Coordinates: 45°29′25″N 122°37′23″W / 45.4904°N 122.6230°W / 45.4904; -122.6230

Cafe Rowan

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Cafe Rowan
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File:Portland, Oregon, May 17, 2025 - 003.jpg
The restaurant's exterior, 2025
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Restaurant information
Established2020
OwnerSpencer Ivankoe
Location4437 Southeast César E Chávez Boulevard, Portland, Multnomah, Oregon, 97202, United States
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Websitecaferowan.com

Cafe Rowan is a farm-to-table restaurant in Portland, Oregon, United States. Owner Spencer Ivankoe opened the restaurant on César E Chávez Boulevard in southeast Portland's Creston-Kenilworth neighborhood in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic. It started with brunch service and launched a dinner menu in 2023. It has garnered a positive reception as a brunch destination.

Description

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The farm-to-table restaurant Cafe Rowan operates on César E Chávez Boulevard at Holgate Boulevard[1] in southeast Portland's Creston-Kenilworth neighborhood at the boundary with the Woodstock neighborhood.[2][3] The Portland Mercury has described the restaurant as "a bright space with an open kitchen that serves some supremely photogenic dishes".[4] It has a seating capacity of 42 people,[2] as well as outdoor seating.[4][5] The patio is dog-friendly.[6] The business is named after the owner's Labrador Retriever.[7]

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Brunch is served Wednesdays through Sundays.[8] The menu includes variations of Eggs Benedict with Dungeness crab[9] or Maine lobster, as well as French toast with bananas foster.[8] Breakfast burritos have chorizo, roasted garlic potatoes, scrambled eggs, salsa macha, salsa verde, and cilantro-lime crema. The restaurant has also served cheddar grits with blackened shrimp, bacon-shallot jam, and Calabrian chili oil. Among breakfast sandwiches is the Dame, which has breakfast sausage, fried egg, manchego,[10] gochujang, and Mama Lil's aioli.[11] The bacon, egg and cheese sandwich has blueberry jam.[10] Among toasts is The Avocado, which has spring peas, watermelon radish, and tahini with Meyer lemon.[12] Cafe Rowan has also served Connecticut-style lobster rolls. The lobster roll sampler has Dungeness crab, Maine lobster, and Oregon bay shrimp.[13] Drink options include coffee[5] and mimosas with grapefruit or orange juice.[13]

The dinner menu has included kanpachi crudo with fennel pollen, pan con tomate with duck fat, prosciutto, and sea urchin. Drink options include cocktails and wine.[5] Cafe Rowan has also offered pastries from the bakery Orange & Blossom.[6]

History

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File:Portland, Oregon, May 17, 2025 - 001.jpg
The restaurant's exterior in 2025

In October 2019, Eater Portland described owner Spencer Ivankoe's plans to open Cafe Rowan in early 2020, in a space previously used as a coffee shop by Starbucks. The website's Brooke Jackson-Glidden said Cafe Rowan would be "complete with weekly prix fixe dinners, monthly Jazz brunches, and a wall of Oregon-specific sundries".[2]

As of January 2020, the restaurant was slated to open in March.[14] Like many restaurants, the business was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and operated via curbside pickup, take-out, and indoor dining at times.[15] In 2021, Invakoe launched a dinner series with menus that rotated monthly and were paired with winemakers.[16][17][18] In 2023, Eater Portland described the cafe's plans to formally launch dinner service.[5] The restaurant was broken into in 2024.[3]

For Dumpling Week, Cafe Rowan has offered dumplings with Maine Lobster and shrimp, served in tom kha broth with coconut milk, fish sauce, galangal, lemongrass, lime, and Thai chilis.[19]

Reception

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Nathan Williams included Cafe Rowan in Eater Portland's 2023 overview of recommended restaurants in Creston-Kenilworth.[5] Ben Coleman and Alex Frane included the business in the website's 2024 list of Portland's eighteen best breakfast sandwiches,[10] and Zoe Baillargeon included Cafe Rowan in a 2025 overview of the city's best breakfasts.[11] Emily Hunt included Cafe Rowan in Tasting Table's 2025 list of Portland's eighteen best brunch restaurants.[8] Cafe Rowan ranked first in the "best brunch" category of The Oregonian's Readers Choice Awards in 2025.[20]

References

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  • Error creating thumbnail: File missing Media related to Lua error in Module:Commons_link at line 62: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). at Wikimedia Commons
  • Official website
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