Cricket Café

Everyone should avoid this place. Don’t go there. Seriously, stay away.
I mean, who really even LIKES the deliciously mouth watering hash dishes topped with perfectly melty poached eggs? Who needs a breakfast burrito bigger than your face, jam packed with delectable fixins? And why would you ever want to mix your brunch with large mugs overflowing with godly mimosa nectar? Seriously, just because I order and slurp down one to two of the salty life juice they call Bloody Right Dirties during every visit doesn’t mean I enjoy it. And just because I purposely save some of my Saints Hash so I can relive my Cricket experience again at home in a few hours, doesn’t mean their food is THAT good.
You guys, just don’t even go there… so this delicious place can be mine forever.

Absolutely delicious food. Service a bit slow, but to be fair is is Mother’s Day and they are busy. Four diners, four very different orders and all four — perfect. Good ‘breakfast drinks’ menu too. Pleasant friendly wait staff, reasonable prices. Couldn’t be better.

Overpiced, yes, yet simply outstanding. I have never once had a negative eating (or drinking) experience here. One of one very few brunch locations where I would trust that everything on the menu is worth sampling.

AMBIANCE: small cute café. Able to seat maybe 25 – 30 people. Homey and welcoming.
LOCATION: corner off of a pretty busy street. Street parking. Keep and eye out, I missed it driving by once.
SERVICE: good quick service. There are only a few tables after all, it’s expected to be manageable.
FOOD: good olé American food. I ordered American Lumberjack Benedict: English biscuit with 2 salt and pepper bacons on top with 2 over easy eggs and a citrus hollandaise sauce. Side of crispy hash browns. It was not exciting. Just a regular Benedict. The hollandaise sauce I was expecting for an explosion of flavors and was slightly disappointed. But it fills you so that’s good.
PRICING: averagedly priced. $ 9−11/dishes

We had the same exact experience here as the other ONE STAR person. It’s as though I wrote it! Excellent food, service and booth by the table was a huge disappointment. Almost ruined the food.

It started out so well, but then things progressively went downhill. It was a busy Saturday brunch, but we were lucky enough to get a seat as soon as we walked in. It was the booth by the door. We thought we were lucky… DON’T sit at the booth by the door!!!
Aside from having to deal with the constant intense drafts every time someone came in and out the door, and the servers will use your table as a resting place for dishes as they bring food in and out for table outside. And somehow, as they are constantly walking passed you and setting other tables’ orders on your table as they go through the door, they will barely acknowledge you/​ignore you. Having to flag a person down over and over again to get simple things like, the coffee you ordered 10 minutes ago– then they are off again never to return until you flag them down again and request cream and sugar. The pattern of service for our table seemed to be one item at a time. Get a coffee, wait 2 minutes, get some cream and sugar. God forbid you need a refill on your water. Good luck. Two people need a refill on their water, but only one person can have a refill and the other person must wait 2 minutes, then they get a refill. Finally, the food comes out. The food is delicious (luckily), but wait… utensils??? Crap, the server already took off! Waiting… waiting…waiting, 1 minute later, flag someone down! «Can we have the utensils?» Get the utensils, server is gone again. Oh wait… no salt, no pepper, no ketchup, no jam, no nothing… waiting, waiting, waiting… flag someone down, finally get all the goods. We can eat.
Again, the food was amazing and the major saving grace of the whole experience. It was delicious and had a nice, home-​cooked, feel. Their menu is really big too with so many options. The portions were huge also!
However, given the fact that we were sitting right in the front, that our table functioned as a secondary server’s station, and staff are walking by you every 10 – 20 seconds (but somehow never saw you), it’s ridic that our service was so bad.

I remember how Cricket Café used to be. I’m going to hold onto those memories but in the future will remember they’re just that: fond memories. Of a place that no longer exists.
The dishes are mostly still the same as years back — Big Farm Breakfast, Saints Hash, Monte Cristo, etc. But the food quality is not the same as it was 4 or 5 years ago, and the service, at least when I went today, was awful, and not in that understandable way. (C’mon, I get it, breakfast is busy in Portland, but at least say hi or something to me if I’m sitting at a table waiting to get a drink order in for 20 minutes).
I had one of the hash dishes for $ 13. The tiny-​cubed potatoes could have come from a bag out of the freezer, the meat and potatoes were cold, and while the two poached eggs were hot, and, thank goodness, the yolks weren’t solid, the whites were runny. The biscuit was kinda dry and also tasted like it was probably from a mix. It wasn’t gross or anything, but for $ 13, I expected better. My dining companion was similarly ho-​hum on the French toast — it was nothing bad but definitely nothing to write home about either.
Frankly, I’d still probably come here out of nostalgia for breakfast at times, but I won’t, because the service will really stick with me. I felt like I had done something wrong — our server seemed irritated and didn’t ask if I wanted a second drink during a two-​hour-​long breakfast, the host seemed annoyed when we asked him if we could grab a box after waiting for a half hour to ask the server. And they weren’t even full at that point, as far as tables go.
This was once one of my favorite breakfast spots in Portland. Today, there are much better options.

