Portland’s food scene is bursting at the seams with variety. We are lucky to have a restaurant located just a few blocks north of the Eliot Neighborhood that prioritizes caring for our local community as well as serving up delicious food.

Since 2015, A Heavenly Taste Cafe has been cooking soul food, catfish, BBQ, and breakfast (served all day long). Pastor Dwight Minnieweather, the head chef, was born and raised in Portland. When I asked Pastor Minnieweather where he learned to cook, he replied, “My father is from Louisiana and everything I cook to this very day is inspired by him.” Pastor Minnieweather then listed off a few key dishes that are made from his father’s recipes including his barbeque sauce and peach cobbler. He added jokingly, “I’m not the original; I’m just the duplicate.”

The soul food recipes passed down from father to son aren’t the only features that make A Heavenly Taste Cafe unique. Few places exist that serve breakfast for twelve straight hours. A Heavenly Taste Cafe does just that, serving breakfast from 8 am to 8 pm, for an unbeatable $5. Pastor Minnieweather proclaimed that the $5 breakfast is one of his customer’s favorites, along with the basa fish dinner and the BBQ ribs.

The first time I went to A Heavenly Taste Cafe, I ordered a $5 Spicy BBQ Sandwich special that came with a side of potato salad. You would be hard pressed to find good food that is that affordable anywhere else along MLK or Williams. Pastor Minnieweather mentioned, “The reason that I do specials is because we are connected to a recovery community. I want to make sure they can all eat. I don’t have anything on my menu that’s above $12. I’m blessed to be able to charge $12 for a dinner that would be $20+ elsewhere.”

The recovery community that Pastor Minnieweather referred to are the individuals that are living at the Miracles Club Apartments, located at 4200 N.E. Martin Luther King Jr. and Skidmore Street. Miracles Club is a NE Portland nonprofit that provides comprehensive support to individuals struggling to be free from alcohol and drug addiction. In 2011, Miracles Club bought the Miracles Club Apartments in order to offer affordable housing, support services, and social activities to individuals and their families that are seeking a lifestyle free from alcohol and drugs.

A Heavenly Taste Cafe opened in December of 2015, directly adjacent to the Miracles Club Apartments. The restaurant has been thriving since it opened. Pastor Minnieweather aspires to continue serving up soul food to the nearby community for as long as he can. Although he joked that he is the duplicate of his father, he has created a restaurant that is defined by originality and dedication to its surrounding community.

Heavenly Taste Café
4200 NE MLK Jr Blvd
(971) 200-7227