Cafe Rowan
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| Cafe Rowan | |
|---|---|
 | |
 The restaurant's exterior, 2025 | |
 Interactive map of Cafe Rowan | |
| Restaurant information | |
| Established | 2020 |
| Owner | Spencer Ivankoe |
| Location | 4437 Southeast César E Chávez Boulevard, Portland, Multnomah, Oregon, 97202, United States |
| Coordinates | 45°29′25″N 122°37′23″W / 45.4904°N 122.6230°W |
| Website | caferowan |
Cafe Rowan is a farm-to-table restaurant in Portland, Oregon, United States. Owner Spencer Ivankoe opened the restaurant on César E Chávez Boulevard in southeast Portland's Creston-Kenilworth neighborhood in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic. It started with brunch service and launched a dinner menu in 2023. It has garnered a positive reception as a brunch destination.
Menu
The farm-to-table restaurant Cafe Rowan operates on César E Chávez Boulevard at Holgate Boulevard[1] in southeast Portland's Creston-Kenilworth neighborhood at the boundary with the Woodstock neighborhood.[2][3] The Portland Mercury has described the restaurant as "a bright space with an open kitchen that serves some supremely photogenic dishes".[4] It has a seating capacity of 42 people,[2] as well as outdoor seating.[4][5] The patio is dog-friendly.[6] The business is named after the owner's Labrador Retriever.[7]
Brunch is served Wednesdays through Sundays.[8] The menu includes variations of Eggs Benedict with Dungeness crab[9] or Maine lobster, as well as French toast with bananas foster.[8] Breakfast burritos have chorizo, roasted garlic potatoes, scrambled eggs, salsa macha, salsa verde, and cilantro-lime crema. The restaurant has also served cheddar grits with blackened shrimp, bacon-shallot jam, and Calabrian chili oil. Among breakfast sandwiches is the Dame, which has breakfast sausage, fried egg, manchego,[10] gochujang, and Mama Lil's aioli.[11] The bacon, egg and cheese sandwich has blueberry jam.[10] Among toasts is The Avocado, which has spring peas, watermelon radish, and tahini with Meyer lemon.[12] Cafe Rowan has also served Connecticut-style lobster rolls. The lobster roll sampler has Dungeness crab, Maine lobster, and Oregon bay shrimp.[13] Drink options include coffee[5] and mimosas with grapefruit or orange juice.[13]
The dinner menu has included kanpachi crudo with fennel pollen, pan con tomate with duck fat, prosciutto, and sea urchin. Drink options include cocktails and wine.[5] Cafe Rowan has also offered pastries from the bakery Orange & Blossom.[6]
History
In October 2019, Eater Portland described owner Spencer Ivankoe's plans to open Cafe Rowan in early 2020, in a space previously used as a coffee shop by Starbucks. The website's Brooke Jackson-Glidden said Cafe Rowan would be "complete with weekly prix fixe dinners, monthly Jazz brunches, and a wall of Oregon-specific sundries".[2]
As of January 2020, the restaurant was slated to open in March.[14] Like many restaurants, the business was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and operated via curbside pickup, take-out, and indoor dining at times.[15] In 2021, Invakoe launched a dinner series with menus that rotated monthly and were paired with winemakers.[16][17][18] In 2023, Eater Portland described the cafe's plans to formally launch dinner service.[5] The restaurant was broken into in 2024.[3]
For Dumpling Week, Cafe Rowan has offered dumplings with Maine Lobster and shrimp, served in tom kha broth with coconut milk, fish sauce, galangal, lemongrass, lime, and Thai chilis.[19]
