Prefer your pumpkin spice in edible rather than sippable form? Look no further than these chicken and sweet potato waffles, which are offered year-round but feel especially timely during fall. Seemingly every chef in town has tried their hand at chicken and waffles, but few come as close to perfection. The fried chicken is succulent, served in massive pieces and coated in peppery breading. Drizzle everything with the house hot sauce—a more piquant take on classic Crystal—as well as maple syrup. The sweet potato adds honey-like notes to the crisp waffle, laced with cinnamon and cloves.

2337 E Burnside St, 1131 NW Couch St

Move over, IHOP—all the original pancakes we need can be found at the OG location of the now-international franchise, Original Pancake House, on SW Barbur Boulevard. Founded in 1953, the striped-awning restaurant feels equal parts ski cabin and grandma’s house, its wooden walls adorned with decorative souvenir plates. Among the restaurant’s many flapjack specialties, the apple pancake is the clear choice for fall, a massive yet fluffy monstrosity that’s over two inches thick and loaded with slices of apple and a generous shower of cinnamon, soaked in a sugary, buttery glaze. If you didn’t make it to the apple orchard for fresh cider donuts this year, this pancake is a welcome substitute. 

8601 SW 24th Ave

“Breakfast nachos” doesn’t quite describe migas, but it comes close. The tortilla chips are scrambled with eggs, rendering them crispy like nachos, yet stewed like chilaquiles. Pepper Box’s New Mexican take comes spiced with ultra-savory chorizo and zig-zagged with chipotle crema, while the vegetarian option is loaded with mushrooms, peppers, onions, and green chile crema. Everything gets blanketed in shredded, melty orange cheddar.  It’s the perfect way to start a slow, rainy Saturday—or, hell, any day. —Matthew Trueherz

932 SE Morrison St

Whether it’s a bacon, egg, and cheese tucked into a griddled bao bun, or TikTok-famous dalgona whipped coffee, everything on the menu at Toki twists something you know and love into something, well, vaguely Korean. The omurice is no different. It’s a western-style Japanese dish, tweaked here with kimchi and slicked in a tonkotsu sauce and ketchup-feathered hollandaise, silky enough for the stuffiest Francophile. An omelet, swirled with chopsticks into a tornado, casts a thin layer of egg over the rice. If you find yourself downtown on a chilly morning, in need of a comfort food hug, dragging a fork through this soul-warming dish will no doubt put a smile on your face. —MT

580 SW 12th Ave

Sweat out all those toxins from the night before with a steaming bowl of bún bò huế, a thick, spicy, lemongrass-loaded beef soup complete with thick, slippery rice noodles, slices of beef and Vietnamese ham, and bony, cartilage-loaded pork knuckles. Cubes of jiggly pork blood on top are packed with iron and nutrients, while refreshing mint, bean sprouts, cabbage, lime, and banana blossoms will make you feel restored. To turn things up a notch, dip your meat into the provided Thai chile sauce, which is tangy and even more fiery than it looks. Lots of Vietnamese restaurants serve bún bò huế on their menus, but it’s the eponymous specialty here, and the best place in town for the dish.

7002 SE 82nd Ave