Masala Lab may serve some of the most intricate breakfast dishes in town, with nuanced layers of flavor and texture. This Indian American breakfast cafe from Deepak Saxena of Desi PDX serves coffee in colorful mugs, sipped by customers while they wait for dishes like coconut milk tikka mole shrimp and grits or creamy, farm greens “saagshuka” with baked eggs. Wash it all down with the house chai, served hot or iced.

This homey all-day cafe’s breakfast menu includes heavy-hitter favorites like corn cakes with cultured butter, a Spanish tortilla with the subtle smoky heat of romesco, and a breakfast sandwich with scrambled eggs, cheddar, and spicy mayo. Next to these sweet or savory mains, diners can add seasonal add-ons like the house focaccia or a mixed berry cobbler tart. The wine list is always stellar, for those who want to get the party started early.

Alberta is absolutely packed with breakfast spots, but this Mexican restaurant right on the main drag has become a neighborhood hidden gem for its chilaquiles and chorizo omelets. The star of the menu is likely the mole enchiladas, filled with cheese and a choice of filling and finished with two fried eggs. Kids can choose from things like mini breakfast burritos and French toast, and those looking for American breakfast standards will find plenty of pancakes and omelets.

Eclectic from start to finish, Cameo Cafe serves a mashup of American and Korean flavors in a diner space with quintessentially funky Portland decor. Cameo is still offering its omelets and hash browns, waffles, pancakes, or other American classics, but those in the know, head straight for the bindaetteok, a massive Korean pancake of veggies, beans, and ground rice, served with bacon and eggs.

Named Best New Bakery in Eater Portland’s 2022 Eater Awards, it’s a well-established fact that this warm and welcoming Northeast Portland restaurant is overperforming in the baked goods department. While many a morning could be whiled away in the sunny dining room, tearing into crackling pastries along with an espresso, the actual breakfast menu is a standout as well, from savory porridge with a poached egg to fluffy frittatas. Featuring house-baked bread, the creamy whipped ricotta toast features pools of marmalade or jam nestled between the cloud-like ricotta folds, sprinkled with bee pollen and a hint of lemon.

This North Vancouver food cart might not look like much from the outside, but chef Chaz O’Neill is slinging some of the city’s strongest breakfast sandwiches from within this converted trailer. The sandwiches begin with house-made English muffins, layered with things like beautifully fluffy Stiebrs Farms eggs, sausage, and bacon; the Solar Sando is a particularly fun alternative, however, a play on corned beef and cabbage with a cabbage egg cake and corned beef hash. For something sweeter, the French toast here evokes images of school-morning breakfasts, with orange zest and cornflakes.

When it comes time for a no-frills breakfast that’s affordable and filling, Javi’s fits the bill. There are a few surprises on the menu here, like the kielbasa scramble and the tres leches French toast, that make it stand out in Portland’s breakfast scene. Other highlights include a ribeye Benedict served with a Mexican ingredient-inflected hollandaise and the chilaquiles. Javi’s serves a lunch menu of sandwiches, burgers, salads, and soups, as well.

Inside the Glisan convenience store J&T’s Market, Adrian Flores tops cheeseburgers with bacon and eggs, piles plates with huevos rancheros, and ladles bowls of birria de chivo. On the weekends, menudo lands at picnic tables outside the store, sipped alongside horchata and, in some cases, energy drinks from the fridges inside. But for mid-week workers, the selection of breakfast burritos is a real draw, filled with everything from chorizo and potatoes to ham, sausage, and bacon.

Yes, many consider Screen Door a tourist magnet, but since the restaurant opened a new location in the Pearl, brunch has become more frequent, more consistent, and with nowhere near the wait. The classics — buttermilk fried chicken and sweet potato waffles, praline bacon, griddled brioche French toast with rum-flamed caramelized bananas — are all strong options here, especially when paired with a pickled-okra-topped bloody mary or a cold brew spiked with Crater Lake hazelnut vodka and Kahlua.

As its name suggests, grits and gravy are the stars of this Southern-inspired diner opened by Mumbo Gumbo owner Brandon Stevens. Grits here are buttered and creamy or fried and glazed with molasses, while gravy comes in a few varieties — sausage, red eye, country, and smothered onion — for slathering over buttermilk biscuits, chicken fried steaks, or chicken fried pork chops. Like any solid breakfast spot, bottomless coffee is available, but bottomless sweet tea is a refreshing alternative.

This cozy Buckman cafe tops its chicken and waffles with bacon butter or hot chile honey, serves its baked French toast with maple creme anglaise, and bolsters its house-made corned beef hash with poblanos and perfect poached eggs. The cocktail menu is no afterthought, with a lengthy selection of spritzes and coffee cocktails.

La Osita, the breakfast cart with some of the city’s best breakfast burritos and tacos, is still going strong. The chorizo-stuffed Osita breakfast burrito with a hearty dose of pico de gallo is a smart choice, but it’s hard to beat the “brunch taco,” with thick slabs of Applewood bacon and tangy pickled onions with fried eggs. La Osita also serves a variety of coffee drinks and smoothies.

This Scandinavian breakfast cafe is a Portland gem, with locations everywhere from Hood River to Southwest Oleson; however, it’s hard to beat the original cafe, where folks wait for a table with cups of cardamom coffee or breakfast cocktails made with Scandinavian aquavit for a regionally appropriate breakfast tipple. Brunch should start with the cheerful little ebelskivers — spherical, fluffy pancake balls topped in powdered sugar, followed by pans of lost eggs or lefse.

This tiny breakfast joint is a local favorite for its menu of tried-and-true breakfast classics. Find Benedicts, omelets, and scrambles on the rose-bordered menu, plus a few sweet options like croissant French toast and waffles. The classic Benedict is always a good choice, but for something a bit different, go for the polenta Benedict that has a base of grilled polenta and is served with a bright basil pesto hollandaise. The casual vibes here make it an easy choice for breakfast any day of the week.

Newly minted Eater 2024 Best New Restaurant winner Mémoire Cà Phê smashed into the Portland daytime dining scene over the summer and quickly won over locals with a menu focused on nostalgic, deeply comforting dishes that borrow influences from the Southeast Asian diaspora. The restaurant is an Avengers-like collaboration between Portland Cà Phê’s Kimberly Dam, Matta’s Richard Le, and HeyDay’s Lisa Nguyen and a bright celebration of Vietnamese American flavors, from things like a coconut milk egg omelette pocked with shrimp, fried chicken and pandan-spiked waffles, and a breakfast rice bowl drenched in fish sauce gravy and golden egg yolk. There’s not a miss in the bunch.