Many, Many thanks! I'm printing this list and checking it twice (!).

I thought I'd have a hard time finding good eats. I was wrong! Gonna have a hard time narrowing the choices!

Thanks

Our Favorites for dinner are:

Oba
Tuscany Grill
Taqueria Nueve
Il Piato

There's also Caprial's and South Park. Both are supposed to be very good. John & Caprial do a show on the Food Nework. ***kim***

The latest issue of Portland monthly (www.portland-monthly.com) has a piece naming the favorite restaurants and restaurant dishes of 40 of the city's best chefs. Their choices:

Best Mediterranean: Lauro Kitchen
Best Unknown: Nuestra Cocina
Best Japanese: Murata and Sin Ju
Best Breakfasts: Mother's and the Heathman
Best Indian: Bombay Cricket Club
Best Service & Most Romantic: Paley's Place
Best Pacific NW: Wildwood
Best Tex-Mex: Esparza's
Best Steak House: El Gaucho
Best Greek: Alexis
Best French: Carafe
Best Latin American: Taqueria Nueve, Pambiche, Oba, and Andina
Best SE Asian: Typhoon, Sungari Pearl, Pho Van
Best Italian: Genoa
Best Continental: Heathman
Best Cajun: Acadia
Best Dessert: Pix Patisserie
Best Wine List: Heathman

It was interesting to compare these chef's choices with the recommended restaurants in the dining guide of the same issue. Many of the dining guide recommendations are named up-thread, but apparently the chefs have a little different criteria than most of us.

I'll confirm that Paley's is very romantic and our service was excellent. ***kim***

Just a heads-up on clarklewis, on Chowhound, someone just reported that it just received "The Top 10 New Restaurants in the Nation" award. More info over on that board!

This place is a little gem in Portland, we can't wait to try it for dinner in March! ***kim***

My husband used to go to a dessert place called Rimsky-Korsakoffeehouse (sp?) when he lived in Portland. Does anyone know whether it still is open?

Yes, Rimsky-Korsakoffee is still around, as far as I know:

http://portland.citysearch.com/profile/8470123/

A fun place. Put your drink on one of the round tables...and look at it a couple of minutes later.

Andrew

Somebody in a previous post of this thread recommended Cafe Azul. Please beware - it's been gone for quite some time now. Loved it, sad to see it go. But Taquria Nueve is a nice alternative.

Also can't believe that nobody has mentioned Fratelli's (in the Pearl district) for Italian. It is by far my favorite restaruant in Portland. Can't say enough good things about it. Go for the prosciutto wrapped chicken with parmasean polenta. It's to die for! Also good italian - Gino's on the SE side of town. Fabulous.

Everyone is so excited over clarklewis. Good food, but even with a reservation you have to wait (my friends have said an hour!) and it's really noisy - so don't go if you intend to do much visiting with your friends. Oh yeah, and the seats are super hard.

sks,
If you like Italian, try Alba Osteria & Enoteca in SW Portland. Their food is prepared in the style of the Piedmont region of Italy, different from Fratelli's (which I also like). The several times we've been there have all been memorable meals (maybe it was the grappa!).

Misinformation about clarklewis! When did she go? We there for lunch without a reservation on a Thurs. and arrived around 1:00. There was no wait, we were seated immediately. For lunch you order up at the counter, then they bring your food to you.

Definitely the best lunch I've had in the area. Very innovative, fresh ingredients and very nice selection on the menu. I was impressed that they special-made my daughter an egg noodle dish that she still raves about. I had the sea scallops and they were the most flavorful I've had in a long time.

The dessert was the apple crisp which was wonderful. I can't wait to return for dinner. =D> to clarklewis!

After much research on Chowhound and other reviews, I've narrowed down our dinner choices to Park Kitchen, Fife or Higgins. ***kim*** Any opinions on Genoa for Italian?

There you go again, kim, telling someone they didn't really experience what they thought they experienced.

You would love Genoa, seriously. It's the Riverplace of Portland Italian restaurants; your kind of place. You will be pampered and fawned over to your heart's content. I'd rather pay a lot less for meals that I enjoy just as much, but each to his/her own. Prix Fixe (probably around $75 now), seven course menu. Food is wonderful, but choices limited.

Yes, I just found their website. Have you been there? They also offer a four-course dinner on weekdays that goes for $60/pp.

Any comments from those who have been recently? It sounds very, very nice. ***kim***

Yes, I have been there, but not recently. Like I wrote, I'd rather "dine" at other places I enjoy just as much, without having to pay the huge bill.

Why are you asking this question here? You get kicked off of Chowhound?

I've eaten at Fratelli's too. It is very good and the space is great!

kimamom -
I don't know you, and you don't know me - so why you would say my experience is inaccurate I'll never know. Granted - a restaurant experience can be different on different occasions. Anyway.... it appears you had LUNCH there in the middle of the week. Try dinner on a friday night. You'll find a different story. I'm not saying 'dont go', I'm merely saying be ready for a lengthy, noisy, and somewhat uncomfortable (due to the seats and long time to sit in them) evening with great food. Sometimes folks aren't in the mood for that atmosphere, sometimes they are.

Don't know about the wait for dinner, but I would assume with a reservation, you wouldn't have to wait an hour. (Which they do take, btw)

As far as the seats being uncomfortable, I'll have to disagree with that one, also. We were there for an hour and fifteen minutes having, salads, entrees, wine and dessert. I had no problem with the chairs at all. ***kim***

kim, there is such a thing as just letting something go. That not every single person will do as you say or listen to you.
You need to stop browbeating everyone on the boards . No one will ever listen to you if you continue this way, and you might just have something to contribute, but no one wants to listen anymore.
Relax~

No one is asking you to, Miz Scarlett! These boards are all about opinions, yes! And you've been to Portland one time, maybe twice if you visit this summer. And the coast once, correct? I'll continue to voice mine on certain subjects, you voice yours. Isn't it time to pack for Paris? ***kim***

Just a thought, kim. I hate to see anyone make a fool of themselves. Feel free to do whatever you wish.
But you could go easy on the emoticons..they make my eyes hurt.