Delta Cafe

Delta Cafe is a Southern, cajun, and soul food restaurant in Portland, Oregon's Woodstock neighborhood, in the United States. Anastasia Corya and Anton Pace opened the restaurant in 1995. They sold Delta in 2007 to open another Southern restaurant, Miss Delta, with two of the cafe's cooks. Frequented by Reed College students and neighborhood residents, Delta Cafe has been recognized as a favorite local comfort food destination and has a cocktail bar called Delta Lounge. In 2016, a mural was painted on the restaurant's exterior as part of a neighborhood beautification project.

Not to be confused with Delta Cafés.
"Delta Lounge" redirects here. It is not to be confused with Delta Sky Club.
Delta Cafe
The restaurant's exterior in 2012
Restaurant information
Established1995 (1995) (26 years ago)
Previous owner(s)
  • Anastasia Corya
  • Anton Pace
Food type
Street address4607 SE Woodstock Blvd.
CityPortland
CountyMultnomah
StateOregon
Postal/ZIP Code97206
CountryUnited States
Coordinates45.4793°N 122.6153°W / 45.4793; -122.6153
Websitedeltacafepdx.com

Description
Delta Lounge, 2008

Delta Cafe is located along Woodstock Boulevard in southeast Portland's Woodstock neighborhood. The restaurant serves Southern,[1] Cajun,[2] and soul food.[3] The menu includes fried chicken, fritters,[4] hushpuppies, meatloaf,[5] and ribs.[6] Other fried options include gizzards, okra, oysters, pickles, and shrimp.[7] The brunch menu includes beignets, shrimp and grits, and smoked brisket hash, as well as Bloody Marys and other cocktails.[8]

Delta originally had a single dining space and later expanded to four.[1] The restaurant plays "funky" music and has "odd" furniture and local art.[6] Delta has been described as an "inexpensive neighborhood place" serving "generous" portions to Reed College students and having "a loyal following from all over".[6] The restaurant accepted cash and checks only, as of 2011. Delta operated from 5 to 10 pm daily, with the bar (called Delta Lounge)[9] staying open until 1 am on weekdays and 2 am on weekends;[6] since 2016, brunch has been served daily starting at 9 am.[8] Drinks on Delta Lounge's menu include the Hey Ya!!!, a cucumber vodka cocktail, and a ginger drop made from ginger-infused vodka blended with lemon.[9]

History

Anastasia Corya and Anton Pace established Delta Cafe in 1995.[1] Early on, Delta had a "symbiotic bar-restaurant relationship" with nearby Lutz Tavern, where guests on waiting lists for the restaurant could wait in the bar. Before cell phones, Lutz staff would receive calls from Delta and announce when reserved parties could be seated.[10]

The restaurant's exterior, 2020

Corya and Pace sold the business in June 2007, then opened Miss Delta along Mississippi Avenue in north Portland in August 2007. Two of Delta Cafe's cooks, Jennifer Hazzard and Chuck Westmoreland, also became co-owners of Miss Delta and continued a Southern cuisine menu.[1]

In 2012, Delta celebrated its seventeenth anniversary by offering forty-ounce Pabsts to patrons for $2.50, the price for the drink when the restaurant was founded.[11] In 2016, a mural was painted on the restaurant's west exterior as part of a neighborhood beautification initiative called the Woodstock Street Art Project.[12] Funded in part by Metro and the Regional Arts & Culture Council, the artwork and two other murals in the neighborhood were completed by Travis Czekalski and Jon Stommel, the art duo known as Rather Severe.[13][14] Delta began serving brunch daily in November 2016.[8] The restaurant has also hosted Halloween and Mardi Gras celebrations.[2][15]

Reception
Interior decor, 2016

In 2002, Delta Cafe tied with Mother's Bistro in the "best old hometown restaurant" category of Willamette Week's annual readers poll. The restaurant won in the "best down-home cookin'" category in 2007.[16] In his 2003 travel book Fugitives and Refugees, Chuck Palahniuk published Delta's fritters recipe and said of the restaurant, "There isn't a disappointment on the whole menu."[4] Eater Portland's Alex Frane included Delta in his 2018 list of the city's "killer Southern restaurants". He described Delta as "a staple for Reedies and other Woodstock residents" and recommended, "Bring a big appetite, especially for the huge brunch portions."[7]

