Cheap Eats 2011

Phone Number: 238-3693

Cuisine: [BOSNIAN]

Review: Muhamed Mujcic-Mufko’s 4-4-2 is Portland’s lone soccer bar, its walls adorned with the flags of favored teams, from FC Bayern to the Timbers’ green and yellow....

Phone Number: 253-6766

Cuisine: [PIZZA]

Review: This Alberta pizzeria hand-throws pies using what their menu calls a “secret Sicilian recipe.”...

Phone Number: 287-7909

Cuisine: [MEXICAN]

Review: Angel Food and Fun would be yet another hit-or-miss neighborhood convenience if it didn’t do one thing so soul-stirringly well that I hesitate to publicize it for fear there will not be any left for me when I return. That thing is called cochinita pibil ($9.99), and I want to marry it....

Phone Number: 774-4470

Cuisine: [BRUNCH]

Review: It’s a ballsy move, declaring your biscuits and gravy the best in Portland right there on the menu. But when the plate arrives, it’s hard to argue against a pair of fluffy sweet potato biscuits drowning in rosemary-sausage gravy and topped, just for the hell of it, with thin slices of pork loin....

Phone Number: 230-8340

Cuisine: [SANDWICHES]

Review: It’s easy to walk past the plain-Jane exterior of this cafe in favor of Southeast Division Street’s more eye-catching eateries. Don’t....

Phone Number: 445-6101

Cuisine: [HAWAIIAN]

Review: This Hawaiian fast-food joint is an homage to co-owner Benjamin Dyer’s childhood in Kona, and also something of a parody....

Phone Number: 285-5490

Cuisine: [PIZZA]

Review: Every real neighborhood needs a pizza joint. And though Portland is far from replicating New York City’s shop-on-every-street-corner scene, Atomic Pizza is a good hangout spot for anyone in the Overlook Village ’hood....

Phone Number: 477-7779

Cuisine: [BRUNCH]

Review: Tucked in a sunny, off-street industrial building on Northeast Glisan Street, Bakery Bar can be hard to find. Once you’ve visited, though, it’s similarly hard to quit. Though the name implies cakes, pies and breads—of which there are plenty, including some wicked banana bread for $2.75 a slice—Bakery Bar’s breakfast menu is the main attraction....

Phone Number: 774-2525

Cuisine: [CHINESE]

Review: Unlike the all-you-can eat buffet and great simmering bowls of downtown’s Taiwanese-style Hot Pot City (see page 19), Beijing Hot Pot is a communal affair: A bowl of broth is placed in the center of the table over a gas burner, and diners order various bits of raw meat, fish and vegetables to cook in it....

Phone Number: 282-0600

Cuisine: [PIZZA]

Review: Slices ($3.50) so big you must fold them over to eat ’em? Check. So piping hot they blister the roof of your mouth? Check....

Phone Number: 788-3098

Cuisine: [VIETNAMESE SANDWICHES]

Review: Portland’s only Vietnamese sandwich drive-thru recently added Koi Fusion-inspired Viet tacos to the menu (three for $5), but don’t order them—they’re a trap....

Phone Number: 626-2288

Cuisine: [VIETNAMESE SANDWICHES]

Review: Portland’s only Vietnamese sandwich drive-thru recently added Koi Fusion-inspired Viet tacos to the menu (three for $5), but don’t order them—they’re a trap....

Phone Number: 771-0812

Cuisine: [CHINESE BARBECUE]

Review: Best Taste brands itself as “Chinese BBQ,” and the owners aren’t kidding; this meat bears no resemblance to its American cousin. Right by the doorway fire-reddened ducks are strung up at the neck, while the rear quarters of pigs hang from wire looped into their unmentionables....

Phone Number: 477-8778

Cuisine: [ETHIOPIAN]

Review: Ethiopian dining is rarely an elegant affair, and the white tablecloths, real napkins and minimalist decor of Bete-Lukas don’t exactly scream, “Pull up a pew and start scarfing lentils with your hands!”...

Phone Number: 257-3868

Cuisine: [VIETNAMESE SANDWICHES]

Review: Vietnamese sandwiches are pretty much the best way for hungry folks to spend $2.50 (and for whatever reason, they always seem to cost $2.50)....

Phone Number: 777-2245

Cuisine: [VIETNAMESE SANDWICHES]

Review: Vietnamese sandwiches are pretty much the best way for hungry folks to spend $2.50 (and for whatever reason, they always seem to cost $2.50)....

Phone Number: 517-5762

Cuisine: [VEGAN BAKERY]

Review: Vegans and carnivores alike, hie to this bright hole-in-the-wall deli-bakery combo with two locations hidden amid industrial buildings both north and south of East Burnside....

