This place is vegan, but it doesn't say so on the sign. My partner and I have vegetarian diets and knew coming in that this place only serves vegan food, but overhearing other guests it's clear some of them were quite surprised. Vertical Diner should be candid with their customers and put "vegan" on their sign. As an analogy, imagine going to to a place called "Vertical Bar" only to discover after sitting down that it's a juice bar. The food is just okay, and overpriced. I've had much better vegan/vegetarian food at a much lower price point. $13 for an awkward veggie burger with one piece of limp romaine and an under-ripe beefsteak tomato slice is too much. I say the burger was awkward because they give you three patty options to pair with one of several sets of toppings. The problem is that I don't know what the patties taste like so how am I supposed to know which patty to pair with the set of toppings I choose? The chef/cook/menu-designer should do that pairing. I ended up with a patty flavored with turmeric that had seitan on top -- not the best combination. It came with a salad. The dressing was good, but again: flaccid romaine, three strips of carrot cut with a vegetable peeler, a few beet shreds, and three cucumber slices. Great prices on the beer though! $5 for a nice pint of IPA. Hell yeah. My advice is this: 1. Be honest with your potential customers and make it clear that the restaurant is vegan. 2. Don't make me make choices that I am ill-equipped to make. Pick a patty for each set of burger toppings and make it that way on the menu. If someone wants to substitute, let them, it's their fault then if it's awkward. 3. Reduce the prices on the sandwiches. My $13 sandwich/salad should have been $9. 4. Increase the prices on the beer from $5 to $7-8. read more

I can see why this place gets fairly hit or miss reviews, but after my experience here I am a fan! First things first, if you check the online menu and see something you are dying to try- the actual menu does not have everything on it! Perhaps this was just a lunch menu, but I did not see everything I had online when dining in! The place itself is cute but stark, a bit of a blast from the past and super diner-y. However, it is clean and nice. We wanted to try a little bit of everything so we got the Asian lettuce wraps with mushrooms (these were served with romaine), a tempeh Ruben with mac and cheese, and a buffalo tiger sandwich with fries. Everything was very good! The lettuce wraps the the most underwhelming but still incredible flavor! The buffalo sandwich was not buffalo and more of a honey ish BBQ, but they have a great in house hot sauce, which spiced it up a bit. Regardless this was SO good. The ruben was WONDERFUL, sweet and sour but savory and tasty. I was not a HUGE fan of their mac and cheese, but my mom was! The fries were great too! They also have Kombucha on tap, which I love! read more

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A much-needed all-vegan 70s style diner on the west side of the metro. We ordered a breakfast burrito and a joaquin phoenix burger and both were very good. Service is decent and there was barely any wait time when we went on a Sunday afternoon. We will be back. read more

Good vegan diner food. Had driven by so many times never realizing it was vegan, would have come by sooner. Food and service were good, will be back. Buffalo chicken sandwich and fries were highlights. read more

Had the vertical tacos and they were awesome! Great flavor and very filling. Even better with some of their hot sauce. Portions are generous for the price. We will be coming back to try some other menu items! read more

Really tasty vegan food. The service was okay. I didn't care for their ranch, but I finished everything on my plate. The tiger patties are deeeelicious. I am kind of particular about vegan meats and I really don't like when they're "too real." This stuff was perfect. Crunchy, tasty, really very good. Can't wait to try something else on the menu next time. read more

This place is absolutely delicious. One of the best vegan restaurants. Do yourself a favor and get anything with potatoes. Best potato's I've ever had! read more

Food is hit and miss sometimes, but overall a great spot for plant based food, highly recommend Pancakes, and mac n cheese. If you I go and get Jasmine as a server, you will be very happy. She's friendly, honest and truly cares about your dining experience :) read more

I've unfortunately never eaten at the actual diner, but I pick my food up from there and it's so cute! The food is so delicious and really well priced. Their gluten free bread/buns are probably the best I've ever had--I truly don't know how they make them so amazing. Also I always get their side salad. It's fresh and beautiful and not sad like most places side salads. read more

Vegan diner....how cool is that? Really cool, or could be. The food ranges from not great to pretty good. Service ranges from not great to pretty good depending on who you get, but no decaf coffee???? It's a diner for Christ's sake. When I brought this up the server got bent out of shape and told me that she was sorry the place didn't meet my expectations. I dropped it. Said, it's not your fault, sorry for being picky and then a few minutes later she's talking to me from across the room in a loud voice saying how they only have one grinder and apologizing again for 'not meeting my expectation'. I replied by saying that I'd let it go. It would be nice if she could too. Here's where I would insert my major eye roll emoji if there was one. I'm not saying don't go, just keep expectations in check and if you love coffee but can't handle caffeine, you may want to pick a different brunch spot. read more

Love the tacos!! So great to have veggie restaurant option! We did take out & it was fast, fresh & hot all the way home. Will be back!

