Kidding aside, I know from other posts here, this person was stuck living out in the Oregon boonies somewhere, so maybe that's what they meant. Maybe they hadn't gotten into Portland, Eugene, etc. for better restaurant choices.

icuy- What are the good restaurants in Corvallis. I live down the road in Eugene, never go to Corvallis but might be fun for a day trip

Oh jeez, that is funny! Aside from the NYTimes write up, Conde Nast Traveler and a zillion other publications have been writing up Portland and its dining scene for about years now- and it is continuing!

Those must be the deep deep boonies someone is in and not coming out of!

The only negative I can think of to moving to Portland would be cost..it was not cheap to live in the city, housing, insurance, groceries etc were equal to parts of the NorthEast..
But the opportunities for great healthy food, good doctors and charming homes were abundant.

We were househunting when we decided to leave the country instead, otherwise, we would be living in a loft or house somewhere in NW Portland right now..

in my defense, i lived in southern oregon and there were NO good restaurants just diners. I heard Eugene was a decent city and portland had more to offer but in my experience we had NOTHING to choose from except diners and that get really old. i wouldnt say i was homesick, i have been in foreign countries and so i know what homesick feels like. oregon is on the same continent as chicago, come on now. oregon had nothing to offer, not even job possibilities, where we were. it was only a place where ppl come up from california to retire.

Everytime I turn around it seems I run into another young family moving to Bend.

Portland is surely one of the very best cities in the country.

There would be no comparison of the restaurant scenes in Bend and Portland. Town vs a very foodie city.

I hope you like rain!

Oh cmon, primo.
You must have been in Roseburg or K-Falls, because the Rogue Valley and Ashland have plenty of "real" restaurants, including several that have recieved national acclaim.
Sounds like you had a chip on your shoulder the whole time you were here.

When one posts an opinion, it helps clarify things if one also mentions that you were not there, that you only read this information and that you never tried it yourself.

Aside from Portland, there are many small towns and communities that have great little restaurants. Some of the bigger places in Portland have cafes or bistros out at the Coast or in the wine country..

My husband and I come from a city where food is a major big deal .. we always enjoy scouting out the good places in our new towns. Portland was great fun in that sense as was visiting towns elsewhere in Oregon.

My only complaint was that we could not find Pizza that we liked lol but I would never say that Oregon has no good pizza...although , if I think about it..that would be an interesting couple of years of research for a person to do..going town to town, having pizza

primobacio~~ You don't have to speak in your own "defense" but won't you agree it's not fair to make a sweeping statement about a state when you only lived and experienced one small and extremely rural section of it for a short period of time?

Same thing about the job market. There are many opportunities for employment in Oregon, obviously less out in the countryside than in a city such as Portland. Your limited experience should not try to speak to the state of an entire state!

i didnt have a chip on my shoulder, but grants pass had only diners. like i said before im not discriminating against the entire state just particularly where i lived. Ashland had a good restaurant or two but nothing great. and for someone moving from a big city to oregon, it IS a big change, i thought i could voice my opinion easily here, but everyone is so critical. in grants pass there was NO employment, i looked for a job for over a year and a half and nothing.....

<<There are no good food choices in Oregon in terms of restaurants. Love the farmers market tho>>
primobacio, yes, you definitely CAN voice your opinions here but you must also be prepared to hear what others think of your opinions.
That is just life in Fodorville.

When you posted that "there are no good food choices in Oregon"..you opened the way for many people who know better to respond. If you had said in Grants Pass, someone might have known what you were talking about- but you said Portland..
Where there are obviously many good food choices.

As well as job choices.
I think for whatever reason you chose to move to Oregon, it was just not the right choice and nothing worked for you. We did the same thing when we moved to Florida..all you can do is try and if it doesn't work out, consider yourself lucky if you can try again somewhere else

http://www.summerjo.com/
http://www.morrisonslodge.com/lodge-fine-dining.htm
Here are 2 places I have eaten that are more than diners.
Comparing Grants Pass with Chicago? Hookay.
Sorry you didn't like Ashland, but there are more than a couple of nice places.
100 restaurants in a town of 20,000-
some of em just gotta be more than a diner, don't you think?
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...sn=001&sc=1000
http://www.isabelscantina.com/restaurant4.html
Aren't many Italians in Southern Oregon
so I doubt that will compare, but I would bet our fresh wild salmon would blow the doors off what you could find in Chicago(unless it was flown in from the West Coast.
Just sayin'.

"When you posted that "there are no good food choices in Oregon"..you opened the way for many people who know better to respond. If you had said in Grants Pass, someone might have known what you were talking about- but you said Portland..
Where there are obviously many good food choices."
Never said Portland, I made the mistake by saying Oregon and did not specify Grants Pass.
The population in Grants Pass is like 23,000 that doesnt mean that there are good restaurants...i lived there...believe me i know.....

LOL "believe me, I know " ... I believe you ..

primobacio~~ I too certainly am willing to believe there is no employment or any great restaurants in Grants Pass... problem is you DID say Oregon (not Grants Pass)!!
;-)