Fireside Coffee Lodge

I used to love Fireside — a year ago it was awesome, whether I wanted to stay a few hours and do homework, or curl up in one of the big chairs with my sketchbook. Then I moved to Los Angeles, where a non-​chain coffee place is even rarer than clean air. I was really looking forward to visiting Fireside on my vacation home, but was surprised when my friend and I stopped in and saw it had changed hands.
Impressions: they were out of a LOT of things. They were out of the Mexican mix for my Mexican mocha (the girl improvised with nutmeg and cinnamon), Kettle chips for my sandwich, and the flavor of iced tea my friend tried to order. The carrots that came with my sandwich were dehydrated (note: while I don’t care about eating carrots with white lines at my own place, I do like them to be fresh and orange when I have to pay for them). Service for my sandwich and my friend’s bagel was quite a long time — at least 10 minutes, when there was only one or two patrons who had come in behind us. My friend ended up being given a totally different flavor of iced tea than what she had asked for. The tables and chairs were bizarre and looked like they would be at home in a kindergarten classroom.
On the plus side, my coffee was pretty tasty, even with the substitute spices. I was glad to see local art on the walls. I might come back in a couple of months to see if they’ve improved things, it very much felt like they were having growing pains.
So, two stars for the coffee and art; three stars taken off for being out of *so* many things and being slow. Hopefully they get their ordering system figured out so that they aren’t out of everything all the time.

I guess I should start by saying that I’ve logged many hours of my life at what is now the former Fireside Lodge. I stayed there for a full 24 hours in high school once filming a documentary. When my computer completely crashed during the final week of my first term in college, I spent countless hours on those uncomfortable lacquered tree stumps rewriting all my papers and sending out emails begging for extensions to my teachers. At one time they knew exactly what I was going to order (a cookie dough italian soda, no cream), and during the holidays when my family visited they knew what my dad would order too (steamed eggnog). I knew the baristas pretty well, and I eventually knew the owner too. I knew all the regulars: the bikers, the youth group, and the couple that played card games for hours. Then, I moved to the other side of town, and it became a little out of the way for me, and next thing you know it is 2009 and I’m visiting for the first time in three years.
So, with all of that said, coming back to this place was like night and day. The cell phone banner was always there, but customer service was at one time friendly and consistent instead of aloof, rude, and/​or half asleep. Maybe it’s just that I grew older, but the at one time cute lodge décor just looked sad and dusty. The place itself was dirty, and the bathroom was actually filthy and disgusting. It just looked like no one had cleaned the place in years. And, the barista was totally rude to some other customers who didn’t get the memo that this place, famous around town for being 24h, was closing at midnight. Also, my barista didn’t really know how to make my drink. I mean, I totally understand that this is a coffee shop, and I also understand that if you’ve never actually had an italian soda you wouldn’t understand that you need more syrup than you would normally put in a coffee drink, because the soda is flavorless. But, what I don’t understand is that when I bring my flavorless italian soda back to you and ask for more syrup, you make me pay the «extra syrup» charge first. I dislike paying more because you don’t know how to make my drink.
Normally, I would let a dead business fade away and wouldn’t bother with a review, but I know the new owners are kind of watching. I will give the Southeast Grind a chance if I am in the area, and honestly I’m glad to hear they have stripped the place of what it used to be. I think it will do every visitor to the Fireside Lodge in its final days some good to obliterate that memory from the mind. Sometimes it’s better to just let it go.

NOT OPEN 24 HOURS! This place now closes at 12. So, basically it’s just a place with gross coffee and free internet.

After more and more visits, I’ve become jaded with the strange environment of the fireside lounge. It’s weird décor and oddly uncomfortable furniture arrangement has been rubbing me the wrong way lately.
PLUS I’ve heard they’re not open 24 hours anymore? 12 is still good, but nothing like before! The 24 hours thing was the best thing it had going for it!
I guess my previous review had to do with this place being my only refuge when I first moved to portland and didn’t know where anything was. I still have some endearing feelings for the tacky nature of the place, but its lack of feng shui is really not working for me anymore.
It’s still got something going for it though. The Fireside seems prone to visits, sometimes slightly drunk, at all hours of the night. Looking around the place makes you feel like you’re trapped in a log cabin and you can’t get out! But you can actually get out and you kinda don’t want to because it’s too much fun wondering why there are so many carved wooden bear statues and old 50’s liquor advertisements on the wall.

