Poa Cafe

Always short staffed. And not particularly friendly about it. I had to completely give up on getting my coffee after waiting for five minutes with a staff member directly in front of me moving as slowly as humanly possible.

Great smoothies & they have hemp milk which I love for my lattes. Nice selection of healthy, fresh hearty food. Full bar too! Casual & kid friendly.

Came here on a Wednesday morning, just as the live music was finishing up. The food and smoothies were tasty, although quite expensive. They also forgot a couple of things in our order, but profusely apologized and later gave me a cookie for free when I went up to order one. The service was friendly, but I wouldn’t call it above or beyond. I appreciated the space, as it’s open and modern, allowing my kids to venture and play and allowing me to still keep an eye on them. The outside area was interesting. They have a sandbox that is filled with compacted dirt/​mud. My kids loved it, but I wouldn’t have been thrilled with the muddy fingernails and hands if they were still eating. Thankfully, we ventured outside after finishing our snacks. Overall, it was a decent experience. The high prices and distance from my home will likely prevent me from coming often.

I really want to like this place because I love the food and the ladies who work here but I am left with no choice to give them a bad review.
Why does it take 25 minutes to make a bowl of rice and beans with some steamed veggies? Even with the 25 minutes they forgot to put the avocado on my bowl that I paid an extra $ 1.50 for.
One time I am for certain they forgot the honey in my superfood green smoothie and the gal working said no it’s supposed to taste like that. I used to get one once a week and they have never tasted like that.
The loyalty program card… Mine has mysteriously been thrown away because of a new digital system and every time I have gone in for another cup of coffee or smoothie no one knows where my card/​digital stamps are.
I’ve given this place so many chances but I don’t think I’ll be returning. If you have children and all the time in the world, this place will probably suit you.

This place is great. I don’t have a toddler, but I still felt welcome. The food is fresh and they have great sized portions. Everything on the menu sounds delicious. The service is very friendly! Living in this neighborhood definitely has it’s perks, Poa being one of them.

Great place to grab brunch when you want something simple and tasty. Egg, cheese, and ham sandwich was fresh, hot and filling. The mimosa was made strong, how I like it! I wish they had a few more menu options or ways to customize.
The atmosphere is lively and casual. If you are looking for a quaint meal, you may want to stay away. The place is pretty loud with a lot of toddlers, but I didn’t mind too much. Defiantly and enjoyable and delicious place to grab brunch.

Watermelon mint smoothie get in my belly now! We stumbled upon Poa while waiting for our table at another place. So glad we did because 1) free chocolate cookie with a Unilocal check on 2) ridiculously refreshing smoothies 3) great spot to chill
Seriously, the watermelon mint is so good. If you just think refreshing summer, that’s what it tastes like.
The place is also very kid friendly and I love that there’s space for families and kids to enjoy themselves.

SKIP IT.
My experience today:
3:42_realize it’s way too hot to continue working in my apartment, and that I could use a healthy afternoon refreshment.
3:43_find Poa online– super close to said hot apartment, has WiFi, doesn’t close until 7p.
3:47_enter Poa without acknowledgement or greeting from either of 2 employees
3:52_finally acknowledged by 1 of 2 ladies working there, who comes to the front to ask me what I want, recommends between 2 smoothies I’m interested in (thus the star)
3:54_time of receipt on my order
3:58_as I’m clearly getting settled into a table, after I’ve ordered and paid for my smoothie with very obvious intentions to set up shop and work for a while, the other employee approaches me and says, ‘Excuse me, we’re closed.‘
Huh?
Poa, get a bell on your door, post appropriate/​updated hours– and if it looks like a customer is about to order just to sit down and enjoy your space, make a bit of an effort to let them know what’s up before they order, or even before they settle in!
I’m not here to rag on small or local businesses, but seriously– this afternoon’s horribly frustrating experience could have so easily been avoided with such simple efforts. I’d much rather have fresh, delicious juice at Canteen or Lula’s. I won’t be back.

