First Impressions: Tasty & Sons

(Note: the hours have been updated – closed Sunday for the time being.)

I normally wouldn’t write a first impressions piece on a restaurant in its first week of business, but I have gotten lots of emails asking for information. Since I found Tasty & Sons is pretty good, I decided to go ahead and tell [...]

Nel Centro

On a cool evening a few months ago, I sat with friends on the patio at Nel Centro. Three fire pits allowed heat to drift across our table. The flames, reflected in window after window of the hotel, were sometimes three layers deep. Sheltered from the transit mall, it was a little oasis. Vines climbed [...]

Meat Cheese Bread

2008 was the year Portland sandwich shops blossomed. We went from a town with hardly any decent options to an embarrassment of riches. From what I hear, more are on the way.

The secret ingredient that is setting these shops apart is the staff; they actually have a chef, and workers who are passionate about making the best damn sandwich they can. This leads to innovations that rise beyond the

Bunk Sandwiches

What I like most about Bunk is, though it has only been open for a few weeks, it’s already a dive. Sit in the back next to the stacks of bread, and you’ll know what I mean. It’s like being transported to the East Coast, where sandwich shops are a dime a dozen. The only difference is, this one is clean and the sandwiches are damn good.

Bunk was opened in late November 2008 by Tommy Habetz, last from Meriwethers, previously of Ripe. When I asked him how he came

H5O bistro & bar – First Impression

H5O (and that’s h-five-oh, in case you were wondering) bistro & bar is a part of Portland’s newest boutique hotel compound: Hotel Fifty. The bistro is under the helm of Texas transplant, Nicholas A. Yanes, a chef with a resume of high-brow dining rooms around Dallas, along with a degree from the Western Culinary Institute.

This affects the menu in interesting ways-it’s certainly not stuck on localvore

Karam Lebanese

I first took a look at Karam back in early 2005. I think it is time for a much longer review and update.

Lebanon is a small country on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean. The name is from Lubnan, the word for white, to describe the snow covered peaks of the Mount Lebanon Range. Working from Egyptian hieroglyphs, early settlers in the area made a contribution to history by developing the basis of the alphabet used today throughout the Western world.

Little Red Bike Café

I want to tell everyone that Little Red Bike Café is lousy. I want to say the sticky buns taste like cardboard, the sandwiches are no better than your average deli, and the coffee is thin and watery. I want to do this because they are crowded enough as it is, and if more people [...]

Crescent Cafe – breakfast in the wine country

First Impressions, by Hungry Soul
A little over a year ago, the Crescent Cafe opened to many oo’s and aah’s. Owners, Michael McKenney and Danny Wilser had moved to Yamhill County to “retire” and it seems got bored. They formerly owned and operated Ella’s Restaurant in San Francisco, a much loved neighborhood spot. The Crescent Cafe [...]

Detour Cafe

I was sitting with a couple of long-time Portlanders at the Detour Cafe, reminiscing about the old Quality Pie Company and what the city used to be like: more working-class, more small-towny, perhaps more old-fashioned. Tom, for example, said it was tough to find a good bacon-and-egg sandwich anymore. It’s like we were missing something [...]

Pine State Biscuits

Witness the humble American biscuit. It’s not very big, it doesn’t store well, and it’s not particularly attractive. I think it’s safe to say that you won’t see biscuits at your local Boulangerie any time soon. Biscuits just don’t get that kind of respect.
Enter Pine State Biscuits, who have come to Portland on a [...]

Caffe Umbria

Caffé Umbria appeared on the scene a few months ago, with all the flash and glamour you’d expect for a major restaurant opening. Getting through the door and fighting my way through the mob, it was hard to believe all of this fuss was for yet another coffeehouse.
This new cafe is in the Casey Building, [...]

Broder

Comfort Food for Portland, Scandinavian Style
On SE Clinton Street there is a restaurant that translates Scandinavian cuisine perfectly for Pacific NW palates. It emphasizes simple cooking, using fresh, seasonal and local ingredients. Scandinavians and Portlanders share a love of such things as berries and wild edibles, such as mushrooms, salmon, good ripe farm cheeses, delectable [...]

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