Phone Number: 473-8534

Cuisine: [VEGAN BAKERY]

Review: Vegans and carnivores alike, hie to this bright hole-in-the-wall deli-bakery combo with two locations hidden amid industrial buildings both north and south of East Burnside....

Phone Number: 228-0048

Cuisine: [VEGAN]

Review: Since crossing the river from its original Pearl location, this local vegan favorite has indeed blossomed: The restaurant now offers lunch, dinner and Sunday brunch and has just added a full-service bar and lounge....

Phone Number: 295-2583

Cuisine: [CLASSIC DINER]

Review: Ask people to envision a soda fountain in their heads and chances are most will imagine some kind of ’50s-themed Disneyland attraction, with checkered linoleum floors and waitresses delivering orders on roller skates and all that other Johnny Rocket’s crap....

Phone Number: 841-6359

Cuisine: [SOUP AND SANDWICHES]

Review: The huge floor-to-ceiling chalkboard at Breken Kitchen serves as menu for this breakfast, lunch and happy-hour cafe in Slabtown....

Phone Number: 254-6132

Cuisine: [VIETNAMESE VEGETARIAN]

Review: It’s all about excellent, fresh tofu, whether it’s fried and coated in lemongrass ($3), served hot ’n’ plain with soy sauce (60 cents for 8 ounces) or mixed with onion and wrapped around a funky pork ball....

Phone Number: 771-1141

Cuisine: [VIETNAMESE SOUP]

Review: Bun Bo Hue is Portland’s signature spot for the restaurant’s eponymous meat-noodle soup. (Bun, by the way, refers to the vermicelli-style noodles; bo to the meat; Hue to the city in Vietnam; Vietnamese dish names billow out like nouns in German.)...

Phone Number: 777-1917

Cuisine: [VIETNAMESE SOUP]

Review: It looks like just another Vietnamese noodle shop, but this particular slurpery happens to make the city’s finest bun bo hue....

Phone Number: 477-9515

Cuisine: [GUT BOMBS]

Review: The pork belly Cubano ($8) at Bunk Sandwiches is stupid good, in that you tend to do stupid things when in possession of one, like attempting to eat it while driving a stick shift on the freeway....

Phone Number: 221-0011

Cuisine: [BRUNCH]

Review: Byways is best enjoyed when your head is pounding and you need some food to devour as you try to remember what all happened last night....

Phone Number: 477-9224

Cuisine: [SWISS]

Review: Though the Hawaii-inspired decor might not transport you to the Alps, this tiny establishment’s menu is firmly rooted in Switzerland....

Phone Number: 206-6964

Cuisine: [SOUP AND SANDWICHES]

Review: We all know real artists subsist on steady diets of tobacco and methamphetamines, and Canvas Art Bar & Bistro serves neither, so one does wonder at the quality of beer-fueled work being produced by the doodling diners at this high-concept establishment....

Phone Number: 654-4423

Cuisine: [MEXICAN]

Review: If there’s a little more focus on asparagus than you’d expect from a tamale joint, there’s a good reason: Milwaukie’s Casa de Tamales is a side project for the Canby Asparagus Farm....

Phone Number: 234-6192

Cuisine: [THAI]

Review: With its slate-blue walls and teak wood carvings, Chiang Mai just looks like a gussied-up version of your neighborhood Thai takeout joint....

Phone Number: 939-4643

Cuisine: [BURGERS AND BARBECUE]

Review: Once a much-vaunted local rib cart off Dekum, Christopher’s is now a local rib shack: shantied on the outside, bare bones and meaty-boned on the inside....

Phone Number: 224-2021

Cuisine: [ICE CREAM]

Review: Dessert people just love to draw a line in the cocoa between “adult” and “kids” sweets, usually based on bitterness and complexity. But one spoonful of a two-scoop sundae ($5), piled high with Oregon hazelnuts, housemade fudge and drippy amarena cherries at Eva Bernhard’s Pearl District ice cream parlor totally nukes all age barriers....

Phone Number: 808-9604

Cuisine: [ETHIOPIAN]

Review: Tucked into the northeastern corner of a squat, windowless cinderblock building that screams of dark history—think leaflet-loving Christian cults or cut-rate laser tag—Dalo’s doesn’t offer the eye much more than a few Ethiopian tourist posters....

Phone Number: 697-0779

Cuisine: [THAI]

Review: Man, you gotta feel bad for Portland’s Thai restaurants. I mean, with what seems like two for every Rose City resident, they must be competing in an absolutely cutthroat market....

Phone Number: 234-7499

Cuisine: [BRUNCH]

Review: It’s all about the breakfast sandwich at this hideaway brunch spot....

Phone Number: 641-1734

Cuisine: [KOREAN]

Review: If you order tabletop barbecue at D.J.K., you’ll get scissors, tongs and platters of thinly sliced rosy meat and seafood delivered and retrieved by cart-pushing servers....

