Vivace Coffee House & Creperie

I’ve, been going here for years. Overall my experience has been well until yesterday. I took my friend out for her birthday, they suggested a really terrible crêpe upon that they couldn’t print my two recipes and when I returned the crêpe for the nutilla banana crêpe instead, they said they couldn’t replace it. I had to repurchase another crêpe for my friend w/​out another receipt. While waiting for our food, I was in line for over 15 min, as a pregnant woman and a toddler in my arms I could over hear the cashier that took my order was expressing how he was not groomed nor hygienic for his shift. I also mentioned this would be the last encounter I’ll have and that same cashier said «no big deal, we really don’t care for ur business anyway». After this extremely poor experience it has shown me not to over estimate a business u have been a part of for 5+ years.

Vivace is situated in a cute victorian home on 23^rd and is a really cozy place to grab a coffee or tea with a friend on a cold rainy day. The space is large-​ish with a good amount of seats in the back for small groups. Note: When I went on a Sunday afternoon, there was only one guy making coffee, so the wait time took a bit for my Americano — my recommendation is to not go here if you need a quick cup o’ joe! Coffee was good though and service was friendly.

I used to come here for Vivace’s great sweet and savory crepes, but this time I came to try their coffee. When we were arrived here, we were lucky enough that the person prior to us ended up not wanting their vanilla latte, so we got to try that for free… and it was delicious. Not to mention that the latte art was awesome. I also ordered the spicy Mexican mocha, which was really good as well + more awesome latte art! Funny thing is, I normally don’t get much of a caffeine fix after drinking any coffee, but for some reason, I felt WIRED after this one. It wasn’t a bad thing — but it sure was unexpected to be awake for about 12 – 16 hours. LOL. I’m not sure if it was the coffee, the chocolate, the spices, or a combination … but either way, I can say it was effective and yummy coffee. ;)

The crepes looked awesome– I had a muffin and a delicious mocha. It’s a cute place, but it is very loud, and I couldn’t get on the internet, even with the code… had to tether my phone for wifi, and saw that several others had to do the same. There is also one bathroom for the whole place… The service was fine, they weren’t nice or rude… might go back, but won’t recommend it, especially if you need internet access.

Drinks: ⁴⁄₅ Pretty and pretty tasty, but par for the course around here.
Food: ⁵⁄₅ Well, you can pay $ 4 for a tiny piece of pumpkin bread or a muffin at another café; or you can pay $ 6 – 9 for a filling, delicious crêpe the size of the dinner plate it’s served on. I ordered one with tomato, cheese, greens, etc., and ate it all at once, but I could easily have split it into two meals.
Interior: ⁴⁄₅ Located in an old house, lit by soft yellow hanging lights, and filled with small wooden tables and chairs, you would think the atmosphere here would be fantastic. But somehow, maybe because of the radio playing (including commercials), maybe because I sensed a curious lack of warmth, it ended up feeling a bit like a diner to me. I must not be the only one who feels this way, because I noticed people tend to talk louder here than people usually do in cafes. Ample power outlets.
Staff: ³⁄₅ I’ve only been here once, so I can’t judge the staff in general, but the woman who served me was haughty and distant.

The pear Brie crêpe and the lattes were amazing!!! Why have I never been before?

My friend and I came here on Saturday around 130pm, the place wasn’t packed at all. Then in the next 30 minutes, it was completely packed. The atmosphere was great, little coffee shop. I ordered a regular latte and my friend ordered a vanilla latte. The guy drew an alien on mine which I thought was different and pretty cool. After my friend was half way done with the latte, I saw two short strands of hair in the cup. We were grossed out and so we left…

An adorable spot to grab a coffee or indulge in a crêpe. Not much seating, so on a busy morning (I went on a Saturday), you might be a tad crammed or have to wait for a table!
I had never tried a savory breakfast crêpe before my visit to Vivace, but I stepped outside my comfort zone and ordered the bacon, cheese, tomato, mushroom, and egg breakfast crêpe. It was okay — the flavor was definitely there but it was kind of cold by the time they called my name and I brought it to my seat. I also had my go-​to coffee drink, a vanilla latte. The pour was beautiful and it was tasty!
Although I didn’t thoroughly enjoy my breakfast crêpe, I definitely want to return and try one of the sweet ones, as those are more up my alley! Review update to come…

The food was super good. And people who work there are very helpful and nice!!! Can’t wait to come back!

