Opening today on the corner of SW 11th and Taylor, The Daily Feast is a new "from-scratch" diner taking over one of Portland's most iconic diner locations—a space formerly home to Leo's Non-Smoking Coffee Shop, a casual restaurant with pre-Great Depression roots operated by Peter and Jane Chan, from 1984 to 2014.
Writing to Eater, The Daily Feast owner Christine Burmeister Guivernau extols the virtues of the Connecticut diners of her childhood, and you'll find the same teal swivel chairs at the U-shaped counter as when the Chans owned the business, with glassware for milkshakes, malts, and ice cream sundaes lining the shelves. A daily specials board greets you upon arrival.
Guivernau did remove the large gray awnings and replaced the florescent lighting with hanging lights, greatly brightening the space. The Daily Feast also added an espresso machine for serving local Spella Caffe roasts.
Before The Daily Feast moved in, the Dime Store, a slightly upscale diner owned by Dayna McErlean (DOC, Yakuza, Nonna), operated for about a year and a half. The pricing on The Daily Feast menu harks to earlier years, with everything costing $9 or less, and that means there's a new cheap eats spot Downtown.