Cafe au Play

I went here with a friend for a play date with our babies and I had such high hopes to like this place. Maybe I came on an off day? The lady who took my order seemed rude when I asked what other beverages aside from coffee they served she gave me a odd look and pointed to a display with food and drinks. They all seemed to have caffeine and when I asked her if there was anything more she just got snooty. I felt like service lacked big time. She served my friend first and than 20 minutes went by and then I got mine. There seemed to be other moms enjoying themselves but after finishing our food and seeing a rat in the parking lot coming towards the building… Well it’s safe to say it put me off… I don’t think I’ll come back here again.

I feel awful writing this. I REALLY want to love this place. They have the right idea, but the reality is frustrating. They are terribly understaffed, it’s dirty [of course it’s dirty. There are only two people on staff on a really busy day, so the inevitable messes, spills, and general disinfecting required in such a space gets overlooked because they’re busy making food] a sick kid magnet, unorganized, and has bad fung shui. On a positive note, we did enjoy a private party there recently, and it was a much more positive experience than on a regular day, and the staff was friendly despite being unable to meet truly meet the needs of the space or customers. Perhaps they should consider a for profit model so they can create a budget for the real needs of the business.

Avoid booking an event here.
After I placed 2 phone calls on the 29^th of October with a nice young man named Duran, with details given as to the date and time requested, plus a Facebook message sent with the same message. I heard nothing.
So I called again yesterday, to get a message to Kristin, the «Café Director». Who is apparently never at the Café. I heard nothing.
Today, SIX DAYS after I left my 3 initial messages, I called and explained the situation to another employee, who took down my info, and promised to get a hold of Kristin… who is once again, apparently, never in the Café.
Kristin calls back without an apology, telling me that I probably had the wrong information, and sent my inquiry to the wrong email address.
No apologies, no taking responsability for the situation. Absolutely maddening.
Kristin needs to find a new job, because she sure doesn’t understand business, hospitality, event production, nor more simply, what it means to follow through and to be responsable.
6 days wait, and a colossal waste of my time.

Visiting from Oakland and this place was great. Came for a music day and the kids loved the toys and environment. Coffee and food was tasty enough (that’s not why you’re here) and the other parents and kids were great. Amazing toddler spot — I wish we had one in my town!

Kids focused café. Good out door kids space, sand box, play house, bushes. Entertainment starts at 10:30 on weekdays, make sure you bring 5 $ donation for the entertainers. It can get pretty crowded in the cooler seasons. They have good menu items for adults and kids. Lots of coffee and smoothie choices, they have always tasted great. They also get the high school lunch rush.

A good cup of hot chocolate. Yes, I’m not a coffee drinker. The HORROR and I still live in Portland and haven’t been excommunicated as of yet. This is a place that’s on my way home from work.
Café au Play is geared towards the couples with young children. They have seating indoors and outdoors with play areas for the little ones. It is so geared for the kiddos and the parents can get their caffeine fixes to keep up with the little balls of energy.
Friendly staff and I got my hot chocolate rather fast, granted I was there shortly after they opened and there was only one other customer in the shop, but I suspect they do their fair share of business.
Go support these folks, especially if you need to recharge and survive your toddlers.
Enjoy.

It’s a great space with ample stuff for kiddos to do. The food and coffee are excellent. It is a great place to meet up with friends and actually have time to talk. They have a great train table and sandbox. There are also toys and trikes. My only complaint is the staff is super grumpy. Every single person I’ve met up with says that the baristas seem like they don’t like kids. I concur.

This place was a complete zoo, horribly understaffed and overpriced. For $ 5.50 I got a bagel with butter and an 8 ounce latte. I get that it’s a training program but there really should be better management. Non-​profits are run more like regular businesses nowadays. Shouldn’t café au play catch up?
It took 25 minutes for me to get my bagel. There were two ppl working the bar and at least 50 ppl inside and outside. It was a little dirty as well.
I went to meet a friend who is a mom to a four year old and a 3 month old. I would never come here unless I was meeting a friend with kids.

This place is essentially a preschool that serves decent food and espresso. If you add beer on tap I might be here a lot. My 2.5 year old says 5 stars. I say 4 slowish service and no beer.

I visited today with my almost-​one year old and a friend with a baby the same age. I had high hopes based on the reviews, but after further reading I see most of them are from several years ago when this place was probably awesome.
You guys… it was like The Island of Misfit Toys, really, really sad. The train set had about 3 little cars, and was so incredibly dirty. The toy bins are all filled with random, assorted pieces of toys that should be organized together (example: Mr. Potato Head’s smile, a train that doesn’t fit in the track, a gross Teddy Bear…). Almost every table, and several chairs, had abandoned beverages on them. The floor was covered in food pieces and bits of trash, not so great for a crawler. They need a fence between the parking lot, Division and the outside play area. Obviously parents are watching their kids, but this just seemed negligent for a «kid-​friendly» establishment.
The playhouse was filled with sand and just felt like an old, abandoned beach house. We had fun with the tricycles outside, but the gravel and cobblestone make it pretty difficult to get around. They had a great book selection and my daughter loved the «sensory» type board under the cash registers.
It was obvious that this place was once pretty cool, but it is in really bad shape. I think they should focus on the big aspects (sand box, tricycles, play house, train table) and get rid of all the little, icky toys. There was a box labeled «dirty toys» and I was tempted to just put everything in it.
The sandbox was super popular with ages 3 and up. I think kids that can play with an imagination would probably have a lot of fun here. For toddlers, not so much. This was my first «play café» experience, and I’ve heard most of them charge admission. After this experience, I would gladly pay a few bucks for a cleaner environment and better quality toys.
And I’m not going to get into the barista experience since I understand it is a training program… Keep practicing ladies.

