Try These First Date Ideas (Quick, Before TikTok Finds Them)

Ready to plan that first date without breaking the bank? Portland is packed with great cafés, but to impress that hot date you’re going to want something unique. Cute. Perhaps even…✨ aesthetic? ✨

Maybe you’re searching for The One. Maybe you’re swiping for a warm body to spend your Valentine’s Day with. Either way, the Central Eastside’s coffee shop scene offers classy, quaint, quirky, and everything in between. If you’re looking to get to know your date for the low-low price of a half-caff lavender latte with oat milk, this is the guide for you.

Not to be presumptuous, but before you send those deets to your date, how about you…

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BOOK A ROOM

Flour Bloom

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One of the Central Eastside’s newest haunts, Flour Bloom carries two of Portland’s favorite things — pastries, and plants! Not only is the interior cute as hell, the shop happens to be conveniently surrounded by dozens of dinner spots and cute places to window shop. Hope all goes well! (And if it doesn’t, you can bring home a new pothos as a consolation prize!)

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Flour Bloom

103 NE Grand Ave, Portland, OR 97232

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Hopscotch

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Okay, we lied about the title — TikTok definitely knows about Hopscotch. If you want to walk off your dinner somewhere fun, this place is as much an art gallery as it is a playground for adults. Make virtual reality art with your beau, jump into a glowing ball pit, and explore the vibrant exhibits that let your imagination run wild. Take a few incredible selfies, while you’re at it.

And yes, it is such a short walk to Jupiter. Five minutes!

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Hopscotch

1020 SE 10th Ave, Portland, OR 97214

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Rimsky-Korsakoffee House

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Want something a little quirkier? Look no further than Rimsky, one of Portland’s oldest and weirdest coffee shops just south of Jupiter. It’s only open in the evenings, with wild themed artwork and installations — and a piano that’s open for guests, if you’re got the skills to show off!

Dates with a mild sweet tooth will love the tea and cake sets on a rotating menu. Rimsky may be a well-kept secret in the Southeast, but you’ll still catch the occasional late-night concert here, too!

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Rimsky-Korsakoffee House

707 SE 12th Ave, Portland, OR 97214

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