rooms ranked · Updated June 2026
Compiled by the Restaurants for Kings editorial team · Published April 25, 2024 · Updated March 18, 2026 · Reviewed by Fredrik Filipsson, Editor-in-Chief · How we rank · Corrections
Portland treats brunch as a competitive event, and the queues outside Screen Door on a Sunday are the proof. The city built its reputation on Southern fried chicken, North Carolina biscuits and a Scandinavian cafe doing Danish pancake balls, and most of the best plates still come with a wait. We ranked seven rooms that are open now, ordered on the food first and the value second, with the lines flagged so you can plan around them. For the rest of the city, see our Portland dining guide.
1.Screen Door
Portland defining Southern brunch since 2006; come for the chicken and waffles, and go on a weekday to skip the line.
Screen Door is the brunch that built Portland reputation for the genre. Nicole and David Mouton, Louisiana natives, opened the original on East Burnside in 2006, and nearly twenty years on it remains the benchmark for indulgent Southern cooking. The plate to order is the chicken and waffles, a slab of buttermilk fried chicken over a waffle, with brunch plates running roughly 16 to 24 dollars. The catch is the line: weekend waits routinely hit 45 to 60 minutes outside the door. There are now outposts in the Pearl District and at the airport. Go on a weekday morning, or get there before opening, and order the chicken.
Mostly walk-in with hour-long weekend waits; limited reservations. Pearl District and PDX airport outposts too.
2.Pine State Biscuits
Portland definitive biscuit shop; the Reggie Deluxe, fried chicken and gravy on a biscuit, is a bucket-list breakfast.
Pine State grew from a 2008 farmers-market stand into four Portland shops, run by North Carolina transplants who brought their biscuit recipe west. The order is the Reggie Deluxe: fried chicken, bacon, Tillamook cheddar and a fried egg stacked on a buttermilk biscuit and finished with sausage gravy, around 12 to 15 dollars depending on the location. It is counter service, walk-in only, open 8am to 2pm, and the queue is part of the deal. A Food Network favourite and a genuine Portland institution, this is the city best single bite of breakfast. Get the Reggie, add a side of grits, and find a stool.
Counter service, walk-in only, open 8am to 2pm; expect a line. Four locations across the city.
3.Besaw's
A century-old neighbourhood room doing polished daily brunch; the easy reservation when you want a table, not a wait.
Besaw's is the rare Portland brunch you can actually book. The room traces its roots to 1903 and once held the first liquor license issued in Oregon after Prohibition, which gives it a settled, neighbourhood-institution feel that the counter spots cannot match. The kitchen does polished comfort brunch, a wild-mushroom scramble and house Benedicts among the standards, with entrees roughly 15 to 22 dollars, served daily from 9am. It made The Oregonian list of the city best brunches in 2023. Because it takes reservations and welcomes walk-ins, it is the pick when you want a planned, sit-down morning rather than an hour on the sidewalk.
Takes reservations; walk-ins welcome. Brunch served daily from 9am.
4.Fried Egg I'm In Love
Portland cult breakfast-sandwich brand; the Yolko Ono, egg, sausage and pesto, is the one to order.
Fried Egg I am In Love started as a 2012 food cart run by former bandmates Jace Krause and Ryan Lynch, and the music-pun menu survived the move to bricks and mortar. The signature is the Yolko Ono, a fried egg with a house sausage patty, pesto and parmesan on toasted bread, about 17 dollars. The Mississippi Avenue flagship is the sit-down version, with a patio and a full bar, and there are further locations on Hawthorne and at Pioneer Courthouse Square downtown. It is counter-order and walk-in, quick by Portland standards. Come for the Yolko Ono, grab a patio seat, and you are out fast.
Walk-in, counter order; flagship has patio seating. Locations on Hawthorne and at Pioneer Courthouse Square.
5.Broder Cafe
The most distinctive brunch concept in town; order the aebleskiver, Danish pancake balls with lemon curd and lingonberry.
Broder is the brunch that does not look like any other in the city. A Scandinavian cafe on Southeast Clinton, it serves aebleskiver, round Danish pancake balls dusted with sugar and served with lemon curd and lingonberry, alongside Swedish and Danish breakfast boards. Plates land roughly 14 to 20 dollars. The room is small and the weekend wait is real, but the payoff is a brunch you cannot get at the standard diners, all rye, dill, gravlax and cardamom. There is a sibling, Broder Nord, in North Portland. Come for the aebleskiver and the Scandinavian board, and accept that you will queue a little for it.
Walk-in; small room with weekend waits. Sibling Broder Nord in North Portland.
