Byways Cafe was a

diner A diner is a small, inexpensive restaurant found across the United States, as well as in Canada and parts of Western Europe. Diners offer a wide range of foods, mostly American cuisine, a casual atmosphere, and, characteristically, a com ...

in the

Pearl District The Pearl District is an area of Portland, Oregon, formerly occupied by warehouses, light industry and railroad classification yards and now noted for its art galleries, upscale businesses and residences. The area has been undergoing significan ...

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

, United States. Owners, Collin McFadden and Megan Brinkley, opened the restaurant in 1999, serving

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

breakfast and brunch

comfort food Comfort food is food that provides a nostalgic or sentimental value to someone, and may be characterized by its high caloric nature, high carbohydrate level, or simple preparation. The nostalgia may be specific to an individual, or it may app ...

s such as

corned beef Corned beef, or salt beef in some of the Commonwealth of Nations, is Salt-cured meat, salt-cured brisket of beef. The term comes from the treatment of the meat with large-grained rock salt, also called "corns" of salt. Sometimes, sugar and sp ...

hash Hash, hashes, hash mark, or hashing may refer to: Substances * Hash (food), a coarse mixture of ingredients * Hash, a nickname for hashish, a cannabis product Hash mark *Hash mark (sports), a marking on hockey rinks and gridiron football field ...

omelets In cuisine, an omelette (also spelled omelet) is a dish (food), dish made from beaten egg (food), eggs, Frying, fried with butter or Cooking oil, oil in a frying pan (without stirring as in scrambled egg). It is quite common for the omelette to ...

, and

pancake A pancake (or hotcake, griddlecake, or flapjack) is a flat cake, often thin and round, prepared from a Starch, starch-based batter (cooking), batter that may contain eggs, milk and butter and cooked on a hot surface such as a griddle or fryi ...

Guy Fieri Guy Ramsay Fieri (, ; ''né'' Ferry; born January 22, 1968) is an American restaurateur, author, and an Emmy Award winning television presenter. He co-owns three restaurants in California, licenses his name to restaurants in New York City, Las ...

visited the diner for a 2007 episode of the

Food Network Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a joint venture and general partnership between Warner Bros. Discovery Networks (which holds a 69% ownership stake of the network) and Nexstar Media Group ...

show, ''

Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives ''Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives'' (often nicknamed ''Triple D'' and stylized as ''Diners, Drive-Ins, Dives'') is an American food reality television series that premiered on April 23, 2007, on the Food Network. It is hosted by Guy Fieri. The show o ...

''. Byways received generally positive receptions and was voted the city's "best

brunch Brunch is a meal eaten between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m., sometimes accompanied by alcoholic drinks (typically champagne or a cocktail). The meal originated in the British hunt breakfast. The word ''brunch'' is a portmanteau of ''breakfast'' a ...

spot" by readers of ''

The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 185 ...

'' in 2016. It closed in late 2019, after the owners were unable to reach a

lease A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the user (referred to as the ''lessee'') to pay the owner (referred to as the ''lessor'') for the use of an asset. Property, buildings and vehicles are common assets that are leased. Industrial ...

agreement with the

landlord A landlord is the owner of a house, apartment, condominium, land, or real estate which is rented or leased to an individual or business, who is called a tenant (also a ''lessee'' or ''renter''). When a juristic person is in this position, the ...

Description

The

was located along Glisan Street in

northwest Portland Northwest Portland is one of the sextants of Portland, Oregon, United States. Northwest Portland includes the Pearl District, most of Old Town Chinatown, the Northwest District, and various residential and industrial neighborhoods. A range of ...

. Andi Prewitt of ''

Willamette Week ''Willamette Week'' (''WW'') is an alternative weekly newspaper and a website published in Portland, Oregon, United States, since 1974. It features reports on local news, politics, sports, business, and culture. History Early history ''Willame ...

