J Café

A very small spot– I liked the casual atmosphere though. I ordered the hummus plate for a quick lunch and it was great. There was nothing overly special about this place to report, but I would not give it a bad review as well– I think that if you are looking for an easy place to stop by for lunch, this is a great option.

This is an overpriced café with an owner who believes that poor people should leave Portland if they can’t afford his prices. When «Jonathan» came to take my order, I mentioned that I could not believe the prices everywhere in Portland and how a person had to pay at least $ 10 to eat lunch. He promptly told me that this is how much it cost to run a business in Portland, and that if I could not afford that I should move to a different city.

Love this place. Love everything, the salads, the paninis, the glass thing where u get water from, in real glass glasses. J club is my go to.
I only hate that this place is in Portland and full of portlanders. They are the worst but this place is the best.
Yay j café!

This is my go-​to when I want a great sandwich! I work nearby and stop in a couple times a month. I usually take my lunch to go since it can get crowded in there around that time. My favorites are the Portland Pub panini (yumm) and the Tillamook panini. The panini’s are really filling and I usually take half if it home.

Everything I’ve had here is delicious. It’s across from my office so I have to try not to eat here every day. Paninis are to die for. I get the Rose City with turkey. Melty with cheese and plenty of mayo and mustard on it. Salads — particularly the Pretty Salad — is consistently delicious.

Excellent atmosphere and good sized portions. The tomato soup on special made me rethink the way I’ve been making tomato soup.

Best sandwich I’ve ever had! I love how crispy it is on the outside and soft and fresh the bread is on the inside. The pub panini was amazing! We also liked the tillamook :) thank you J café!

The line was not too long at 10am on a Saturday morning. We ordered bagel, fruit, 2 panini sandwiches, OJ, latte, and an americano and it cost almost $ 30. The sandwiches were great, and a lot of food for breakfast. The coffees were really good. It is so nice to have espresso in a large open cup and not a to-​go cup. We stayed and finished all of the coffee. The seating is adequate for weekend rush, and is good for kids.

I go to school like a block away so one day I decided to come in and try their turkey berry melt. It literally melts in your mouth it’s so awesome. The second thing I’ve tried is the Portland pub dip, hands down best French dip sandwich I’ve ever had. The staff is very polite and they are very fast. The prices are super low for the quality of food. I come here at least once a week. And I wish I could give more than 5 stars. Anyways i highly recommend.

I absolutely love J Café. It is a cute little café tucked in to the Lloyd District with fresh salads and sandwiches, friendly staff and great coffee. I love both their hot sandwiches (they have delicious paininis) and their cold sandwiches.
This is my favorite lunch spot when I have a training or conference in the area. If you’re looking for a filling and relatively affordable lunch, give J Café a try and pop in! You won’t be disappointed. :)

Great service, strong coffee, and the pannini breakfast sandwiches are light, bright, and tasty. Four combinations to choose from
Definitely worth getting off the train.

Fantastic panini sandwiches and super nice people in a cute, community-​oriented space – lots of info displayed about local events and arts. They can really move a lunchtime rush crowd through, too!

Just arrived in Portland and dying for a healthy lunch. Trusted Unilocal pointed me in the direction of J Café. Found street parking, and walked over.
The café has a quirky shaped space. There are only a few little table on the right and a bar with stools on the left. It was past 1 pm and we found a seat. We ordered the tomato gorgonzola soup with grilled bread. And a coffee and a lemon grass ice tea. Service was good!
The lemon grass ice tea was delish. No refills sadly. Coffee was ok. The soup was ok could have had a little more gorgonzola flavor. The grilled bread was disappointing though. So TINY! Would have liked more of it like six times more lol.
Wouldn’t mind coming back however would order something else. And with so many options in Portland I doubt it a little.

One word: AMAZING. service, food, coffee, staff. I travel for my job and you never know what you will find but this is a gem. the server who took my order was attentive to make sure i got what i wanted. In every town there is a different way to order coffee, and he made sure i got what i wanted. took a chance and ordered a breakfast sandwich and this was a real treat! Arugula on a breakfast sandwich, garlic aioli? And delicious coffee too. See you tomorrow morning J Café, you will be a stop on my way to the convention center every morning that i am here.

