Pied Piper Play Cafe

Great spot to grab a coffee and let your little one have some fun (especially vital on those rainy pacific northwest days). Only reason I’m not posting a 5 star review is because there is a real issue with negligent parents sitting for hours ignoring their kids (who tear up the place/​terrorize the other kids) while they nurse one cup of coffee.

Dude, I freaking LOVE this place. My kid is 5 and he thrives there, cohabitating beautifully with the young toddler set. The food is excellent, fairly priced, everything is ALWAYS clean, there is lovely and ample outdoor space, my kid loves the huge variety of toys so I can get tons of work done on their excellent wifi. Just generally I adore this place and I legitimately cannot think of one.single.thing I would change. I’ve been there when it is insanely busy and it was just as fabulous/​relaxing as when I’m the first one in the shop (which has been the case on numerous occasions). The bathroom is clean and well stocked for diaper changes and there is a plethora of games/​books to choose from if you just need some chill activities as an adult or a kiddo. You can choose to lounge on a comfy couch, sit at a table and get some work done, or hang out outside if the weather permits.

I’ve now been here twice.
First time my daughter got sick after.
The staff are ok but not particularly friendly considering it’s an establishment catering to kids and family and it hasn’t been crowded at all when we’ve been.
The outside space is nice and the climbing structure is nice but a lot of the toys inside are in need of a good scrub or being replaced. For me this is a major point as the play/​toy aspect are part of the main attraction.
I have purchased coffee and a friend ordered the hummus. It was a nice sized plate and looked pretty fresh.

I love PiedPiper! It is a great place to bring your kids to. I come here with my 15 months old baby girl and she loves it. The energy is great, and the owner of the place is wonderful! Definitely one of the best (café play) locations in Portland.

Don’t waste your time. The staff is grumpy, the air is stuffy and smells like fryer grease and the kids area is not free to play in. The play area is only appropriate for littles under 4. Overall bad experience, wouldn’t come back.

If you live in the Sellwood neighborhood I sure you’re pretty familiar with this location. I live in SW… Yet I find myself doing most family activities on the Eastside. Pied Piper Play Café is pretty cool for a quick breakfast or lunch. (I do mean quick, the place is small.) My kiddo is below 3 and I believe he had a great time. It was hard to leave him alone in the play area. This was our first time at the location. The kids and other families were really nice and no kid had an issue with sharing toys. Overall, I think I would visit again.
My only issue and is not a major issue. The location needs help. I read a review that stated «there’s one person running the show.» I’m sure the loyal customers don’t mind waiting. Most customers were meeting people who arrived. (They didn’t seem in a hurry.) The lack of behind the counter played a role in why I gave the location 3 stars and not 4. It took about 8 minutes before my order was received. It took about 15 minutes to to receive my order. The two breakfast burritos I receive were great. Great taste, great presentation, and great combination of breakfast items wrapped in a nice soft tortilla. The only issue I had. The burritos were below luke warm. I wasn’t expecting hot off the grill, but I also didn’t expect my kiddo to chomp into it with no problem. Most food we buy when we sit down to eat needs to cool before we serve it to our child or before we dig in. Maybe that’s a good thing though.
I did read that the play area cost $ 3 child/​$ 2 sibling per entrance. I was told if you spend over $ 15 the entrance fee is waived. I think that’s pretty cool. I understand why people think the play entrance should be free. But the area is pretty small and if people arrived only to have a cup of coffee and use the free wifi while their child plays for an hour. How could this business stay in business?
For the most part… Me, mom, and our kiddo had a great time!!! Will possibly return. True the burritos weren’t heated like I expected them to be. The taste was great.

I had a Dirty Chai and Breakfast Sandwich, both tasted pretty good. I was actually upset I couldn’t finish my Dirty Chai, but I had to head out to work.
Everything appeared clean and both of the women behind the counter were kind.
It’s very family friendly, which I’ll keep in mind when my niece and nephew are around. They’ve got a full on changing station in the bathroom (!) as well as a designated play space for the little ones.
The bike racks directly in front of the shop are convenient, as I kept my paranoid eye on my unlocked wheels.
I didn’t notice any outlets for the power suckers, such as myself usually, but I’ll go back for something else on the menu and another Dirty Chai (!), with my power cords in hand.

Love this place! Play areas & adult seating were beyond our expectation. Menu while limited for a foodie was enough to occupy play time! Hummus plate & a glass of wine worked for this mom needing a break! Great location… Pretty perfect place for our 14 month old. Also the owner seemed really involved which always makes me wanna go back…

Love the staff! The play area is super fun and the food is awesome. The atmosphere is very friendly.

I really like this place. Similar to tabor space but way less pretentious and crowded. They do charge to play if you don’t buy enough food but their toys work and have batteries and are clean. The outdoor area is nice too. They could use a sandbox or water area but they have fun play houses. Their mocha is great. Not a good place for older kids. Maybe 4 – 5 yo max.

We really love this place. I’ve taken the kids, 1 ½ and 4, to play a number of times and they always enjoy themselves. Their food selection is good and their prices are reasonable. We recently hosted my daughter’s birthday party here. The staff were attentive and helpful. The families in attendance seemed to like the place. I love supporting a local, affordable facility where my kids are happy and safe to play!

