Fried Egg I'm in Love is a restaurant with multiple locations in Portland, Oregon.
Fried Egg I'm in Love has been described as a "music pun-themed" breakfast sandwich restaurant (the title of the business references "Friday I'm in Love", a 1992 song by The Cure). The signature sandwich is the Yolko Ono (a reference to Yoko Ono),[1] described as "oniony" sausage patties with pesto, a fried egg, and toasted sourdough.[2][3] The Egg Zeppelin (a reference to English rock band Led Zeppelin) has two vegetable patties, a fried egg, two slices of cheddar cheese, and aardvark aioli. The Free-Range Against the Machine (a reference to American rock band Rage Against the Machine) has egg, avocado, tomato, and havarti.[4]
Fried Egg I'm in Love initially operated from a single food cart.[2] Jace Krause and Ryan Lynch started the business in 2012.[5] According to Eater Portland, Krause "had basically no experience running a business when he started" and he launched Fried Egg I'm in Love "for just $10,000 by getting a rent-to-own deal on an existing cart".[6]
In 2017, Krause became the sole owner and a second location opened at Pioneer Courthouse Square in downtown Portland.[7] A brick and mortar restaurant began operating on Hawthorne Boulevard in southeast Portland's Sunnyside neighborhood in 2019.[2][8] In 2020, the business opened another cart at the pod Prost Marketplace, in the north Portland part of the Boise neighborhood.[9][10][11] Fried Egg I'm in Love was featured in the Netflix travel documentary series Somebody Feed Phil in 2022.[12][13]
In 2023, the business increased prices because of the rising cost of eggs.[14][15] Eggs were also stolen from the food cart in north Portland in January.[16][17] In February, Fried Egg I'm in Love was the first food cart business invited to use Lovely Rita's kitchen at The Hoxton as part of a pop-up series.[18] In late 2023, Krause announced plans to close the Prost Marketplace cart in December and open a nearby restaurant at Fremont and Mississippi in January 2024.[19] The restaurant opened on January 15.[20]
Workers announced plans to organize a union in 2024.[21]
Michael Russell included the restaurant in The Oregonian's 2020 list of "Portland's 40 best inexpensive restaurants".[22] Alex Frane included Fried Egg I'm in Love in Eater Portland's 2021 list of "17 Spots to Grab Amazing Breakfast Sandwiches".[23] In 2021, Portland Monthly included the business in a list of "11 Breakfast Sandwiches to Get You out of Bed".[2] The magazine included the Yolko Ono in a 2022 list of "The 12 Best Breakfasts in Portland".[24] The Daily Hive included Fried Egg I'm in Love in 2021 lists of the "5 best Portland sandwiches available for pick-up or delivery" and "7 brunch spots in Portland that won't break the bank".[25][26] Caitlin Flynn selected Fried Egg I'm in Love for Oregon in Eat This, Not That's 2022 overview of "The Best Breakfast Sandwich in Every State".[27]
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