Phone Number: 295-4929

Cuisine: [GERMAN SANDWICHES]

Review: The Döner folk have been slinging their shaved meat sandwiches since 2008 and show no indications of slowing down....

Phone Number: 219-0633

Cuisine: [GREEK]

Review: Even on a polished avenue like Northwest 23rd, appearances can be deceiving: Dorio’s decor, an anonymous blend of suburban cafe and cocktail bar, suggests a menu of wheatgrass wraps, but Dorio is actually one of the city’s best Greek lunch spots....

Phone Number: 239-4444

Cuisine: [PIZZA]

Review: Since firing up its ovens in 2007, Dove Vivi has drawn crowds with crispy cornmeal pizza crust and weird toppings like corn and butternut squash.....

Phone Number: 643-5388

Cuisine: [NOODLES]

Review: With all the press this tiny Korean noodle place has gotten over the past couple of years, it’s a wonder it isn’t packed to overflowing all the time....

Phone Number: 284-1773

Cuisine: [TERIYAKI]

Review: Du’s might be the ultimate cheap eat, at least for non-veggies. The formula is simple: huge portions of grilled meat boxed up with alarming speed for scant money....

Phone Number: 230-1120

Cuisine: [INDIAN]

Review: A tasty shot of North and South Indian spice in the unassuming row of restaurants that also includes Mio Sushi and No Fish! Go Fish!, Dwaraka Indian Cuisine’s sparse decor and standard-issue Indian lunch buffet belie an extremely tasty, affordable treasure for the tandoori set....

Phone Number: 771-1186

Cuisine: [SANDWICHES]

Review: At first glance just a well-heeled neighborhood grocery deep within one of the city’s most exclusive residential areas, where median home prices top half a million, Eastmoreland Market has indeed long been viewed as a neighborhood asset. But the main attraction for outsiders is the Kitchen....

Phone Number: 286-1401

Cuisine: [ERITREAN]

Review: E’Njoni Cafe exudes warmth. The walls are painted in tones of terra cotta and butternut squash, and the flavors that infuse the dishes are equally warm, all curry and ginger and fiery berbere (a chile-based spice mixture ubiquitous in East African cuisine)....

Phone Number: 227-5423

Cuisine: [PIZZA]

Review: How paradoxical, that munching fresh, hot slices should be a form of nostalgia, but Escape From New York serves as a kind of collective Proustian madeleine for the shoppers of No-Longer-Trendy-Third....

Phone Number: 230-9464

Cuisine: [HOTWINGS]

Review: Being the deep-frying free spirits that they are, you’d think that people behind this hot wing bastion would be more egalitarian in their approach to developing new products....

Phone Number: 280-9464

Cuisine: [HOTWINGS]

Review: Being the deep-frying free spirits that they are, you’d think that people behind this hot wing bastion would be more egalitarian in their approach to developing new products....

Phone Number: 775-2077

Cuisine: [BURGERS]

Review: The meaty offspring of Andy Ricker (Pok Pok, Ping), Daniel Mondok (Sel Gris) and Kurt Huffman (developer of Whiskey Soda Lounge, Ping, Grüner and St. Jack) isn’t a “concept restaurant” or a cheeky riff on the American diner....

Phone Number: 235-0274

Cuisine: [GREEK FAST FOOD]

Review: Most people know Foti’s as “that gyro place on Burnside,” but pitas aren’t all they do right at this old-school, counter-service Greek deli....

Phone Number: 222-5608

Cuisine: [BRUNCH]

Review: If you’ve lived in Portland long, you probably know about Fuller’s as an old-school holdout, a well-loved relic from before the Pearl District had a fancy name....

Phone Number: 288-1007

Cuisine: [CHINESE NOODLES]

Review: For the past seven years, Frank Fong has been the Portland metro area’s king of noodles....

Phone Number: 246-7737

Cuisine: [FRIED CHICKEN]

Review: It really says something when you order a two-piece “snack box” ($6.95 for legs or thighs, add $1 for a breast) and receive a 2-pound plate loaded with a fried breast the size of a Pomeranian....

Phone Number: 219-2287

Cuisine: [INDIAN]

Review: What Gandhi’s lacks in ambience (wood-paneled walls, plastic plants) it makes up for in portion size....

Phone Number: 445-9777

Cuisine: [BRUNCH]

Review: Every Sunday, a line of bleary-eyed young people snakes along Southeast Division Street....

Phone Number: 224-1865

Cuisine: [SANDWICHES]

Review: Step through Geraldi’s tiny door and it’s as though you’ve traveled 3,000 miles east....

