Palio Dessert & Espresso House

I would give this place a 5 star rating if the coffee and food was half the price and the workers actually looked like they wanted to be here. Their coffee and desserts are average but they are ridiculously expensive. My $ 6.50 piece of cake was more like a sliver. The wifi doesn’t even work. The workers are so incredibly rude, even the owner. They always make snarky and passive aggressive comments at customers and service is so slow. It’s really unfortunate that this prime neighborhood space is occupied by a rude, overpriced coffee shop. Too bad you can’t give zero star ratings on Unilocal

Never in my life have I been treated the way I was by the owner of this terribly run establishment, which is a pity because the place itself has great potential under the right management. Two minutes into coming in as I just opened my laptop and put my things down the owner stared daggers at me and came up and told me «You need to order right now.» I told him I wasn’t ready yet but that I would, but he just repeated his initial statement. I felt very uncomfortable and decided to leave, and as I was walking out he condescendingly referred me to a library down the street. I tried explaining to him that eventually in fact I was going to order I was just trying to settle in first and he didn’t give me any time, to which he replied «Well eventually doesn’t pay the bills.» I come here frequently, the coffee is lukewarm and not the best but it’s a nice place to study and drink tea which I always buy, but after being bullied and treated so disrespectfully I will not be coming back. There is zero excuse to treat any human being that way, let alone a customer of all people. Last time I check bullying and managing were two different things.

I ordered a small macchiato and the barista replied in the most condescending tone «this isn’t a starbucks drink.» I said ok, can I still order it? Hah bless her heart.
I know what a macchiato is suppose to taste like with out all the syrup and cream thank you.
Overpriced, burnt coffee that was served lukewarm.

This place is very cute, has a nice atmosphere, it’s very calm and seems like a great place to work from my laptop for a while or get some studying done. Because of its location in Ladd’s addition it has some great views through its large windows.
We got a cappuccino which was delicious and I kind of wish I would have tried some of their other food since it looks pretty good. There was a guy there, I imagine the owner, who was a little peculiar and made some passing comments about the weirdos in Portland. It looks like a few reviewers have talked about him before. The interaction with him was a little off-​putting but wasn’t enough to ruin the visit or anything. But I could see how he could rub some people the wrong way.
Apart from the strange interaction, this place seems great. Good atmosphere, good coffee, good location.

Generally, I love coming here. Good coffee and pastry selections, and a nice study room. Lately, though, there’s been a rather unpleasant vibe of «drink your coffee and leave.» I don’t mind the expectation of purchasing 2.75/ 3 hours for internet — this is reasonable. What I don’t appreciate is being made to feel that I should leave even when I’m making the «required» purchase amounts. The owner actually told me I needed to «wrap it up» and I’d only been there for a little over two hours and had made plenty of purchases.

I paid 5 $ for a cup of tea, and can’t get more hot water without paying another 5 $?? And no, I’m not spending the day here studying. I’m here on a Friday night drinking tea with a friend and looking at a book. IT’S WATER.

I thought his place was pretty good for studying and working. It has big tables and lots of room. How ever I experienced such rude customer service. I felt the employee working when I was there was not friendly and seemed irritated with every question I had. I did not feel welcome at all or inspired to ever go back there.

This is a cute coffee house in a great neighborhood, but the staff is so unfriendly. I have now been in there twice; once to work and once just to enjoy a cup of coffee and both times the regular guy just seem really annoyed to be working. The café is very inviting to work as there are lots of tables, plugs and wifi. As I took my business call the music was turned up a couple notches (seemed odd) and so I asked the espresso artist ie the guy who makes coffee if he could turn it down a bit. He looked at me like I called him a m*ther f*cker and said «no» with this snooty attitude. Really dude ummmm… yeah hello you are in a business with the intention of attracting customers to work in your café and your job is to offer customer service 2+2=your paycheck. Either support your employer and their customers or go get a job where you don’t feel so pissed off to be working at. Hmmmm… maybe that’s it you just don’t want to actually work!

Hopefully the man who waited on us just now isn’t the owner. If he is, he’s not very smart. If he’s not, hopefully the owner will talk to him or fire him because he’s an ass. My daughter took me here because she said it had great desserts and was in a fun location. We bought 2 desserts to go and the man who waited on us had ZERO customer service skills. He did not welcome us or even tell us our total after he rang us up. He also didn’t thank us for our business. We weren’t annoying customers, either. He ruined the experience for us. Shame on you if you’re the owner and if you’re not, you need to find a solitary job like in a library or something.

