Portland’s Off the Waffle Might Have the Best Bathroom in America

You can vote to make it official until October 27.

Get ready to add another semi-factual superlative to the list, Portland.

Apparently the Eugene-based waffle mini-chain Off the Waffle has a really cool restroom. It's so cool that it could soon be named America's Best Bathroom by Cintas Corp., who has held the contest for the last 16 years. As reported by the Portland Tribune, Off the Waffle, located on Southeast Clinton Street, is one of 10 finalists in the contest.

Off the Waffle's bathroom may look lackluster compared to the other contestants, but when you flip the light switch, it fills with lights and disco music, including "Got to Love Somebody" by Sister Sledge and "Dance With Me" by Peter Brown and of course, "The Hustle." The bathroom was designed by restaurant co-founder Omer Orian.

Orian says Cintas approached Off the Waffle about their bathroom earlier this summer. A few months passed before they were notified they were in the top 10.

Orian tells WW in an email: "We are honored and our parents are proud!"

"It was just one of those…aha moments! We tried to make a pretty basic restroom a little more exciting and ended up having a lot of fun with it," he says.

Other contestants include Carmel Beach in Carmel-by-the-Sea; Calif., Doughnut Plant in New York City; Elsa in Brooklyn, New York; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the OdySea Aquarium in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Honestly, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art is pretty spectacular and the bathroom has even had multiple articles written about it.

(Henrik Kam, courtesy of SFMOMA)

Another top contender is the OdySea Aquarium, where you can look at a shark while you wash your hands.

You can vote for America's Best Bathroom through October 27 here. The winner will receive $2,500 in facility services or restroom cleaning from Cintas.

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