Slow Pour Reopens in Sellwood

Slow Pour, a cafe in the Sellwood neighborhood, is reopening this month. They closed in late July 2025 and relocated further west from Southeast 17th Avenue (the building was sold) to Southeast 13th Avenue, and have been working on the space to transform it into the new cafe. They will likely soft open at then end of March, with a grand opening on April 20.

I had a chance to chat with Slow Pour’s co-owner, Dustin Payne a while back, and here are some of the things we talked about.

Slow Pour: What’s in a Name?

I asked Dustin the story behind Slow Pour’s name. “I worked with one of my friends who’s in marketing design,” he explained. “He had worked for Columbia [Sportswear] in graphic design and we did a lot of work on the history of the neighborhood, and the kind of person that came into a space. Someone who would lounge and either do work or have a meetup, and very much liked the vibe we wanted to catch, which was relaxed.” 

He continued, “And that’s where the ‘Slow’ came from. And then we continued to talk about it for a couple more months and connected it with what we do—pouring coffee, pouring wine, pouring beer.”

And that gives us “Slow Pour.”

Slow Pour Owners

While I had my conversation with Dustin, his wife Dawn is also one of the owners. Together they started Slow Pour two and a half years ago. October 1, 2023 was their first day of business.

“I’ve been in food and hospitality for 20 years,” explained Dustin. “I worked in a wine bar for 10 of those years.” Much of that experience was when he was in Houston, Texas.

“I live in the neighborhood,” he said. “And, sometimes I feel like I’ll go weeks without leaving this little teardrop because we have everything we need here.”

There have been a number of instances where people on the internet have asserted that this cafe is an extension of a church Dustin may or may not be connected to [Edit: this could be Kindred Church or Go Church, both of which he has been affiliated with]. He said in a recent online conversation, “I am personally not a fan of businesses that blend their religious expressions with private business.” So Slow Pour is not an extension for any church.

What They Offer To Eat and Drink at Slow Pour

They have coffee, beer, wine, and a variety of cafe food on the menu. “We have something a little bit more than most coffee shops,” Dustin explained. And it’s more than coffee, tea, and pastries.

He continued, “We make breakfast sandwiches to order. We do flatbread pizzas at night that we make in our ovens—not a full big pizza like you’d expect from a pizza place, but more of a personal-sized pizza. You can also get a salad, and panini—these kinds of things.”

But back to their pastries—they make all their breakfast pastries in-house, aside from the occasional specialty baked good they bring in.

Coffee at Slow Pour

My initial perception was that coffee is the main character at Slow Pour. And it’s definitely important—one of the things that lets them level-up in their coffee program is that they roast their own coffee. And they have trained staff that focus on that specifically.

“My wife and I are trained in roasting by Mike Nelson, who started Guilder and so we’re involved in that community,” he explained. “Even though we do specialty coffee and we have incredible people who work for us that do that well, we’re not coffee snobs here. But we have really great coffee.”

He added, “The coffee is ethically sourced. It is roasted by Portlanders. And we’re bringing the means of production inside to provide more opportunity for labor.”

The Coffee Vibe

So, yes they have really great coffee. And I wanted to know what their style is: Are they like Starbucks? Stumptown? Black Rock? Dutch Bros? Cinco Siete?

Turns out they are not purists, despite how serious they are about coffee. Along with nerding out on roasting and brewing coffee, they offer what they call “fun drinks.” This means you can proudly order, say, a pumpkin spice latte there, no questions asked. “One of our best-selling drinks is the toffee coconut latte,” explained Dustin.

He continued, “Yes, we have syrup-based flavored coffee drinks. This is more in line with like a Starbucks or a Dutch Bros. But the quality of the beans, though, is a different story.

“The coffee that we buy is all single-origin, and we literally have six months of green coffee in the roastery, ready to roast. We’ve got some from Guatemala, and we were buying from Ethiopia, too. 

“We’re really intentional about what we’re buying for coffee and then making sure it’s ethically sourced. We’re doing that work, but also in terms of quality of coffee— and again, I might be a little bit biased—Mike Nelson from Guilder was incredible at helping us select and source coffee well and pick a better product. So there’s that, plus he taught us the craft of roasting.”

Hospitality

I was curious to know why they chose to open a coffee shop rather than something else like a wine bar or tap room. He told me something about Slow Pour’s philosophy: “So in our business, coffee really isn’t our product. Our product is hospitality.”

