Caryn and Mike Nelson and partners Toby Roberts and Carrie Lind opened Guilder in April 2017 in the alameda-irvington neighborhood of northeast Portland. Guilder cafe inside Powell’s city of books opened in November 2021. They also opened a cafe under their roasting brand, Junior’s Roasted Coffee, in 2023. It is co-located with Upright brewing’s taproom in the Cully neighborhood.

caryn, Mike and Toby met as students at PSU in the early 2000’s while working at Food for Thought Cafe, a student run cafe on campus. carrie and Mike met as coworkers at stumptown a few years after. mike and caryn started roasting coffee as Junior's Roasted Coffee in Florida when Mike was in grad school and returned to Portland in the spring of 2016. the four partners reconnected to pursue a space to house the roastery and were excited to find one to also serve as a cafe. The name of the cafe is inspired by the classic movie/book The Princess Bride with the theme throughout the cafe’s menu, design, and packaging.

Guilder east is open 7am - 5pm and offers coffee, espresso, tao of tea, desi chai, Portland syrups soda drinks, lionheart kombucha, pastries from st. beatrix, and vegan/GF pastries from Shoofly Vegan Bakery and a in-house breakfast and lunch menu.

guilder west is open 10am-8pm and offers coffee, espresso, tao of tea, desi chai, lionheart kombucha and assorted cold beverages, pastries from Jen’s pastries, vegan/GF pastries from Shoofly Vegan Bakery and a in-house food menu. Our food menu also includes items from Oma’s Hideaway - a restaurant co-owned by toby Roberts. we also serve beer and wine.

We love supporting other small businesses and vendors, often our former colleagues and friends. Our business has from the beginning supported nonprofit organizations and projects that better the community. We are happy to donate coffee or services to your event or fundraiser when we can — complete the Charitable Contributions and Sponsorship Request Form . Our company values include transparency, community and sustainability. We hope to return to hosting events, art shows, and educational events in the future.

We welcome your feedback, concerns, and help. We're a growing company and this is our "baby" (hence the 'Junior' in Junior's Roasted Coffee). We, along with many friends and family, have put a lot of work into our cafes and wish to see them succeed. We want you to consider it your second home, and to welcome you into our extended family and in turn hope to be welcomed into your family. 

thank you!