Parkers Waffles & Coffee

Fucking shit… they’re CLOSED?! Gimme the word if the downtown cart is still operational…

It’s a bit of a venture for me to travel to the good carts near PSU, but I made the trek Monday (or rather conned my friend into driving downtown for lunch). Waffles, why not? Breakfast is the most important meal of the day-​it still counts if you eat it at lunch, right?
They were or of the first three things we tried to order. Huh. While we were waiting the guy apologized saying that her hasn’t noticed one of the burners was off and he needed to remake our waffles. I had the iron pig (bacon, spinach, onions, egg, I asked for no cheese). Not bad, but a ton of onions. Don’t order that if you plan on being up close and personal.

I’m in love with the food carts around Portland and Parkers is one of the reasons why.
Breakfast is one of my favorite things in life. Parkers lived up to my high breakfast expectations.
It wasn’t very busy maybe because it was crazy hot the day we went or because most of the other carts don’t open until lunch so we didn’t have to wait long to put in our order. I got the peach pie and boyfriend got the ham and gruyère. Mine was in a box, his was in a wrap.
The peach pie was wafflicious. It was loaded with warm peaches, some kinda cream and a sweet, chunky streusel on top. It really was like eating a peach pie for breakfast. It was sweet, of course, but not overpowering. And it was filling, I couldn’t finish the whole thing.
The boyfriend enjoyed his savory waffle as well. Except it was so hot it was hard to hold at first and it started leaking out the bottom. Luckily I could give him the lid from my box to use as a plate. Had he been walking down the street it would have been a hot waffle mess.
If these waffles were this good on a steamy hot morning I can only imagine how good they would be to snuggle up with on a chilly day. Mmm. Is it time for breakfast yet?

Ahhhh, comfort food just 3 blocks away from my new office for when business gets rough.
My problems with this place:
*I feel as if I could make waffles just as good or better.
*It’s just not as good as my beloved Waffle Window on Hawthorne. Parker’s Waffles pales in comparison.
Go here if it’s too inconvenient for you to get to the Waffle Window.

This is a worthy breakfast option when I’m cruising into Portland for morning appointments. Just a few blocks from I-​405, when I’m lucky I can park right in front of the food cart since it is the only one open early hours at the PSU cart pod.
AND they serve Stumptown french press coffee.
The cart is adorable and on my first visit both the husband and wife were working together in that little space. They gave up corporate jobs and are now living the (food cart) dream.
I have more of a sweet tooth, so I’ve ordered one of their top sellers, the Peach Pie, and most recently the Apple Crisp. Both were tasty, but it was almost too much of a good thing and I have to say, I prefer the offerings at the Waffle Window on Hawthorne. I was also charged $.50 more than the published price, so I assume they’ve just changed their prices but haven’t updated their menu.
But still, easy access, Stumptown and a cute cart with nice people are all very good things in the early morning hours.

I was a bit skeptical at first at the thought of eating from a food cart. But my husband and I wanted a little bit of adventure on our first trip to Portland and we are so happy we tried it! The menu is simple yet offers a variety of options. The waffle/​omelette meal is brilliant! I had a waffle with syrup topped with scrambled eggs, chicken sausage and cheese. It was everything I thought it could be. The Stumptown coffee was very yummy and the price could not be beat. We took our food to go in recyclable paper containers. The man in the cart was very friendly and chatted us up about why he loved Portland so much while he prepared our delicious breakfast.
If you are looking for a fast, yet local and yummy breakfast, i highly recommend you visit Parker Waffles!
Thanks so much,
Satisfied Breakfast Searchers

da bomb! How do you make the waffles so airy and crispy?
You guys need a sign at the Alberta St. location, though. I must have passed by it a katrillion times. I had one with just the maple butter and it was excellent. Also, tried the Nutella with bananas and bacon. Yum.
Cute girl named Abby works there sometimes which is a bonus.