Food is quite good. Early days, so limited menu for now. The kitchen was cranking out the dishes, despite being down a chef. Props, kitchen staff. Wait staff seemed overwhelmed. I think they'll figure it out over time. We'll go back another day when they've had a chance to hit their stride. read more

Second visit and I plan to be back.Vertical Diner has a fun atmosphere, good food and great staff. My husband and I came in for dinner around 6, we got a booth easily and had a great waitress named Jasmine. She was a lot of fun. I think the staff need to make sure folks know the food is vegan because I did see one or two groups of people leave after seeing the menu (oh the horror of not eating animals I guess). I had the Ian Mackaye burger (yes to mac and cheeze on a burger) and my husband had the American Diner. Both were great. We were too stuffed to try the dessert, so maybe we need to go back just for desserts. I recommend this place and am looking forward to going back and trying more items. read more

Finally got to check this place out. I love love love the diner interior with the vinyl booths, swivel chairs at the counter, and all round mid 70's authentic diner vibe without trying too hard. We had the tender tigers appetizers - hooray for deep fried things! I believe the mushroom stroganoff was a real standout - pasta, hearty sauce, mushrooms - what's not to love? I had the philly cheeze steak - it was OK. The seitan "steak' was lovely, but overall the sandwich was kind of dry. We mentioned we were celebrating my birthday and they sent me home with a free peanut butter brownie! I am a sucker for vegan sweets and it took me 2 days to finish it off. It was so rich, not too sweet, and dense. The chocolate mousse cake had delicate layers of cake, mousse, ganache and frosting. Although most of their food is going to fill you right up, do save room for desert, or at least take some home. So good! I want to go back soon and try more things! They could rename it "Chubby Vegan"! read more

Terrible customer service. They are always super late getting your carry out order ready. Today they were even more ridiculous since they didn't unlock the chains in their parking lot till they had already been open for 15 minutes. Super rude. Will not be back. read more

Vegan dinners aren't common. This place is truly unique. The menu is great and stays true to dinner options. They even serve beer. Will return! read more

Christine D's 09/8/2019 review seems a bit perturbed "from the inception" having inexplicably determined that the owner seeks to "rip off" vegans. Perhaps Ms. D hasn't sampled much vegan food at other restaurants in Portland. I have sampled vegan and vegetarian fare in Portland and other cities on the West Coast and East Coast, and Vertical Diner is just fine in terms of price, portions, and flavor. Check out their menu on line. Having had at least two to three meals each week at Vertical Diner since they opened, I too observed during their first month that when busy (in the evenings and at times during lunch) orders weren't flying out of the kitchen as fast and furiously as some restaurants. Yet as with any new operation I think it takes time to get systems and rhythms and functions well coordinated, and I think that this new staff at this new restaurant now has it figured out pretty well - my food is always warm when I get it! The staff are exceedingly polite and friendly, Athough I haven't tried too many of the pastries I found the tiramisu I had the other night truly first rate. I can see myself becoming a regular there, it's not far from my house and it's all good! Geoffrey read more

Health food restaurant. Everything has a healthy twist. Tried quite a few items. All where solid. It gets crowded and can take forever. If there's more than a few cars in the lot.. keep drivin read more

Some of the best vegan food I've ever eaten! Friendly staff, easy online order system and a cool retro cafe vibe to dine at. Taco salad is a favorite of mine but everything on the menu is super tasty and you won't go away hungry! read more

SO GOOD!! First time dining here and the service was great, plus serving sizes are awesome compared to the price paid. Will definitely be returning! read more

Vertical diner is definitely different for somebody who is used to eating meat. For most vegans we are used to creative cooking. I tried a few dishes but I can say the only ones I really like or the breakfast burrito and the stroganoff. Not really fan of anything else. read more

I am so sad to write a crappy review because I was so excited for vegan food in SW but this place is awful. First off we waited for 35 minutes to get a table and even when we could see two tables they took another 10 minutes to clean them. our waitress then took at least 5 minutes to ask if we wanted drinks. My friends soy creamer was off / curdled and made her coffee taste disgusting. I ordered Ian's special or some such thing. It was supposed to have homestyle potatoes, veggies and a corn cake with guacamole. What showed up was some tasteless potato pucks, the "veggies" were frozen broccoli chunks and onion, and the corn patty was...well frankly I don't know what it was. The dish was dry, tasteless and disappointing to say the least. Now with as many good fresh veggies as there are seasonally I was shocked to see frozen broccoli chunks. And hi it's called salt and herbs - make friends with them. Even the ketchup was bad and I was never offered hot sauce. My friends dishes, the pancakes and French toast were fine but nothing to write home about and the price for the size seemed excessive. But the worst thing was by far the service. Our waitress was nice enough but sooooooo in space. She didn't check on us once, as mentioned I wasn't even offered hot sauce and she didn't come by to hear about the curdled creamer. Overall so bad I won't give it another chance. I want a vegan diner option very badly but I could definitely do a better job myself... and I ain't no chef. read more

The new owner did nothing to the diner but put in some kitchen appliances. Looks like same OLD dirty place as it was before. Food is overpriced and disgusting. Mushroom gravy type stuff and gross artificial proteins. Went once and won't ever go back. Caters to old hippies who smoke dope and drink beer. Yuck. read more

Friendly staff, but my partner's Thai salad was soggy and had the end of Romain it, not at all tasty.

