Cafe Olli Review: Portland’s Best Breakfast (and That Shaken Espresso)

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Written By Amy Suto
Holding the famous shaken espresso at cafe olli in Portland, Oregon

Exhibit A: the shaken espresso at cafe olli.

We went to cafe olli for breakfast on our first Portland morning. Then we woke up the next day and went straight back, which is the entire review in one sentence.

Cafe olli is a farm-to-table café in Portland, Oregon, and its shaken espresso is the best either of us has ever had — fantastic, fruity, almost strawberry-flavored, served in a coupe like it knows exactly what it did. I have never had a shaken espresso that good, and I’ve been served coffee on four continents by people with strong opinions.

Close-up of the strawberry-noted shaken espresso in a coupe glass at cafe olli, Portland

Fruity, cold, gone in four minutes.

The Food at Cafe Olli

We worked through a few of the breakfast items across our two visits. Honest verdict: a little heavy — this is generous, buttered-and-broiled farm food, not a spa menu — but really good, with the kind of vegetable-forward plates that make the heaviness feel earned. My hash arrived under a proper fried egg with the roasted vegetables still tasting like themselves, which is rarer than it should be.

Farm-to-table vegetable hash with a fried egg at cafe olli in Portland, Oregon

The vegetable hash: heavy in the way a good farm breakfast is allowed to be.

The Verdict on Cafe Olli

  • Best for: Farm-to-table breakfasts; the shaken espresso pilgrimage
  • Order: The shaken espresso (mandatory), a vegetable-forward plate, and pastry courage
  • Know before you go: Portions run hearty — plan your day’s hike accordingly
  • Where: Portland, OR (Google Maps) · cafeollipdx.com

Cafe olli leads the eating section of my Portland travel guide — pair it with The Whole Bowl for lunch and you’ve solved an entire Portland day.

This is part of my travel series — I spent five years reviewing places around the world as a digital nomad (all the guides live here), and now I road-trip out from San Francisco with the same notebook. Subscribe to my newsletter for new guides and reviews — and if you’re a writer who wants a career that travels this well, that’s what Make Writing Your Job is for.