Wi-​fi is not free and limited so if you are going to study pick somewhere else. Staff was unfriendly and arrogant. Food/​Drink overpriced. There are amazing coffee shops in Portland, it’s one of the things we are known for. This is not one of them. Don’t waist your time or money.

I was visiting here months ago for the first time with two of my girlfriends. I ordered a hot apple cider, and the other two ordered a cappuccino and, I want to say, a latte. We also shared one of their scrumptious looking desserts, a slice of cake.
My first sip of apple cider. It’s hot enough, but there’s something missing as this cider tastes like hot water and nothing else. I take another sip just to be sure… nothing, bland. I look up and see my two friends that have the same disappointed look on their faces. We do a pass around and all try each other’s drinks. Same results. We each take a bite of the dessert. No improvement.
Portland was packed full of awesome dessert and coffee shops, and we really wanted to like this one, but it ranked last on our list.

Location, décor, large tables for studying and dessert options were great, but prices were high, (even for tea @ $ 4.25 for a single cup, not even a pot); expiring wifi password is not welcoming either. Probably not coming back…

I love that this place offers free wifi and has a big study room. It really brings back memories of college life.
The only thing I didn’t like was they didn’t have much variety on type of food and drinks.

I’ve been coming here for a while and generally really like the place. today however, things are a little different– Instead of having the wifi posted, they give you a little paper with a unique wifi password valid for 3 hours. you can get another one with another purchase of at least $ 2.75– this seems very fair to me. it’s a great place to study with large tables and they FINALLY got more outlets! it used to be hard to procure one here and was ultimately the reason I stopped coming here for a while.
my only reason for docking is a star is the coffee seems different. like, really really different. I ordered an almond milk latte ($ 5– fair/​average price for this city) but when I got it, it tasted like drip coffee with a ton of sweetener and a splash of milk. I hate sugar in my coffee, and this was really really sweet. not very creamy/​milky at all, I’m actually slightly confused. it really didn’t look or taste anything like a latte. almost more of gas station coffee with some sort of flavored creamer in it. normally the coffee here is really good, so I’m hoping this isn’t some new way they’ve gone about making coffee.

I just had to give this place five stars to counter some of the ridiculous poor ratings that other people gave. One reviewer complained that they did not give her another piece of cake for free because she didn’t like the one she bought. Hey Petty Patty — where do you eat that does this? I cannot imagine myself ordering something from a restaurant, tasting it and saying «Hmm, I did not think the cilantro soup would be so cilantro-​y. Could I get a bowl of something else and you can throw this one down the sink because I know you are not interested in actually making any money?»
Another reviewer complained about the barrista being rude to her because she brought in outside food. Hey — you’re the rude one for assuming that you could do this! The only acceptable place to bring in outside food is a movie theater and only if it is in a non-​crinkly wrapper and stuffed discretely in a pocket and all evidence removed with you. Lastly, another reviewer complained that the wifi was only available for three hours and only for one device. Hmmm. I think you might be better off somewhere else if that is what you want. Maybe your own apartment?
Seriously, I’ve been going here for years and have seen students camp out with their laptops, sipping at one cup of coffee. This is a business and while it might look a little like it, it is not an extension of your living room. Palio is a great place to have a coffee or dessert and have a conversation with friends or read a book. Beautiful setting. All the desserts that I have had here were great. Occasionally, I will bring my laptop but I am always conscious of the time and consider it a favor that they are allowing me to use their electricity and wifi and limit my usage to about an hour. My only hope is that these three reviewers have found another place to suit their unreasonable needs.