Phone Number: 954-1671

Cuisine: [PIZZA]

Review: Non parlo Italiano, but according to the menu of this new St. Johns pizzeria, girasole means “sunflower.”...

Phone Number: 775-1537

Cuisine: [PIZZA]

Review: Serving big, cheesy, garlicky pies without an ounce of pretension, this bare-bones pizza chamber only proofs enough dough for 30 pizzas a night....

Phone Number: 488-5701

Cuisine: [PIZZA]

Review: Ever since it underwent an extensive remodel in 2005, this striped building has played host to bad ideas....

Phone Number: 788-6909

Cuisine: [CHINESE]

Review: Luckily, the NFL has yet to serve notice to this noodle shop that their won ton-, noodle, roast-, barbecue pork- and duck-laden “Super Bowl” ($9) is in violation of its trademark....

Phone Number: 252-8012

Cuisine: [SANDWICHES]

Review: They say you can never go home again, but if you’re from a town like mine—one with ample dining options for those who crave oversized and greasy heart-attack food—outer Northeast Portland has plenty of places to carb-cram like a true bumpkin....

Phone Number: 772-0103

Cuisine: [VIETNAMESE SOUP]

Review: Tucked away behind the Wing Ming herb market, this little joint churns out soups to die for ($7.50, plus 50 cents extra if you order it to go)....

Phone Number: 274-0628

Cuisine: [LEBANESE]

Review: There are only a few good, authentic Middle Eastern places in this town, and Habibi surely figures among them....

Phone Number: 808-9600

Cuisine: [FISH AND CHIPS]

Review: Even on a slow Thursday afternoon, when the lone server is busying herself scrubbing salt shakers and kitchen chatter is getting loose and gossipy, Halibut’s keeps its customers waiting....

Phone Number: 249-1021

Cuisine: [SUSHI]

Review: Sushi joints can be frightening for the uninitiated, but the welcoming, family-owned Hama Sushi is perfect for rookies....

Phone Number: 445-0231

Cuisine: [KOLACHES]

Review: An aptly named establishment, this. It’s almost impossible not to emerge cheerful and chirpy from this cute, colorful Belmont cafe. The house specialty is kolaches....

Phone Number: 239-3966

Cuisine: [BRUNCH]

Review: Portland has many restaurants that do the seasonal, local, we’re-friends-with-our-farmers new-menu-every-week thing....

Phone Number: 281-1477

Cuisine: [BRUNCH]

Review: As we shivered outside waiting 45 minutes for a table to wolf down Sunday brunch, we wondered if this packed Alberta Street spot would be worth it....

Phone Number: 808-9283

Cuisine: [SOUTHERN TAKEOUT]

Review: I stepped out of the Portland drizzle and into a weird Southern dream....

Phone Number: 224-6696

Cuisine: [CHINESE SOUP]

Review: Sit at the bar at Hot Pot City because it’s more fun....

Phone Number: 274-1888

Cuisine: [LEBANESE]

Review: This Palestinian-owned corner bistro has an entryway every bit as quiet as its name, its view blocked from the sidewalk by a broad support pillar....

Phone Number: 771-4648

Cuisine: [SUSHI]

Review: In a town full of trendy, inventive sushi restaurants with hourlong waits, Ichidai can’t much compete on atmosphere, innovation or sustainability....

Phone Number: 230-9599

Cuisine: [SANDWICHES]

Review: A true surprise in the midst of the Lloyd District, the J Cafe is an oasis in a desert of bland hotels, mallrats and Blazers....

Phone Number: 230-0463

Cuisine: [BRUNCH]

Review: You may not realize, upon first visiting J&M Cafe, that you’ve never been there before....

Phone Number: 477-8985

Cuisine: [THAI/VIETNAMESE/SWEETS]

Review: Lucy and April Eklund’s airy Sellwood cafe offers dozens of teas from around the world and enormous platters of Thai and Vietnamese standards....

Phone Number: 644-7378

Cuisine: [KOREAN]

Review: Walking in here is like getting an unexpected, welcome hug. Anchoring a strip mall in bleakest suburbia, JCD looks off-putting from the outside, but indoors is a tiny universe of delight....

Phone Number: 248-1066

Cuisine: [SANDWICHES]

Review: Between the pastel paint on the walls and abundance of chicken breast, blue cheese and artichoke hearts on the menu, you’d be forgiven for feeling like you’d hitched a ride back to 1993 upon opening the door to the John Street Cafe....

Phone Number: 467-4971

Cuisine: [BRUNCH]

Review: What a novel concept—a brunch place where you don’t have to wait 30 minutes!...

Phone Number: 243-2249

Cuisine: [PASTA]

Review: Its name might slightly irk the Italian-American Anti-Defamation League—frankly, it’s sillier than all of Portland’s puntastic Thai joints combined—but at least there’s truth in its advertising....

