Established in 1994, the cafe was later purchased by Tom and Laura Lane-Ruckman, who continued to operate the business until the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic forced a closure in November 2020.

Considered a neighborhood favorite, the interior featured a small dining room, mosaic tiled tables, and artworks by various artists on the walls depicting bridges.

Bridges Cafe was located at the intersection of Knott Street and Martin Luther King (MLK) Jr. Boulevard in the northeast Portland section of the Eliot neighborhood.

[1] In 1999, Natasha Nowakowski of the Portland Business Journal said the cafe was "artistically decorated with colorful walls and funky dining tables", serving as a space "where regulars come to congregate over early morning coffee or a mid-afternoon lunch".

[4] The Southern and Tex-Mex menu included breakfast burritos, catfish hash,[5] Eggs Benedict,[4] grits, gumbo, omelets, and scrambles.

She hosted brewer's dinners each month, incorporating beer into dressings and sauces as well as entrees such as baked paella and chili con carne.

[1] In 2005, The Oregonian's Grant Butler wrote, "A few years ago, this longtime restaurant underwent some changes that turned it into a rock-solid breakfast spot, with strict attention paid to the smallest details – like the coffee, which they roast themselves from organic beans.

"[6] In 2019, The Oregonian's Lizzy Acker ranked Bridges number 16 on her list of the city's 25 best corned beef hashes, in which she said the hollandaise and vegetables were "heavy-handed".

She called the tiled tables a "standout feature" and opined, "Bridges offers a cute corner location steps across Knott Street from Nike's factory outlet.

"[2] Bridges was most known for its grits, according to Asher, who called the "beloved" cafe a "pillar" of the neighborhood and said the small dining room "encouraged diners at separate tables to get to know one another, its accessibility, and its reliability.

"[1] In articles about the pandemic's impact of the city's restaurant scene, Karen Brooks of Portland Monthly called Bridges a "beloved neighborhood anchor"[14] and Michael Russell of The Oregonian described the cafe as a "long-running brunch favorite".