North Star Music Cafe

Stumpled upon what turned out to be an AWESOME café. Great healthy, mid-​priced sandwiches, GREAT coffee, Super Comfy Chairs, and entertainment almost every night?! Plus a cozy environment and free wifi… as good as it gets???

This is a great place to hang out or work. They have amazing vegan desserts /​snacks, and also great sandwiches. The veggie reuben is vegan and DELICIOUS. Also good bagel sandwiches in the morning. They have tofutti cream cheese. There is often live music.

I’m biased because I love meat and don’t like when people try to change plates into something that they were never intended to be. Like the reuben made with tofu instead of corned beef — but I didn’t realize it was «that» kind of place. No worries, there’s something for everyone.
Got there and had a wonderful turkey sandwich with herb goat cheese spread (YUM!), tomato, ruby slaw, and something else… I can’t remember. The white bread was toasted and perfectly browned.
My husband also ordered a bowl of pea soup. Let me explain something to you. I HATE peas. I despise them. My parents tried and tried to get me to like them, but alas, it never worked. Until… I had North Star’s pea soup. I think more than anything, I hate the pop of a pea when chewed. North Star has taken care of that for me. This soup is extremely thick with potato and has a good flavor. I couldn’t believe (along with my husband) that I kept going back for more.

Although I’ve only been here a handful of times, North Star has always been good to me. Their drinks are well made, it’s a good place to study, and the barista’s are cool.
Only bad thing: I can’t often find a seat, which can be a pain (it’s the number one reason I haven’t gone there more; I can only find a place to sit maybe 2 out of 5 times). Aside from that, North Star is a great place to hang out and enjoy good music, good drinks, and good times.

Not only does North Star make a kickin’ soy latte, they will make fun designs in your foam! On my birthday, I had lunch there, and my latte came with a lovely birthday cake design!
The housemade herb spread is KILLER, and a vegan does VERY well at this cozy establishment. There are many vegan, gluten free, and local options for sandwiches, soups, and desserts.
The food is great, and there is always entertainment. Most weeks, there is something planned every night. I find that North Star caters to the gay and artist communities. If you’re looking for some entertainment, definitely pop in any night of the week for a great time!

North Star is a fantastic community asset. They have great food, made often with local, organic ingredients. I love their variety of vegan options! They are very sensitive to many special diets and everyone is made to feel welcome.
Always friendly staff, good service, inviting atmosphere… They host many great community events from free Tango dancing, poetry night, to live music, North Star is always bringing something positive to the neighborhood.

Put simply, there is no more relaxing place in Portland to eat, drink, use the free wi-​fi or just hang out and watch some live music.
The food is great, with an emphasis on local and many vegan options. While not vegan or even vegetarian, I’m fond of the food. I’ve enjoyed vegan chili, countless sandwiches and even some gluten free baked goods.
For drinks, the coffee is very good, the beer is local and wine is available as well.
Most of the time the entertainment is cover charge free as they ‘pass the hat’ for those performing. Generally people attending events or who just happen to be there at the time are generous to the performers. This is both monetary and as a quiet, respectful audience.
The North Star is a great place to find yourself. Not sure what to do some evening? Start at the North Star. you may find yourself staying right there, trading the bars for the relaxed vibe of the North Star.

I was talking (read: complaining) to my boyfriend at the end of last semester «So, next week, I have my Statistics final, my Mechatronics final demo, my Product Design final demo, and my Tangible User Interfaces project is due… I’m not sure how I’m going to make it out alive!».
He responds «So, it’s probably not a good weekend to go to Portland to see my friend’s band play?»
I say, «I can guarantee none of my classmates are spending this weekend in a city 2 hours away to see a concert», and he says «That doesn’t sound like a no».
And that, is how my last trip to Portland began.
A group of my friends headed up there late Friday night and we all crashed in my boyfriend’s dad’s apartment. The next morning we woke up, with absolutely nothing on our agenda until the concert late that night. Portland was sparkling at us through the window (it always strikes me how Portland seems so astonishingly clean! I don’t know if this is because I always come from Boston, or because it snows the night before). Eager to get out in the sunshine, we eat breakfast, pull on our coats and boots, and head out the door.
I had put it off long enough. I had to tell them.
«Hey, hey guys? I think I might just, you know, head to a café and do some homework, and then meet you up for dinner later. You know, if that’s uh, ok with you.»
I was met with semi-​stunned silence from my work-​40-​hours-​a-​week friends, before they replied with an overly cautious and formal «Of course that’s ok. We’ll miss you but, uh, you have to do what you have to do».
Which is how I found myself, on a sunny afternoon, sitting in the North Star Music café with my Statistics text book, listening to a local family bluegrass band and drinking a cappuccino.
Now let me tell you, contrary to the spirit of exaggerated Unilocal reviews, it was not the most fun time I have ever had.
However, given that I was in an exciting, hip new city, and knew that some of my favorite people were currently wandering around it having all kinds of adventures while I was finding the second derivative of the maximum likelihood function of a probability density distribution, I can’t imagine a better place to be.
In conclusion, the remarkable thing about the North Star Music Café is sheer variety of activities it accommodates well. They have a packed music schedule of mostly local bands,
‘s Anti-​Art School, tasty sandwiches, wholesome warm treats, and seating that ranges from bar stools to couches. You can take your toddler to listen to bluegrass, take your sketchpad, your laptop, your BFF. Or, as I found out, your statistics textbook.
To next time, North Star! Hopefully I will have a chance to visit you with my friends, rather than resentment, in tow :)

every neighborhood should have one of these. great coffee and food, lots of locavore and healthy stuff. you can get a beer and relax while your kids play in the toy zone. they have a lot of great events in the evening, like tango lessons and such. big fan!

Though the Virgo sandwich was delightfully full of pesto and other yummy things, I’m going to cheat on it when I go back and get the Carina I wanted so badly but could not get as they were out of Tempeh bacon.
Momma loved the turkey, apple, cheddar and honey mustard sandwich she ordered — loved as in I heard her talking to her sister in Canada about how good it was the next day loved.
The natural orange soda and oatmeal pumpkin seed chocolate chip cookies are winners too. (!)
I’d also happily venture back one night for one of the bands or other entertainment (latin dancing or a little bit of spoken word anyone?) I saw listed on the events calendar.
Even with the sea of laptops mucking up the chillaxing vibe, me likey very much.