Good ambiance, clean, great waitress. Food prep a little slow. Esp. Poutine which was average. Needed more grave. Tasteless. Fried chicken sandwich wonderful.

Great modern interpretation of American classics. The doughnut burger sliders were good. Green bean tempura was fried just right, with light batter and a little crunch. Braised beef short ribs were good but not special. Taco burger has tons of flavor. I really enjoyed the chicken & waffle. Jalopeno peppers mixed in the waffle added a little extra kick.

Our server was pleasant and efficient. Overall we enjoyed our dining experience. Will definitely go back.

We dined here one evening with some friends from out of town. Overall, it's a good place to grab a bite. They are quick and the food is good and there are some unique items on the menu like the doughnut sliders and some interesting milkshakes. Not fine dining, but its convenient in downtown and a good place for families and larger parties.

Always good

We arrived about 19 minutes early but they seated us right away. Brought out water & coffee which happens from both sides of the table! The food was excellent and hit the spot. Could've been a tad warmer but it was all cooked to perfection!

We were very pleased with The Original. Service was great and you get a lot of food for your money.

Honestly, I was disappointed. Service was great. Atmosphere was echoey and boomy. The food? It looked great but didn’t deliver on the tastebuds.

Crowd-wise it was great for the celebration lunch we had. We had a reservation and were seated immediately.

Will we come back? I don’t know. Staff was great, the space was fun, but the food wasn’t great and we couldn’t hear each other speak.

We took my husband here for Father’s Day brunch. The place looks cool, has a nice layout, and is clearly popular. There was a good selection of breakfast/brunch options. Our service started out good and dwindled to pretty poor. Granted, they were busy and may have just gotten overwhelmed toward the end. However, I’m guessing they are always busy for weekend brunches.... and they probably should have been expecting it. Quality of food was very good.... I don’t know.... overall, it was fine. I would recommend it, but for some reason I’m not in a huge hurry to go back.

Th food was great, staff was attentive. Seating is close together, to the two d-bags that we were next to kept dropping lovely language for our 7 year old to hear. Other than that, wonderful!

Boozy milkshakes were wonderful.

Amazing food in a great ambiance. Brought friends from Nicaragua and Austria for their first meal out in Portland and they were wowed!

I took my folks here, knowing Dad would enjoy the diner feel and food. We LOVED the Poutine. Yummy. Also the boozy shakes - yes please bourbon and ice cream and caramel together. Short ribs were flavorful and tender. Service was very nice and attentive!

Breakfast was soooo good!
The service was slow and I could tell they kept forgetting things... taking a while to get coffee refills.

But it didn’t ruin our experience!

The place is so cute!

Had an issue with one entrée and staff immediately replaced it!

This place is spot on BRILLIANT!! Great food, fun and eclectic twists on diner food. The Chicken and Waffles is fantastic with the smoked maple syrup and the slight kick of the Jalapeño’s in the waffle is perfect! Wr highly recommend The Original!

Staff is always friendly and not pushy. Food is great and the location makes stopping in for a bite easy when you're hanging out downtown.

Our Mother’s Day buffet experience was excellent. Tasty food. Gluten free bread and Marionberry jam are homemade. Service from Stacy was great!

It was a fun restaurant and the food was excellent.

Don’t bother. They don’t live up to the DDD hype. Chicken and waffles was not even seasoned and the jalapeños were whole slices Insead do chopped up like yo would put in something.

Some of the menu items are pretty good—like the chili fries. Others are just average—like the chicken and waffles. The pie was excellent, however, we ordered a few minutes before closing and without being asked, it was boxed up to go for us. To be fair, we did go back and forth with the server about whether we wanted it or not, but I had a Yelp deal for a free slice so of course I had to take it. Still would have been nice to have had the dialog about it being boxed to go before receiving it that way. The server checked his watch at least twice as we discussed the pie and while I know you want to go home, there are at least two other groups that were behind us so it's not like we closed the place.

Anyway, the pie was fantastic. Truly. I'm very picky about pie and I usually don't bother with a pre-made pie because nothing beats homemade but the pie was out of this world!

I needed a breakfast spot that allowed reservations because in Portland there are few breakfast spots downtown that you can get into without waiting forever. The menu was awesome, virtually any type of diet could eat there. Comfort food, diner atmosphere with a touch of Portland quirkiness, and they serve alcohol. It doesn't get better than that! I just dread the thought of them becoming too popular. Thank you for being smart enough to give customers the option of making a reservation....(grrrr to Tasty n Alder on 12th st for this very reason unless you are a table of 7-10 for dinner only) Who does that? I plan on coming back frequently with my visiting out-of-town family and friends. Thank you thank you thank you!

Good food, good with our toddler

Super awesome! The food was amazing can’t say one bad word!