Gotta be one of my favorite breakfast spots in all of Oregon! Food always on point and delicious, fresh and worth the wait!
So many yummy options!

Aside from the very long wait, I enjoyed my meal here.
Staff seemed friendly, however, our waiter wasn’t that talkative.
Food was good, and drinks were better.

The wait was long but worth it. Great selection of food. I highly recommend the biscuits and gravy. Service was fast and wonderful.

This place is great, thier French Toast is great!
Nice little place.
Will be back.

Quaint little Portland café! Lots of vegetarian options, though I’m not a vegetarian.
This place has pretty delicious food, and absolutely incredible house made whipped cream. They’ve got a variety of delicious looking brunch drinks (Bloody Mary’s etc.) and also had an incredible hot apple cider.
Food is large portioned for sure, dinner plate sized fluffy pancakes! Also one of the larger breakfast burritos I’ve ever consumed. I pride myself on my breakfast burrito consumption. The burrito I had was the Truck Driver Burrito — approximately the size of a semi truck. Full of traditional breakfast fare: bacon, eggs, home style potatoes, served with a house made roasted salsa and a dollop of sour cream on the side.
Atmosphere is fun and quirky, lots of local (for sale) artwork on the walls. Service was excellent, even on a busy Sunday morning our coffee wasn’t ever empty or were our waters and we were followed up with to make sure everything was great! It did take a while to get our food, but nothing completely unusual for Portland on a Sunday morning. If you’re looking for a classic breakfast spot with some tasty dishes and a shorter line — look no further than Cricket Café!

The food was delicious and I would recommend, but wish I knew the following things before we ordered —
Serving size is huge. My husband and I both got the egg sandwich and could have easily split it. It comes with two sandwiches and a generous serving of potatoes.
The yogurt that comes with the kids fruit and yogurt meal is plain. I should have asked when we ordered, but no kid likes plain yogurt, right? At least make it vanilla.
Lattes are $ 7.

The service is a bit on the slow side, but wasn’t terrible. My friend had the biscuits and gravy and was very happy with that. The portion was 2 – 3 times what you get anywhere else. For the first time ever I decided to order a Bloody Mary and was pleasantly surprised at how delicious it was. My friend did tell me it was one of the better ones he’s had. I had no point of reference, but they honestly always sounded kind of disgusting to me. Needless to say I was impressed. I had the Monte Cristo which was really good. Large portion size on the potatoes that came along with it. Overall we were very happy customers when we left.

Such a great spot for Sunday brunch. The saint hash was everything i could ask for. Great portion size. I can seriously put away some food and left very satisfied

ATMOSPHERE:
A bit run down, and not in a cute charming way. Drop ceiling, like you’d see in a dentist office. Banquette was noticeably dirty. Tables were laminate top. Chairs matched, no thrift-​store atmosphere with random mismatched chairs/​tables. I like it when restaurants feature local art for sale on the walls, as Cricket does. Graffiti etching on windows. I hate to criticize them on that last point, because they were victims of crime, but still, they need to suck it up and fix it.
SERVICE:
On my first visit, I walked out because I thought the greeter was dismissive, bordering on rude. Today was better. I interacted with three employees, and all were polite and friendly without being smothering. They made a reasonable effort to keep the coffee cup full. Never followed up once to ask if things were okay, but that’s the only minor complaint on service.
FOOD:
Breakfast sandwiches (two biscuits, ham, scrambled eggs, cheddar) were okay. Biscuits were acceptable, but nothing special. Eggs were good. Just a tiny bit of ham, so if you’re a big meat eater you’ll want to add a side. Hash browns were of the shredded variety (I prefer cubed). Challah french toast was okay. Looked to me like the bread probably came from a big commercial bakery, but I can’t be sure. Slice thickness varied to an alarming degree.
PRESENTATION:
Water came in a shaker pint, which is pathetic, but hey, real glass. This place isn’t classy, so I was predicting one of those gross ubiquitous plastic tumblers. Plates and cups matched and were free of chips or cracks. Salt/​pepper shakers were dirty and beat up.
PRICE/​VALUE:
Online menu is priced, so I’ll let you judge. Warning: online menu prices are old, so expect a slight adjustment. I think that’s unacceptable. I don’t care about the extra $ 1.50 I was charged, but I think if a restaurant isn’t willing to update their online menu then they shouldn’t post prices online. Now, as to whether Cricket offers a good value (quality and quantity for the price), yeah, they were okay, neither unusually good or bad, relative to their market niche. My only real gripe about the prices: I just paid $ 3.50 for regular drip coffee. Cripes, has it come to that? Is $ 4 right around the corner? (And get the eff off my lawn!)
RESTROOMS:
Two, mixed gender, single occupancy. No «vacant/​occupied» indicator on the door, so you have to test the handle to see if it’s available. I hate that! The one I used was generally modern and clean, with hands-​free paper towel dispenser. In all honesty, I have to admit it was cleaner and more up-​to-​date than mine at home.
OVERALL:
This was a one-​and-​done for me. I wouldn’t go as far as to say I was disappointed when I walked out, but there are too many other restaurants that make me walk out with a smile on my face and in my belly.

