Columbian Cafe

I’m older, in my 50’s, but I get it, this isn’t a «corporate» restaurant were servers say Hi! How many in your party? The cuisine is fresh and delightful, the drinks are marvelous, but the service is hell. No seriously, imagine dining in hell, and the wait staff there? They totally ignore you, act like they really want you to go away, and when you finally get waited on you feel like apologizing for disturbing them. It’s a young, hipster, cool thing to be rude, act like you’re mad, you don’t give a shi*, but common it truly does reflect on how poorly you were raised, low blow, but it does. Eat here only if you’re not really hungry, cause you’re going to wait a long time, you’re a sadomasochist, and love be treated like garbage, you really love fresh wonderful food that rocks, and is served (rudely) in a non-​corporate environment.

Great service. Delicious fresh food. The atmosphere is good for me, I’ve lived in this area quite awhile and regret not eating at the columbian more often.

My favorite breakfast spot in Oregon! I love this little place. Fresh juice. Ambience reminds me of a little surfer diner on the coast. You can’t go wrong with the chef’s choice, the blue cheese toast, or the jalapeño, garlic, and habenero jellies that I cannot get enough of and buy to take home. Sit at the bar if you can because watching the chef cook in this little space is fine entertainment in itself!

We had the strawberry mint crêpe (Not too sweet and just enough minty) and a chef’s choice item (A crêpe made from shaved potato filled with mushrooms and veggies).

Order off the chalkboard not the menu and get something interesting and unique, always a treat!

Asked a local for a good breakfast place. Not a chain, something unique and this was the place. The staff was easy going and friendly and the very lived in building was homey and charmingly weird. But the food– my goodness, what a treat! Much as I wanted to try the Chef’s Mercy, I had to have the smoked salmon scramble which was divine. My husband had the cheese crepes and chicken sausage hash. We also split a chorizo hash which was way more than we could eat but we had to taste it– excellent! Coffee was good and hot, fresh baked bread was wonderful and who serves breakfast with a slew of hot sauce selections and garlic and pepper jam? These guys– great job and we loved it. We’ll be back when we visit again from Texas!

Let’s get down to it.
Small little diner with some of the best food in the city. You’d never know. Fresh, also with healthy choices. Only went for breakfast. Great service. Will definitely be heading bank on or next trip. Excellent

The Mercy Mercy was amazingly delicious as you’re left in the very capable hands of the chef to prepare you whatever he fancies. We will definitely return! Atmosphere is snug and welcoming and you will leave with a full tummy :)

This is a small diner that doesn’t serve regular diner food. They like any good diner have backboard specials besides a menu.
The menu items are imaginative and feature fresh ingredients. If you sit at the counter you can chat to the chef and ask what he recommends, you won’t be disappointed.
The last time I was there I had sautéed mixed vegetable and rice with two fried eggs on top.
Go hungry, you will get a plate piled high with goodness.

We came here because of the rave reviews and were sorely disappointed. Food was just mediocre. It is receiving a genuine star simply because the housemade bread & pepper jelly was fantastic. If you’re not interested in reading my wordy review, I’ll give you the cliff notes: don’t come here. You will wait over an hour for less-​than-​stellar food and receive blatantly rude service.
For starters, we were not greeted at all upon entering. No smile, friendly hello etc. I work in customer service, I know how easy it is to glance at a customer and let them know you’ll be right with them. Eventually as many others poured in behind us, the waitress rudely gestured towards us telling us that she had an open booth. Great — maybe had you seated us when we walked in the door instead of assuming we knew it was open seating in a seemingly chalk-​full restaurant, we would have sat down sooner. After sitting there for 20 minutes she took our order — two basic scrambles. Meat, eggs, etc. It took (I sh*t you not) 75 minutes for our food to come out. Over an hour for what was essentially two (on the small side) servings of eggs. The only really great part of my dish was the chorizo which was not made in-​house. We would have just left prior to our food coming out but couldn’t get the waitress to bring us the check for our orange and cranberry juice. This was only the second time in my life that I have not tipped as I am someone who works on tips, but I left this place paying not a penny more than the price on the bill. Do not waste your money (or more importantly, time) at this place. Try Baked Alaska instead. It’s right on the water and the food is better.

