Photos by Stephanie Yao Long | The Oregonian/OregonLive

Portland's 10 most underrated brunches

Congrats, you've found it. The hidden treasure. The golden hashbrowns at the end of the mimosa rainbow.

Last month, we set out to discover the undiscoverable -- 10 out-of-this world brunches in the heart of America’s most brunch-crazed town that somehow rarely seem to have a line. Could there really be dynamite dim sum without the DMV-style take-a-number system? Walk-in omelets worth getting out of bed for? No-wait breakfast tacos with a side of country music?

We started by asking readers for their favorites, compiled a list, then called or stopped by each restaurant -- more than 20 in all -- between 10 and 11 a.m. one recent Sunday, asking each about their wait times. Some promising picks, including The Woodsman Tavern, Grain & Gristle and Old Salt Marketplace, turned out to be full. One of the most frequently recommended spots, Verdigris, had a crowd spilling out onto Northeast Fremont Street and an hour-and-a-half wait. Go figure.

So yes, you can plan ahead with a brunch spot that takes reservations, or take your chances at one of Portland's best new brunch spots, hoping they haven't been discovered yet – hint: Tusk has, big time. But for those who like to wing it, here are 10 great restaurants that had tables available during Portland's brunch prime time. We call them Portland's 10 most underrated brunches.

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Accanto

You might know this casual Italian restaurant as the surviving sibling of Portland's legendary Genoa, or heard about its mini renaissance under chef Chris Frazier, but did you know about their Saturday-Sunday brunch? Apparently not, since we were one of three parties there on a recent weekend, despite the presence of a house-made, poached-egg-topped breakfast pappardelle and a thick stacked scrambled egg sandwich with bitter greens and Calabrian chile aioli. Ah well, more ricotta doughnuts and sweet-tart lemon curd for us.

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Michael Russell | The Oregonian/OregonLive

Details:

Brunch 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday-Sunday; 2838 S.E. Belmont St.; 503-235-4900; accantopdx.com

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EaT: An Oyster Bar

Full disclosure: The last couple of times I've visited this little taste of New Orleans in North Portland I've walked right in, but had trouble finding someone to take my order. Not so for Twitter user @MocoPDX, who recommends the beignets, oyster shooters, fried catfish biscuit and Silver Fizz cocktail at EaT's Sunday brunch. "If Tasty is 30+ wait," @mocopdx wrote, "I do EaT." All that, plus jazz from famed sax player Reggie Houston's Box of Chocolates.

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Details:

Brunch, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Sundays; 3808 N. Williams Ave. #122,; 503-281-1222; eatoysterbar.com

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Interurban

This craft cocktail bar from Prost! owners Dan Hart and Chris Navarra has a good, relatively under-the-radar brunch -- we walked in at 11 a.m. and found an empty second-floor booth overlooking Mississippi Avenue. The Cowboy Ranchero plate was tempting, and the steak and arepas look a little like the Tasty N Sons version sans the 90-minute wait. But we opted for the “No-Shame Two-Egg Breakfast,” with its good Nueske’s bacon and crisp potatoes, and small stack of buttermilk-poppy-seed pancakes, which come topped with a cascade of lemon curd and powdered sugar.

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Michael Russell | The Oregonian/OregonLive

Details:

Brunch, 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Saturday-Sunday; 4057 N. Mississippi Ave.; 503-284-6669; interurbanpdx.com

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Navarre

When Tusk quotes you a two-hour wait, know there’s a gem just four blocks away. Navarre’s perennially under-the-radar brunch might feature potato terrines, American bacon or the restaurant’s supremely crab-stuffed crab cakes topped with fluffy poached eggs and ethereal hollandaise, and always includes the most intriguing wine list this side of noon. Lay down a base with some fresh radishes, fluffy cubes of Ken’s Artisan Bakery brown bread and a slab of soft butter or rustic pâté. Add a flute of pink bubbly and you’ve got a good reason to get up early on Sunday.

