Snacking through the cafe

Class starts in 10 minutes and your eyelids are already beginning to droop. You make it all the way to the nearest caffeine factory, and the moment you reach the counter, you realize it: That gurgle you heard while waiting in line was coming from your stomach. You need to eat. And your white chocolate soy mocha alone isn’t going to cut it.

Lucky for you, cafés surrounding PSU offer a plethora of options to cull your cravings for more solid foodstuffs.

Chit Chat Café

1907 SW 6th Ave.

Bubble tea lovers congregate at Chit Chat. The café caters primarily to Portland State students and has a new recommendation or special for its customers to try every day, such as cupcake milk tea or taro bubble tea.

Hungry folks can load up on carbs while they get their drinks. Chit Chat offers bagels with various smears—everything from traditional cream cheese to salmon. Sandwiches and bento lunches are also available if a customer has a few extra minutes. But for those of us on the go, Chit Chat offers muffins and candies, getting you in and out before you can say “poppy seed.”

Aside from the muffins and candy bars, their food is made on order, so getting a bagel means you’ll have to wait a few minutes. But that’s no matter—in three minutes, you’ll have your drink and your snack and be on your way, and thanks to its reasonable prices, you’ll be able to stick to your budget just fine.

Park Avenue Café

1525 SW Park Ave.

Park Avenue Café, located at the far end of the Park Blocks, might just be the only café in Portland that offers quiche as a specialty. The café has prices that are perhaps a little high for most students to afford on a regular basis, but provides dishes that are certainly worth an indulgence every once in a while.

They offer a wide array of snacks, from bagels to Panini. Some of their specialty dishes make you look twice—Mediterranean food? But for the most part, Park Avenue Café offers standard café fare. Sandwiches, wraps and salads round out the menu, and with five minutes to spare, you can duck out with your drink and snack.

After 23 years in business, this café knows how to prepare a good dish. But it’s up to you whether you want to pay for it.

Broadway Coffee and Tea

1924 SW Broadway

As a pedestrian, it is easy to miss Broadway Coffee and Tea, thanks to the Thai restaurant sits above. But once one ventures inside, it’s hard to see why it is ever overlooked.

This café, home to many loyal regulars, prides itself on its sustainable practices and organic, homemade food and drinks. It offers crêpes, salads and soups. Also available are various pastries, reasonably priced and typically fresh. Muffins, cookies, and croissants are at about the level of your knees when you order, and they’re ready to go with you when you leave.

Their soup is vegetarian, allowing health-conscious Portlanders to breathe a sigh of relief when they order, and their crêpes are made on demand. The only downside to visiting this café in a hurry, it seems, is the realization that you will have to eventually leave it.