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Arleta Library Bakery & Cafe

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Coordinates: 45°28′58″N 122°35′22″W / 45.4828°N 122.5895°W / 45.4828; -122.5895
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Arleta Library Bakery & Cafe
Graphic of a cup and book, as well as the text "Arleta Library Bakery & Cafe"
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Restaurant information
Established2005 (2005)
ClosedMarch 2020 (2020-03)
Owner(s)Nick Iannarone
Previous owner(s)Sarah Iannarone
Street address5513 Southeast 72nd Avenue
CityPortland
CountyMultnomah
StateOregon
Postal/ZIP Code97206
CountryUnited States
Coordinates45°28′58″N 122°35′22″W / 45.4828°N 122.5895°W / 45.4828; -122.5895
Websitearletalibrary.com

Arleta Library Bakery & Cafe was a restaurant in the Mt. Scott-Arleta neighborhood of southeast Portland, Oregon, United States. Sarah and Nick Iannarone established Arleta in 2005, and it closed in 2020 because of financial difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Arleta garnered a positive reception, especially as a brunch destination, and Guy Fieri visited the restaurant for an episode of the Food Network series Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.

Description

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Arleta Library Bakery & Cafe operated at the intersection of 72nd Avenue and Harold Street in the Mt. Scott-Arleta neighborhood of southeast Portland.[1] It had a narrow interior. The restaurant's slogan was "because good food is long overdue".[2] According to Willamette Week, the family-owned business used local ingredients including Painted Hills beef as well as Pearl Bakery brioche in the pan dolce with whipped honey butter, maple syrup, and seasonal fruit.[3]

The menu also included breakfast sandwiches, omelettes, pancakes, coconut macaroons, chocolate chip cookies, and coffee.[2][4][5] The Portland's Best Biscuits-n-Gravy had two biscuits with sausage gravy and pork loin, and the Hawthorne scrambles had eggs and Tillamook cheddar.[6][7] The Bullseye was a bun with scrambled eggs, cheddar and bacon. The restaurant also served sandwiches and a Caesar salad with croutons and salmon or roasted turkey.[2] Among sandwiches were the Bat out of Hell and the Paul Rubens. The roasted turkey sandwich had avocado, bacon, and a honey mustard spread, and the cured ham sandwich came with sauerkraut and Thousand Island dressing.[2]

History

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Arleta Library Bakery & Cafe opened in 2005.[8] The business was co-owned by Sarah and Nick Iannarone until December 2018, and the couple divorced in 2019.[9] Guy Fieri visited the restaurant for an episode of the Food Network series Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.[10]

After operating for approximately fifteen years, Arleta closed in March 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. The cafe's owners said the space was too small to operate with social distancing.[9][11] In May 2020, Rosie Siefert of The Daily Meal wrote that the cafe closed because of the "financial strain" of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, the staff opened a GoFundMe for customers to give "one last tip".[12]

Reception

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According to the Food Network, Fieri "appreciated the complexity" of the Sicilian hash with braciola and called the sweet potato biscuits with pork and rosemary sausage "dynamite".[13] Andy Kryza included Arleta Library Bakery & Cafe in Thrillist's 2013 overview of places to take a mother for Mother's Day.[14]

The Tuscan

Arleta was a runner-up in the Best Brunch category of Willamette Week's annual Best of Portland readers' poll in 2010.[15] Jay Horton recommended Arleta in the newspaper's 2016 overview of the Mt. Scott-Arleta and Woodstock neighborhoods, and wrote:

While never much of a library, the Arleta Cafe earned a certain measure of cultural permanence when Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives's Guy Fieri stopped by to marvel at its trademark sweet potato biscuits with rosemary-sausage gravy. Following the Food Network imprimatur and owner Sarah Iannarone's ill-starred mayoral candidacy, a steady string of curious interlopers have joined die-hard regulars amid the morning crush.[16]

