The Best Portland Coffee Shops, According to the Owner of Deadstock Coffee

There are few Portland coffee shops that have as much hype — and manage to live up to it — as Deadstock Coffee. Owner Ian Williams has a story so hard to believe it’s been told many times over: He was a janitor at Nike, pitched a shoe design inspired by the wet floor sign, and moved up the ladder. His Chinatown coffee shop debuted in 2015 after a few years as a cart, opening its doors when Williams was ready to take his nerdy, obsessive talent from sneakers to lattes.

Deadstock’s popularity was almost overwhelming at times. Nevertheless it’s become a mainstay in the area, and Williams even opened a splashy, huge Deadstock flagship in Beaverton in fall 2024. With his hectic work schedule, he takes a lot of meetings at, understandably, coffee shops.

These are just three of the Portland area shops where Williams gets his fix.

Less and More Coffee

Williams loves Ryan Jie Jiang’s cafes. There’s one that’s a smaller shop in a lobby; Williams says he prefers scrappy little multi-use spaces. Then there’s the downtown kiosk location which gets points in his book for showing up to support downtown, which is “really struggling right now.” And then there are the drinks: salt cheese foam coffees, tiramisu lattes, pandan-infused specialty drinks. For a long time, Less and More’s roaster was Joe (Wenboe) Yang from Super Joy Coffee Lab; Williams considers him one of the best roasters to ever grace Portland. “They’re bringing their culture into it,” Williams says, and “serving really, really great coffee.”

Less and More Coffee is open at 1003 SW 5th Avenue from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and at 811 SW 6th Avenue Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Better Days Cafe

The triumvirate running Better Days — chef Richard Le of Matta, coffee roaster Kimberly Dam of Portland Ca Phe, and pastry chef Lisa Nguyen of Heyday — are on a spree. Better Days is the newest outfit from Dam and one of her baristas at Ca Phe, and Williams appreciates that she chose to open in the location she did: The space was two different coffee shops before it was Better Days, which debuted at the end of 2024. He specifically enjoys the drinks with cold foam here, and the pressed bagel sandwiches. “It’s a good-feeling space,” Williams says. “It’s not flat like a lot of cafes.”

Better Days is open at 3551 SE Division Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Lionheart Coffee Co.

This one, Williams says, is showing love to the ‘burbs. Now that he’s in Beaverton for his newest shop, he visits the team at Lionheart for his brew. It’s the first place, in Williams’s mind, to perfect the multi-roaster concept in the suburbs, sourcing high-end specialty beans before it was considered normal. Lionheart also hires from within the community, including numerous students, and Williams says showing them the specialty coffee ropes is invaluable.

He gives an honorable mention to Kalesa Coffee, where so far he’s just grabbed coffee to go, but he likes the calamansi drinks. “It’s bomb,” Williams says. “Just seeing them grow from a distance, knowing them from latte art throwdowns, it’s amazing to see.”

Lionheart Coffee Co. has two locations. At 4590 SW Watson Avenue the business is open 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., and at 11421 SW Scholls Ferry Road it’s open Sunday through Thursday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Friday and Saturday 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.