Phone Number: 672-9229

Cuisine: [IRANIAN]

Review: You’ve been looking for an excuse to visit Beaverton Town Square, right? Well, here it is....

Phone Number: 957-8577

Cuisine: [JAPANESE CURRY]

Review: Taking a cue from Portland’s better cart chefs, who limit themselves to variations on a single, simple theme, Kalé proprietor Makoto Yoshino does only one thing—Japanese curry—and he does it very, very well....

Phone Number: 223-0830

Cuisine: [LEBANESE]

Review: If you’re a novice to Lebanese cuisine, the food at Karam makes you feel right at home....

Phone Number: 248-2202

Cuisine: [SANDWICHES]

Review: Ken Forkish’s local bread palace is known for a lot of things, from flaky-perfect croissants to the most toothsome, crusty baguettes in town....

Phone Number: 954-1737

Cuisine: [SANDWICHES]

Review: That Kenny and Zuke—what a couple of mensches!...

Phone Number: 771-6868

Cuisine: [CHINESE]

Review: As a Chinese restaurant, it’s tough to distinguish yourself in a part of town that’s also home to Wong’s King, Ocean City, Wing Wa BBQ and Fubonn, but this triangular house of Hong Kong noodles has a secret weapon: really great congee....

Phone Number: 971-544-7521

Cuisine: [BURGERS]

Review: According to Killer Burger, the no-nonsense meat shack that recently took over Nasca’s corner digs on Northeast Sandy Boulevard, a burger ain’t a burger until it’s topped with crispy bacon, grilled onions, thick pickle slices and a slather of smoky, orange mayo-relish sauce….

Phone Number: 283-9757

Cuisine: [MEXICAN, BURGERS]

Review: You don’t go to a place like King Burrito sober....

Phone Number: 281-3662

Cuisine: [MEXICAN]

Review: Hungry Alberta hoppers are faced with a tough choice at the intersection of Northeast 27th Avenue: La Sirenita or La Bonita?...

Phone Number: 278-3050

Cuisine: [MEXICAN]

Review: Hungry Alberta hoppers are faced with a tough choice at the intersection of Northeast 27th Avenue: La Sirenita or La Bonita?...

Phone Number: 239-9675

Cuisine: [MEXICAN]

Review: From the outside, decorated with Dia de los Muertos-themed murals, La Calaca Comelona looks more like some sort of Mexican cultural center than a restaurant....

Phone Number: 478-0505

Cuisine: [MEXICAN]

Review: As of late January, the sign out front and menus inside this downtown restaurant still bore the name Olé Olé....

Phone Number: 226-1258

Cuisine: [CREPES]

Review: Le Happy hits an ideal balance of sassy and sweet with red light bulbs and busted eyeglasses tacked to the walls, as well as a cheerful patchwork jumble of plastic flowers above the bar and votive candles set at each table....

Phone Number: 477-8348

Cuisine: [PERUVIAN]

Review: With Portland’s hunger for Peruvian food growing ever bigger, Limo could become a favorite among foodies who like their raw fish limey, checks manageable and ambience homey....

Phone Number: 274-9008

Cuisine: [BURGERS]

Review: Micah Camden, the seemingly tireless chef who has in the past five years had a hand in the openings of Yakuza, Naomi Pomeroy’s Beast, DOC and Fats, is often described as having a “restaurant empire.”...

Phone Number: 445-6289

Cuisine: [MEXICAN, VEGAN]

Review: Savvy Portland taco-lovers (and vegetarians) knew the joys of Los Gorditos when its oversized burritos and succulent tacos were only available via a cart with a long lunchtime line....

Phone Number: 208-3113

Cuisine: [SANDWICHES]

Review: This previously cursed Pearl District space seems to have finally found a keeper with baker Dan Griffin’s new shrine to the carbohydrate....

Phone Number: 206-8292

Cuisine: [CHINESE]

Review: Lucky Strike moved last year from a ghetto strip mall and payday lender east of 123rd Avenue to Hawthorne, but the food remains phenomenal....

Phone Number: 234-7844

Cuisine: [SOUP, SANDWICHES, BURGERS]

Review: Many bars in Portland advertise a happy-hour menu that is cheap, convenient and delicious, but few actually live up to the hype....

Phone Number: 243-1700

Cuisine: [SANDWICHES]

Review: I miss my sandwich. I feel like we didn’t see enough of each other....

Phone Number: 295-4944

Cuisine: [SANDWICHES]

Review: Look, if you come to Melt, you come for the happy hour....

Phone Number: 719-6152

Cuisine: [JAPANESE]

Review: Miho, a humble house lit gently by the neon glare of the Alibi across the street, is a fairly new entry in Portland’s recent love affair with the izakaya (Japanese food and sake bar)....