Spacious café and eatery located just down the street from Tasty & Sons, making it an ideal spot for a meal if you’re looking to skip the line. They have an assortment of bowls, a daily scramble, a breakfast sandwich, and a smattering of other food options to accompany a very thorough menu of coffee drinks, smoothies and cocktails. Personally I find the idea of paying $ 7 for a smoothie appalling, but the same-​priced breakfast sandwich was tasty if basic – just eggs, bacon, and cheddar cheese. It would have been nice to have some kind of house-​made sauce, but the sandwich is decent sized and the ciabatta was fresh. Another member of our party got the Paleo bowl with an egg which looked like a substantial serving and he said it was delicious and similarly fresh.
They clearly pride themselves here on fresh ingredients and I really liked the atmosphere, very inviting and friendly. The clientele here was varied – a few people were posted up with laptops and papers, there was another group of younger folk in addition to ourselves, and there were quite a few young-​ish parents with children in tow. There’s a very spacious children’s area so this is a good place to go if you have kids and are looking for a cup of coffee and some food. Not quite your drawn-​out brunch restaurant, or a place to go to recount tales of last night’s drunken revelry, but a great café nonetheless.

The egg scramble was good but cold because it took 40 mins (I think they forgot about it sitting out). The space is cool and I like the concept. Service blew though which is always a turn off

We joyfully came upon this place after leaving a certain other place down the way that had a 1.5 hour wait. What a find… Instant seating at 11am on a Saturday, and so many options for vegetarian and paleo folks. I loved my Thai bowl with broccoli and quinoa and tofu, and the chocolate chip cookie was divine.

Have now been there 4 times and really like this place. Understated, family friendly, good music, and good for a light breakfast or lunch or smoothie snack. Love the selection of classic kids’ books! Love the pioneer breakfast plate — great homemade bread! Very nice alternative to the wait-​in-​line-​for-​an-​hour places further down on Williams, and friendly staff to boot :)

Wish they had organic whole milk. I had their latte which apparently is made with non-​GMO milk. However the bloating and upset stomach I got after says otherwise… Probably additives that I am reacting to.
:-(

Poa is a great café and definitely one of my go-​to places to meet my other friends with kids. There is a yummy kids menu, indoor play area, and lovely outdoor patio. I have enjoyed all the food and smoothies I’ve had there. It can get chaotic when busy and I’ve had a my order get mixed up a couple times, but the staff is super friendly.
Great place for parents and families — try it out.

The atmosphere was pleasant and the staff was nice (although one of them looked at me like I was speaking another language when I ordered something off their menu). It’s nice for parents bc there’s a kid space. It is also spacious and had outdoor seating in the back. But might get crazy if too many kids were around at once.
However, food and drinks are a bit overpriced. $ 8.50 for a thin layer of brussel sprouts and bacon with an egg on top? I wouldn’t advertise it as a «bowl» when it barely covers the bottom of a bowl. I expect bowls to have a little more substance, esp for $ 8.50. Maybe just manage expectations better by calling it what it is, which is a side portion of brussel sprouts. And the smoothies were also around the same price. Although I guess that’s what Portland charges nowadays for smoothies.

Well this is definitely a hidden gem on North Williams! There’s so much space here, I can see people coming here to work and/​or do school work. There is even a little kids area if you want to get your munchkin out of your hair for a bit.
I ordered brunch here (can’t order bowls/​lunch items until 2 pm I guess on the weekends) and it was delicious! They offer vegan options (tofu, etc.) but also meat/​cheese/​eggs. Want a morning cocktail? Done. Want an after-​work alcoholic bev? Done. The people here are super nice too!