Can I get a hell yeah for some of the best damn biscuits I’ve ever had?! HELL YEAHH. And those hash browns, mhmm! Crispy and perfectly seasoned. This place does carbs very well. But really, their biscuits are great. The perfect texture and they don’t have that baking soda taste that you get with a lot of super fluffy biscuits. Also, fantastic coffee.
I went on a Tuesday at 10am, which seemed to be a pretty slow time to go. So service was not a problem, neither was finding a seat or waiting. The waiter was friendly, but he seemed somewhat annoyed with my friend who couldn’t hear what he was saying and therefore had to ask him to repeat himself. So I could see the service being not fantastic if it were crowded.
I ordered the breakfast sandwiches, which were good but the eggs were pretty under salted. I would rather have less salt than too much, but with eggs, the salt is really important! The hash browns, while great, were a little too greasy. I think their dining area is a little too packed; we were nearly bumping elbows with the couple at the table next to us once they arrived.
Overall a good breakfast spot and you get a lot for what you pay!

The food was outstanding but idk if I was in the black hole seat or what bc the waiter seemed to keep overlooking me even tho I had the most expensive meal of everyone. I think maybe bc I was just always last in line to be asked how things were. Even so he asked me how my hot Toddie was and in the middle of answering great (which it was!!) he walked off in the middle of me telling him so. Everyone at the table made jokes about it and I laughed it off. It was kinda funny. Food was hands down amazing! I would definitely go back and the décor with Ron Swanson was a pretty dang cute!

Stopped by Cricket Café after Unilocalin’ to satisfy a craving for hashbrowns (Portland loves it some home fries). Walked in on a Saturday morning around 10:30 and was promptly seated. The space looks small, but they have a hidden, bright back room, making the space look like it was previously a house. The menu has some choice options, some omelettes, hash’s, big ol’ breakfasts and of course benedicts. I was feeling classic so I went with the eggs/​veggie sausage/​hashbrowns/​toast combo. I couldn’t finish the plate it was so large! Eggs were fluffy scrambled, veggie sausage crispy, and the toast went great with the jam. The hashbrowns were tasty, but a bit too greasy. Manfriend went with the Cricket omelette w/​veggie sausage (+onions, cheese, and hashbrowns INSIDE) covered in veggie gravy with toast. The omelette barely fit on the plate and consisted of 4 eggs! Only order if you’re super hungry or sharing, its a beast. All in all the food was good, abiet a bit pricey (~$ 13 a dish). Service was prompt, coffee tasty. Some good vegetarian options. Adding to our breakfast rotation.

Bloody Gary, Golden Goat scramble, hash browns, sub biscuit and side of gravy! I’ve been ordering the same thing for years, often weekly. My favorite hangover brunch spot since 2001. Why 3 stars? Christina is gone, so big Ben is the only decent server left here. Somehow, we always get the blonde gal who cannot seem to ever get our order right. She is rude, unfriendly, and unapologetic when she messes up the order… which is (no joke) 50% of the time! My partner and I order the same exact thing 90% of the time, sometimes she gets her golden goat made with tofu. I guess that is really confusing for blondie, who also cannot ever seem to remember us (cards us EVERY time and looks at us like she has never seen us before), though she has waited on us nearly 30 times (like I said, often weekly).
Sorry Cricket, my love affair with you has come to an end. I may be back for the occasional Bloody Gary because it is my favorite bloody in town, but my $ 250/​month brunch habit will be fulfilled elsewhere.

Try the Eggs Florentine, eggs soft. It’s so good I’ve never tried anything else on the menu.