Phone Number: 206-7799

Cuisine: [ITALIAN-AMERICAN]

Review: If you wander into this shiny new Italian deli-bakery, you should really order the Caesar salad ($6)....

Phone Number: 208-3195

Cuisine: [JAPANESE CREPES]

Review: The Harajuku-style crêpe hails from a region of Tokyo known for its outrageous fashions and trendy cafes....

Phone Number: 646-9382

Cuisine: [KOREAN]

Review: In Beaverton, the land of 1,000 Korean restaurants, it’s hard for any of them to truly stand out. But Nakwon tries its damndest....

Phone Number: 241-1137

Cuisine: [BRUNCH]

Review: You will probably be the youngest customer in Nancy’s Kitchen, but having brunch with the octogenarian set has its perks....

Phone Number: 892-5811

Cuisine: [INDIAN]

Review: Unless you count the occasional fast-food joint along this busy thoroughfare, Southwest Barbur Boulevard is what you might call a food desert....

Phone Number: 774-2761

Cuisine: [VIETNAMESE SOUP]

Review: The selling point at this 82nd Avenue strip-mall noodle shop is the Vietnamese soup bun bo hue ($8.50), pho’s thick ’n’ spicy, blood cake-packed little sister....

Phone Number: 445-4700

Cuisine: [LEBANESE]

Review: The tiny Southeast Grand Avenue location of this two-decade-old Lebanese institution has always been considered the best....

Phone Number: 235-5123

Cuisine: [LEBANESE]

Review: The tiny Southeast Grand Avenue location of this two-decade-old Lebanese institution has always been considered the best....

Phone Number: 285-1119

Cuisine: [ITALIAN-AMERICAN]

Review: It’s tiny, with faux grape vines lining its intimate dining room, workers tossing dough in open view of the cashier counter, an indoor lamppost illuminating small tables where couples sip wine and slurp pasta….

Phone Number: 445-6646

Cuisine: [HAWAIIAN]

Review: In typical Portland progression, the new Noho’s Hawaiian Cafe on Northeast Fremont Street has one-upped the Southeast Clinton Street location....

Phone Number: 771-2299

Cuisine: [CHINESE]

Review: Sure, dinner at this stately Cantonese banquet hall near Fubonn is enjoyable, but it’s during the midmorning and lunch hours that it really comes alive as the only Portland dim sum spot to rival Wong’s King....

Phone Number: 279-0200

Cuisine: [SANDWICHES]

Review: Tucked into a quiet nook south of downtown, Old Lair Hill Market Cafe looks the part of an undistinguished neighborhood spot with just-OK food....

Phone Number: 452-1411

Cuisine: [GERMAN]

Review: Isn’t it a shame most of us indulge in Bavarian cuisine only during Oktoberfest?...

Phone Number: 232-8766

Cuisine: [THAI]

Review: Greasy Thai food, like cold pizza and lasagna, is almost as good, if not better, the next day....

Phone Number: 971-230-0705

Cuisine: [BURGERS]

Review: With a meat-centered menu that could cure the most severe protein deficiency, Pause can churn out a substantial lunch or dinner for under $10....

Phone Number: 222-0525

Cuisine: [SANDWICHES]

Review: The name started out as a somewhat elaborate joke about this city’s Bolshevik tendencies (signs were made for the kitchen reading “Production”), but the gray concrete-and-brick corner shop really does feel like a grim Soviet bunker dropped behind the lines of Western decadence....

Phone Number: 360-1048

Cuisine: [SANDWICHES]

Review: Northeast Broadway isn’t exactly the Champs-Elysées, but in the cavernous confines of Petisco, one does feel transported to some vague facsimile of European city life....

Phone Number: 775-3170

Cuisine: [VIETNAMESE SOUP]

Review: Off-white and rust-streaked outside, mottled purple and Denny’s-esque in, Pho Hung is, by all appearances, another Southeast Powell Boulevard eatery to drive by....

Phone Number: 262-8816

Cuisine: [VIETNAMESE SOUP]

Review: It feels like the pinnacle of deviance to say so, but I’m going to anyway: When you go to Pho Oregon, don’t order the pho....

Phone Number: 230-1474

Cuisine: [VIETNAMESE]

Review: While the elegant light fixtures and decoratively carved wooden booths might indicate spendy dining, Pho Van on Hawthorne is a good bargain....

Phone Number: 788-5244

Cuisine: [VIETNAMESE]

Review: While the elegant light fixtures and decoratively carved wooden booths might indicate spendy dining, Pho Van on Hawthorne is a good bargain....

Phone Number: 627-0822

Cuisine: [VIETNAMESE]

Review: While the elegant light fixtures and decoratively carved wooden booths might indicate spendy dining, Pho Van on Hawthorne is a good bargain....

