Located on Fremont Street, Happy Day Juice Co. is what I’d call the best açaí bowls in Portland. This family-friendly small business has another establishment located on Hawthorne.
From the outside, the building is 80% window. It creates a very clean atmosphere, which backs up their branding. Inside is very minimalistic and modern. There’s very little color, which I surprisingly love due to it bringing out the colors of the fruits and other produce.
The first bowl I tried was the Fremont Fix. The bowl includes açaí blend topped with fresh strawberry, blueberry, housemade granola, sliced almonds, drizzled with almond butter and agave. This was the best bowl I have ever had. The almond butter drizzle was smooth and the perfect mix of sweet and savory. All these ingredients compliment each other. They have very strong flavors, but they definitely work.
The Paradise bowl (my favorite on hot days) includes pineapple pitaya blend topped with some fresh strawberries, blueberries, coconut, and granola. They add some yummy agave, sprinkled with chia to enhance the sweetness. It’s a very bright and refreshing bowl. This is a very good bowl if you are into a tangy taste. It’s very acidic and sweet. I would definitely recommend this bowl to anyone in the summer. I think I still prefer the Fremont Fix, but this is another great option.
Moving away from the bowls is their waffles. Their batter is not too sweet, and honestly I’d go as far to say a little savory. When adding the syrup and almond butter, it adds the perfect amount of sweetness. The syrup is made with real maple, and it’s perfect with a bite of the cut strawberries on top. The waffle is a good filling size. You definitely get your money’s worth.
I’ve never been a big fan of avocado toast, but since having theirs, I’ve changed my mind. Topped with greens, this well seasoned avocado toast is both delicious and has the perfect crunch. They toast it so well. The avocados are buttery and packed with flavor. It’s $8.00 which I would argue is quite affordable and also filling.
Throughout the whole process of ordering, they were very sweet and had good customer service. The wait wasn’t too long, it was the amount of time you’d expect it to take you to make a smoothie and decorate it with all sorts of yummy toppings. It’s one of those places where you order and they call you up to grab your food, so you can be in and out along with choosing to sit down if you’d like.
Overall, this is a cute shop to stop at if you need something refreshing on a hot day. It’s a little pricey, but take into account the fresh and locally sourced ingredients.
