Water Avenue Coffee

Water Avenue opened in 2009 as a micro roaster in Portland's Central Eastside industrial district, co founded by Matt Milletto, and grew through the 2010s into a small local chain with a mobile coffee cart and a second downtown bar. The flagship cafe on SE Water Avenue sits beside the roastery, and in 2015 the shop became one of the first in Portland to experiment with barrel aged coffee.

Business Insider named Water Avenue one of the best coffee shops in the country in 2015, and both Willamette Week and the Oregonian later featured it among the city's top cafes. After fifteen years of independent ownership, the shop was sold to Harder Day Coffee Company in 2024, which kept the Water Avenue name and staff; the flagship still runs a small pet friendly parklet patio out front, free wifi, and a menu that stays good for kids and laptop workers alike.