Ezra S. below pretty much said it all. If I could give it a 2.5 I would. No, I should probably give it a 2. I just think I’m coming off like too much of a hater lately; I’ll leave it at 3.
It’s just… It’s seems like such a good idea: a coffee shop in Portland with the feel of a cozy cabin! What a great place to warm up with a book or tool around the internet on some free wifi.
It just falls so flat, though. If you’re going to go with a theme, kitsch-​y or not, you gotta go all out. There was no fire. There are too many windows looking out onto busy Powell Boulevard for it to ever feel like a cabin.
It’s really bright with fluorescent lights and a cheap tile floor. It feels more like you’re hanging out in a classroom in a poor school. Instead of actual wood, they’re sporting some log-​cabin wallpaper on a couple of the walls.
I could go on, but I’ll save most of it because I already know that I’m not going back unless I really got a jones for a quick coffee at something like 11:30 p.m.
The positives were that the green-​lemon tea I had was delectable and the guy (the owner?) was really nice. Then, he started bumming me out when I could overhear an extended conversation he was having about his crazy ex-​wife and burdensome alimony payments. Oh… there I go again back into the negatives…
I wasn’t using it myself, but the wifi was in and out over the course of my one-​hour stay, as noted by the semi-​frequent announcements to all assembled computer-​users to hang tight and switch their login or whatever blah blah blah…
I’m done.

I like that this place is down the street from my house, open 24hrs, has a few free computers to use (well, free if you buy something over a certain amount of $), and the bear/​cabin décor is cute — however it’s just such an all-​around weird, awkward & un-​comfy atmosphere I rarely go. The seating’s also pretty uncomfortable unless you grab one of the couches or overstuffed chairs in the center of the (rather small) place, but when I do that I inevitably end up feeling like I’ve walked into someone’s crowded livingroom and just planted my ass smack in between a few strangers (and in that too-​close-​for-​comfort kinda way). No matter how many times I try to go here it just feels… off. I’m sure the bright florescent lighting doesn’t help.
If you just want to stop somewhere to grab a quick coffee they’re alright, and I hear their sandwiches are pretty decent — I suppose they would also be pretty excellent if you’re a student and find yourself needing a place to study/​do homework late at night, or if you can’t sleep and want somewhere to hang late that isn’t a bar… but other than that? Meh, I’ll pass.

This is a pretty decent place to get a cup of joe (or fancier, if you like) and check your email. The décor’s hokey, and the bathrooms have some pretty interesting amendments added by the clientele.
Their sandwiches are decent: I’d suggest the au jus or the Reuben. The servers there know how to work the espresso machine. The Black Forest’s a good drink, as is the Tiger Spice chai.
There are a lot of people using the WiFi at this place, so it’s not terribly reliable, but if you’re up late and need a place to work, this is the place.

Hit this place after a disastrous introduction to the Blue Dragonfly across the street. Talk about Polar opposites. Fireside definitely has figured out their niche and have taken the words customer service to new heights. I thought the feel of the place was way cool and fortunately for us, not busy… though I’ve driven by at times and it has appeared to be packed.
I did deduct one star because they didn’t have any gum or mints.

So this is funny and beyond ironic… right after I posted this review I return to my homework and before long I look over to see the cashier/​barista talking on his cell phone WHILE HELPING A CUSTOMER. And right in front of the sign too! Practice what you preach, bro…

great staff, free wifi, decent coffee. open 24 hours!

How many times has this place saved my ass?
Miss the last bus? Fireside.
Get off work at 4am and don’t drive? (only lasted a few days, thankfully) Fireside.
Drunk and hungry and if you enter another bar someone will DIE. You guessed it.
It’s a coffee shop that will serve you a pretty decent burger. There can’t be that much goodness in the world. BUT THERE IS!!!
It’s been featured in the New York Times. No bullshit.
I hope this place never goes out of business.

The Fireside Coffee Lodge, to my friends known as the BBC (inside joke).
I’ve been here quite a few times to do some late night studying. The fact that it’s open 24 hours is cool. I’ve always been able to grab a table, use the wifi, and find a power outlet for my laptop.
Why only three stars?
I’m not a fan of the coffee. I don’t like the location. A lot of the clientelle bothers me. I don’t feel safe. I can’t go to the bathroom without packing half my belongings up.
Maybe a lot of these points aren’t justified, and granted, I feel the same way in respect to my belongings when I’m studying at Stumptown downtown. But Stumptown has awesome enough coffee to make me forgive — and is a better place to people watch.
I’ve encountered some very weird folks at this joint. I get it that people like to make conversation while I’m studying, but why is it always the loons? I don’t have time to talk to a stranger about the new edits to their myspace page. I don’t care to talk about why GWB is Satan.
If this place had better coffee, less weird people, and was in a slightly better location — I’d frequent more often.