Having been here a few times now, it feels better to write this review.
This playground is better for 3 and under. My grandson is on the ‘old’ side for the average children’s play age here, but that’s alright because he is on the young end of his age spectrum (4). And because he loves trains so much, the playing table with tracks and plenty of trains below is a nice enticement for him to enjoy.
Another fun factor is watching the children interact, and learn to interact – the social aspect of bringing a child here.
Also the climbing wall in the back still has his attention, which would be a challenge for smaller children, due to the hiding factor for him: playing hide and seek never gets old.
They have special jars for ‘mouthed on’ toys, and offer lots of toys for both girls and boys – with easy to get to boxes on display to sort out what they want to play with. The dollhouse is huge and looks like fun, and the fake car has plenty of puzzle like things on its side. Of course the toys are going to get dirtier than when you have them at home.
All in all, I have enjoyed this playground, as did my grandboy.

My child became sick with a bad fever virus from our initial visit to this germ factory. Didn’t go anywhere else the prior several days. Toys and play-​sets don’it look regularly cleaned. I spent $ 20+ on drinks and lunch and still had to pay a fee, which was lame. Fee should be for moochers who don’t buy. They could discount the fee for buyers. Nice they serve a mimosa. Food was blah.
Not a fan. Fix fee and clean up. Until then, I’ll go somewhere else.

This place is a gold mine!
A friend had suggested we meet for coffee and I’m so glad she did, my son and I even stayed well after our coffee dates had left.
This place is amazing if you have kids. They completely cater to Children and parents. The atmosphere is inviting and relaxing. There is so much for the kids to enjoy, both inside and out.
Additionally, the coffee is spectacular!

Nice, clean space for kids to play while you enjoy a cup of coffee or a snack. The climbing aparatus is a bit small (fine for my son so far, but definitely wouldn’t work if you were a bigger toddler). Lots of toys, but the play space could get pretty crowded if it were busier — we were there on a slow day close to closing time. The animatronic dinosaur is AWESOME, and I wanted to ride it, but my kid was a little wary of it ;) I do appreciate that they have some outdoor toys as well, but I doubt I’d come to a place like this on a beautiful day when I could just be outdoors at a local park…

I keep wanting to like this place as it’s so close but every time I go I leave disappointed. The main perk is of course the play area. The food is nothing special and it’s a bit pricey.
There are a few improvements they could easily make.
1. Kids meals are $ 4.50 which isn’t that horrible by itself. The problem is the $ 3 surcharge for playing. For my 2 kids to eat and play it now costs $ 15 not including whatever I get for myself. Maybe they were having an issue with people playing and not buying anything so they instituted a cover charge? If that’s the case I feel like if you buy food the $ 3 fee should be credited towards your meal purchase.
2. Unless you get lucky and sit at the counters over looking the play area you can’t really watch your kid and eat. They could put mirrors up in the play place so even if you’re at a table you can see them. Otherwise you have to stand or go in the play area to watch them.
3. The toys are getting gross as toys do with use from kids. Its not too bad but it doesn’t appear the play area gets a decent scrub down. If I’m paying to play I want more attention to cleanliness and order. I also feel obligated to stay longer since I paid. I feel like I need to stay at least an hour to get my monies worth. So if I’m looking for a quick lunch I don’t go here.
4. Better food options. It’s hard to feel happy after ordering a bagel with cream cheese for $ 2.50 and see them open a bag of 6 pack of grocery store bagels and serve that to you. Or don’t charge as much for the food.
Overall the idea of the place is great but for the money I’ll go somewhere else.

With two small kids and living just a few blocks away, I really wanted to like this place. The play area is great. The coffee is ok (it’s hard to live up to coffee shops nearby like either/​or, blue kangaroo and rose city roasters etc.) but my main problem and the reason I won’t be going back regularly is the $ 3 per kid per day charge.
The way I would want to use this café is to stop in for an hour after picking the kids up from school and letting them play if its raining. But adding $ 6 to the bill per visit isn’t worth it. Blue Kangaroo also has a small play area for kids (albeit much much smaller) and it’s free. With so many great places to get coffee around, Pied Piper could make a niche for itself by offering the play area for free. It would be a huge incentive for a lot of parents to go and spend some time there. But adding a $ 6 surcharge for each visit is going to push a lot of people to just getting their coffee elsewhere.

Two words.
Animatronic Dinosaur.
That your child can sit on while the head moves and it makes cute snuffle sound (its a baby triceratops) for $ 3 a day. Sold. Sold. Sold.
There is also lots of other play space, with a kitchen, a small scale climbing gym and slide, a train table and tons of other fun. Like I said it costs three dollars a day to play, but there are pass and monthly options available too.
For you, while your small one delights, there is coffee, in all formats, or beer, or mimosas and what looks to be a great menu of salads, sandwiches and kid friendly snacks.

Super cute place. Perfect size play area and roomy café. My daughter loved it here. The food is tasty and reasonably priced. We’ll be back!

As a person without kiddos I can still say I love the Pied Piper Play Café. Why? Simple. I can hang out with my friends’ with little ones while enjoying great coffee (Happy Cup), or wine, or beer and food (or all of the above)!
The atmosphere is relaxing and playful at the same time.
I look forward to seeing my friends with little ones MORE now that the Pied Piper Café is open!