Parkers has moved and is no longer here. It has been replaced by a Turkish cart.
Previous review:
Had the Iron Pig for breakfast last week. Not good. The filling (eggs, spinach, bacon, onion and cheddar cheese) was fine but the waffle was greasy.
What made it completely unacceptable to me, though, was that the person preparing the waffle spread some kind of sweetened butter all over it before adding the savory filling. It was disgusting. I checked the menu on Parkers’ website when I got back to my office and sure enough: the Iron Pig description makes no mention of added sweetening. It ruined the dish. I ended up eating part of the filling with a fork after which I pitched the waffle and the «sweetened» filling in the trash.
If you dislike sugary flavors with savory food as I do — avoid this place or tell them ahead of time not to do it. The menu doesn’t say they spread sweetened butter on their savory waffles and they don’t ask you if you want it either — which is why I rate this place unacceptable.

What I know about Portland would barely fit into a Unilocal review, but being less interested in my own qualifications than a yummy meal here we go:
THIS WAS SO GOOOOOD.
I didn’t actually realize I was looking for a camping trailer full of waffle irons, but there it was. I stepped up, mumbled a bit to myself about «pesto overload» following my pesto-​heavy dinner the previous night, and asked for the pesto-​waffle. I wish I could try the rest of the menu, but that was among the best (only) savory breakfast waffle I’ve ever experienced.
And you should experience it, too.

Holy amazingness! So happy this opened up in my hood. I just went their for the first time and tried the ham and Gruyère waffle wrapped up in waffle-​goodness! It was so tasty. The only bad part was that I saved half of it for later and my boyfriend ate it while I was out :(
I will be a dedicated Worfler at this window!

First of all let me say that I own a cart (not this one), and I eat at carts for approximately 90% of my meals. I’d never met these folks before but I like their food. I’m a graveyard worker (actually, I work at Bread & Ink – where the also great but in-​a-​completely-​different-​neighborhood «waffle window» is), so I’m sleeping during most breakfast cart hours. I just tried Parker’s for the first time the other day, and here’s a reason behind every star:
1. Mang, those (called on the menu) «original» waffles were heavenly. Ab-​fab, if not fab for your abs. Hot, crispy, butter=good, big, delicious. The coffee’s stumptown, so you know, however you feel about that. I thought it was great.
2. The owners and worker I met there were really friendly. There’s fake friendly, and then there’s actual, genuine, friendly people. They seemed really genuine! I liked them.
3. The location’s great for me!
4. Prices are reasonable.
5. The cart seemed really clean. Every indication of the cart and their persons said they know and follow the health codes.
My two cents says five stars!

I think the baby Jesus just cried.
First let me say that I am off for the next couple of days which means I get to try more food carts. Yay! I decided on Parkers and got up early. It was a small trek from where I live over by PGE. It was two max ride to get close. Sure, I could have walked but I have two bad knees and a fat ass so I don’t walk much.
They are further out from downtown then you might have expected but so totally worth the finding them. Nestled in with a couple of Mexican stand and Q BBQ (I have to try them very, very soon). The man and woman in the cart were friendly and engaging. I asked what they recommended and was prompted to the Iron Pig waffle ’cause I was looking for something kinda breakfast-​y. Wait, I have to wipe my chin as I’m drooling again.
It was a heavenly delight of crisp sweet waffle topped with a scramble of eggs, spinach and onions with just the right amount of maple butter. Every mouthful elicited a smothered moan of pleasure. I do believe my eyes even rolled back into my head a few times as well.
Please go here often as they do one thing and do it exceedingly well.

Meh. I guess I was hoping the Waffle Window’s close sibling had shown up at PSU. It’s unfair to Parker’s to have such high expectations, but once you develop a Waffle Window habit, there is no going back.
These are different waffles altogether, the large, round, thinner kind. They fill it up with delicious sweets or savories and send you on your way.
This is all well and good, but it took 14 minutes the other day to get a plain waffle. There were maybe three people ahead of me in line. 14 minutes for a plain waffle is really pushing it.
Stars because they are the only non-​burrito breakfast option in the cart bank, because there is some creativity on the menu, and because the lady serving was friendly.
I’m sure I’ll try them again, but at least I have a better idea about what to expect next time.

