Broder Café - Portland

Broder is a hard place to get into, unless you're patient. At least on the weekends, anyway. I'm not a fan of their pen and board sign in procedure: the list is always atrociously long, and more often than not, people give up and leave without crossing their names off the list, projecting the image of a wait that is longer than the reality, although not by much. And unlike most places, they don't call you when your table is ready, so you're obliged to loiter or wander about the neighborhood, hoping to return in time without being passed over by another party. Expect an hour wait, or more, for brunch. It's all very archaic, and is probably Broder's one (and only weakness. That being said, it's worth the wait. Trust me on this one. As it was such an odyssey to get a table here, we went all out: Folorade Agg (a sort of custard-adjacent egg skillet with creamed spinach, mushrooms, ham, and parmesan panko breadcrumb crust , Tunnbrodsrulle (Swedish hot dog flatbread sandwich , side of pickled herring in lemon caraway dressing, side of pork apple sausage, Danish Mary, Midnight Sun. Vad fan?! Incredible, all around. To start, the Danish Mary, which uses dill aquavit instead of vodka (if you so choose , a spicy mix and a dill-salted rim, makes it one of the tastiest **** Mary's around. The Folorade Agg was rich, creamy, cheesy and hearty, with a pleasant crunch from the parmesan-infused crust. But the Tunnbrodsrulle was the star of the meal for me, with its pleasant quirkiness: a beef frank, potato pancake, shrimp(?! salad, pickles and mustard, wrapped in flatbread. On paper, several of those ingredients shouldn't work together, but when taken as a whole, it's enlightening. Hot dog detractors would do well to reevaluate their prejudices, and take this iteration seriously. Even the pickled herring was great, and I say this as someone who has historically been squeamish with regards to fish in snack-food form. Maybe it was my recent dalliance with sardines at home that evolved my palate to a more elevated place? I wouldn't order it all the time, but it was a fun flirtation with a dish that would normally have me running screaming for the hills! Further research revealed to me that there are two more Broder locations (Nord and Soder in the Portland area, giving hope that these wonderful entrées might be acquired in a more expedited manner than loitering around out front on a chilly Saturday morning. Perhaps they coordinate their waitlists in a more modern manner? I hope so, because this inadvertent gatekeeping is holding a lot of people back from experiencing these incredible dishes, and that's tantamount to a crime against humanity. I mean, these people might be going to Ikea to get their Swedish meatball fix instead! Oh, the horror!

Scrumptious food that brings me back to my Scandinavian heritage

Swedish food Bad parking very difficult to find a spot Polite staff and both outside and inside dining. Both breakfast and lunch menu The swedish hotdogs were wrapped in a tortilla and had shrimp and potatoes with pickled vegetables and salad were delicious in different ways. Swedish pancakes and vegetarian hash are good

It is worth the wait! Impressive drink menu to compliment the food. I had the pear mimosa and a ginger spiced chai latte. The Danish pancakes are delicious, order more than four. The seasonal fruit fritter hit the spot.

Top notch. Sit inside and watch the kitchen rock out to 80's classics. Really, 2 guys putting food out like clockwork, it's a wonder to watch. Food is great. Staff is wonderful. You won't hate yourself for doing this.