Cafe Olli

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Cafe Olli
Cafe Olli logo.png
Portland, Oregon - February 27, 2021 - 197.jpg
Cafe Olli operates in the space that previously housed Ned Ludd (pictured in 2021)
Cafe Olli
Interactive map of Cafe Olli
Restaurant information
Established2021 (2021)
Food typeItalian
Location3925 Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Portland, Oregon, 97212, United States
Coordinates 45°33′4.5″N122°39′43″W / 45.551250°N 122.66194°W / 45.551250; -122.66194
Website cafeolli.com

Cafe Olli is an Italian restaurant in Portland, Oregon, United States. [1] [2] [3] [4] It opened in 2021, in the space that previously housed Ned Ludd.

Contents

Description

Cafe Olli is an Italian restaurant in northeast Portland's King neighborhood. Among pastries on the menu are cookies with chunks of chocolate. [5]

History

Established in December 2021, Cafe Olli was included in The New York Times 's 2023 list of the nation's 50 best restaurants. [6] Cafe Olli operates in the space previously occupied by Ned Ludd.

Cafe Olli's woodshed was set on fire in 2025. [7] During a SNAP program shutdown in 2025, the business made meals available for people "experiencing food insecurity or financial hardship", according to Willamette Week . [8] [9]

Cafe Olli has hosted the seafood pop-up restaurant Merrow. In 2026, Cafe Olli also began hosting the Cajun pop-up Ma Cher, which previously operated at Dame Collective. [10] Ollini has been described as Cafe Olli's "sibling" bakery and wine bar. [11]

Reception

Michael Russell included the chocolate cake in The Oregonian 's list of Portland's best dishes of 2024. [12] He also ranked Cafe Olli number 16 in the newspaper's 2025 list of Portland's 40 best restaurants. [13] Taylor Manning and Siobhan Speirits were semifinalists in the "Best Chef: Northwest & Pacific (AK, HI, OR, WA)" category of the James Beard Foundation Awards in 2026. [14]

In 2025, Cafe Olli was included in Eater Portland 's lists of the city's best restaurants for brunch, Italian cuisine, and mid-week lunches. [15] [16] [17] Rebecca Roland also included the chocolate cake in the website's 2025 overview of the city's eleven best restaurants for desserts. [18] Paolo Bicchieri included the business in Eater Portland's 2025 overview of the city's best restaurants for lunch. [19] Michelle Lopez and Janey Wong included Cafe Olli in the website's 2025 overview of Portland's best bakeries. [20]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Russell, Michael (December 15, 2022). "Cafe Olli is Portland's best new bakery (and pizzeria too)". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on September 29, 2023. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  2. ↑ Brooks, Karen (September 13, 2022). "Cafe Olli Review: Goodfellas-Level Pizza, Destination Brunching, and a Year of Struggle". Portland Monthly. Archived from the original on March 25, 2023. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  3. ↑ Cohen, Jason (April 6, 2022). "Cafe Olli Is Whatever You Want It to Be". Willamette Week. Archived from the original on November 29, 2022. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  4. ↑ Wong, Janey. "Review: Cafe Olli is Forging the Future, and Wood-Fired Pizzas". Portland Mercury. Archived from the original on March 20, 2023. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  5. ↑ Roland, Rebecca (February 12, 2019). "Portland's Best Decadent Cookies". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on December 8, 2024. Retrieved December 7, 2024.
  6. ↑ "The Restaurant List 2023: Cafe Olli". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on September 20, 2023. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  7. ↑ Cheadle, Harry (July 31, 2025). "A Fire Set by an Alleged Serial Arsonist Burned Cafe Olli's Firewood". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on October 14, 2025. Retrieved January 24, 2026.
  8. ↑ "More Portland Restaurants Offer Free Meals During SNAP Shutdown". Willamette Week. October 30, 2025. Retrieved January 24, 2026.
  9. ↑ "These Portland metro restaurants and businesses are offering free meals for people losing SNAP benefits". kgw.com. October 30, 2025. Archived from the original on November 9, 2025. Retrieved January 24, 2026.
  10. ↑ "Restaurant Roundup: Chef docuseries needs help, Nostrana's latest honor, and Cafe Olli adds another pop-up". Portland Business Journal. January 23, 2026. Retrieved January 24, 2026. Cajun pop-up Ma Cher was displaced with the abrupt closure of restaurant collective Dame, where it operated two nights a week. But Chase Dopson and Maggie Irwin, the duo behind the concept, have landed in a new location. They are back to two nights a week, starting Jan. 25, at Cafe Olli... Ma Cher, which is walk-in only, takes over the kitchen on Sunday and Monday nights. On Tuesday nights the space belongs to seafood pop-up Merrow
  11. ↑ Wong, Janey (September 4, 2024). "The Most Anticipated Portland Restaurant Openings, Fall 2024". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on September 14, 2024. Retrieved January 24, 2026.
  12. ↑ Russell, Michael (December 19, 2024). "Michael Russell picks Portland's 10 best dishes of 2024". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on December 21, 2024. Retrieved December 21, 2024.
  13. ↑ Russell, Michael (February 26, 2024). "Portland's 40 best restaurants for 2025". The Oregonian . Archived from the original on May 12, 2024. Retrieved August 2, 2025.
  14. ↑ Bicchieri, Paolo (January 21, 2026). "Oregon's 2026 James Beard Awards Semifinalists Are Here". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on January 21, 2026. Retrieved January 24, 2026.
  15. ↑ Baillargeon, Zoe (August 9, 2016). "Portland's Best Brunch Restaurants". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on December 1, 2021. Retrieved January 22, 2025.
  16. ↑ "The Best Italian Restaurants in Portland". Eater Portland. July 18, 2018. Archived from the original on January 26, 2019. Retrieved February 4, 2025.
  17. ↑ Bicchieri, Paolo (March 8, 2022). "The Best Restaurants for a Mid-Week Lunch in Portland". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on July 27, 2024. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
  18. ↑ Roland, Rebecca (October 28, 2016). "Portland's 11 Best Restaurants for Dessert". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on May 15, 2025. Retrieved May 15, 2025.
  19. ↑ Bicchieri, Paolo (March 8, 2022). "The Best Restaurants for a Mid-Week Lunch in Portland". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on July 27, 2024. Retrieved July 23, 2025.
  20. ↑ Lopez, Michelle (December 1, 2015). "The Best Bakeries in Portland". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on June 3, 2021. Retrieved July 29, 2025.
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