He continued, “We’re interested in crafting an experience for people. We want to be a space where the community can meet. In some sense, one of the reasons we like all of the big spaces is we’re kind of a community center with a mask on. We have a lot of groups that meet here that are built around education—language learning groups, people who do board game groups, and knitting groups. 

“The vision really is that here in the business we could be an epicenter of welcoming our neighbors to get together and gather together. It’s one of the reasons we have so many large tables.”

“Folks just need a space to meet and gather. We’ve been doing this for the community since we’ve been in business. A couple of years ago when we had the ice storm, the community center’s pipes froze over and burst, and they asked if they could do their middle school talent show at our last location. And so we did.”

Safe at Slour Pour

He also spoke about how important it is, for use of a better phrase, to “welcome the stranger.”

“We have a guarantee, internally—it’s kind of like an anchor for how we do things,” Dustin said. “But, our guarantee is that every person who comes in feels safe.”

He continued, “Not that they are just being seen, but we approach them in a way where they feel welcome. That’s really our true north, that when people come in, the way we interact with each other, the way that we see each other and be with each other, is meaningful.

“We think about people as relationships. We ask, ‘How can we get to know people? How can we encourage them to utilize the space for their next meeting or gathering? How can we create a space that people want to come to where it’s not a tiny tin can that you’re packed into, with five chairs and four tables?'” Providing a big, open space is part of the answer.

Favorites

I love asking about a person’s menu favorites, and Dustin told me he personally loves a cup of black drip coffee. “I know—it sounds wild!” he said.

Coffee and Pastry

“You’d think that if you get into coffee, you’d be like into all the lattes and all the fun stuff, but a really good cup of just black coffee is my jam,” Dustin explained. “And to the point where I might have like a bit of addiction problem with drinking coffee.”

His favorite pastry item is their Earl Grey white chocolate scone. “That is my favorite pastry of all time,” he said. “My wife had the idea—I don’t know how she thought of it, but she was like, ‘We serve teas here—we could make some tea scones!'”

He continued, “She also made a matcha scone, but the Earl Grey white chocolate one is so good. And they don’t last long. Some people, when we were open at the other location, would come in early to make sure that they get them when they get put out.”

Wine and Beer

He also has extensive wine experience, and is proud of the quality of wine they bring into Slow Pour. He spoke highly of Orin Swift Wine and their winemaker Dave Phinney based in St. Helena, CA. “He’s a brilliant winemaker,” remarked Dustin. He really likes carrying their product.

“And then on beer, we have such great draft beer options that come from local breweries,” he said. “We carry Gigantic and a few other local breweries here. We want to keep the economic activity in the city of Portland to help Portlanders prosper.”

NA

As for NA options, there’s tea and the coffee, of course, but they also carry NA beers and are experimenting with mocktails. Dustin himself is not a big mocktail drinker, but he is keeping the faith that they will find something that works for Slow Pour’s customers interested in dry cocktails.

The New Slow Pour Space

Interior

Dustin says that most everything in the Slow Pour living room came from secondhand sellers through Facebook marketplace and places like that.

They painted the walls a darker coffee color in the seating area. There will also be high tables, additional seating, and some outdoor seating. The kitchen is on the other half of the room, and there is a small seating area toward the front. Storage is in the back.

As for who’s designing the space, “We are doing the aesthetic,” he said. “We want soft canvas art, lots of plants—we have a variety of plants coming in—and I’ve been picking up various pieces. Our vibe is kind of eclectic and cozy.” He likened it a little to the Magnolia vibe.

But above all, they want people to feel comfortable there at Slow Pour. “That’s why we have the rugs and the soft cushioned chairs, and things like that,” he said. “For this space—the couches, the canary yellow couch, the green chairs—we want it to be inviting and encouraging for people to relax why they’re here, and stay a while.

“In terms of atmosphere, we’re probably more loungy than Starbucks,” Dustin explained. “The Starbucks business model is doing more drive-throughs, and less living rooms.”

And they plan to be around for a while—they signed a 10-year lease with two five-year renewal options. “We could inhabit this space under similar leasing terms for 20 years if we wanted to,” said Dustin.

He also told me that this space is smaller than their last space, at 2,300 square feet.

Those Old Stairs

They also had to deal with a set of stairs that was built along the southern wall—those who spent time in this space when it was Oodles Kids probably remember it. I saw the stairs and was astonished to see that it was a straight shot up—no landings at all, which poses a serious danger to anyone using the stairs. That’s because if you were to trip and fall down, there would be no place to stop for many feet.

