Admit it: dragging ourselves out of bed this time of year is tough. It’s cold, wet, and dark, and sometimes we wonder: why bother? Maybe you’ve got an electric blanket that’s just too cozy to leave. Maybe that last drink to warm you up before the cold walk home from the bar left a bit of a mark. Maybe you’re just finally seeing that winter oatmeal routine for the sad, uninspired start to a day that it is.

Whatever your winter morning blues, we’ve got just the cure: breakfast sandwiches!

They say that the sandwich gets its name from the Earl of Sandwich, who preferred his meat between two slices of bread so that he could eat while playing cribbage. But even if fancy titles and boring card games aren’t your idea of a good time, you can’t deny that there’s nothing better than dining like nobility first thing in the morning.

In fact, we’re so committed to the sandwich as the ideal morning repast that we’re dedicating an entire week to breakfast sandwiches here on Eat Beat. That’s right: five days, five different styles of everyone’s favorite first meal. Each day we’ll highlight the best our breakfast-loving city has to offer in one of these five categories:

1. First up, Thursday sees The Classics: Just what you’d expect. The ancient formula of egg, meat, cheese, and bread is a time-tested and winning combination. That’s not to say the formula doesn’t get tweaked—this is Portland, and people aren’t satisfied to serve a glorified McMuffin and call it a morning meal. (See our picks!)

2. Friday: The Biscuits: The southern specialty has basically conquered the country at this point, and with good reason. Flaky, buttery, and warm, there aren’t many better things to cradle whatever your hangry morning self desires. Particularly if that hangry morning self desires gravy. (See our picks!)

3. The Bagels: Already the breakfast starch of choice for commuting carb lovers everywhere, it’s no surprise that bagels often serve as the vessel for a variety of a.m.-appropriate eats. While wonderful on its own, a good bagel is arguably the perfect sandwich bread—with a crust sturdy enough to stand up to the fillings and an inside pliable enough not to send them flying out the back. Just watch out for the hole in the middle. (See our picks!)

4. The Alt-Bread: Some mornings you’re just a bit too groggy to think outside the box. We’ve all been there. So let these fine establishments do that thinking for you, shoving a bevy of hangover-annihilating deliciousness between breadstuffs that you might not have thought were sandwich-ready. Well, think again—once you’ve got some food in your stomach, that is. (See our picks!)

5. The Vegan Options: Sure, the usual breakfast sandwich fillings are decidedly animal-based. But that’s no reason to condemn our vegan friends to a tragic morning without a food coma! Some of these joints are dedicated vegan establishments and others just happen to serve a breakfast sandwich that’s animal-free, but they all know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, whatever your dietary restrictions. (See our picks!)

***Musical breakfast bonus! We were so inspired by our hunt for Portland's breakfast sandwiches that we put together this soundtrack for your morning noshing. Enjoy!