We drove into Astoria for the first time ever last week, looked up seafood restaurants on Unilocal,and the Columbian was the highest rated. It was also described as vegetarian. ???
So we checked it out. It was mid-​afternoon, the place was nearly empty, and we walked up to the Kyle, who was standing at the grill. It didn’t look like a seafood restaurant to us so we asked. He said yes, they serve seafood, they were out of crab but he could do a «Chef’s Mercy» dish of fresh rock cod and a scramble with salmon. We told him our preferences and he started brainstorming with us about how he would cook our meals. Now that was interesting, we could talk to the chef and he would craft our meal for us. I looked around, saw the fresh veggies at the grill and the herbs they were drying next door, and said «we’re eating here!»
And we’re glad we did. The food was delicious, beautifully prepared and presented on our plates and served with home made condiments, including a sweet garlic jelly and some of the best basil pesto I’ve tasted. This place looks like it might once have been a greasy spoon, but they’ve taken it up a few notches because they love doing what they do. I love places like this that look like a hole in the wall. There’s no pretentiousness, just great, slow food.

Some of the best food I’ve ever eaten. We used to regularly drive from Portland just to eat here, and will do the same from tacoma.
Go for dinner. Just get the chef’s mercy. Everyone at the table will get something different. They aren’t kidding about spice, so don’t say you want it spicy if you don’t. This is SLOW food people. Every single thing is made from scratch and is insanely fresh. Not only do they cook your pasta to order, they CUT it to order. The place is tiny, the kitchen is small, and there isn’t a huge staff… your food is going to take some time, even if you are the only people there. If you’re lucky enough to get a seat at the counter you can chat with the chef while he cooks for you.
It is more than worth the wait!

Rock fish tacos are the best thing on the menu. Be adventurous. Try the pepper jellies. You’ll thank me later. The jalapeño jelly was my favorite.

This was hands down the best breakfast I’ve ever had. Each meal is made one at a time by the chef (Marco, former fisherman), so it takes time. While waiting, enjoy the fresh orange juice and the great music. Disclosure — Help Me Lose My Mind was playing first (a personal favorite). Let’s start with the toast. Made fresh, crunchy, but not hard. Smelled heavenly. Served with cayenne, jalepeno, and garlic jelly, and house made salsa. Booming with flavor, the second best part of the meal. The clam chowder, light, lots of clam, and fresh celery, something that makes a big difference in the heartiness of the soup.
The main dish was Mercy Mercy, which is basically the chef’s choice, you choose the spice and protein. He made me a omelette with bacon, mushrooms, okra, pesto, tomatoes, and several other ingredients I can’t remember. Let me tell you the importance of fresh, quality ingredients. It was so delicious ! Five star
(Also, let me address these other reviews. This place is not here to serve you quickly, like I said, one chef, one order at a time. He takes care of the food. Look at how he prepares the potatoes. It was well worth the wait. I came on a Wednesday. Weekends may be too busy. Also, look at my profile, the number of reviews, and the quality. I don’t mess around and fluff restaurants to be nice)

I would not recommend The Columbian Café because of their poor customer service, limited selection, and small space.
We arrived at 1:00 for lunch and got our food at 2:10 (closes at 2). Food was definitely not worth the wait.
The waitress was unattentive, and rude, not worth a tip.
The only thing I like about this place is the toast /​peppered jelly.

Has to be hands down the best breakfast I’ve had in a long time. Please understand to get this amazing tasty treat you will have to pack your patience as the Chef cooks ONE ORDER AT A TIME. I had the potatoes, vegies and soft cooked eggs, dude, seriously! Worth the Wait! OH and the bread!!! Carbaoholics dream, with pepper jam. OMG! ** CASH ONLY **

Love this spot! We were a little nervous walking in, the reviews were good but we weren’t sure what to expect.
We were more than pleasantly surprised by the hipster ambiance and the super nice staff. Definitely don’t go if you can’t handle heat – both temperature and spice. Our food came off the grill piping hot and full of heat. The meal was quick and fantastic. Very unique and not the kind of breakfast menu you’d expect to find in Astoria.
Lastly, do not skip the cayenne jelly! I’m sure if they bottled and sold it, we would have taken it home.