Restaurant entrance in November 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic

Portland Monthly has said the restaurant "thrives largely on an aesthetic of thrift-store kitsch, its double-wide ambience as brazen as a belle on a bender", and described the Delta Lounge as a "decorously knickknacked" bar with "inscrutably balanced" cocktails. The magazine said: "Indeed, the Delta’s drinks temper the hipster vibe of the place, and the alternately sophisticated and rowdy infusions impart a charm and good humor often lost on many of Portland's swankier and pricier drinking establishments. Which makes any trip here a worthwhile foray into rebel territory."[9] Portland Monthly's John Chandler called Delta Cafe "a joint that earned its rep by dropping huge platters of Southern cooking on its customers for embarrassingly small sums of money" and wrote in 2010, "I can remember ordering the meatloaf special—with two sides—for five freakin' dollars. The Delta was never a bastion of culinary precision, and that's still the case, but the heaping portions are standard issue, and if you can make it to Happy Hour (3–6 daily), the prices are straight out of the late 20th century."[5]

Thrillist recommends the restaurant "for old-school fried chicken, just like mom used to make".[3] Zagat gives Delta ratings of 4.5 for food, 4.1 for decor, and 4.3 for service, each on a scale of 5. The guide said, "For tasty, homestyle Southern fare with Cajun inflections that comes in big, price-appropriate portions, locals point to this quirky Woodstock cafe as a perfect fit for eccentric East Portland; helpful servers contribute to the vibe, although for some it comes down to the PBR 40s on ice – isn't that why everyone goes?"[17] Delta has been included in travel guides and walking tours of Portland.[6][18]

See also

References
  1. Crain, Liz (December 11, 2007). "Battered and Blackened: Miss Delta packs a punch with good old southern charm". Willamette Week. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
  2. Hansson, Jenny; Burris, Emily (February 25, 2020). "Fat Tuesday Party at the Delta Cafe". KOIN. Archived from the original on February 27, 2020. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
  3. "Delta Cafe". Thrillist. Group Nine Media. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
  4. Palahniuk, Chuck (December 18, 2007). Fugitives and Refugees. Crown. p. 46. ISBN 9780307420756. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
  5. Chandler, John (December 6, 2010). "Happy Hour: Miss Delta". Portland Monthly. Archived from the original on September 24, 2020. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
  6. Dresbeck, Rachel (March 1, 2011). Insiders' Guide to Portland, Oregon (7 ed.). Rowman & Littlefield. p. 78. ISBN 9780762774777. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
  7. Frane, Alex (November 6, 2018). "Portland's Killer Southern Restaurants". Eater Portland. Vox Media. Archived from the original on May 11, 2019. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
  8. Bamman, Mattie John (November 11, 2016). "Eater Portland's Weekly Dining News Archive". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on February 6, 2019. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
  9. "Delta Café". Portland Monthly. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
  10. Cordell, Kasey; Ritchie, Rachel; Villa-Zang, Amber; Avz (March 15, 2020). "Perfect Pairings". Portland Monthly. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
  11. DeJesus, Erin (May 4, 2012). "Delta Cafe's Anniversary; PDX Cinco de Mayo Specials". Eater Portland. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
  12. Groff, Elizabeth Ussher (August 5, 2016). "More murals on the way for Woodstock Boulevard". The Bee. Archived from the original on August 7, 2016. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
  13. Groff, Elizabeth Ussher (November 26, 2016). "Murals to define and brighten Woodstock". The Bee. Archived from the original on May 20, 2017. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
  14. Groff, Elizabeth Ussher (June 8, 2018). "Woodstock now boasts beautiful trash cans". The Bee. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
  15. "Halloween Hootenanny". Portland Mercury. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
  16. Waterhouse, Ben (July 24, 2007). "Readers Poll". Willamette Week. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
  17. "Delta Cafe". Zagat. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
  18. Ohlsen, Becky (April 9, 2013). Walking Portland: 30 Tours of Stumptown's Funky Neighborhoods, Historic Landmarks, Park Trails, Farmers Markets, and Brewpubs. Wilderness Press. p. 170. ISBN 9780899976815. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
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