This is a nice place to do some studying, and the location is good for me — but I’d definitely say that the coffee could be improved for the price. I had a soy flavored latte ($ 3.85), and the soy was most definitely burned. Although I’m sure that I could have asked for another one, I guess that it was still drinkable — and I don’t like to send things back unless it’s really bad. It probably isn’t that smart of a thing to do when you spend that much on a coffee drink. I did notice that refills were only 50 cents on the regular coffee, which is nice. Perhaps next time I have a bit of studying to do while not wanting to be in the house or at school — then I’ll try some of the brewed stuff.
The guy working there was a nice enough guy, but the place seemed a bit dirty… my table had crumbs all over it, and it didn’t appear to me that he was in any kind of hurry to get the tables wiped off. IMO he spent a bit too much time messing around on his computer, and not enough time doing a light cleaning… but hey, I’m not the boss.

Great staff, good food, Open 24 hours, 20+ flavors of espresso smoothies, Chai smoothies, fruit smoothies. serves the best coffee ever roasted (Boyds), free wi-​fi and bands sometimes on the weekends. I was there last night and was reminded of just how much I love this place. I ordered a small chef salad and a coffee from the Barista and even though he had two people in line he still ran my salad out to me. My boyfriend ordered a chai tea latte and he wanted the smoothie… i don’t know if he specified that or not but he replaced the hot one for the smoothie free of charge. What a bad-​ass! It was a great quiet place to hang for a couple hours last night while re-​vamping a resume and drinking a hot cup before hitting the sack.

A terrific place to hang out after 9:30 or 10pm. The rush of Powell during the day kinda kills the peaceful vibe Fireside has.
I’m not much of a coffee drinker, so I stick with the 20 oz. Mocha, the only selection I’ve ever made. But I keep going back.
The employees are always nice, especially for working the graveyard shift. The Outdoor Seating is a plus, as it’s generally clean and fun to watch what happens on Powell when the sun is down.
And the fact they have computers there to use is awesome, really helped me out when I was living on my own w/​o internet.

The Good:
Cheap! 20 bucks for 3 people!
Basicly Free Internet (you have to spend 2.50)
Power outlets every where
The Best Blended Drink I’ve ever had
open 24 hours!
The ok:
The food was ok, wish there was more selection…

I love the Fireside. The employees are great. There is a lot of space for hanging out. Wifi if you spend like $ 3 which is easy after buying some coffee. 24 hours a day. They even let us smoke hookah out front. They also have a bunch of board games if you’re up for playing and me and my friends usually bring some of our own. They also have a white chair that is almost too comfortable!

Fireside is one of the few local enterprises that occupies the lonely terrain of 24 hour hang-​outs, and that is its main draw.
The Northwest décor here is neither kitschy (like your grandpa’s hunting lodge) or hip (like the Doug Fir), but instead lies somewhere blandly in between.
The crowd is what you would expect from a 24 hour coffeeshop – plenty of students hammering out papers in the wee hours, a couple of loners, and a few rebel high school students.
I wouldn’t go out of your way to go to Fireside during normal business hours, but if you need somewhere to study, play Trivial Pursuit, or sip mochas at 4 in the morning, this might be the only place in town to do it.

If you’re the sort that really needs to get out of your element to work, this is could be your spot. Surroundings include post office, lumber yard and billiards — minimal distractions. It’s open 24 hours of the day. It’s never crowded and there’s free wifi. On the other hand, the coffee has bit of the diner tang to it and the mounted deer head, fishing signs and painted-​on log cabin walls are perhaps odd. Or comforting, as per your perspective.
Prices are average — you could easily get better coffee for your $$. Food looks fine. Service was very very pleasant. If you just need to get away from it all and get some studying or writing done, try this place… or urban grind during normal business hours.

Coffee lodge perfect for chill time
This place simply rocks. If you’re looking for a place to get away and totally chill out with some good coffee and a rocking vibe, check out the Fireside Coffee Lodge. Unlike most coffee joints, this place is open 24 hours and there’s even more perks to keep you there.
Along with good coffee and other drinks, you’ll also find the typical grub of a coffee shop, which can be just what you need to get you through a study session or just for comfort. They also have Wi-​Fi for your laptop or you can use of one their computers.
I wish that this place was around when I was in college, but even if you’re not looking for a quiet place to study, it’s ideal for just a peaceful escape.
Tip: Bring some friends to chill on their lounges by a cozy fireplace.