This beloved whole grain flour producer in the Portland, Ore., suburb of Milwaukie serves up some fine traditional fare in its popular cafe. Here’s what you shouldn’t miss when making the pilgrimage to this very special, employee-owned place.
Welcome to Bob’s
Roughly six months into a road trip around the West, I’ve spent a whole lot of time searching for the best baked goods. You can tell a lot about a place by what its bakeries and diners and drive-through coffee shacks serve. Yes, please, bring on the carbs.
Hitting the home base of Bob’s Red Mill was a recent bright spot on the otherwise gloomy return to the Pacific Northwest. The calendar says it’s spring, but the relentlessly gray skies tell a different story.
Yet, the vibe was positively sunny on a recent weekend, the staff taking orders at the counter were all smiles. Chalk that up, in part, to Bob’s being employee-owned for the past decade, but more on that in a sec.
For me, the challenge at breakfast is always narrowing it down to one choice. Because I want the pancakes and maybe just one waffle with a side of eggs and bacon, maybe some grits. A biscuit is essential.
Bob’s Breakfast covered the bases, adding greens to the colorful plate of eggs, grits and a biscuit. My friend and fellow food writer, Kathleen Bauer, ordered a biscuit sandwich and her friend, Denise, gratefully accepted a bite of that beauty even though Kathleen wasn’t blown away by what was on the inside. “It’s like Denny’s,” she said. Denise countered: “I like Denny’s.”
I haven’t been to a Denny’s in decades, but I highly doubt that chain could achieve the biscuit goodness I was blissing out on. These aren’t the typical thick, fluffy creation. They had some heft that was provided by the Mill’s own whole grain flour and that’s the most brilliant way to marketing products I’ve tasted in a long time. But it’s not surprising. Bob’s Red Mill has long been a trailblazer.
Before whole grain was cool
Bob Moore and his wife, Charlee, first started using whole grains to feed their young family when they lived in Northern California in the 1960s. It was that first fresh-baked loaf of whole wheat that changed the couple’s life forever.
After much research, they started a mill near Redding, working on growing the operation until Bob “retired” to Oregon a few years later. When exploring their new surroundings, the couple happened upon an abandoned mill and fast forward several decades, that’s exactly the location where visitors are warmly welcomed these days.
Despite some early setbacks — a fire destroyed the original operation — Bob’s Red Mill has grown into a nationally distributed juggernaut, its offerings vastly expanded to include beans, legumes, snacks and flours of all stripes. Need some teff for homemade injera? The Ethiopian bread used to sop saucy dishes. Bob’s has got that, along with flours made from almonds, oats, cassava, millet, rice and sorghum. Yes, sorghum.
Even though the company’s large, it’s still nimble enough to embrace sea changes on the always evolving culinary landscape. The producer was an early adopter of the movement towards gluten-free baking and offers a number of Keto-friendly items. Its YouTube channel dishes out easy-to-follow cooking advice and its entertaining TikTok account has more than 200,000 followers.
Yet, its core mission remains decidedly Old School. According to its origin story on the company’s website: “From the very beginning, Bob and Charlee focused on people over profit. Their mission was to provide wholesome food to their customers, build close relationships with farmers and suppliers, and treat their employees with generosity and respect.” Talk about some feel-good goals.
That focus on people became extra sharp in 2010 when the company introduced its Employee Stock Ownership Plan. On the 10th anniversary, Bob’s announced the company was 100 percent employee-owned.
After the meal...
I thoroughly enjoyed breakfast with one exception. The lackluster jam in a teeny plastic container was definitely not worthy of the excellent biscuit. There were many condiments offered in single-use packaging at the cafe and as the thorny issue of damaging micro-plastics in the environment gains traction, I’d sure love to see Bob’s Red Mill address that single-use plastic problem in its groundbreaking way.
After picking up some merch, Kathleen suggested we check out the biscuits at a cozy spot down the way. A double biscuit morning? I’m all in.
The golden orb at the Milwaukie Cafe lived up to its lofty advance billing. Bakers use butter to impart a deeply satisfying flavor and a flakey texture, almost like a fine pastry. While it typically comes warm, slathered in butter and drizzled with honey, the homemade marionberry jam is highly recommended. Next time, I’ll come for the full meal deal at this charming neighborhood fixture.
