Pancake Jack, Jack and Jill: #20: June Living the life in Portland

the tin shed

In June we drove down to Portland, a 3 hour drive on a pretty busy stretch of I-5, with perhaps one of the highest percentage of idiot drivers this side of the Mississippi...drive slow in the passing lane? check. make sure to not make room for merging folks? check. drive like a maniac and weave in and out of traffic at 90+ miles and hour? check. They are all there, making it a pretty exciting trip for everyone. We were in town for a kendo tournament, so that filled Saturday...and on Sunday I was ready for a nice hearty breakfast. Perusing the Portland magazine conveniently left in our hotel room, we found the Tin Shed mentioned..and were impressed by the descriptions of hearty breakfasts at low prices.

Although Portland prides itself in a number of things, including the public transit system, we decided to use our own car to drive up to the restaurant. The Tin Shed was easy to spot as it looks like a tin shed. The cooks smoking cigs outside the back said 'hello' and we were welcomed and seated in minutes...the shed has two seating areas, one inside, one out under a wood-shed-like roof. We got one of the outside tables, and the waitress quickly set up with waters and things to color. Coffee was DIY, so I didn't have to wait for a cup of joe. This particular trip no one in our party was interested in pancakes--Mai and Issei went for oatmeal, I took some sort of farmhouse scramble, and Paci had something sweet. I recall that the kids menu had some healthy options and was relatively inexpensive...$3 or so....which made me wonder where I could find such a place in Seattle. I was so impressed, it kept me thinking about it all the way home, even as a a series of geniuses drove their sedans at 55 mph in the lefthand lane, and their brothers whipped around at 102 mph in their SUVs...