Interesting and tasty spins on diner and comfort food in a mod atmosphere. Think modern retro, with most people there under 40, or old folks like us with younger folks. Go starving because you'll want to share several different dishes just to taste them! We took our college-age daughter and her friends, and they thought it was cool. Here's what the table shared: chicken & waffle sliders (crispy, mustardy, and sweet), poutine (comfort food), donut burgers (oddly good!), and crispy cauliflower (this was devoured by all, including our vegetable-averse daughter). Hubby also had the entree chicken & waffles (those jalapeños are serious, so if you don't like them, don't go order), and I had the smoked steelhead Benedict with melted leeks and spinach (steelhead not too dry, and generous serving with enough to take home). The college kids had chili mac'n cheese (major comfort food), a burger (not a spec left), and the crispy chicken sandwich (also devoured). A chocolate peanut butter milkshake was also shared by all - it was blended in house and arrived in a soda fountain glass with the fountain blender cup filled as well, and was SO, so good.
Pros: tasty, quality ingredients. It's clear that someone in the kitchen cares. Lots to choose from on menu. Interesting combinations. Upbeat atmosphere. The one veggie dish that caught our eye was outstanding.
Con: Only one veggie dish caught our eye (salads seemed boring). Service waxed and waned.
Verdict: a place to splurge on your diet on quality, well made food with your friends.

Ive been doing the Keto diet for a month and it was fantastic to go somewhere they would accommodate my diet :)

The food here is always fresh and good. The wait staff always seem to be pleasant and efficient. This is why I always eat here when I travel down to visit Portland.

Came for Easter Brunch. It was still a little crowded, sever let us know immediately that food was coming out a little slow and kept coffee cups full. Food was great, everyone loved what they got...one person got the wrong order, it was corrected immediately without fuss. Place is a little loud, but that’s ok cause my family is too...a place you can laugh and be a little loud.

Dependably tasty food. The draft selection was well curated.
These folks don't try to do everything, but everything they do, they do well, with well-exectuted twists on standard café items.
Service was excellent, and well-coordinated.

I've eaten at the Original Dinerant twice and really appreciate the level of service that's provided. The servers are so attentive and friendly. Thank you!

First time here and would come back again. Good selection for everyone's taste and those 'boozy' shakes are great!

Went a year ago and had the French toast. I have dreamed of this for a year it’s seriously that good. Had to go and have it again. It’s a must have. And yes it was as great as I remembered.

Get the chicken and waffles! It was so good! Great comfort food! Loved the atmosphere. Service was fantastic! Next time I'm in Portland I will make sure to get reservations and order the potpie next.

My work group had a great lunch at the Original. Good menu options for everyone! And who doesn't like a poutine!

We were staying in the hotel attached to the restaurant so we ate here one night for late-night snack and then one morning for breakfast. We were excited because it was on Diners Drive-Ins and Dives. Between our two visits we tried the items Guy Fieri tried on the show: the donut sliders (you get 2 and they’re delicious) and the chicken and waffles (total let down). The waffle has jalapeño and holy moly was it hot! He enjoyed it, but the jalapeño that was in ours was really spicy (I know they can vary). The chicken was terrible. It is served with a leg/wing combo and was SO dry. The server even agreed. They quickly replaced it for us with a fried breast, and my hubby was excited to get a second waffle, as well. It comes with smoky syrup. I don’t like smoky stuff, but my husband did. I ordered the Beet Hash for breakfast and loved it. Delicious. We ordered a boozy shake - I can’t remember the name, but it had salted caramel and bourbon. Very good - they split into two glasses and I still couldn’t finish my half. They had a free check-in on Yelp special: a piece of the driest apple pie ever. Glad it was free. We tried it just enough to quickly realize we didn’t want to waste calories eating it. I literally touched the cut side and it was totally dry, completely dry. It must’ve been sitting out for a while. Don’t order that. Would we return? Maybe. There was no wait either time we went 9pm and 9:15am. I’d check out other spots though if you have the chance - Mother’s Bistro and Gravy were both awesome.

Food and service were great! The waitstaff were extremely pleasant, service was fast, and food was amazing!

Delicious food, excellent service. Staff uniformly authentic, welcoming, warm.

Probably cool once upon a time. Downtown is just ghetto now. Felt cold and uninhabited. Not many patrons at should be busy hour. We were disappointed with the food and ambiance. Waitress was nice. Hostess was nice. Probably won’t go back. Need to amp it up. And modernize the menu.

"Stunned by surprise," I exclaimed to friends. Went looking for some excellent comforting low key grub in downtown Portland after several days of challenging work. Saw a light saying, "Original" and went in through the glass diner doors. Wow! Sat down at a little rustic table amidst upscale diner decor followed by a friendly greeting and the rest is foodie history. A thick, clam-laden cup of Northwest clam chowder filled with creamy flavors came first followed by richly amazing meat loaf and a juice-squirting burger. The platters headed for other tables also sang notes of comfort and culinary pleasure. The finale, however, was the barrel-aged Manhattan, the smoothest, most complex, and satisfying one I've ever sipped. What a delicious surprise! This one is an original.

Sliders are unreal! Some other unique dishes and excellent service. Prices are very fair for the Portland market.

This was my first time at The Original but, in all fairness, I have a friend we went with that that goes there about once a month or so. I was not impressed. The best thing I had was their Salty Jim, an alcoholic milkshake that was amazing (and I might return just for that). We tried their supposedly famous doughnut sliders and they were relatively tasteless. For our entree's I had another burger and my wife had the chicken and waffles. Neither of us felt that there was any flavor to our food. Our server was nice but, for as empty as the restaurant was on a Friday, felt that he could have been more attentive. I hope they were just having a bad night but I have no intent on returning.