Stepping Stone Cafe

You know when a restaurant's motto is "You eat here because we let you," you're in for a treat.

An affordable, filling, no-frills treat.

That's what you get at Stepping Stone Cafe.

Located in the Nob Hill neighborhood of Portland - conveniently, right up the road from us - is this gem of a breakfast spot (breakfast is served all day, but they also offer lunch and dinner). Despite only being in the area for four weeks, we've already been to this place twice for brunch. (Pro tip: you can skip the line outside and go right to the bar, if you're lucky enough to find empty seats).

The portions are huge, the servers are fast (and friendly enough), and the Bloody Marys ($6.50) are wonderfully spicy, if you order them as such. Compared to a lot of other brunch menus we've perused in the area, the prices are also very reasonable - especially for all of the food you're getting.

One breakfast dish I highly recommend is the Jalapeno Omelette ($9), chock-full of fresh jalapenos, peppers, onions, jack and cream cheeses (pictured below). The spice of the jalapenos was cut with the cream cheese, and it wasn't overly rich - a great balance of flavors. I urge you to swap out toast for a homemade biscuit for an extra 50 cents, too. The biscuit was incredibly buttery, and the size of my face.

The Absolute Omelette ($9.50) is another winner, stuffed with mushrooms, onions, peppers, avocado, cheddar, and Swiss, with slices of tomato on top. While the avocado was scant, the rest of the ingredients were plentiful and well-seasoned.

Another must-try item at Stepping Stone is the Mancake ($3.50 for one). It's the size of the plate - meaning, huge - and is not for those with a small stomach. (You can even sub it for toast with your omelette, as Z did, which proved to be a gluttonous - yet delicious - choice). The Mancake is worth the fight, though - it's bursting with vanilla flavor, and only gets tastier with the addition of maple syrup.

One last important mention about Stepping Stone: the coffee's delicious (they use Portland Roasting). A must, in my book, to make a breakfast joint worthy of repeat visits.

Stepping Stone, we will be back. Again.

Are you more of an omelette person, or pancake/French toast/Mancake person?