Phone Number: 477-6605

Cuisine: [BISCUITS]

Review: Let’s be perfectly clear on one thing: There will be a line for a Pine State Biscuits establishment....

Phone Number: 236-3346

Cuisine: [BISCUITS]

Review: Let’s be perfectly clear on one thing: There will be a line for a Pine State Biscuits establishment....

Phone Number: 232-4407

Cuisine: [SWEETS]

Review: In the land of beer cinemas and cocktail-mixing coffee shops, a sweets shop that serves liquor is an automatic hot spot....

Phone Number: 282-6539

Cuisine: [SWEETS]

Review: In the land of beer cinemas and cocktail-mixing coffee shops, a sweets shop that serves liquor is an automatic hot spot....

Phone Number: 491-0323

Cuisine: [PERUVIAN]

Review: Why drive all the way to Gresham for some roast chicken? Because this chicken, crisp-skinned and rubbed with garlic and mysterious green spices, is roasted in a wood-fired brick rotisserie oven as big as a Volkswagen Rabbit....

Phone Number: 954-3138

Cuisine: [MEXICAN]

Review: It’s a good thing Brian Steelman’s taquerias don’t call on that electric yellow margarita mix that turns your fingers into sticky toys from the 25-cent machine—the food is sloppy enough, not to mention that the fresh-squeezed citrus and pomegranate juice you’ll find here could dress up even a bottle of Tortilla Gold)....

Phone Number: 467-4149

Cuisine: [MEXICAN]

Review: It’s a good thing Brian Steelman’s taquerias don’t call on that electric yellow margarita mix that turns your fingers into sticky toys from the 25-cent machine—the food is sloppy enough, not to mention that the fresh-squeezed citrus and pomegranate juice you’ll find here could dress up even a bottle of Tortilla Gold)....

Phone Number: 978-9000

Cuisine: [SOUTHERN]

Review: Deep-fried philanthropy! Po’Shines diverts most of its profits into training and counseling for young adults, and everyone from the chef to your server is volunteering his or her time to the cause....

Phone Number: 224-3993

Cuisine: [VEGAN]

Review: When vegan institution Blossoming Lotus vacated Yoga Pearl for a slightly more granola part of town last year, Prasad stepped in to fill the void....

Phone Number: 253-6842

Cuisine: [MEXICAN]

Review: Like the inside of a piñata, Puerto Marquez jabs at the senses with vivid blasts of color and cheerful pop-mariachi music (with videos!)....

Phone Number: 477-4402

Cuisine: [SALVADORAN]

Review: The pupusa is El Salvador’s answer to grilled cheese....

Phone Number: 788-8877

Cuisine: [VIETNAMESE]

Review: It is very odd, this relatively swank Vietnamese restaurant around the corner from Food4Less, all bamboo plywood, faux temple doors and big orange lamps like bioluminescent jellyfish....

Phone Number: 287-6302

Cuisine: [ETHIOPIAN]

Review: If you’re the kind of person who does everything you can to avoid making a decision, Queen of Sheba won’t cause you any stress....

Phone Number: 227-4840

Cuisine: [BURGERS]

Review: “We need to work on better—what’s the word?—efficiency,” complained a Red Coach server to the line cook during a recent Monday lunch rush....

Phone Number: 208-2634

Cuisine: [THAI]

Review: The specials menu at Red Onion bears a cautionary note: “We regret we are unable to make any changes or return of your dish after serving.”...

Phone Number: 310-6300

Cuisine: [BARBECUE]

Review: Johns Landing’s unpromising melange of ’70s and ’80s office frontage might seem an unlikely spot for an old-school rib joint...

Phone Number: 505-9314

Cuisine: [ICE CREAM]

Review: Lisa Herlinger, creator of the Ruby Jewel ice-cream sandwich, offers way more flavors at this spumoni-toned shop than you’ll find between the cookies at farmers markets and premium grocers across the city....

Phone Number: 356-2376

Cuisine: [SALVADORAN]

Review: Way out in Aloha, off a nondescript road and sharing a building with Martindale’s Home Theater, is a barely marked hole in the wall serving authentic Salvadoran cuisine....

Phone Number: 330-5002

Cuisine: [HAWAIIAN]

Review: Sandwich Island would make a great cart, but (for better or for worse) it’s currently tucked away in a bustling downtown food court....

Phone Number: 287-0331

Cuisine: [CHINESE]

Review: The site of this new Chinese restaurant in the Hollywood district has had multiple incarnations, probably because there’s little parking and the location is not pedestrian-friendly....

Phone Number: 227-2903

Cuisine: [BARBECUE]

Review: Remember when you were in grade school and you had a shelf to display all the awards you won playing soccer and baseball?...

