Cafe The obroma

I can’t review the food because I was never served any.
I ordered a piece of quiche, something that just need to be cut and heated up. After an hour, my order still wasn’t being worked on by the chef so I left. No drink order was offered to be taken since I assume it means the waitress would have to then go get it. She was clearly overwhelmed and many people walked out while I was there. They need to add a 3^rd staff member if they don’t want to piss off everyone who walks in the door.

DO NOT EAT HERE! My girlfriend and I live in the building and have given this place many chances. It has the feeling of a business that is close to closing and I can’t wait until it does so something that is worthy of this great space can utilize it to benefit the neighborhood.
Every time we are disappointed. Consistently bad service, sub par food and bad value for money.
Skip it, Umbria, Nuvrei or Barista are far superior for coffee and there are many other food options in the area. Byways Café, for breakfast, brunch/​lunch will not disappoint. They have great food and friendly service. The Lunch options in the area are endless and all would be a better choice than Theobroma.
When we finally received our food today everything was wrong and the quality of ingredients was the worse I’ve ever seen! The waitress blamed the cook/​manager and he came out to argue with us and blamed her. Completely unprofessional.
If I hadn’t already decided to never come back due to the non existent service and bad food, strictly based on his appearance and hygiene I would never eat here again. I would have taken a picture of the food but I do not want to ruin any readers appetites before they go for a better meal somewhere else.

Walking around the Pearl on a free day ready for adventure, I came across this cute, sunny, cheerful café… thinking to myself it looked like a perfect place to take a breakfast break ! But how would Unilocal recommend it? Gave a quick glance of the mixed reviews yet high ⁴⁄₅ star rating and decided to see for myself how this place held up.
From the moment I walked in I loved the place! Fresh, clean, chic and friendly staff. Loved the easy going yet upbeat music. There were scatterings of breakfast goers as well as a group in the corner which seemed to be conducting a business meeting. All good, lots of room for all.
The berry crêpe and the nutella crêpe both sounded delish but i was in the mood for something savory. Omelet? Scramble? Soup? Sandwich? Ended up ordering a salmon crêpe and, at recommendation of Kat (Katya in Russian, not related to the American chef or the Russian owner) the very pleasant and pretty staffer, a slice of the chocolate cherry pie. The crêpe, ohhh the crêpe… I am already plotting my afternoon interlude with my new love affair! Delicious and substantial, more than generous. Regretfully had no room in my tummy to enjoy the cherry chocolate pie, took it to go for a later snack to share with friend.
This café is conveniently located on the corner of NW 11^th and NW Flanders in the cutest little shopping area. Prices are great and reasonable for this area. Menu refreshing. Comfortable. And a comfortable rest stop with two sizeable bathrooms (better than the overused and solo one at Starbucks just down the street). Go. Go now. Go now and give yourself a sunshiney break and escape from this rainy overcast dreary day, if even just for the moment!
Ohhh okay, the friendly and beautiful Katya just stopped by with a unbelievably delicious sample of the in house hot chocolate (compelled to write this review on the spot, that’s how much I enjoy this place) …It just doesn’t get any better than this! :)

Disappointing.
Service — friendly but food took almost an hour and arrived lukewarm. No explanations or apologies offered.
Food — eggs Benedict: poached eggs over cooked, yolk was hard not runny. Salmon crêpe: tasty but would have been better warm.
Nice atmosphere for a relaxing weekend breakfast.
Unless I get a response, would not recommend.

We would definitely go there again! For Sure! It was a really nice area, the food was super delicious; my dad and I were looking for a place to eat before an appointment I had to get to, and don’t know the area at all since we’re from California so I was really pleased to find this place on the corner, not busy at all.
We both got omelets, and I got some fruit as well, and everything was super good… very fresh and well made. And the waitress was really nice as well!
Props to you, Café Theobroma.

The worst cappuccino ever: tastes like it’s watered down with dishwasher water. The 4 dollar cheese cake is smaller than my 6-​month old baby boy’s afternoon snack.
Avoid this place.

I’ve been here twice in the past week and I’m definitely a fan now. If you’re looking for original foody type food at an affordable price this is the place to go.
The first time I was here I had a salmon croissant sandwich and an herbal tea with fresh fruit mixed in; both were very good and original. The second time I had a beef brisket crêpe and it was one of the best things I’ve ever had. I’ve had about 10 crepes so far, some while traveling in Italy and they were not nearly as good as what I had here. You must try their crepes!
This place is well decorated and quiet only because people don’t seem to know about it yet. I think they should get rid of the TVs though.

can i get some eggs with my dill?
I know dill is a pleasant flavor but this place consistently over seasons their eggs with dill. otherwise, the egg omelet with ham and mushroom was cooked very well and the flavor was all there (minus ¾ of the dill).
tip: the toast will be over-​saturated with butter, if you enjoy this then you will be quite pleased.