Still a fantastic place, and nice to find a breakfast spot open before 9am on Saturday mornings. Delicious crepes and French omelets, good cappuccino, and relaxed environment in a gorgeous old house. Great prices as well — so much so that you’d have to come with a party of 3 or more to be able to use their Chinook Book coupon!

I adore this little crêpe house on NW 23^rd ave.
I have been coming here for years. I college I used to spend many-​a-​days studying here. The people are always very friendly and the prices are great. I normally either get the Strawberry/​Banana/​Nutella crêpe with no almonds OR Chicken/​feta/​arugula crêpe. Always with a hot chai. They just do it RIGHT. From the drinks to the atmosphere It is somewhere I will stop in time and time again.

Crepes are a new-​found interest for me so I looked on Unilocal to find good creperies in Portland. Well, I saw that Vivace is one of the highest rated, and as a coffeehouse too, they also serve loose leaf teas. OK, I’m a big tea drinker, so Vivace seemed a perfect combination. I noticed right away that they were a good «hanging out» type of place.. .with good coffee, lots of small tables (for laptops), free wifi. Very appealing space for sitting around and relaxing/​reading/​studying. But I came for the FOOD. I ordered a savory crêpe with spinach, tomato, mushrooms, and mozzarella. The ingredients were fresh and flavorful. I may be a novice when it comes to crepes, but I do know what is delicious.. .and what I had was delicious. A very nice discovery today!

I always enjoy going to Vivace — they have excellent build-​your-​own crepes, free wifi, and big bright windows looking out onto 23^rd Avenue. A great place to have a meeting or get some work done.
I always order the crêpe with chicken, mozzarella (sub feta), mushrooms, spring greens, tomato and cream pesto. Light, savory, and the crêpe is slightly crispy!

Back in April, very good friends took the hubs and I on a four-​day long adventure in Portland, OR! The next few reviews will detail how we ate (and toured) our way around that magical city. I hope to take the rest of you with me now!
«I thought English is a strange language. Now I think French is even more strange. In France, their fish is poisson, their bread is pain, and their pancake is crêpe. Pain and poison and crap. That’s what they have every day.» –Xiaolu Guo
Vivace was quite yummy! I liked my crêpe a lot more than the hub’s selection. I selected the Chicken, mozerella, mushrooms, spring greens, pesto sauce crêpe. I enjoyed its savory, creamy flavors. The crêpe itself was light and fluffy. The hubs tried the Country Breakfast crêpe special. Stuffed with cheese, bacon and eggs, it was a bit small compared to mine. Nevertheless the flavors were quite nice.
The service here was also very good. The young lady who took our order and rang us up was very personable and sweet.

We really like coming here. I wish the lighting was brighter. Glad they’re open till 10pm

If you don’t know what to order, just go with Nutella, banana and toasted almond crêpe, because when has Nutella ever done anything bad to ya?
Pretty straightforward but delicious crepes.

I come here every now and then. Stopped by recently for a late afternoon pick-​me-​up.
Customer service is always great!
Coffee is perfect. And the crepes are delicious!

Really good crepes and cute décor. The server was extremely nice. My husband placed our orders while I got our seats on the second floor balcony outside. He asked for recommendation for a cup of tea for me. I wasn’t next to him when he placed the order, but when I went inside to get some more hot water later, the server recognized me and asked if her recommendation suited me. How did she know? Did no one else order tea? Either way, impeccable service and oh so friendly.
We got the country breakfast crêpe, which looked very thin but was actually quite filling. They drizzled syrup on top of the crêpe. We also got the spinach and mushroom crêpe. So delicious! But I wasn’t a fan of the sour cream (?) on top and I scraped off all of it. Otherwise, everything was spot on!

This was one of my first haunts in Portland and it’s the perfect cozy little nook away from the grey and dreary weather to warm your spirits. The homey appeal of the café definitely comes from the building’s former use as a private home. Bagels are another love I thought I had to leave behind in my move west, but Café Vicace knows how to do bagels. Their crepes are good, but I’m always here for a toasted bagel and coffee. The Mexican Mocha is especially delicious, if a little too sweet, but well worth a try. Study groups should know time is limited at a table in order to free up traffic and give other people a place to sit.

I FINALLY made it here and brought my brother visiting from the flatlands of Indiana.
We sat inside, ordered different sweet crepes and shared. Excellent!
Foam on cappucino was fanstastic, Americano excellent.
I will say the emp at the counter was a oneee thingggg attttt a aaaa timmmeee type of worker. No multitasking there! But. we werent in a rush so it wasnt a big deal for me. It was to those waiting.
I could come here every day– if not in a rush