Elm Court: "Free Lunch" Top 5 Page for this destination Portland Restaurant Tip by IncogNeat-0

Update: September 2008

There are several "Loaves & Fishes" senior centers scattered throughout the metro area, but only the downtown center (Elm Court) provides meals on weekends. Expect to be carded, hahaha! Yes, carded! Foreign seniors welcome. Even Canadians, lol, but don't tell Stacyh. She might picket the place.

Yes, there is such a thing as a free lunch if you are a senior citizen 60 or over & a tightwad like myself - but don't expect to see an elm at Loaves & Fishes downtown location for the very simple reason that there is no courtyard at Elm Court, let alone an elm tree.

Donations are of course welcome at all times. Suggested donation = $2.75 USD. Lunch is sometimes served at 11:30, sometimes not - depending on how many volunteers show up. Two daily menus, depending on how long the food holds out. There is usually more then enough, but staff sometimes has to improvise to make ends meet. Ample coffee, especially if you like it black. Youngsters under 60 willing to pony up a minimum $5.50 USD "contribution," up from $3 USD, are also welcome.

From Portland's Town Square, aka Pioneer Courthouse Square,* walk due west until reaching SW 11th Ave, then left until you reach the Loaves & Fishes downtown Elm Court on the corner of SW 11th & Main. Traffic on 11th is southbound.

Alternate: Board any westbound MAX train on the north side of the Town Square (Morrison Street). Get off at the next stop. Walk one block due west to SW 11th, then left four short blocks to Loaves & Fishes.

Elm Court opens its doors at 8 AM weekdays, 10 AM Saturday & Sunday.

Ample parking nearby.

Favorite Dish: Dishes appear to have been designed by committee, come in a variety of shapes & sizes, and tend to be sturdy, practical, no-nonsense industrial strength heavy duty dishes; ditto cups. Break insistant, they break but don't bend; lightweight plastic throw away picnic dishes are sometimes used late in the day.

A modest $2.00 weekday breakfast is available at Elm Court at 8:30 AM or thereabout, depending on how much help head chef Angie has. Only one choice, depending on what Angie can whip up with what she has.

Sample Breakfast Menus:

Scrambled Egg, Waffle, Sausage.
Cheese Omlet, Tater Tots.
French Toast, Scrambled Egg, Bacon
Pancake, Scrambled Egg, Ham.

No age restriction, all are welcome. Free newspapers on a first come, first served basis - so if you want to get the bad news first, show up early.

* Pioneer Courthouse, across from Pioneer Courthouse Square, is an old, ugly, drab, dreary, depressing grey edifice left over from the 19th century. Local folk love it. No idea why, but it does blend in nicely with often leaden, overcast skies. No true pioneer ever saw Pioneer Courthouse anyway, let alone used it. Tall pines stood where it now stands, or short tree stumps, or perhaps an early safety deposit box - aka outhouse.

Early pioneers traveling upriver from Fort Vancouver to Willamette Falls (Oregon City) often stopped over at a wide clearing along the way. "The Clearing," as it was then known upriver & down for reasons that now escape me evolved in time into "Stumptown" as pioneers expanded the beachead, and finally, offically given the more more prosaic copycat name of Portland - as though there weren't enough already, probably a score or more by mid-century & still counting. Portland was allegedly chosen over Boston by the flip of a coin because Chief Seattle lived too far north.

Address: 1032 SW Main Street
Comparison: N/A
othercontact: 503-736-6325
Phone: 503-988-4485
Price: N/A
Rating: 5
Theme: American
Website: http://www.loavesandfishesonline.org/