Tasty breakfast and lots of healthy options. Had the salmon omelette it was very delicious and flavorful. Cooked with a lot of care. Server was very friendly and knowledgeable about the food and how it prepared and even explained what some of the desserts are.
Nice place to stop by for breakfast of lunch. Very clean and ambient to enjoy your meal.

Great latte & delicious light almond cake for a crisp weekend morning. Restaurant is quaint & French-​like. Crepes looked delicious, will be back in for a sit down breakfast. The crêpe menu looked delish!

This is a review by a vegetarian.
Groupon induced misadventure.
Positives first: it’s clean, it’s got ample comfortable seating, and good light on two sides. On both of my visits I enjoyed friendly and attentive service.
The rest of the story. Espresso drinks were fairly tasteless. Here’s the real problem: i got served a cold banana chocolate crêpe one time and a tepid lukewarm plain crêpe another time. The first one was because the banana had obviously been kept in the fridge. Still, this sucks. Fall/​winter in portland I don’t want food off a gridle to be cold. The plain crêpe I just don’t understand. I felt the plate thinking maybe they’d used a cold dessert plate but it was room temp. It’s just weird. Also, the waffle iron was not working the morning I went.
Another reason I won’t be going back is the music. The customer area has soft rock. Fine. Whatever. But one can clearly hear a *different* channel playing in the kitchen. Over time, like the period it takes to eat a crêpe and drink a coffee, this would drive me nuts.
So, in summary, a nicer place to sit in than Nuveir or Pearl Bakery, if you’re deaf. But utterly forgettable food and drink.

Came expecting great things and was terribly disappointed. Their cannoli’s were mushy and soggy. Their grilled chicken panini took 20 minutes to arrive and was mediocre. Needless to say– not impressed and will not be back.
Also, for «making their own hot chocolate» it tastes like Hershey’s syrup mixed with milk.

I just can’t get over with how plain the food was. Service was excellent and with a smile which I very much appreciate but the food was disappointing in two important ways. First the quality was not tolerable. Second when I asked about ingredients I was told there would be no onions on one of the sandwiches. When I received it I was not amused as it could have been called an onion sandwich with a side of beef. I don’t think I’ll be back which sucks because I wanted to like a local business. Also I’m fairly certain this is a French, maybe European in general, inspired restaurant? If so I’d like to report that I felt absolutely nothing of France while dining here. Nothing. Nor European for that matter.

***DESSERT REVIEW ONLY***
My friends raved and raved about how awesome their desserts were. I thought it was worth trying since it has their stamp of approval. I came to Café Theobroma one lovely Sunday afternoon for dessert after dinner. Unfortunately my dining experience was not as great as theirs.
[décor]
A few plasma TVs showing the news or the latest sports game. The place is very spacious and has ample seating. There are some tables outside if you wish to dine on the sidewalk.
[devour]
*PASTRY NAPOLEON ($ 8; ***1 STAR***) — was plain old SAD. In fact I think this dessert was old. Or it was not constructed well. Made with puff pastry, custard, berries and confectionary sugar, you would think this would be a knock out. It’s the opposite! It looks good on the display case, but once it was served, I couldn’t even cut the darn thing with my fork. I had to ask for a knife and that was still difficult to manipulate. I ended up making a mess with the powdered sugar. It was so unbearable to eat, I didn’t finish it. (
)
FYI =
–Parking on the street
–Accepts CC’s
–Service: I wish our waiter knew what the ingredients were in the desserts. He had to ask one of his co-​workers about it. Maybe he was new? He seemed a bit awkward serving us. No smile and no water offered either.
–The place was dead when we visited. In fact whenever I walk by the place, it seems dead in general =X
Sorry, you won’t find me here again for their dessert! But I wouldn’t mind trying out their breakfast.
Unilocal 2013 100+ Reviews Challenge (going for 200!) — Review #185

This place was absolutely amazing, one of my favorite places in Portland and I will return! The service was so delightful, friendly and welcoming I was immediately drawn in. The appearance of the food was remarkable, I already fell in love with the food by presentation alone.
The breakfast and lunch options I tried were delicious, kudos to the wonderful flavors! I highly recommend any panini and crêpe, especially the berry crêpe. for dessert, the chocolate cheesecake was to die for.
The prices were incredibly reasonable! Will definitely return for more. This café has everything you could ever want, coffee, chai, breakfast, lunch, dinner, alcoholic beverages and more!