Terrible if your not a woman with kids don’t go. They want a certain clientele and refuse service to all others. My sister and I went here 6 times. they made excuses and refused to serve us every time. I give up.

Love this place great for small children. My younger child loves the sandbox and out door toys. My older child enjoyed the entertainment. What a great space for kids to play while moms can just drink coffee and socialize without having to worry too much about the child breaking stuff or hurting themselves.

This was my first visit to this place because honestly everything is shutting down for the holiday and I was cooped up in the house with my daughter. It’s over in SE which is a little drive but I was interested in the performer and thought my daughter would like it.
The place is cute and the menu is good. Coffee was meh but lots of toys to play with although I’d steer clear of any stuffed animals because those were nasty. The outdoor area is neat with a little house, multiple tricycles and a sizable area to play. I like that there seem to be many events here and that they are free.
Bottom line I think I might return if it were closer. There are more and more playdate kind of places opening up but this place is free which is an added bonus. Worth a trip if you’re on the Eastside.

This coffee shop is right up the road from my house and lately I’ve been walking my 1 year old daughter here on weekends.
The coffee is good, I haven’t yet tried the food but I’ve heard good things. The indoor play area keeps my daughters attention and we’ve even come in when they have had some live music performances which was pretty awesome.
They also have a beautiful, large outdoor patio and a pretty large outdoor play are as well with a sandbox and play house.
I would give this place 4 stars based on the longer then usual wait time it takes to get orders out but the fact that they are a nonprofit and have some barista training programs and host events for the high school kids in the area merits the 5 stars. Way to contribute to our community guys!

This is my favorite kid’s café in Portland. They often have great performers for the kids, the play space is engaging and varied, and their food is pretty great too. I love the outdoor sandbox area with a cute little playhouse and to the side of the café is a garden where they grow some of the veggies they use inside. One of the employees was gardening when my kid ran up. She talked to him about the plants and let him pick a cherry tomato to eat.
My ONLY complaint is that it’s on a busy, busy road and it’s not fenced. I can’t relax, worried at any moment my child will dart into traffic.

A good café with a no-​fee indoor and outdoor kids play space. We stayed outside near the sandbox and playhouse, but glimpsed a train table, books and toys on the way in. The kids ordered a yogurt and granola parfait, a Nutella and banana on wheat bread and a chocolate milk and I got a white mocha. Service was laid back and friendly. Kept my three year old entertained much longer than my five year old. I am glad that places like this exist.

NOT GOOD! I went at 10 AM and they were out of coffee so I got the bottom of the barrel, and only half a cup filled but charged full price. The barista said «.well, I can, like, put on another pot if you want me to…» (huh!?) Everything seemed unclean and chaotic. I will not go there again.

I really liked the atmosphere at Café au Play when I visited with my one-​year-​old last week — and my latte was pretty tasty! I was a little disappointed at how grimy all of the toys were. I get that there is a whole sandbox thing going on outside and that the kids track dirt in, but the toys didn’t look like they’d been wiped down in ages. Also, there were some broken toys out in the sandbox (another mom removed them and took them inside).
They have a train table, the aforementioned sandbox and many other toys. My son seemed to have fun while we were there and we will certainly go back! If the toys weren’t kinda gross, I’d give it 5 stars. :)
(Oh, they do accept debit/​credit cards but there’s a 50 cent service fee if your order is under $ 5, which I TOTALLY understand for a small business. I just thought I’d warn you so you can be prepared!)

I’m at this place so often that it might as well be my living room. It is an amazing resource for families in the community because it is a place to go where your kids can play and you can meet others without worrying about disturbing people.
The coffee is great, food has lots of great options and every morning there is entertainment.
Yes, it gets crowded so don’t go between 9:30−12pm if your kids or you get overwhelmed by that.
Café au Play also provides a service to the community by providing job skills training for teens and others that want it at no cost.

Most indoor play places require an average $ 5 admission fee. However this is not the case at Café au play! Small, but cozy play area for kids paired with great food choices and coffee that aren’t overpriced AND… actually taste good! What a concept ;)
Friendly staff, including volunteer baristas are quick and so accommodating. There is a daily «performance» such as a musician or story time clowns. Can’t wait to spend more time here as the rainy weather approaches.