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Stephanie Yao Long

Details:

Brunch, starting at 9:30 a.m., Saturday-Sunday; 10 N.E. 28th Ave.; 503-232-3555; navarreportland.com

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Podnah's Pit

You could trade a few “weird” points to our like-motto'd sister Austin for a breakfast taco or two, or you could just visit Podnah’s on a weekend morning, when Portland’s best full-service barbecue joint doubles as its best Tex-Mex restaurant. Yes, there are breakfast tacos loaded up with chorizo, egg, potato, peppers and onion, cheddar cheese and salsa, but there’s also migas, huevos rancheros, chilaquiles rojos and even the restaurant's famous smoked trout done as a hash. And if you hang out into the afternoon on Saturday, country group The Earnest Lovers might stop by and play.

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Michael Russell | The Oregonian/OregonLive

Details:

Brunch, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Saturday-Sunday; 1625 N.E. Killingsworth St.; 503-281-3700; podnahspit.com

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Pure Spice

More than a year after The Oregonian/OregonLive found Portland's best dim sum at this unassuming Cantonese restaurant, weekends can sometimes draw a crowd, though we were able to walk right in. That might be because among Portland dim sum spots, Pure Spice's a la carte menu is in the serious minority. Roving dim sum carts can be fun, but at Pure Spice, your food is always made to order, meaning your seared pork-and-chive pancakes are still sizzling, your noodle-wrapped Chinese doughnuts are crisper and your har gow wrapping is steamed to a translucent white.

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Stephanie Yao Long

Details:

Dim sum starting at 9 a.m., daily; 2446 S.E. 87th Ave.; 503-772-1808; purespicerestaurant.com

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Roost

Look up "underrated brunch" in the dictionary and you’ll find, well, probably nothing, since that’s not something you’d find in a dictionary. But if it were, this charming Buckman neighborhood restaurant and its consistently excellent, consistently half-full brunch would surely be there. Order simply and you'll be rewarded with good bacon, eggs and banana-brown-bread pancakes. Go more complex and you might find clever twists on classic American fare: udpated pork cutlets or steak and eggs and the version 2.0 of the Kentucky Hot Brown -- griddled toast topped with eggs, crisp bacon tomatoes, mornay sauce and now, fried chicken.

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Michael Russell | The Oregonian/OregonLive

Details:

Brunch, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday-Sunday; 1403 S.E. Belmont St.; 971-544-7136; roostpdx.com

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Olympia Provisions SE

When the Central Eastside completes its transformation from artist-occupied warehouse district to condo-clogged downtown annex, the original Olympia Provisions will be jammed day and night. For now, we were able to walk right in for their weekend brunch, when OP charcuterie boards compete with hot cakes, biscuits and gravy, eggs Benedict and plenty of house-cured sweetheart ham. Can’t make it to the east side? The restaurant’s Northwest location is worth a shot.

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Details:

Brunch, starting at 9 a.m., Saturday-Sunday; 107 S.E. Washington St.; 503-954-3663; olympiaprovisions.com

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Raven & Rose

This gastropub inside downtown Portland’s historic Ladd Carriage House offers a Sunday brunch typical of the restaurant itself: Simple, refined dishes inspired by the British Isles. So there’s steel-cut Irish oatmeal, beans on toast, corned beef hash and a full English breakfast. Order a cup of tea, sit by the window, ignore the cars passing by on Broadway and you can almost imagine you’ve found yourself and some Irish countryside B&B.

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Details:

Brunch, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Sunday; 1331 S.W. Broadway; 503-222-7673; ravenandrosepdx.com

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Tannery Bar

This under-the-radar Portland cocktail bar offers a similarly under-the-radar weekend brunch, with omelets, waffles and country-fried steaks served inside a cinder-block hut with a dining room that looks like a Django Reinhardt song come to life. If you only order one thing, make it the buttery, gruyere-filled LaRousse omelet, which comes with potatoes and a house salad. Note: The space is small and can fill up fast, but you can usually snag a seat at the counter or one of the picnic tables out front.

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Details:

Brunch, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday-Sunday: 5425 E. Burnside St.; 503-236-3610; tannerybarpdx.com

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Michael Russell | The Oregonian/OregonLive

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