Got there and put our name on the board… Ok… 1 minute to wait and apologized too. She was amazing. Sat us and got us water! Then we waited for 15 – 20 minutes before anyone talked to us! I wish I was over exaggerating but we were sat at like 10:58 ish to 11:20ish…
Carl was our server and we had to stop another waitress to ask for service as we waited a long time. She asked us «have you been served?» We said not and we’ve been waiting. She apologized and tried to find out server. Carl finally came to our table and explained that the computers were down… We were sat in front of the cash register next to the kitchen… We watched the WHOLE THING!
Biscuit was burnt, and they forgot his French toast all together… Once he got it it was gooey! Hash browns were wet. They weren’t cooked enough.
my French toast was hard…
This is my 2^nd visit and I don’t think I want to come back. Very disappointed…

I come into Cricket about twice per month with friends and it’s always great. Today, not so much. I met with a friend for breakfast and after a really short wait time to get seats, which was out of the ordinary, we sat. For almost 20 minutes before we were even acknowledged. No one to ask us if we wanted anything; it took one of us asking a waitress if we had a waiter/​tress and she replied, «you haven’t been helped? Sorry, I can’t help you, but I’ll get someone.» And we waited even longer. The hostess apologized and our server, Carl came out, didn’t apologize for anything, and then told us that the computers were not working… which was really odd because we were sitting RIGHT NEXT TO THE COMPUTER, and it was working fine.
I understand off days, but, when the guy is paying attention to his two other tables to my left (cashiers right), it can annoy me and my guest… especially when I rave about this establishment. Service was very curt with my friend and I, but the other tables with overly attractive Portland hipster women… yeah, they were helped right away.
French toast was forgotten about and I had to mention it twice, hash browns were very wet, almost not even cooked, biscuit was mostly burnt. Honestly, it wasn’t hectic or busy for a brunch hour… had we been attended to like we have in the past, it could have been overlooked. I didn’t mention it because we had already waited a very long time and I didn’t want to wait for returned food… especially when others were ordering and getting theirs much faster. We almost walked away twice because we felt ignored.
Not sure when I’ll be back again.

⁰⁹⁄₀₂ Had the biscuits and gravy. Not just 2 biscuits but 3!!! Had leftovers for a snack after setting mole traps in SW and Tigard.

The painted hills hash was excellent. I only finished half of the portion. The challah French toast was a very large 3 pieces. No line at 9 am on a Sunday! Bonus for portland.

Breakfast was awesome! I got the challah French toast which was amazing!!! The fruit bowl had 10 different types of fruit. All of there good is fresh and local. They also have free wifi if you ask the waitress.

5 stars for the food. 2 stars for the service. Over all expenses is 3.5 out of 5.
Main reason, server didn’t respond when I said thank you for the food, refill, and she didn’t make eye contact.
The first time she asked me how the food was she handed me my bill.
I believe her name is Christina… not that she told me but the ticket says so.

Breakfast was great! I got the Lumberjack Benedict and Betsy’s Demon Hatch beverage. The Lumberjack was very flavorful with a fresh biscuit and thick cut pepper bacon. You may want to add tomato. I stole a slice of my girlfriend’s and it really tied everything together with the holindase. The hashbrowns were perfect! Crunchy and delisious with just a bit of hot sauce and strawberry jam.
Betsy’s Demon Hatch was tasty. Not too sweet and the amount of tequila was just right with the lemon and lime juice.
The service was pretty good. I felt a little rushed but otherwise they were very nice. We will be back!

I had a terrible first experience here wherein the waiter forgot to put in our order, so we waited for our food for about 45 minutes, only to be told that they’d forgotten and would now put in our food order. After all of that, I really expected the meal to be free, but guess what? It wasn’t! Not being someone to judge a restaurant by just one bad experience, I vowed to come back one day and give it another shot. Last weekend I did just that and was so surprised to discover that it was yet again another terrible experience… the food was completely ho-​hum/​lackluster. Forgettable in the extreme. Not only that, but our waiter had such a bad attitude and seemed to really hate his job and his customers. I’ve no idea why this place has such good reviews. Would not come back again.

Ah, what would weekend brunch in Portland be without a wait? But they «give» you coffee while you wait, so… worth it! I’ve been here twice now with my lady friends, and while chatting with them makes the wait fly by, just know that there will be a wait.
The food here is good. My friend is a french toast fanatic, and good God is theirs ridiculous. I usually get a spicy egg scramble and it is my jam. The service is just so bad. What should have been an hour brunch was a three hour endeavor because our server straight up disappeared on us. Silver lining: they do have quite a few picnic bench tables on the sunny side of the building, so at least we were enjoying the sun while we waited.
So, the «I’m too busy discussing extistential philosophy with my server friend over here» Portland vibe is strong in this place. Hey! Over here! I can talk Sartre and Kierkegaard too, just bring the water pitcher while you’re at it!