Byways Cafe

"After twenty years of service, the Byways Cafe is shuttering at the end of the year. Koin 6 broke the news that the Byways Cafe, a longstanding and beloved breakfast spot in the Pearl District, would be closing at the end of the year. In a post to Facebook, the cafe gave an all too familiar reason, writing, '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.' Predating the Pearl’s rapid development as a trendy, high-priced neighborhood, the Byways Cafe set down roots in 1998, serving a menu that has remained more or less constant: American breakfast and brunch classics like French toast, monte cristos, biscuits and gravy, 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 kitschy displays like decorative plates and license plates." - Alex Frane

"Byways Cafe, a Portland breakfast institution open for more than 20 years, closes at the end of 2019. The building has been for sale for two years, but the owners say they don’t have the resources to buy it themselves; now, it seems the owners have lost their hold on the space." - Brooke Jackson-Glidden