I never write reviews, but in order for a business to grow when it is new I felt I had to. Was super excited to try a new vegan place, had a date night with my fiancé and was looking forward to something new, and at a really sweet retro diner. I know the place is new and will experience growing pains. That being said... I ordered a philly sub, after waiting at least 30-40 minutes for are food... fries were limp and greasy and the sandwich reminded me of a cadaver, it was all one color of grey and soggy and cold.... (adding red and green pepper would have at least made it look better). We also ordered the buffalo "wings" they came dry and eventually we got the sauce on the side, and also a side of Mac... (which we didn't order)our plate of wings had noodles hanging off the side(plate presentation doesn't seem important) the kitchen couldn't seem to figure it out and seemed pissed every time the servers called them out for a mistake... The servers gave me anxiety they were just all over the place( our server was very nice thought). I work in the industry and understand. And I will give it another go after a few weeks...I do wish them success and am open to trying again. read more

We loved our experience at Vertical Diner! The pancakes were the greatest vegan pancakes we have ever had -- and the syrup = YUMMM!!! The servers were so friendly and kind. So fun to have a vegan diner in Portland. Can't wait to go back and try more off their menu. read more

My new favorite restaurant. So glad to see creative, delicious vegan food south of downtown.

Great place I highly recommend the mountain scramble. I Loved the decor, it brought me back to my youth when I ate at diners. Friendly staff. read more

Nicely redone old diner with all plant based vegan menu. Definitely worth stopping by regardless what diet you eat!

Really good food! We had the Philly Cheesesteak and a side of mashed potatoes and gravy. Service was awesome. Can't wait to come back!

Check it out, Southwest PDX is lucky to have such a rad plant based diner like Vertical. Too many reviewers are getting there first veggie burger here and walking away disappointed. Skip the burger here and get the breakfast items or one of the sandos. Don't be afraid of a lil tofu, seitan, or tempeh. If you need to try a veggie burger for the first time go get an Impossible Whopper. After you graduate from that, head back to Vertical and get some of their dank carrot cake or choc cake or some biscuits and gravy! Also, don't stop at the Vert if the lot looks busy or it's peak hours and expect to get 2pm type service. We always pop in while driving by if it looks chill and we get amazing service. I plan to embrace this place for as long as it's open in SW otherwise i'll just be left with BK and generic veggieburger1.0 lyfe around here. read more

Yummy food, amazing decor. I love their American diner vibes. We had the sweetest waitress. I didn't catch her name but she had a short pixie haircut. Extra cyber stars for having oat creamer. read more

Best vegan spot in town!! I love having this option so close to my home!! Great food!! The food can take a little bit to come out so if your in a hurry I don't recommend it but if your wanting fresh amazing vegan food I would recommend this place!!! read more

I ordered the cashew Thai salad. I went alone and sat at the booth. I watched as the staff served everyone and tried to keep up with the orders. I went at around 5:30 PM on a weekday, just when patrons started to line up for a seat/table. The service is a bit rough around the edges -- since it just opened, no one is experienced...yet. Even so, the staff was friendly, and I can forgive the few mistakes with my order. The Thai salad had an amazing dressing. Give it a try! read more

The dude cake here are amazing. Two pancakes stuff with a homemade rice sausage patty with bell peppers and onions. Topped with their amazing liquid gold they call gravy. Definitely a must every time I come here. If you are looking for a vegan friendly dinner for you and your friends this is the place to be. I feel like most of the people that come here are expecting a feast of meat but this isn't that kind of joint. This place is 100% vegan, so if you are looking for a feast of meat, this isn't the place for you. read more

Best restaurant breakfast I've ever had, vegan or not. Top notch service. Ample coffee refills. Please open a location in downtown Hillsboro!!! read more

So good. I'm always happy to find restaurants that are entirely vegan, but this spot I like especially because of the super cool vibe! The food was a little slow to get to the table, but besides that, the staff was great and the food was delicious. read more

Best pancakes in town. We have been waiting for a vegan diner and have had great experiences here so far. The staff is very sweet & the price is fair. Super cozy, nostalgic environment. We will be back asap now that I've seen another review mentioning milkshakes! read more

The third time was the charm. Came in for dinner last Sunday evening, and had a great meal. The service has improved and the wait time for receiving our order also improved. I'm so glad. Very yummy. read more

We weren't sure of what we signed ourselves up for when we parked because it looked like an ordinary diner and had few tables occupied. I'd point out here that they have their own parking which is rare because of their location, so we already had it on 2 stars. As we entered, Lori greeted us in a very friendly manner. In no time we had water and menu handed over to us. It was a little cold at the corner table we took, but we were given a small heater and that made us more comfortable. Bump to 3 star Lori explained us the concept behind their menu (they are a plant based restaurant, but not certified gluten free) and the taco special they had that night. We ended up ordering 2 of those, a mushroom stroganoff, breakfast burrito, vertical taco, and fries for the table. All of the orders were delicious and fulfilling, sides were good too except the mashed potatoes and gravy - could just be my friend's review on it. We were able to finish all of it and thanked Lori for her awesome service and recommendations. Bump to 5 star! We ended up paying ~ 100$ for 5 people. read more