We’re moving! Neil landed a new awesome job that is in NE Portland so we are going to move once our lease is up in October (or maybe sooner) so until then we have decided to explore a variety of different neighbourhoods that have piqued our interest. This past weekend we decided to head to St. Johns for brunch and a little wandering.
Our main purpose of heading to St. Johns was to finally try the (mostly) vegan restaurant Proper Eats. We had actually planned to go to a different spot for breakfast and then found ourselves heading towards St. Johns so we decided to take advantage of the situation and try something new.
We picked a nice table near the back of the restaurant, grabbed a few building blocks for Edith to play with, ordered beverages and then perused the menu. After taking note of about 10 things that I would have liked to order, I narrowed it down to the tempeh scramble and the biscuits with gravy. I decided to ask our waitress which she would recommend between the two and before I could even finish asking she enthusiastically directed me towards the biscuits with gravy, she was so enthusiastic about it that Neil switched his tofu scramble order to the biscuits as well. They also had a great kids section so we ordered Edith a quinoa, black bean and cashew cheese burrito.
We watched as other patrons food arrived and I added to the list of dishes I wanted to try on our next visit (yes I was already making plans to visit again just based on the menu and other peoples’ orders). Finally our meals arrived and I couldn’t have been more impressed. The biscuits with gravy came with lots of yummy kale and veggies. Edith’s burrito came with a few pieces of fruit and was topped with avocado slices.
We all dug in and Neil threatened to steal some of mine if I didn’t watch out. Neil and I just about licked our plates clean and probably (most definitely) would have done so had we been at home. The biscuits were so delicious and the gravy was amazing. The best part is, I felt satisfied but not heavy and super full at the end of my meal. Edith also loved her burrito and devoured about half of it (okay I may have stolen a few bites). I was pretty impressed with the burrito and would have even ordered it for myself. I loved that it wasn’t salty and that it came with the avocado and fruit as well. I ended up eating the leftover burrito for dinner topped with an embarrassing amount of Aardvark Hot Sauce, so good.
After our delicious dining experience, we decided to take some photos of us in our Ergobaby carriers and took a little stroll around the area. We walked over to the St. Johns bridge, which is really beautiful and alone is worth the drive up to St. Johns. We also went to a few thrift/vintage stores where I found myself a top and a few vintage rompers for Edith. We had a great late morning/afternoon in St. Johns and we have added it to our ever growing list of potential areas to move.
If you are a PDX local, which neighborhood do you live in and why do you love it?
If you aren’t a local, tell me what your strategy is when looking to move to a new area.
Had to comment: I LIVE IN ST JOHNS! I love it here. It’s far enough out of Portland to feel like a little town. I run into people I know whenever I go to the grocery store, restaurant or bar. But it’s still close enough to everything including downtown and SE. Plus housing is a little cheaper, which is nice.
Good luck on your house search!
We have it pretty high on the list. The only concern that we have is we are a one car family and my husband will be commuting via bike/public transit and we really don’t want too long of a commute. We will have to do some more research still but we do like the area.