Phone Number: 477-4805

Cuisine: [BRUNCH]

Review: This make-your-own pancake joint is kid central, from the squeeze bottles filled with buttermilk, peanut butter and even gluten-free batter to the big drawer of toys near the front door (where you will wait for a table for at least a half-hour on the weekends)....

Phone Number: 894-9153

Cuisine: [THAI]

Review: The dining room of Soi 9 Thai Eatery is designed to blend into the design of West Burnside condo tower the Civic: bare, modernist boredom....

Phone Number: 641-3670

Cuisine: [KOREAN]

Review: Spring Restaurant in Pal-do Oriental Food Market is a bitch to find....

Phone Number: 788-7141

Cuisine: [SANDWICHES]

Review: Nobody really knows what Cheez Whiz is....

Phone Number: 222-1132

Cuisine: [BRUNCH]

Review: Although its slogan, “You Eat Here Because We Let You,” comes across as oddly aggressive (it sounds like a phrase that’d be emblazoned on a sign in a prison mess hall), Stepping Stone Cafe is the epitome of a neighborhood greasy spoon....

Phone Number: 233-1955

Cuisine: [ITALIAN-AMERICAN]

Review: Nestled in the nexus of quirk that is Clinton Street—its neighbors include Scandinavian cafe Broder, the velvet painting-adorned dive bar Dots and, of course, the Clinton Street Theater, famous for its weekly screenings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show....

Phone Number: 473-8657

Cuisine: [CREPES]

Review: Steeped in French decor, with accordion practically wheezing from the woodwork, Suzette is a crêpe-serving food-cart/restaurant hybrid.....

Phone Number: 243-7777

Cuisine: [INDIAN]

Review: Let’s be honest—the Indian lunch buffet is all about quantity over quality.....

Phone Number: 595-3500

Cuisine: [JAPANESE]

Review: For a neighborhood in proximity to a college, Woodstock falls short in the restaurant department....

Phone Number: 577-3541

Cuisine: [MEXICAN]

Review: One may be accustomed to seeing buildings built around trees or hillsides, but a full-size bus?...

Phone Number: 235-3277

Cuisine: [LEBANESE]

Review: Want to get a measure of a Lebanese restaurant? Order its veggie mezza ($12)....

Phone Number: 206-7059

Cuisine: [ITALIAN]

Review: This is Italy in a shoebox, people....

Phone Number: 282-2021

Cuisine: [THAI]

Review: “Healthy Thai Cuisine,” the menu claims, with “healthy cuisine” apparently being defined against food that can literally break into your house and strangle you while you sleep....

Phone Number: 282-0456

Cuisine: [THAI]

Review: Tuk Tuk, named for the three-wheeled rickshaws of Thailand, serves up colossal portions of Thai-American dishes at recession-friendly prices....

Phone Number: 719-7796

Cuisine: [THAI]

Review: Tuk Tuk, named for the three-wheeled rickshaws of Thailand, serves up colossal portions of Thai-American dishes at recession-friendly prices....

Cuisine: [BURGERS]

Review: Dwayne Beliakoff’s serially delayed “fast slow food” restaurant has finally opened in a modernist glass box in Director Park on the South Park Blocks....

Phone Number: 239-4756

Cuisine: [WAFFLES]

Review: Tucked behind (and partially within) Bread and Ink Cafe, Waffle Window is so much more than a griddlecake-dispensing fenestration....

Phone Number: 493-4537

Cuisine: [HOTDOGS]

Review: There’s a reason Chicago has a high rate of obesity: the hot dogs are addictive....

Phone Number: 232-0102

Cuisine: [THAI]

Review: Whiskey Soda Lounge opened in December 2009 as a place to grab a drink during the inevitable 45-minute wait at Pok Pok, but it quickly became that little brother that outshines its older siblings....

Phone Number: 954-2412

Cuisine: [SWEETS]

Review: Formerly a long-vacant dry-cleaners, this high-ceilinged and light-filled room feels less like a full-blown bakery than it does a homey coffeehouse where one of the owners (Gretchen Glatte) just happens to be churning out cookies, pies and scones in the exposed kitchen....

Phone Number: 256-4484

Cuisine: [LEBANESE]

Review: Shaped like oversized M&Ms, the pita at Ya Hala comes out of the kitchen in steamy, soft heaps, ready to be dipped in your choice of creamy vegetable or bean paste....

Phone Number: 736-9228

Cuisine: [SUSHI]

Review: Your out-of-town guests won’t give you extra points for scenery if you take them to Yoko’s, which is nestled among nondescript bungalows in the Creston-Kenilworth neighborhood....

Phone Number: 239-0196

Cuisine: [BRUNCH]

Review: Brunch can be quite the ordeal in Portland....