Gravy

Name: Gravy
Location: 3957 North Mississippi Avenue
Portland, OR 97212
Contact information: 503.287.8800
Hours: Tuesday-Thursday 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m ; Friday 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. to midnight; Saturday 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. to midnight; Sunday 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., closed Monday
Cost: Most mains around $8
Reservation recommended: None taken – put name on list at door
Good for: Southern breakfast food – organic style
Insider tip: The meals here are massive. Really. Sharing is recommended

Review: Like the Tin Shed, Gravy is a Portland breakfast/bunch mecca that also just so happens to be open for dinner.

Gravy emphasizes local, organic produce and offers everything from egg or tofu scrambles to pancakes to oatmeal. The restaurant walls boast a hodge-podge of trinkets and items from different eras, as well as rotating works of art. It’s the type of place that when an accordion player starts up at 9 in the morning, no one looks up in surprise.

Although there are plenty of options on the menu, I’ve yet to have a meal that wasn’t so-so. I’ve ordered the Greco a few times, thinking it the best-looking scramble on the menu. In both instances, the job of having massive proportions still couldn’t overrule the wet dish (what’s more unappealing than water oozing around your plate?)- and boring taste. Although the blast-from-the-past atmosphere is unique, the coolness of using a fork from the 1950s can be offset by the fact you can taste the metal. Yeech.

Service at the restaurant is harried and they could use a few more bodies to bus tables. Like other breakfast places, expect to wait on the weekend mornings. Prices are reasonable.