Discovering a BOGO drink coupon in Chinook Book was reason enough to try Poa. Not to mention they’re right next to Sampling Lab… what a great location!
I decided to go for the Banana Avocado smoothie and the Super Foods smoothie. The Banana Avocado was delicious! I’ve never really thought to add avocado to my homemade smoothies before, but it’s super tasty. The Super Foods was pretty delicious too. I like when places can make ‘green’ smoothies taste good. Sometimes they taste too much like grass or are too sweet, but this one was very well balanced.
$ 6.25 for a 16 oz smoothie does seem a little steep, especially with only one size option ($ 5 kids size is only for actual children). However, I would be more than willing to pay this amount if it was made with organic ingredients. Poa’s website explains that they use local and organic ingredients whenever possible. I love that, but it would also be helpful to indicant on the smoothie board which ingredients were organic (perhaps with an asterisk next to the organic ingredients).
I also appreciated that I was able to used both my Unilocal check-​in offer (one coffee or one cookie w/​order) and the Chinook Book coupon at the same time. I received a $ 2 cookie for free. It was an excellent cookie.
The location is bright and cheery. Their décor and open-​space reflects their community-​centered values. Also, they seem to be very kid-​friendly.

This cute café was a lot larger than I expected and has an urban minimalist ambience to it. There seems to be a small corner for young children to play and would be a great place to study or for families with young children as long as your child isn’t bawling.
I ordered the green tea latte and it was good although not as hot as I would hope. I also tried the brownie (which was a little dry and hard), and the green smoothie which seemed very fresh but unbalanced in flavor. It also came with complimentary seasoned popcorn and an extra cookie or brownie if you check-​in on Unilocal!The café is clean and the staff is friendly. The price is decent to a little pricier than usual.

A café full of various types of wows.
Like, wow there are an insane amount of toddlers running around. Or, wow I can’t believe that seemingly all of PDX’s upwardly mobile stay-​at-​home-​parents have converged in this one spot. And, wow it’s cool that parents and kids have such a family-​friendly place to gather but… wow, it’s loud.
I started ending up here because it’s an easy stop after a barre3 workout two doors down, and because they have a wow-​inducing Paleo bowl that I’ve started craving for lunch. It’s one of those bowls where every bite is chock-​full of something tasty, like tomatoes and slivered almonds and ripe avocado and thick chunks of chicken (or tofu) all generously dressed and tasty. So Good.
There are also tempting smoothies and other breakfast and lunch items, all healthy and nourishing yet palate-​enticing at the same time. The space is light, bright, and open — thankfully so, given the kid volume in here every time I’ve been in. I can’t imagine eating in the din if I didn’t have a kid in the mix, so I happily get my Paleo bowl to go, and try to stay out of the way while I’m waiting. And you will be waiting; service is slow. The first time I came in I had to wait about 30 minutes for my order even though it wasn’t that busy. Today it was super-​crowded but I only had to wait about fifteen minutes (there seemed to be an extra couple of staff this time, which helped).
Overall, Poa is just the kind of café I love: smoothies, tasty and nutritious foods I’d want to eat, complete with not only coffee but a little selection of adult beverages. Just be aware that depending on the crowd, it may not be the place you want to linger and indulge.

Give everyone who works here a medal or an award or something.
Seriously, parents can be the Worst Customers Ever, and this place caters to parents. In a serious way. There are a ton of toys, loads of kid friendly stuff to eat, and booze to help the parents get mellow.
If you’re lucky you’ll get to see Mo Phillips play… One of Portland’s coolest kid-​focused musicians on the scene. Yes, there is a kid music scene in Portland, and it’s awesome. Kids play, adults drink, and normally it’s all very civilized.
Today Mo is playing to a crowded house at POA and it’s a freakin zoo here. There’s about 9 million kids running around. It’s loud.
I’ve seen some really crabby parents being snotty at the staff as if they’re in charge of all the little rugrats running circles around the place. Give ‘em a break, people.
Kudos to the calm, cool and collected folks sweating buckets trying to serve the «needs» of tons of families.
(I say «needs» because you don’t really «need» that cocktail, do you? After chasing your kid around all day, you just really really want it, that’s all. If you do in fact need the cocktail, you need to take yourself over to AA and don’t be wreckin the family vibe over at POA.)
But come on over, bring the kids and have some fun.