In 2014 and 2016, the restaurant was a finalist in The Oregonian's People's Choice competition for Portland's best brunch.[17][18][19] Michael Russell included the business in the newspaper's 2019 list of Portland's forty best brunches.[20] Following Arleta's closure, Karen Brooks of Portland Monthly called the restaurant a "beloved neighborhood anchor".[21]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Bamman, Mattie John (January 20, 2016). "Cafe Owner Up for Mayor of Portland". Eater Portland. Vox Media. Archived from the original on December 27, 2022. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d Van Buskirk, Audrey (November 8, 2007). "Restaurant of the Week: Arleta Library Bakery and Cafe". Portland Tribune. Pamplin Media Group. OCLC 46708462. Archived from the original on February 27, 2022.
  3. ^ "Arleta Library Bakery Cafe". Willamette Week. August 20, 2019. Archived from the original on February 27, 2022. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  4. ^ "Night on the Town Out with the Kids". The Oregonian. Advance Publications. March 22, 2007. ISSN 8750-1317. OCLC 985410693. For a bite to eat, you can try Space Monkey Coffee (5511 S.E. 72nd Ave.) for coffee, hot chocolate, and muffins, or Arleta Library Bakery and Cafe (5513 S.E. 72nd Ave.) for three-egg scrambles, griddle cakes, or biscuits and gravy.
  5. ^ "Cheap Eats 2012: Listings A–Z". Willamette Week. March 7, 2012. Archived from the original on December 27, 2022. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
  6. ^ "Cheap Eats 2013: Listings A–Z". Willamette Week. February 27, 2013. Archived from the original on December 27, 2022. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
  7. ^ "Southeast Snapshots". The Sunday Oregonian. May 27, 2007. pp. S03. Or stroll over to the Arleta Library Bakery and Cafe (5513 SE 72nd Ave) for New Orleans-style biscuits and gravy or Sicilian hash.
  8. ^ Slovic, Beth (May 10, 2016). "Sarah Iannarone is an Unknown Quantity in the Portland Mayor's Race". Willamette Week. Archived from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  9. ^ a b Russell, Michael (May 5, 2020). "Arleta Library Cafe, neighborhood brunch favorite, will close permanently". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on December 25, 2020. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  10. ^ Turnquist, Kristi (February 8, 2019). "These are the Portland restaurants Guy Fieri visited on 'Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives'". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on August 8, 2020. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  11. ^ Graff, Garrett M. "The Pandemic Slams Main Street: 'We're Trying to Stay Alive'". Wired. Condé Nast. ISSN 1059-1028. OCLC 24479723. Archived from the original on December 27, 2022. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
  12. ^ Siefert, Rosie (May 14, 2020). "Coronavirus and Restaurants: Notable Establishments That Have Permanently Closed". The Daily Meal. Tribune Publishing. Archived from the original on December 27, 2022. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
  13. ^ "Arleta Library Bakery & Cafe". Food Network. Archived from the original on October 2, 2023. Retrieved August 22, 2024.
  14. ^ Kryza, Andy (May 5, 2013). "Where to take any type of mom on her special day". Thrillist. Vox Media. Archived from the original on December 27, 2022. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
  15. ^ Brown, Ruth (July 21, 2010). "2010 Best of Portland Readers Poll". Willamette Week. Archived from the original on December 27, 2022. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
  16. ^ Horton, Jay (August 22, 2016). "Reed College, Woodstock and Mount Scott-Arleta". Willamette Week. Archived from the original on December 27, 2022. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
  17. ^ Bakall, Samantha (March 14, 2014). "Readers name Rae's as Portland's best brunch: Diner 2014". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on December 27, 2022. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
  18. ^ Gabrielson, Kjerstin (April 28, 2016). "Vote for Portland's best brunch spot (People's Choice finals)". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on December 27, 2022. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
  19. ^ Gabrielson, Kjerstin (May 4, 2016). "Byways Cafe wins People's Choice vote for Portland's best brunch". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on July 19, 2019. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
  20. ^ Russell, Michael (April 11, 2019). "The ultimate guide to Portland's 40 best brunches". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on December 14, 2019. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
  21. ^ Brooks, Karen (December 29, 2020). "The Departed: Sorrowful for Portland's Restaurant Scene". Portland Monthly. ISSN 1546-2765. Archived from the original on January 27, 2021. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
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