Tin Shed Garden Cafe | |
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![]() The restaurant's exterior in 2022 | |
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Restaurant information | |
Established | 2002 |
Owner(s) |
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Food type | American [1] [2] |
Street address | 1438 Northeast Alberta Street |
City | Portland |
County | Multnomah |
State | Oregon |
Postal/ZIP Code | 97211 |
Country | United States |
Coordinates | 45°33′32″N122°39′03″W / 45.5590°N 122.6509°W |
Website | tinshedgardencafe |
Tin Shed Garden Cafe, often shortened as Tin Shed, is a restaurant in Portland, Oregon's King neighborhood. Co-owned by Christie Griffin and Janette Kaden, the dog-friendly cafe opened in 2002 and serves American cuisine.
Tin Shed has appeared on the Food Network's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives , and in a PBS documentary called Breakfast Special. It has garnered a positive reception, mostly as a brunch destination. Yelp ranked Tin Shed the most dog-friendly eatery in the country in 2023.
Tin Shed Garden Cafe is a restaurant on Alberta Street in northeast Portland's King neighborhood. [3] [4] The lesbian-owned [5] café has an outdoor dining area, a stone fireplace and chimney, an herb garden, [6] and a menu for dogs. [7] [8] [9] Tin Shed hosts Doggie Love Night on Tuesdays, as of 2018. [10] [11] The promotion allows patrons to purchase a "people-priced" item for a free dog dinner. [12] The restaurant provides cookies and water to dogs at no cost. [13] Tin Shed has also hosted live music performances. [14] The New York Times has said the business "draws the flannel-and-fleece crowd to its rustic patio". [15]
Tin Shed serves salmon and veggie burgers, as well as soups and sandwiches. [16] The regular menu has a dish called The Cure, which has buttermilk biscuits and gravy with apple-wood smoked bacon or mushroom-rosemary varieties. [12] The Way Out West has corn tortillas, jasmine rice, ranchero beans, two eggs, Tillamook cheddar, and salsa fresca. [17] The restaurant has also served breakfast burritos, cheese grits, [18] omelettes, [19] shredded-potato cakes, egg and tofu scrambles, [20] Bloody Marys, and vegetarian options. [21] Among the dog-themed scrambles are the Fetch with eggs and bacon, and the Stay, which has greens, mushrooms, and roasted sweet potatoes. [22]
The dog menu has included free range meat options; [20] chicken, ground beef, or pork mixed with rice or sweet potatoes; and peanut butter banana ice cream. [23]
Co-owners Christie Griffin and Janette Kaden opened Tin Shed in 2002. [24] [25] The restaurant had approximately 30 employees, as of 2005. [26] In 2010, Tin Shed was one of fourteen businesses seeking an exemption to a city ban on the use of public sidewalks for storing trash. [27] The business sold bandanas for dogs, which benefited the Odd Man Inn Animal Refuge, as of 2016. [28]
In 2020, Tin Shed was forced to close temporarily during the COVID-19 pandemic, but reopened with patio service by early September. [3] The restaurant uses compostable packaging and utensils, as of 2020. [25]
Guy Fieri visited Tin Shed for an episode of the Food Network's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives . [29] [30] [31] In 2010, the restaurant was featured in a PBS documentary called Breakfast Special. In the show, Breakfast in Bridgetown author Paul Gerald describes how Tin Shed and the restaurant Helser's "helped transform a stretch of street, which at one point was known for having the highest number of drive-by shootings in the city, into one of the city's hippest neighborhoods", according to The Oregonian . [32] [33] Chef Nathan Lyon has also visited the restaurant for an episode of Good Food America. [34]
In 2009, The Oregonian described Tin Shed as a "throwback" to when "offbeat, multi-ethnic flavors" combined with the American breakfast and said, "In short, this is a restaurant with a personality, one that's hard to dislike." [35] The newspaper's Molly Harbarger and Michael Russell included Tin Shed in a 2019 guide of Portland's 40 best brunches. [36] Fast Company called Tin Shed "unprepossessing" and said it is "as famous for its brunch as it is for its high tolerance for dogs in 2010". [37]
In 2006, Willamette Week readers ranked the café first in the Best Brunch category of the annual "Best of Portland" readers' poll. [38] The restaurant won in the Best Hangover Brunch category in 2007. [39] Tin Shed was a runner-up in the category for best dog-friendly establishments in 2016 and 2017, [40] [41] and the café placed second in the Best Brunch Spot category in 2020. [42] The newspaper has included Tin Shed in other lists of recommended cheap eats [43] and places to grab hangover brunch. [44]
Autostraddle , an online magazine for LGBTQ women, included Tin Shed in a 2012 "Queer Girl City Guide". [45] Kim Hoffman complimented the restaurant's "insane" benedicts in AfterEllen's 2015 city guide for Portland. [5] Carrie Uffindell included the café in Eater Portland 's 2019 list of the city's "primo kid-friendly" restaurants, [46] and Brooke Jackson-Glidden and Michelle DeVona recommended the stack with scrambled eggs and grits or potato cakes and mushroom gravy in their 2020 guide to restaurants on Alberta Street. [47] Zoe Baillargeon and Janey Wong included Tin Shed in Eater Portland's 2023 overview of "real-deal" breakfasts in the city, calling Tin Shed a "breakfast hangout". [48]
Thrillist commented on how friendly Tin Shed was with dogs, additionally stating that it was an "exceptional brunch", offering some of the "best burgers" in Portland. [12] [49] The website's Alex Frane included Tin Shed in a 2018 list of city's dog-friendly bars. [50] The Food Network has included the artichoke grilled cheese sandwich in a list of the top 16 vegetarian "favorites". [51] In 2023, Yelp ranked Tin Shed number one in a list of the nation's top 100 dog-friendly eateries. [52] The Oregonian's Michael Russell said of the list placement: "Usually I'm skeptical about these kinds of Internet lists, even the ones from Yelp... But in this case, I think they nailed it." [53]