OMG. Where do I begin?
I ordered an omelette and received a crêpe about 15 – 20 later. They offered me toast when I said I’d eat the crêpe. The toast was served cold. The servers were super sweet but super frazzled, and they kept forgetting to bring me or the person next to me things we asked for.
I had high expectation because of the four star reviews, and I don’t like to be such an @$$ about a small business, but I don’t recommend this place.

Great find! We are newlyweds and took both our parents here for breakfast.
This place has the most reasonable prices I’ve seen in a long time.
Mozarella Quiche: small, but sooo good! I added potatoes and stole a piece of toast from my husband.
Farmers breakfast: your normal egg, toast, potato breakfast. We added bacon. Our party was split as to whether the bacon was perfect or slightly overcooked. I thought it was perfect.
Beef crêpe: it looked good… forgot to ask how it tasted. Looked like steak inside.
Gluten free pancakes: as good as gluten free pancakes can be!!!
Desserts: we shared cheesecake and 2 others. Kind of early in the morning for them, but they were good and the presentation was beautiful!
Service: great.

Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome one of the tastiest, classiest, cheapest breakfast joints to ever grace the Pearl.
I have been going to this place for a while, and I liked the food, but recently they started serving one of my favourite coffee brands — illy coffee, the lovely Italian espresso I know and love.
Portions and prices at Theobroma are delicate and reasonable. The owner is a very friendly man who speaks several languages, including Russian and English. There are comfortable seats on the sidewalk where you can catch some of the quality Portland sun. The crepes are perfect, and so are the lattes. Service is friendly.
Everything about this little café is lovely and simple. The dishes are presented elegantly and my husband and I have made a habit of coming here on weekends after we wake up. It’s a great place to read a paper or get some writing done. The combination of free wi-​fi, illy coffee, and delicious pastries make it a great place to become a regular.
I really recommend coming here for brunch sometime. No long lines or waiting lists for a table. You just plop down and breakfast gets there quick. This is definitely one of the hidden gems of the Pearl.

WOW, welcome to the neighborhood! What a pleasant surprise, this place bucks two obnoxious trends sweeping through Portland (and the Pearl in particular) dining:
1) Small portions at entrée prices:
THIS is how you do small portions Portland!
I have a well-​documented hatred of small portions. The problem isn’t even really the portion size, it’s that the price is usually bigger than the portion.
At this place, just about everything is $ 5 – 6 and the portions are decent enough that one of them could satisfy a pang and two of them would make you full. The items here are priced so that you can buy two of them and it works out to the same price and food quantity of a non-​small-​portions establishment. THIS is how it SHOULD be done, but almost never is. As far as what the food is like, well:
2) Café «food»
Many café/​coffee shop style establishments have food that is pretty much BS. You know what I’m talking about. 95% pastries and other assorted carb-​bombs that will satiate you for about 4 minutes and then leave you in a desperate downward-​spiral of asugar-​crash (but, but they are house-​baked with exotic free-​range flowers), twice as hungry as you were before. They may have a couple savory foods, but they are usually microwaved, and an afterthought. NOT here. I got a breakfast that came with potatoes, eggs, bacon, and toast! And it was all actually *cooked* not heated up! Amazing! (I also got a blueberry crêpe for dessert… because apparently I’m eating dessert at breakfast now?)
A word on the setup here, so you don’t look awkward like I did:
You can stand in line at the counter and order something to go so you can get back to your slick errand-​boy job at the hip new law firm.
OR
You can sit down and be waited on like a proper restaurant so you can get back to your unemployment.

Brand new place in the PEARL! They consider themselves and «Old World Café». They have coffee, house made pastries, both sweet and savory crepes as well as a few other scrumptious looking goodies. They have a full menu for all meals and it is amazing!
They have cocktails and are open from 7am — 11pm.
We’ve been watching and waiting patiently, or maybe not so patiently ;) for this place to open. It’s just around the corner from our Condo. We’ve been searching for a GREAT, OPEN LATE dessert shop and we think we’ve found it.
The selection of in house made pastries, cakes, and other delectable items surpasses anything we’ve found in Portland.
Give this place a try, I know you won’t be disappointed!