Love this place! I walk right by it every day after class, and I always have an argument with my stomach about whether I should stop. I usually do at least once a week. When they start offering chicken and waffles, I feel like I’m going to lose that battle more often.
Their waffles are delish – especially their new fall flavour, the Pumpkin Pie Waffle. It really was like having a slice of pumpkin goodness in my mouth. Their Peach Pie has grilled peaches (!), pecan streusel, sweetened sour cream, and Grand Marnier – definitely better than the sad little Eggos I make at home.
Their savory waffles are also yummy. I really like the way they do bacon: chopping it up into little pieces first, so it all gets nicely crisped. I hate having strips of bacon in a wrap and suddenly getting to a bit of rubbery fat. Not a problem here.
The lady taking orders is really nice. I don’t know if it’s her or the dude doing the Twittering, but they’re very responsive and friendly. I Twittered them before going my first time to ask if they would be cool with me having a «scramble» w/​no egg, and they answered back within minutes to tell me they had no problem with any kind of wacky combination I wanted to make.
Once they made a waffle for me that had a little strip missing off the side (it was more an aesthetic thing that wasn’t really affecting the portion), and when I said there was no need to make it again for me, I was given a coupon for a free waffle next time I came for being chill about it. For the record: my mouth did not miss the little strip off the side.

Possibly the best cup of Stumptown coffee I’ve ever enjoyed. Their coffee is french pressed and delicious.
I split the peach pie waffle with a friend this afternoon and it was flavorful. The waffle couldn’t quite hold up with all the wet ingredients sitting on top of it, however. We managed to walk a whopping block away from the waffle stand when we opened our waffle box and decided we needed to dig in immediately. That. Very. Second.
Awesome peaches, delicious pecans and granola-​y goodness. I just wish the waffle managed to stay a bit crisper underneath it all. Flavor, though, was great.

My girlfriend told me that this place is good, but I never got to go here until I took some vacation days. We were headed towards the coast and needed some grub for the trip. Parkers hit the spot with their pulled pork waffle. I liked the sauce enough but there should have been more of it, but the waffle was made with good batter and the meat was nice and tender.
With all the lunch only carts in the area, it’s good that there’s a good breakfast one around. Technically, it was lunchtime when i was there, but it’s a waffle!

Fantastic! Had the pesto egg waffle! They were super friendly and genuine and well worth whatever I paid. They had fruit options too! Plus their cart was relatively clean. Highly recommended.

This is a great addition to the PSU food carts. Something unique and available for breakfast and lunch.
While it is great that they have menu choices and a build-​your-​own feature, I was a little disappointed by the actual waffle. I think I like mine a bit more Belgian, less American — but they were still very good.

i have been anxiously awaiting the opening of Parkers Waffles and now it’s finally here, yay!
i went with a simple waffle ($ 2.50) with maple butter since i wasn’t hungry enough to scarf down one of their scrambles (egg & toppings stuffed into a waffle– $ 6) or fruit waffles ($ 5). the waffle was perfectly cooked, really soft and satisfying. maple butter is something that i think i would like to put on everything i eat from now on.
chicken and waffles coming soon! holy cow.

Finally, two things I’ve been waiting to open on the PSU food cart pod:
1) A waffle cart. They’re everywhere in North Portland, it seems, but where’s the love near campus? Oh, that’s right, it’s here now.
2) Breakfast options. Everything on the block is open for lunch, but this opens really early. The time slot is going through a trial period, so hopefully opening at 7:00 am will prove to make financial sense.
I got the ham and gruyère scramble ($ 6), which comes wrapped in a waffle. I thought the waffle itself was a little too batter-​flavored and could use a little more sweetness to it, but it doesn’t matter when you’re getting a mouthful of eggs, cheese, mushrooms and ham.
I’m really, really looking forward to the waffle and gravy options, when it arrives. They also have a waffle and chicken item pending menu approval. They had many fruit waffles on the menu, too. Check them out on Twitter of Facebook; their website seems to be under construction at the moment.
This is a great breakfast option. I just hope they tweak their batter a little. I usually cut new carts some slack, but I think they’re ahead of the game and have the process down pretty well. They apologized for a seven minute wait time — so not a big deal.