Portland, OR – Baba Fresh (Neighborhood Gem!)

One of the great things about Portland’s eclectic cuisine scene, is in nearly every neighborhood one can discover another little gem…..sometimes in one’s own backyard.

Baba Fresh, on Capitol Hwy, just past Pomona, near PCC Sylvania, is one such gem. They offer a complete line of coffees, smoothies, and fresh Mediterranean foods to eat indoors, on their little patio, or to go. The Baba guys also manufacture and wholesale hummus, baba ganoush, those kinds of items, so you may well have had their goods via your local supermarket already.

I walk by the place 10x a week, at least, and I think I have been in once in three years, and it was nearly three years ago. Weekend ‘breakfast’ is a tradition at the BurgerDogBoy household, but neither of us was motivated to cook today, and since it’s been pointed out to me in the past 24 hours I need to eat more vegetables, some alien voice came out of me this morning and said “let’s walk over to Baba Fresh, get a Greek salad, and eat it on their patio.” WTF? Who said that.

So we did.

We ordered a variety of plates, and the very friendly owner offered us samples of others. We had a mixed falafel plate, with two kinds of hummus, baba ganoush, tabbouleh, and pita. We had a giant Greek salad, mixed greens, black olives, and feta. Stuffed grape leaves, and in the midst of our gorging the owner brought over some marinated lamb he was grilling.

Lamb isn’t high on my or Mrs. BDB’s list, but this was absolutely delicious. Everything was prepared fresh and on the spot. No pressed, chopped and formed gyro meat here.

The prices are very reasonable, friendly people, great food. You should try it, even if it only replaces your morning coffee stop, for an espresso, Turkish coffee, and a pastry. People come and pick up the wholesale deliveries in the morning, so he’s open early. Corner of Pomona and Capitol Highway, just past 7-Eleven.

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(Photo not representative of Baba’s product, for illustrative purposes only)