'' described Byways as a "classic diner accented with red vinyl booths and lunch counter stools along with a black-and-white checkered floor". The menu included

such as

s, scrambles, and

milkshake A milkshake (sometimes simply called a shake) is a sweet beverage made by blending milk, ice cream, and flavorings or sweeteners such as butterscotch, caramel sauce, chocolate syrup, fruit syrup, or whole fruit into a thick, sweet, cold mixture ...

s. Hollyanna McCollom's 2016

guide book A guide book or travel guide is "a book of information about a place designed for the use of visitors or tourists". It will usually include information about sights, accommodation, restaurants, transportation, and activities. Maps of varying det ...

, ''Moon Portland'', says "locals have been flocking here for years to sample the

, scrambles, and corned beef hash. Byways is also famous for its blue corn pancakes, made with ground

blue corn Blue corn (also known as Hopi maize, Yoeme Blue, Tarahumara Maiz Azul, and Rio Grande Blue) is several closely related varieties of flint corn grown in Mexico, the Southwestern United States, and the Southeastern United States. It is one ...

and served with honey

pecan The pecan (''Carya illinoinensis'') is a species of hickory native to the southern United States and northern Mexico in the region of the Mississippi River. The tree is cultivated for its seed in the southern United States, primarily in Georgia, ...

butter." In 2019, Alex Frane from ''

Eater Portland ''Eater'' is a food website by Vox Media. It was co-founded by Lockhart Steele and Ben Leventhal in 2005, and originally focused on dining and nightlife in New York City. Eater launched a national site in 2009, and covered nearly 20 cities by ...

'' said that Byways had served "a menu that has remained more or less constant: American breakfast and brunch classics like French toast, monte cristos,

biscuits and gravy Biscuits and gravy is a popular breakfast dish in the United States, especially in the South. The dish consists of soft dough biscuits covered in white gravy (sawmill gravy), made from the drippings of cooked pork sausage, flour, milk, and often ( ...

, and all sorts of egg scrambles and omelets, as well as a lunch menu of burgers and sandwiches. The vibe, too, is that of a classic American family-owned diner, with

kitsch Kitsch ( ; loanword from German) is a term applied to art and design that is perceived as naïve imitation, overly-eccentric, gratuitous, or of banal taste. The avant-garde opposed kitsch as melodramatic and superficial affiliation with ...

y displays like decorative plates and

license plates A vehicle registration plate, also known as a number plate (British English), license plate (American English), or licence plate ( Canadian English), is a metal or plastic plate attached to a motor vehicle or trailer for official identificat ...

History

Owners Collin McFadden and Megan Brinkley opened Byways in 1999. The space was previously occupied by Shakers Cafe, operated by Jeani Subotnick and Bruce Bauer, from 1991 to 1998. Shakers's decor was described as "kitschy-cool, with collections of

salt and pepper Salt and pepper is the common name for edible salt and ground black pepper, which are ubiquitously paired on Western dining tables as to allow for the additional seasoning of food after its preparation. During food preparation or cooking, they m ...

shakers all over the place and chrome counter stools that evoked a bygone era". The cafe was known for "homemade pies, massive pancakes, killer

scone A scone is a baked good, usually made of either wheat or oatmeal with baking powder as a leavening agent, and baked on sheet pans. A scone is often slightly sweetened and occasionally glazed with egg wash. The scone is a basic component of th ...

s, and cup after cup of strong coffee". Cindy's Helvetia Cafe briefly operated in the space after Shakers.

visited Byways in 2007, for a "retro-themed" episode on the first season of the

's ''

'', during which he "raved about the corned beef hash and Brinkley's house-made desserts".

Closure

In November 2019, McFadden and Brinkley announced plans to close before the end of the year. They were unable to reach a

agreement with the building's owners. The duo wrote on

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

"It's been well known that our building has been for sale for almost 2 years and that we have never had the resources to buy it ourselves. Unfortunately we haven't been able to work out a lease that will allow us to keep Byways moving along like it always has. We will miss the community space that Byways has become, and the time spent with staff, customers, and family."