6.Jam on Hawthorne
The go-to for vegan and gluten-free brunch without losing the classics; the brioche French toast comes with house jam.
Jam has been on Hawthorne since 2002, and its edge is range: it does the full diner spread but takes vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free brunch seriously rather than as an afterthought. The signature is the brioche French toast with house-made jams, and the vegan biscuits and gravy, a scratch biscuit under vegetarian sausage gravy, is a genuine highlight. Plates run roughly 13 to 18 dollars, and you get a free jar of house jam with toast. It is walk-in only, 8am to 2pm on weekdays and to 3pm on weekends, with the expected weekend wait. Come for the French toast, or the vegan gravy if that is your table.
Walk-in only, 8am to 2pm weekdays and 8am to 3pm weekends; weekend waits.
7.Sweedeedee
A tiny beloved cafe famous for one of Portland best slices; the salted honey pie is the reason to come.
Sweedeedee is small, scratch-made and quietly famous for a single thing: the salted honey pie, local honey and Maldon sea salt in a pastry shell that has been written about well beyond Portland. The North Albina cafe opened in 2012 and does honest scratch breakfast plates alongside the baking, with brunch plates roughly 12 to 18 dollars and pie by the slice. The space is tiny, which means a wait on weekends, and that is the trade for a brunch that ends with the city best slice of pie. Come for the breakfast, but order the salted honey pie first so it does not sell out before you finish.
Walk-in only; very small space, expect a wait.
Skip these for brunch
Closed, despite the old guides
Tasty n Sons and its reboot Tasty n Daughters. John Gorham famous North Williams brunch room closed in early 2019, and the Division Street reboot shut in mid-2020. Both still appear in dated round-ups, but the brunch empire is gone, so do not plan a Sunday around it.
Status unreliable, treat as closed
Gravy, once the poster child for Portland huge-portion brunch hype on Northeast Sandy. Its listing now reads closed and its operating status cannot be verified for 2026. It was always the textbook gut-bomb brunch anyway; skip it rather than risk a dark storefront.
Great food, brutal wait
Screen Door on a weekend. It stays a top pick, but the 60-to-90-minute Saturday and Sunday lines are the city classic tourist-trap wait. If you are wait-averse, go on a weekday, or send your table to Pine State or Cheryl's on 12th instead.
How to do brunch in Portland
Portland brunch runs on lines, not reservations. Screen Door, Pine State Biscuits, Jam on Hawthorne, Broder and Sweedeedee are walk-in only, and the weekend waits at Screen Door can hit an hour, so go on a weekday or get there before opening. Besaw's is the exception that takes reservations and welcomes walk-ins, which makes it the easy choice for a planned group. Fried Egg I am In Love is counter-order with a patio. If the wait at Screen Door is brutal, Cheryl's on 12th downtown is a verified-open sit-down backup with shorter queues. For dinner and the rest of the city, see our Portland dining guide and the RFK rankings index.
Frequently asked
Where is the best brunch in Portland?
Screen Door on East Burnside is the city defining Southern brunch and has been since 2006, best for chicken and waffles. Pine State Biscuits is the definitive biscuit shop, and Broder on Clinton does the most distinctive plate, Danish aebleskiver.
Do Portland brunch spots take reservations?
Mostly no. Screen Door, Pine State, Jam on Hawthorne, Broder and Sweedeedee are walk-in only with weekend waits. Besaw's in Slabtown is the main exception, taking reservations and walk-ins, which makes it the easy planned-group pick.
How long is the wait for Portland brunch?
On weekends, expect 45 to 60 minutes at Screen Door, and real lines at Pine State, Broder and Sweedeedee. Go on a weekday or before opening to skip them, or book Besaw's for a guaranteed table.
How much does brunch cost in Portland?
Counter spots such as Pine State run roughly 12 to 15 dollars a plate. Sit-down rooms like Screen Door and Besaw's land around 16 to 24 dollars an entree. Sweedeedee and Jam sit in the 12-to-18-dollar range.
What is the most Portland brunch dish?
Two stand out: the Reggie Deluxe at Pine State Biscuits, fried chicken and gravy on a biscuit, and the chicken and waffles at Screen Door. For something different, Broder aebleskiver, Danish pancake balls, is the city signature Scandinavian plate.
Where can I get vegan or gluten-free brunch in Portland?
Jam on Hawthorne takes vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free brunch seriously, with a standout vegan biscuits and gravy alongside the classics. It is walk-in only, open 8am to 2pm on weekdays and to 3pm on weekends.
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