Jim and Patty's Coffee Comes Home with New Location on NW Lovejoy

Jim and Patty Roberts founded their insanely popular, much-beloved Coffee People chain in Northwest Portland way back in 1975. "It was called Coffee Man and it evolved into Coffee People in 1983," says Jim. "Our very first location was on NW Westover in an old house. We lived upstairs and ran the little coffee store below."

Longtime Portlanders will remember the chain expanded to around 40 locations in the Metro area over the years, including one NW 23rd location that was so popular, the Roberts' had to open a shop across the street to handle the overflow. Since it wasn't far  from Legacy Good Samaritan hospital, they dubbed it the Immediate Care Center.

The winding story of how Coffee People rose, faltered, and was sold, leaving the few remaining locations a shadow of their former selves, is a tale for another time (or a Google search). The upshot is Jim and Patty resurrected their cheeky-fun coffee business in 2002 with Jim and Patty's Coffee on Northeast Fremont. They expanded with a Beaverton location in 2013, and have now come full circle with a third location in NW Portland across the street from Good Sam. It's dubbed, you guessed it, Jim and Patty's Coffee: Immediate Care Center.

Opened on Monday Nov. 17, the location on NW Lovejoy at NW 22nd Avenue is a bit smaller than the NE Fremont spot, but it offers virtually the same menu — signature Velvet Hammer mochas, super-caffeinated Black Tiger coffee shakes, sour cream coffee cakes, and pastry-wrapped-pork Pig Newtons. Some items are baked in house, with others brought in from the Northeast location. "But we're so small here, we don't have the ability to do eggs and bacon," says Jim. "So we don't have the breakfast sandwiches and the Hipster Breakfast (biscuits and gravy topped with an egg)."

With the third spot, it's safe to say Jim and Patty's is officially a chainlet. And with the steady stream of customers popping in from across the street, it's safe to say the new location is a good fit. "The surgeons and doctors and nurses and patients all need immediate care," says Jim, "and we're here for them."

Jim and Patty's ICC: 2246 NW Lovejoy Ave., Portland, 503-477-8363

Hours: Daily 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.