Fantastic little café. A little modern with a hint of vintage. A collection of artwork for sale on the wall. The food is delicious and fresh. The salad that came with my sandwich looked like it was picked that morning. Their coffee had a good, not too robust flavor. Service was very friendly. Kudos to these guys and gals.

J Café is a regular lunch spot for me. I tend to stick with what I like, so I almost always get the Tillamook panini (can be too cheesy for some). The J Club is also delicious.
What keeps me coming back to J Café (aside from the convenient location), is the side salad. I love salads, but I’m generally too hungry to get by with just a salad for lunch (although I do have to try some of their options because they maybe hearty enough). Anyway, it’s the perfect compromise because I can get a delicious and filling sandwich and always have a nice side of greens too. Plus, the dressing is awesome. It also comes with a bag of chips, which I usually stash in my desk drawer for emergencies. The panini and salad are very filling! Everything is packaged nicely and handed off with a smile.
Oh, and they do have plenty of seating both indoors and out, which can be a nice option for a longer break or catching up with friends or coworkers.
Overall, good food, friendly service, fair prices. It’s the perfect lunch spot for those who work in the area.

Perfect place for breakfast and coffee when I was at a conference at the convention center. There was a huge line in the convention center coffee shop, so I whipped out my phone and found this gem on Unilocal,only a few short blocks away! Suckers!
Excellent iced coffee and perfectly toasted sesame bagel with cream cheese. I sat at the coffee bar and read my conference program, leisurely planning which sessions I would attend. I went back both days because I enjoyed it so much. They have several bagel choices with all different toppings to choose from. Even though I got boring cream cheese it was just what I needed.
I gave this place 4 stars because they had no iced coffee made the second day that I went and I had to get a latte, which was good, but I would have preferred another iced coffee.

The Tillamook is yummy.
They made a mistake on my order and righted the ship by giving me a «Lunch on us» card.
Thanks for the customer service!!!

This was my and my husband’s first stop on our trip to Portland. The shop has a variety of coffees and teas. They also have pastries and breakfast sandwiches which you can customize. I opted for an egg breakfast panini with arugula and tomato on wheat bread. It was absolutely delicious! We also got mochas which were perfect as well. Service was fast and friendly. This was a great way to start our trip in Portland and we would love to return some day.

This is 3 blocks from the Convention Center, so handy for events. Order at the counter; they serve you. We had the Rose Garden & Capini paninis (vegetarians). Both were very good, and came with chips & small salads.
The coffee was so-​so, but there are Mighty Leaf teas, & the Organic Mint Mélange was tasty.
Looks like it tends to be crowded at lunch, but we didn’t wait long either to order or to be served.
Two sandwiches & two drinks for $ 22 in town seems like a good deal for food this good.

The sandwiches were pretty good.
I’ve had the j club (natural turkey breast, bacon, avocado, swiss, greens, tomatoes and jamaican relish) and the figalicious (prosciutto, walnuts, gorgonzola, fig jam).
Both times were with coworkers while we were in the area. Tasty, yes, but nothing mind-​blowing.
I will say I love their creativity with the sandwiches. If I go back, I’ll probably try the gobble gobble (in honor of Turkey day coming up!): natural turkey breast, cranberry relish, whipped cream cheese. Nomnomnnom.

Great little café to grab coffee to start the day or a delightful lunch.
BF and I split a light brunch of a mocha, a half sandwich (The Grand: pastrami, sauerkraut, havarti, jamaican relish) and a bowl of the artichoke bisque soup. Let me just say that the soup is beyond delicious, and is smooth and creamy and just the right temperature. Would come again for that unique flavor!
BF inhaled the sandwich. The bread was super soft on the inside and grilled crispy on the outside, just as it should be for a Panini. The sandwich itself almost seemed to be a Cuban, but the flavors worked well together. The Jamaican relish was especially tasty.
The mocha also stood out as one of the best we’ve had– whether due to the person making it appropriately, or their use of award-​winning Portland Roasting beans, I couldn’t tell you.
Service throughout our visit was polite and attentive. To the right of the counter, by the bathroom door, there are shelves of books and magazines to peruse during your visit, including a dream interpretation dictionary. Cool touch.