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looking for hip and/or upscale eats in Portland, Oregon

looking for hip and/or upscale eats in Portland, Oregon

Old May 7th, 2007, 07:22 PM
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looking for hip and/or upscale eats in Portland, Oregon

Any tips? Any cuisine....
Good wine list to BYOB...
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Old May 7th, 2007, 07:52 PM
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Jakes Famous Crawfish
401 SW 12th Ave.
Portland, Oregon 97205
(503) 226-1419
1-888-344-6861 toll free

El Gaucho
319 SW Broadway
503-227-8794
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Old May 7th, 2007, 09:33 PM
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Wow - so many to choose from. It would help to know what kind of food you like, but I'd offer up:
- Andina
- Typhoon
- 23Hoyt
- Fenouil
- Wildwood
- Higgins
- Vindalho
To name just a few...but the options really are endless. Some parameters would help...
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Old May 8th, 2007, 01:10 AM
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We ate at Typhoon on our stay last year/ Very good and original and we saw alot of younger "In" crowd people there. WE especially liked the Iced TEa...may not be for everyone but if you like milk in your tea this was unique.
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Old May 8th, 2007, 04:23 AM
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I personally hate Jakes, tons of tourists and not always good food, nothing hip about it. El Gaucho is the or one of the most expensive steak houses in town, but everyone likes the steak, although some prefer Ringside on Burnside ..
miamatusow has a good list..
mine would be similar:
Fenouil
Ten01
Everett St Bistro
Silk
Wildwood
Typhoon on Broadway is my favorite .. the one on NW23rd doesn't do the duck
Go to Vault for drinks or bluehour for Happy Hour.
Oba is fun, noisy and great food.
Giorgio's is good elegant Italian
These are all on the NW/SW side of town..
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Old May 8th, 2007, 06:52 AM
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Scarlett, you're making me hungry! Oooooh! How about Pambiche for wonderful Cuban food? Or the newly opened Rocket - supposed to be quite the hipster place, and Leather Storrs always cooks amazing food. Mint has amazing drinks - I've only eaten in the bar, but the food was good, too.
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Old May 8th, 2007, 06:57 AM
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A great bar is Henry's 12th Street Tavern. Definitely hip, over 100 beers on tap and a really good martini list. The food there is good too...not gourmet type, but definitely good.

Agree on all the others listed.

Two other places are Park Kitchen and the Park Bistro. Two different places, but both good.
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Old May 8th, 2007, 07:16 AM
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Lots of good places already mentioned here; how long you gonna be in town??? ;-) Two of my current favorites that meet both the hip and upscale criteria are Le Pigeon and Alberta St. Oyster Bar & Grill. Le Pigeon is being recognized nationally as one of the best new restaurants in the country, and Alberta St..... just really good food in a comfortable neighborhood restaurant. Wine list is great at both places.
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Old May 8th, 2007, 08:03 AM
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We enjoyed nice lunches at Ten01 and Park Kitchen this past March when we were in Portland. We had a very "lovely" dinner Lovely Hula Hands. Very good food and they have a new location on N. Mississippi Ave.

Fenouil is very nice in the Portland Pearl District, great food and very upscale ambiance. Wildwood and the Heathman also have good food. Lots of great choices! ***kim***
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Old May 8th, 2007, 09:05 AM
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kim, anything new to add to the lists already posted?

miamatusow...isn't Portland great for good food? And it doesn't have to be all fancy and posh and expensive..which makes it a pleasure when you want to be casual and just have a nice bite to eat..
We wandered around on the NE side one day and ended up eating at Halibut...(right name?) fried fish, french fries, beer...everything perfectly cooked, loud music, but not too loud...fun and just right when that is what you are in the mood for.
We were spoiled, living in the Pearl..Ten01 was on the corner, bluehour was around the corner, Pup became well known lol my Happy Hour Pup

mms and I got into a nice habit of Friday lunch dates.. I am missing that
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Old May 9th, 2007, 01:34 PM
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Scarlett, I am always surprised about your dislike of Jake's. Did you have a bad experience there? I have lived in Portland almost my entire life, eat there often and have NEVER had a bad meal there! They have the freshest fish in town because they go through so much of it. Yes, there are tourists, however, many of us locals eat there on a regular basis. It is one of the oldest restaurants in town with a beautiful bar and knowledgable yet relaxed servers. When we have friends in town we always take them there and when they return they always want to go back to Jake's.

My new favorite place (it isn't new but new to me) is The Farm Cafe on 7th and Burnside. It is an old bungalow that is now a restaurant and they serve organic and local food, no red meat but a couple of excellent fish dishes. My mouth waters just thinking about it!
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Old May 9th, 2007, 04:37 PM
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check out this blog for a lot of reviews and good info

http://www.portlandfoodanddrink.com/

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Old May 9th, 2007, 06:18 PM
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Hi euro..
Only bad in the sense that I dislike crowded noisy restaurants with slow service..my friend got food poisoning on the oysters but I gave them a couple of tries and quit trying.
I think of it as touristy because no one I knew in Portland ever went there, but the place is always jammed..and in every guide book...so I assumed.
I am sorry we missed Farm, read something recently about it. maybe our next visit
You aren't talking about Jakes at the Governor are you? That I like!
You and I agree on everything else, this just keeps it from being boring lol..
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Old May 9th, 2007, 06:20 PM
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www.portlandfood.org is a good site too.
you will hear familiar voices there
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Old May 9th, 2007, 06:49 PM
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i woudl agree jake's isn't what i would say hip but i do like that place.
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Old May 9th, 2007, 06:52 PM
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Oh, and we had dinner at Olea which was really nice and I would say that was a pretty hip restaurant with absolutely delish food!
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Old May 9th, 2007, 08:30 PM
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Yeah Scarlett, we do tend to agree on most other things. Maybe the people you met during the short time you lived here were not from Portland? I don't think I have a friend who doesn't like Jake's! Their razor clams are the best in town! yummy!

You will have to provide me a report of your favorite new haunts in Buenos Aires! I will pm you on the "other" forum before I leave for BA at the end of Oct. Give Casa Felix a try for me, will ya? I will definitely try Casa Saltshaker!

Cheers!
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Old May 11th, 2007, 07:36 AM
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I'm going to chime in with a thumbs down on Jake's. They have nice atmosphere, a great happy hour menu, and mainly standard, kind of boring dinner items. There has never been any sort of pizazz or interest to the fish. I think they rely too much on butter and too little on seasoning and grilling.
Definitely consider Wildwood, Higgins, Park Kitchen. We recently tried Serratto in NW and had a great happy hour meal. I just had a beautiful duck-egg house-made pasta at Basta's, absolutely stunning. Plus, just one more, Nuestra Cocina over in SE. Nice outdoor seating with wonderful Oaxacan cuisine. Portland has beautiful restaurants and excellent food.
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Old May 11th, 2007, 08:13 AM
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I'll pile on! ;-) Food at Jakes is good and all, but not really memorable. And I sense they're resting on their laurels, and as a result being left behind by the rest of Portland's ever-changing food scene.

But you're right eurotraveller, most visitors will tell you they want to go there, probably because they're not familiar with the alternatives. Have you been to Le Pigeon yet? I think it's almost next door to Farm Cafe (thanks for that rec, BTW).
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Old May 11th, 2007, 08:51 AM
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Hey! pdx, we loved Serratto! My favorite dish is the pasta with cream sauce and Dungenese Crab....sigh...Wish they could deliver to South America lol
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