Go for the Pie, Stay for the Brownie: Random Order Coffeehouse & Bakery

1800 NE Alberta & 18^th • randomordercoffee.com • 971.340.6995

Hours: Mon 6:30am-8pm; Tues-Sun 6:30am-11pm

Especially after Alder Pastry sadly closed so abruptly, I have felt like I have had a void in my heart, yearning for a welcoming place to get great dessert at any hour.  Hearing about Random Order Coffee House was like hearing about a magical land – a place that is open till 11pm, serves delicious coffee and fun cocktails, has a cozy atmosphere AND offers incredible homemade pies. (Random Order’s awesome apple pie was voted as one of America’s Best Pies by Travel + Leisure magazine – that’s pretty legit in my opinion!)  Could this place really exist? 

My camera was malfunctioning (ok really it was the photographer [ie: me malfunctioning!] so the quality isn’t good at all. But the pie is! I promise!”)

I stopped in the other night with some good friends to find out. 

I was surprised by how packed it was for 8pm on a Tuesday evening.  Every table and nearly every chair was being used by people reading, working on their computers or chatting with friends.  We had found a happenin’ spot in town and were now part of the cool club.  Success. 

 After basically attacking a recently vacant table, we went to place our order and were greeted at the counter by Dane, a super friendly employee who helped us pick out our pie selection for the night:     

• Tahitian Vanilla Salted Caramel Apple Pie: How could you pass up a pie with a name like that? Filled with homemade caramel and dusted with salt on the top layer of crust, this was a step above the basic apple pie you may be used to eating. 
• Shaker Lemon Pie, made with organic Meyer lemons: This was a wild piece of pie.  Kind of akin to eating a fresh lemon whole, and yes I mean like the whole lemon.  It was super tart, with the taste of pith (that white lining under the rind of a lemon).  For my friend who oddly enough loves to just eat lemons, this pie was a perfect choice.  For me, I thought it might have been a bit too intense on the flavor scale.
• Chocolate Cream Pie: For chocoholics like myself, this is a great choice.  It is loaded up with tons of decadent chocolate cream and topped with a hefty portion of fresh whipped cream.   

Now, don’t get me wrong, those pies were certainly tasty, but it was the bite of brownie that was really #1:

• Cardamom & Sea-salted Pistachio Brownie: The spike of the Middle Eastern cardamom spice and the kick of sea salt pair perfectly against the rich chocolaty-ness. The chunks of pistachios added a great texture. 

I really wanted to eat the whole thing, but I thought it would be rude to steal it from Lauren who ordered it and seemed to really like it too… guess I’ll just have to go back and get my own, or next time I might just not be that nice…  🙂