We ended up here because we wanted to find a fun little breakfast place for when we are visiting Astoria. Let me say this, we can’t wait to go back!
Overall the experience was excellent, from the service to the food.
Three of us ordered the «Mercy» but not before asking the waitress if the chef really enjoyed it when people ordered this one. I could easily see this being something that could be frowned upon but her response was perfect! To quote the waitress: «You have to like to cook to work here, those who don’t, don’t last long.» So the short answer, yes they enjoy it when it’s ordered.
All three were delicious and completely different which was awesome. The Chorizo was excellent, the ham, and the fish! All cooked well and perfect with a nice fresh mix of vegetables that we later learned come from the farmers market. We even have proof as the owner was seen pulling his wagon of fresh vegetables back to the restaurant as we were leaving.
I really liked the attention to detail, the potatoes were sliced right onto the grill, even the cheese they were topped with was grated right onto them on the grill which allowed for those delicious bits of fried cheddar. The really do use fresh ingredients and you can taste and see it!
They started us with toast, jam and salsa. Wow, I could just sit and eat this all day. The fresh, house-​made bread was perfectly toasted and complimented by their house-​made salsa and jam. Oo-​la la
The fourth person at our table ordered the banana crepes, which she was very pleased with. It wasn’t just bananas wrapped into a crêpe, instead they were caramelized and given a great flavor, then wrapped in the perfectly made crêpe!
I would highly recommend this establishment, but keep in mind it’s small. The service is good, food takes a bit longer than your slung together places because it’s crafted for you specifically. Fortunately we got there and got a table, but I have heard and seen the wait but it’s well worth it!

The Columbian Café is on the water in Astotia, Oregon. It is so old-​fashioned that your great-​grandmother thinks it’s old fashioned. Whether you relish or revile this, it’s a relic.
The emphasis on non-​gourmet décor is large, but oftentimes so is the emphasis on service. They seated me very quickly, which is a good feeling for a downtown that took me two hours to get to from Portland. I saw all kinds of classic cigarette ads and some old music was playing. It felt circa 1926, when this café opened.
Their menu comes from before the pre-​customization days. You’ll have a few omelets and combinations to choose from and you’ll have to wait. The menu is three pages, much of it being beverages and that’s it. I basically had some sausage, eggs and potatoes.
Unfortunately, the food took at least half an hour. It was good, but it could be cheaper. The food was a little bit flavorful even if most cooks could do the same thing, though the salad took up about half the plate. It was $ 12. I would of expected it to be a little more gourmet at that price for just one entrée. It’s a fun atmosphere and they refilled my soda constantly.
They surround you with old mottos and a humorous attitude, in a city that prides itself on it’s history. They’re so invested in the archaic view of restaurants centering around conversation that they purposely move with next to no speed in making your meal.
It’s like the good old days before food had to always be compared to other food and restaurants would be in themselves special. If your pancakes at the diner were no better or worse than mom’s, it was because both of you could sit back and not do dishes. Meals were remembered for what was said, not as much the obscurity of the ingredients.
The Columbian Café is okay. But there is better to be expected at their prices, even in Astoria. It might work for some circumstances, but they are hard to see happening.

Don’t come here! You’ll hate it!
…because I love it so much and I want a spot at the counter. To gaze lovingly at my food being prepared, the attractive employees, and my most beloved restaurant ever. Seriously, if I lived in Astoria again, I would eat here almost every day. The food is the taste of home and everything that is wholesome and good in this world. The Café holds so many memories for me, and I don’t want them to be interrupted by tourists complaining.
So yes, the wait is too long, the décor is too funky, it’s too hot inside, they only take cash, the menu is weird, the staff is rude. Don’t come here. You’ll hate it.