Vegan Brunch Near St. Johns, Portland

Published May 20, 2026 · Off the Griddle

Skip the scroll — browse our full menu or order online for pickup right now.

St. Johns gets a bad rap from people who don’t live there. The story goes that it’s too far, too cut off, too much of a trip from “real” Portland. People who actually live in St. Johns know better. The neighborhood is its own thing — the bridge, Cathedral Park, the bookstore, the bakery, the bowling alley, the way Lombard turns into a real main street for a few blocks. It’s a place, not a satellite.

It’s also a neighborhood with a genuinely good vegan food scene — better than most people give it credit for. What it doesn’t have, and the thing this post is about, is a sit-down full-service vegan brunch. That’s the niche Off The Griddle fills, about 12 minutes down Lombard on NE Alberta Street.

This is a guide for St. Johns folks who want a proper weekend brunch with waffles, biscuits and gravy, a Bloody Mary, and a server who knows the menu — all of it plant-based, most of it available gluten-free. Here’s what to know.

The St. Johns Vegan Scene, Honestly

Let’s do this the right way and acknowledge what’s already in the neighborhood, because pretending St. Johns is a vegan desert would be both wrong and disrespectful to the spots doing the work.

• Homegrown Smoker on N Lombard is a Portland institution — vegan BBQ that’s been around long enough to feel inevitable. Tempeh ribs, mac and cheese, the works.
• Flourish at the St. Johns Beer Porch is a fully vegan food cart with sandwiches and comfort food. The Chicky Parm and the Un-Beetable Burger have real fans.
• The Groovy Floret does fully vegan dinner with jackfruit BBQ tacos, nachos, and a heated patio.
• Van Hanh on N Lombard is a long-running vegan Vietnamese spot — pho, banh mi, the whole menu.

What none of those do — and what nobody in St. Johns does at the moment — is full-service vegan weekend brunch. Sit down, get coffee refilled, order a tofu scramble and a Bloody Mary, take your time. That’s a specific thing, and it’s the thing that pulls St. Johns folks down Lombard on a Saturday morning.

Why It’s Worth the 12 Minutes

Off The Griddle’s Alberta location is roughly 12–15 minutes from the heart of St. Johns depending on traffic and which route you take. That’s closer than driving downtown, closer than the east side, and you end up in the Alberta Arts District — which is a pretty good place to be on a Saturday morning.

The kitchen is fully plant-based, which matters more than it sounds like it does. When the whole menu is built around plant-based cooking, the waffles are actually waffles, the gravy actually tastes like gravy, and there’s no awkward dance about substitutions. You order what you want from a real menu instead of asking what can be modified.

Gluten-free is built into how the kitchen operates, not bolted on. Most of the menu is available GF by request, and Off The Griddle has been doing it long enough that it’s not a novelty.

And the bar is real. A full beverage program with locally made Bloody Mary mix, mimosas with locally squeezed OJ, draft kombucha, beer, cider, and brunch cocktails. Plenty of vegan-friendly restaurants treat the bar as an afterthought. Off The Griddle doesn’t.

How to Get to Off The Griddle from St. Johns

Off The Griddle’s Alberta location is at 2215 NE Alberta St, Portland, OR 97211. From St. Johns, you have two reasonable routes:

The Lombard Route (most direct)

Take N Lombard St east. It turns into NE Lombard around N Greeley, keep going. Right on NE 33rd Ave, right on NE Alberta St, and the restaurant is between NE 22nd and 23rd. Roughly 12–15 minutes on a normal weekend morning. This is the simple route — one main road most of the way.

The Killingsworth Route (a touch quicker if Lombard is slow)

N Lombard to N Interstate Ave, south on Interstate to NE Killingsworth St, east on Killingsworth to NE 22nd or 23rd, north to Alberta. Slightly fewer lights, sometimes faster depending on the day. Locals tend to pick this one if they know there’s a backup on Lombard.

A Note on Bridge and Traffic Timing

Both routes are usually clean weekend mornings before 11am. After that, the Lombard corridor can get a little dense around the New Seasons and the Adidas campus. Build in a five-minute buffer if you’re aiming for the peak brunch slot.

Parking on Alberta

Street parking on Alberta and the side streets is usually findable weekday mornings. Weekends are tighter — aim for NE 22nd or 23rd and walk a block. There are bike racks right outside if you’re feeling ambitious about the ride down.

What to Order When You Get Here

The menu is entirely plant-based, with most items available gluten-free on request. A few things worth knowing about:

• Waffle with Fried Chik’n — The signature. Crispy vegan chik’n over a scratch-made waffle, maple syrup, gravy. First-visit order.
• The Brisket Hash — Smoky, savory, deeply satisfying. A lot of regulars rotate between this and the waffle.
• Biscuits and Gravy — Available gluten-free. The gravy is the kind that tastes like someone’s grandmother taught the kitchen how to make it.
• Tofu Scramble — The comfort classic. Hearty, well-seasoned, pairs with everything.
• Walnut Meatloaf & Sausage — House specialty. Skeptics order it once and then keep ordering it.
• Bloody Mary — Locally made mix, proper garnish. Mimosas with locally squeezed OJ if that’s more your speed. Draft kombucha if you’re not drinking.

See the full menu here →

Gluten-Free and Allergen Notes

Almost the entire menu is available gluten-free by request. Off The Griddle has been doing GF since before it was a Portland cliché — it’s built into how the kitchen operates. That said, it’s a shared kitchen environment, so they can’t guarantee zero cross-contact. If you have celiac-level sensitivity, let your server know and they’ll walk you through what’s safest.

Soy-free options are marked on the menu (look for the SFO label), and nut-containing items are similarly flagged. Vegan + gluten-free, vegan + soy-free — plenty to eat.

Make a Morning of It: After Brunch on Alberta

If you’re driving down from St. Johns, a few easy ways to make it more than just a meal:

• Alberta Arts District — Off The Griddle sits in the middle of it. The galleries, boutiques, and studios up and down Alberta are worth a slow browse, especially on Last Thursday (the monthly art walk, April through October).
• Mississippi Ave — About 10 minutes west of Alberta and on your way back toward St. Johns. Independent shops, record stores, bookstores. Easy to pair.
• Irving Park — A few blocks from the restaurant. Good place to walk off a big waffle before the drive back.
• The drive home through Overlook — If you take the Killingsworth route back, you can detour through Overlook and stop at one of the coffee spots there. Makes the trip feel like a small Saturday outing rather than a quick errand.

Tips: Wait Times, Pickup, and When to Come

• Best time to come: Weekday mornings are quietest. Weekend brunch fills in by 10:30am — aim for 9–10am or after 12:30pm if you’d rather not wait.
• Pickup option: If you’d rather grab and head back to St. Johns, order online for pickup. Phone-in orders may be paused during peak hours to protect dine-in service, so online is the move.
• Closed Tuesdays. Plan accordingly.
• Bring the dog (with a heads up). Outdoor seating is available in good weather.

Come Down the Lombard Corridor

Off The Griddle’s Alberta location is open every day except Tuesday — brunch 9am to 2pm. We’re at 2215 NE Alberta St, Portland, OR, roughly 12–15 minutes from St. Johns depending on which route you take.

Order online for pickup or call us at 503-889-0660. Dine-in is first-come, first-served. We’d love to see you on Alberta.