CIA Cafe

Hands down my go-to breakfast/lunch spot, and favorite place in SoPo. From the moment you walk in, you’re greeted with the warmest, friendliest staff. You can tell they genuinely care about their customers and their community. The food and drinks never disappoint; everything is delicious! My absolute favorite breakfast sandwich is the Cowboy (highly recommend). And their coffee? 100/10 and they are always coming up with the BEST seasonal drink specials. One of the things I love most is how they showcase and promote local artists and businesses. I actually bought all of my mom’s Christmas presents there; they have such a charming, unique selection of locally made items. CIA Cafe visits have also become a special tradition for me and my two best friends who live out of town. Every time they visit, it’s the first place we go. It’s more than just a cafe, it’s a welcoming, community-centered space. If you haven’t been yet, you’re missing out!

My favorite local café! Amazing breakfast sandwiches and kind staff members. Love the option to call in orders ahead of time. This café has great coffee, sandwiches, baked goods, plus some retail items by artisans. 100% recommend!

Big sign on register, we no longer take cash. Huge red flag right there because that's illegal. Cold brew coffee that looked like dish water and tasted about the same. Bagels weren't great, asked for toasted and they must have run it through on warp speed, by the time I got out to my vehicle it was as cold as the cream cheese. There are so many better shops in the Portland area, try one of them because they take cash and a tally sell coffee flavored coffee.

We stayed in South Portland for a couple nights and came here for breakfast each morning. I believe it was the owner taking our order, he was incredibly kind and gave us recommendations for our trip. You can immediately tell this place is a favorite of the locals. The bagels were absolutely delicious, obviously hand made every morning. Coffee is perfect. Exactly what we wanted and needed for our mornings. I wish I had a place like this at home.

So glad we found this place!! From the moment we walked in the staff was attentive and friendly, breakfast sandwiches are out of this world and caramel lattes did not disappoint! The person taking orders made sure to greet everyone coming in and thank everyone leaving. Overall the place is a well oiled machine and you can tell their staff truly cares. 10 out of 10 and we will absolutely be back!