Lauretta Jean's

Lauretta Jean's is a bakery with locations in downtown and southeast Portland. Martin Cizmar of Willamette Week described the southeast Portland location as "classy but casual, laid out like a coffee shop with low light, a simple wood-and-glass counter and a poster advocating weed". The interior has robin egg blue walls. Menu The menu has included pies, brownies, breakfast pastries such as apricot almond scones and biscuits with jam and butter, cookies, yogurt, and breakfast sandwiches. The lunch menu has included quiches, salads, soups, and pies with ham and cheese, caramelized onion, and blue cheese. Ingredients for biscuit sandwiches include apple barbecue sauce, Brussels sprouts, egg, and pulled pork. Pies are sold whole or by the slice; heirloom apple and bourbon pecan, honey hazelnut, blackberry and raspberry streusel, key lime, and sweet potato marshmallow meringue. Coffee drinks and alcoholic beverages are also served. == History ==

Baker and owner Kate McMillen began operating the business from a stall at the Portland Farmers Market. The business is named after her grandmother Lauretta Jean. In 2011, she relocated Lauretta Jean's to a small brick and mortar shop on Southwest Pine Street in downtown's Transit Mall, operating primarily via take-out and sharing the space with Cafe Velo. McMillen opened a second shop on Division Street in southeast Portland's Richmond neighborhood in 2012, filling the space previously occupied by Pix Pâtisserie. The second shop offered an expanded menu and indoor seating for patrons. She created separate pickup and take-out windows for the shop during the COVID-19 pandemic. The business has hosted activities and specials for Pi Day. Lauretta Jean's was a vendor at Feast Portland in 2018 and 2019. Will Ferrell visited the shop in 2023. == Reception ==

Fodor's has described Lauretta Jean's as a "foodie icon" of Portland. Portland Monthly included the business in a 2012 overview of the city's best biscuits. Alex Frane included the business in the magazine's 2025 list of the city's best pies, writing, "There's no denying that this tiny shop on SE Division Street makes the best pie in Portland, as indicated by the daily lines out the door". In 2013, Martin Cizmar of Willamette Week called Lauretta Jean's "a perfect pie shop". The business ranked first in the Best Pie category in the newspaper's annual "Best of Portland" readers' poll in 2016. It won in the Best Pie Shop category in 2020. Andrea Damewood of Willamette Week called the business Portland's best pie shop in 2023. In 2016, readers of The Oregonian ranked Lauretta Jean's one of Portland's ten best pie shops. The newspaper's Samantha Bakall also included the bakery in 2017 list of the city's best dessert spots for Valentine's Day. Jagger Blaec of the Portland Mercury said "every option on Lauretta's menu is as unique as the next" in 2017. Michelle Lopez included Lauretta Jean's in Eater Portland's 2018 list of fifteen "Portland biscuits that would make any Southerner proud", and Nick Townsend included the bakery in the website's 2020 list of fifteen restaurants "worth visiting" on Southeast Division Street. The website's 2021 overview of "legit pies" in Portland said Lauretta Jean's is "easily one of the city's top three pie shops" and complimented McMillen, who "particularly shines with her cream pies, as well as the standout salted honey pie". Oscar Ponteri included the shop in The Franklin Post 2022 overview of Portland's best pies. Writing for The New York Times, Jamie Cattanach said the salted honey pie "will make you understand why there's a line". Emily Hunt selected Lauretta Jean's to represent Oregon in Tasting Table's 2026 overview of the best pies in each U.S. state. ==See also==