Additionally, they invited patrons for a "last meal" and expressed an eagerness to move on, writing:

Reception

In 2008,

Ted Wheeler Edward Tevis Wheeler (born August 31, 1962) is an American politician who has served as the mayor of Portland, Oregon since 2017. He was Oregon State Treasurer from 2010 to 2016. Wheeler was elected in the 2016 Portland mayoral election and ree ...

said that Byways Cafe was his favorite restaurant. Byways was listed as an "editors' choice" in the eighth edition of the guide book, ''Best Places: Portland'' (2010). In ''Moon Portland'', McCollom stated, "The corn cakes are good, but nothing compares to the

amaretto Amaretto (Italian for "a little bitter") is a sweet Italian liqueur that originated in Saronno. Depending on the brand, it may be made from apricot kernels, bitter almonds, peach stones, or almonds, all of which are natural sources of the benz ...

French toast". She advised, "The weekend wait can be long here, as at many Portland restaurant joints. To make it more bearable, arrive early, bring something to read, and pick up something

caffeinated Caffeine is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant of the methylxanthine class. It is mainly used recreationally as a cognitive enhancer, increasing alertness and attentional performance. Caffeine acts by blocking binding of adenosine to ...

on the way." In 2016, readers of ''

'' voted Byways the city's "best

spot" in an online "People's Choice" poll. Byways gained support using

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...

and earned 23 percent of the vote. The newspaper's Lizzy Acker ranked the diner fourth in her 2019 list of the city's top 25 corned beef hashes, writing: Following confirmation of the pending closure, Michael Russell of ''The Oregonian'' said the diner was "one of Portland's longest-running and best-loved brunch spots, a

tchotchke A tchotchke ( , ) is a small bric-à-brac or miscellaneous item. The word has long been used by Jewish-Americans and in the New York City English, regional speech of New York City and elsewhere. It is borrowed from Yiddish and is ultimately Slavic ...

-filled slice of

Americana Americana may refer to: *Americana (music), a genre or style of American music *Americana (culture), artifacts of the culture of the United States Film, radio and television * ''Americana'' (1992 TV series), a documentary series presented by J ...

that felt out of time even before its surrounding Pearl District neighborhood grew up all around it". ''

'' And Prewitt described Byways as "one of Portland's breakfast institutions". Wm. Steven Humphrey of the ''

Portland Mercury ''Portland Mercury'' is an alternative bi-weekly newspaper and media company founded in 2000 in Portland, Oregon. It has a sibling publication in Seattle, Washington, called '' The Stranger''. Contributors and staff Editor-in-chief: Wm. Steven ...

'' described Byways as "adorable and yummy" and considered the confirmed closure as "probably the saddest food news of the week". ''Eater Portland'' Alex Frane called Byways a "longstanding and beloved breakfast spot" and said its closure made "a sizable dent in the Pearl District's breakfast scene". The website's

Brooke Jackson-Glidden Brooke Jackson-Glidden is a food writer and the editor of ''Eater Portland''. In 2023, she received the Jonathan Gold Local Voice Award from the James Beard Foundation in part for her essay about Either/Or. Career Jackson-Glidden has been the ed ...

also called Byways a "Portland breakfast institution". In December 2019, Sander Gusinow of ''Oregon Business'' said the diner's closure, along with the closing of

Little Bird Bistro Little Bird Bistro was a French bistro in Portland, Oregon, in the United States. The restaurant opened in 2010, and closed on October 27, 2019. Description and history Little Bird was a French bistro in downtown Portland. It opened in 2010, and ...

, explained why "restaurant entrepreneurs would err on the side of caution when it comes to opening dining venues downtown".

References

External links

*
Byways Cafe
at

Byways Cafe
at

Zagat The ''Zagat Survey'', commonly referred to as Zagat (stylized in all caps; , ) and established by Tim and Nina Zagat in 1979, is an organization which collects and correlates the ratings of restaurants by diners. For their first guide, covering ...