Morningstar Cafe - Foolish Names
posted on September 24th, 2008 in Portland
the lowdown: Morning Star Cafe | 510 SW 3rd Ave #100, Portland, OR 97204 | 503.241.2401 | Website |Lunch, Coffee | Items $5.50 - $7.25 | **
Cute coffee/sandwich shop and great location, yet avoidable.
Sure, there are cute girls behind the counter. Sure, the name Morning Star sounds kind of hippie which provides hope that they may extend their love to vegans. Sure, the location for downtown Portland employees is great and the prices are affordable. Nonetheless, the cute girls are rude and I can’t bump the image of prepackaged fake meats when I think of this place.
There are a few things that bother me about Morning Star Cafe. First, it is not the fact that their normal menu offers nothing without cheese or meat. In fact, their Specials menu has a permanent item called The Veggie ($6.75) which includes veggies and hummus, a side of chips, and is quite good. The problem I have is that each time I have been there, the person at the register claims they are new and don’t know what they are doing, and sandwiches are routinely served out of order. Additionally, the folks making the sandwiches are completely out of touch with what kind of bread they are using and the inner working of the sandwiches they are making. All of these complaints would be moot if they were in some form pleasant about their ignorance, but shockingly I get the feeling they believe it is a privilege for me to spend my lunch hour there. Luckily I have boundaries for that type of abuse. As for the everyone else, Morning Star is often packed with those who either don’t ask questions, are fooled by the name, or enjoy the abuse.
When I worked downtown in the mid-90s, this joint had some of the best sandwiches but I can’t remember exactly what I liked there. I can’t forget the lattes, however, which were always infused with a double shot — for 2 bucks. To this day, they are the strongest I’ve had in Portland, actually made me sweat.
I will never go there. It looks so vegan unfriendly.
Hey Charley! Long time no see! How are you?? Well I can’t say that I have had their coffee but I won’t be going back there just for that. Have you been since the ownership changed?
Hi Veganazi - You are spot on. It’s one thing to be vegan unfriendly but its another thing to be rude about it when someone asks!
I hate when I see potentially super awesome cute places, and they end up having crap service and/or options.
i believe this was sorta recently bought by some new owners. i know they carry vegan Voodoo Donuts, but that’s all i know…
Hi hi hi Anne! Oh yeah, just when I think I have figured out the persona of restaurants, I am slapped in the face!
Hi Karla! Yes the ownership changed a few years ago. In fact, the current owner is married to someone I used to work with. I asked him about bringing more vegan variety to the menu and he didn’t seem terribly interested.
I remember being excited when this place ‘reopened’ with a new sign 3 ish years ago. Then I saw the menu. Bummer!
Hahah! Yeah, no kidding. I don’t understand!!!!
WTF kind of name is Morning Star if you aren’t a veg-friendly restaurant?? I guess non-veg folk wouldn’t think of faux meat products, but still. Weird. Those servers sound annoying. Haha. It seems that there are much better places to go than here!
Hey Jess! There definitely are, as you can tell, it took me over a year to write about it!