So, they took down the stairs, which gives them additional square footage to do with what they please—it could offer space for seating or even shelving.

Economics, COVID and Conviviality

Dustin shared some of his thoughts about the economics of the city and how COVID changed things. “I’m very much into helping transform the city economically,” said Dustin. This means, in part, creating jobs and staying open.

He continued, “Personally, I’m really interested in the city’s history, how things come to be and how they’re formed—-like why Portland’s a port city that’s an hour from the coast. All of that fascinates me. I read a story that Portland was supposed to be the new San Francisco. We couldn’t get train tracks over the mountains, and we can just move things down the river anyway. And so I love all of that.

“One of the things that I’m just absolutely convinced of, is Portland is such a beautiful place. And after COVID, something like over 50% of restaurants in Oregon closed—the data on that is just wild. When they did that initial survey, I don’t know if they realized the cascade of closings coming out of COVID. And so I really want to change the story on that.

“I just read an article [recently] on how like food and beverage is really vital to the city. But also with rising costs, it’s just so much more difficult for people to engage in this industry. And I was reading through [the article] and they were talking about the economic downturns, but if you were in the city prior to COVID, everything was bustling. But so many people have suffered not only during COVID but after, economically—beyond personal health. It’s almost like this work-at-home has changed how people think, move, and be. 

“I think there’s something about being at home all day. You might be on Zoom meetings and you might be like talking to other people. But you are still truly alone in the strictest sense. And there is something about human connection and being present with people that is really valuable.

“I remember when COVID was happening and everyone was like, ‘This is the future! We’re all going to live like this.’ And I thought, ‘I hope not! I want to be with people and I want spaces where people can be together.’ I think there’s something special when people get together and in person. And I don’t want to lose that.

The Reception to Evening Hours

He pointed out that Sunday and Monday they close at 4pm, in part because especially on Mondays the neighborhood feels a little sleepy. “If you ever are in this neighborhood on a Monday in particular, a lot of the businesses just don’t even open that day,” he remarked.  

“So when we started the nighttime, we opened up five days,” he explained. That also meant they could hire two full-time people to work in the evening, creating two more jobs.

And Slow Pour offers a place where people can get after-dinner coffee/dessert. Or, if you’ve had long day at work and you just want to chill, you can have a glass of wine, read a book—all while still being around people—right there at Slow Pour.

“We opened in the evenings because the demand was there,” he said. “During our first year, we didn’t publicize it—we just did it. And people showed up!”

That led to them producing a series of evening events.

Events at Slow Pour

Eventually they started doing live music and stand-up comedy nights, and Dustin felt it was really popular. And it was really scratching the itch of doing something more with the space.

One interesting thing they did was that they started working with the Ukrainian Foundation in Portland. Every month they would host Ukrainian trivia night. “It was a lot of fun!” Dustin exclaimed. “I’ve met so many cool people. And at one point, they showed up with a bunch of cool merch. I bought a traditional Ukrainian shirt.”

They Serve a Variety of Needs With Broad Hours

Bering open early and late, they can serve a customer base that works at night—people getting off the graveyard shift can come in and have a mimosa or a beer in morning; nurses can caffeinate up before going to work, too.

Opening Slow Pour

They are opening this month after more time than they expected. (“It’s been about waiting for the city, really.”)

As for their hours, they open 7-days a week at 7am each day, closing at 4pm Sunday and Monday, and 9pm Tuesday through Saturday. “We have a pretty large breadth of hours that people can come and visit,” Dustin said.

And folks are really looking forward to them reopening. While I was there talking to Dustin, local regulars knocked on the doors and asked when they planned to open. “March—we’re gonna open in March,” Dustin said. Now, as I said earlier, it’s looking like a soft opening at the end of March. No doubt the cafe’s fans will be pretty excited to be able to walk through those doors and reconnect with their favorite parts about Slow Pour.

Wishing Dustin and his team all the best as they head to their opening day in their new space in Sellwood!

Slow Pour [projected soft opening end of March 2026, grand opening April 20]
7727 SE 13th Avenue, Portland
Slow Pour website | Instagram | Facebook

Updated March 9, 2026 with more details on an opening timeline. Also clarified the churches Dusting has been involved with.
Updated March 17, 2026 with grand opening date.