Palio’s is a secret elvish café that exists only in the magical realm of Rivendell. Either that, or it’s at the dead center of Ladd’s, which means it’s hard to find and even harder to leave. Whenever I visit, I feel like I’m flitting in on fairy wings, enrobed in diaphanous fabrics. By the time I leave, my skin is magically clear, eternally youthful, with a faint elvish glow to it.
Every time I’ve been here, it’s been a magical experience. Sometimes the service is a little perfunctory and/​or slow, but I really don’t give a rip. There are bookshelves on offer with really interesting books to peruse, benches to sit on outside, an entire gorgeous rose garden to get lost in right out front (where, on Wednesdays, bluegrass musicians congregate seemingly as if by telepathy, putting on performances for free, for fun), a whole huge extra room with tables to do your working-​from-​café thing, and all kinds of good vittles and drinks.
About those comestibles: The teas are terrific! The grub is great! And the cake… my darlings, the cake is simply divine. In the summer, give the ice cream sammies a try. I dare you to finish a whole one by yourself. Add to all of this the fact that the coffee ain’t bad and the place is open late? This is my Shangri-​La.

Interior decorated with book shelf and dim orange light make it feel like it is a homely living room. Cake displayed were large and seemed overly sweet so chose a pastry and horchata. When I asked if it was «house made» which to me means traditionally made, reply was yes. So paying $ 4 for drink seemed reasonable. However it was just packaged rice milk with cinnamon sprinkled on top! That’s like difference between stock simmered overnight with veggie and bones to powdered chicken stock. Horchata takes anywhere from 3 to 8 hours to blend, strain, and set overnight to infuse flavor. Very disappointed. Pastry was too sweet as well. So I would not have high expectation on quality of food. Good place for tea and book, but that’s the extent.

It takes a lot to drive me to be inspired to write either a positive or critical review. My first visit to Palio has spurred me to recount my experience.
Palio is a lovely space. It’s like a house with sweets, warm drinks, twinkling lights at night, and a study area. The young man who made my drink was helpful and patient as I decided among the options in the dessert case. My friend and I got a generous portion of a nicely decorated dry piece of cake, a flavorful but also dry macaroon, a small drink, and tea for about $ 20 with tip.
The mediocrity of the desserts was overcome by the fact that it was a wonderful place to study and finish my leftover sandwich that I had gotten elsewhere. It was overall a very pleasant experience until my friend and I were leaving at 11 when they close. I thought I’d be helpful and bus my plates, cups, and trash to the counter up front. Got a strange look from the man at the counter but thought nothing of it.
As we left, the man glared at me and snarled, «there’s a reason why there’s a sign on the door.» I was wide-​eyed with confusion until he spat, «don’t bring food into my restaurant.» It dawned on me that the checkered paper that my sandwich had been wrapped in on top of the plates that I had brought over myself was what he was talking about. Now I certainly understand the owner of a place that serves food to not allow outside food so I told him I was sorry, but what further shocked me was when he rudely did not acknowledge my apology, turned his back on me, and stalked off.
As we walked out, I looked at the glass door and at the bottom was a beige non-​descript sign that said, «no outside food allowed».
There is a level of service and not being rude to customers that I strongly believe in. The message was understandable; the way it was delivered was not. What started out as a place that I was planning to tell my friends about turned into a confrontation that makes me wonder if I’ll ever go back. I don’t intend to bring food or myself there again anytime soon. There are so many other cute places to get dessert and coffee in Portland.

«Cute» is a good word for Palio. It’s in the heart of Ladd’s addition and you can walk through the rose garden on your way in.
Palio wants you to study and eat dessert. That is its purpose. It’s extremely quiet in there. Like, very. Very. Quiet. You can’t have a conversation with a friend, but if you ever have a day when you’re like, «God damnit! I just want to do something in silence around other silent people and eat cake!» … turns out Portland actually has a place just for that!
The end.

The cherry tart, blackberry tart, carrot cake, and almond milk lattes are great here. The large tables are also really nice for studying, which is why this place tends to fill up in the afternoons during the school year, especially during finals. If you want a good table, plan on getting there earlier rather than later because it is indeed worth it.
I have two complaints about this place, one of which is nit-​picky. First, a few times I’ve visited I’ve been made to feel like a hassle by the workers. Palio doesn’t have the friendliest staff, and I can’t stand not being greeted with a hello or some sort of welcome when I go up to the cash register. Second, the nit-​picky one, and this applies to a lot of places in Portland, if the sun comes out or if the temperature goes above 65 degrees, it is absolutely unnecessary to blast the air conditioning. Twice, my boyfriend and I have had to leave because of the arctic temperatures here, and we have written it off as an option when the weather is nice. Still, this place is definitely a must if you’re looking for a solid dessert and coffee.