Five Places I Love
Eat Beat’s newest gastrophile, Allison Jones, waxes poetic about her all-time favorite spots in Portland.
Posted by: Allison Jones on Apr 13, 2011 at 12:30PM
12 Comments
I dine out too much. Though once upon a time I was an avid home cook, these days I spend my time in tireless pursuit of the best things coming out of every Portland kitchen but my own. Sure, you’ll find me at whichever new French bistro or offal-in-a-waffle food cart pops onto the scene, but there are also places around town serving crave-worthy dishes that call me back time and time again whenever I think about making my own dinner for once. Here’s my list of the five reliable places that keep my home fridge empty.
1) The Burger: Screen Door 2337 E Burnside St
There are plenty of explanations for that infamous line out the door, but in my book there’s only one that really matters: Screen Door serves the best burger in Portland. Nothing cures food disenchantment caused by too many gourmet tasting menus than 10 bloody ounces of Painted Hills ground sirloin with thick-cut onions and extra pickles. Insider tip: Ask for the burger on the pulled pork bun for the full experience, and if you’re feeling daring, try it with pimento cheese and stuff your face like nobody’s watching.
Eat me: Step one: Backyard Burger with french fries. Step two: Banoffee Pie. Just do it.
Drink me: Porch Swing Lemonade with vodka, fresh lemonade, and muddled sage. Like sipping a liquid version of your summer herb garden right after it’s been watered. With booze.
This offshoot of SE Division’s Detour Café serves from-scratch pastries, sandwiches, soups, and focaccia pizza in a huge concrete-chic space that was once a Model T factory. Ford’s walls of windows keep the space bright – even when it’s pouring – and with plentiful power outlets and tables, you get the feeling you’re welcome to stay for hours. And I do.
Eat me: Good Morning Panino – Cream cheese, pepper bacon, oven-dried Roma tomatoes, and fresh basil pesto on house-made foccacia.
Drink me: With rotating beers on tap and a well-curated and affordable wine selection, the good people at Ford do their part to fill your cup with more than just Stumptown brew. The’ve got Happy Hour 5-7 weekdays, with $3 pints and glasses of wine.
I’m not going to involve myself in the eternal no-real-Mexican-food-in-PDX debate, but Los Gorditos is easily my favorite food cart in town. With a full covered porch and plenty of seating, this spot is the kind of place where you could throw a dart at their menu board and be completely satisfied ordering anything you hit. Be warned: the cart is closed on Sundays, making it the saddest day of the week, but their brick-and-mortar location on 12th and Division is open every day.
Eat me: The Soyrizo burrito, a lingering favorite from my vegetarian days – a grilled flour tortilla stuffed with Soyrizo, beans, rice, cheese, lettuce, tomato, avocado, sour cream, onion and cilantro, topped with a lot of their house salsa verde.
Drink me: Mexican Coke cold out of the fridge under the salsa bar. Because it’s the real thing.
I supposed you could call Bar Avignon a mom-and-pop joint, but only if your pop is one of the most well-respected wine directors in town and your mom makes a truly wicked sazerac. Randy Goodman and Nancy Hunt have created the quintessential neighborhood bistro, with a knockout wine and cocktail list, a full menu of classic, flavorful dishes, and a vibe that manages to be romantic, Euro-chic, and homey at the same time. They’ve been teasing me with the promise of weekend brunch in the coming months, and when that wish is granted I may never leave.
Eat me: Head in on Fried Chicken Night (check their website for dates) and feast on golden-crisp Draper Valley chickens drizzled with spiced honey, cornbread with maple butter, and spicy braised greens.
Drink me: Nancy’s take on the Vieux Carré – rye whiskey, Dolin sweet vermouth, Benedictine, Angostura and Peychaud bitters, and lemon.
Everyone’s got their favorite pho joint, and mine’s in the parking lot of a WinCo in Happy Valley. While Pho Huy’s take on the sinus-clearing Vietnamese noodle soups are standard, the real reason I’m impelled to drive a half hour for lunch is a salad. The Goi Bo (seared beef salad) is an addictive plate of flavorful steak bits, shredded cabbage, carrots, cilantro, and peanuts in a citrusy fish sauce dressing that manages to become far more than the sum of its humble parts.
Eat me: Said Goi Bo.
Drink me: Pho Huy manages to do something magical with their water (yes, as in tap water) involving fresh lime. If it was on the menu I’d order it, but it’s free, which is way better.
There you have it, my everyday cravings in a nutshell. What are your top five?
Tags: Happy Hour Food Carts Coffee and Tea Southeast Dining Wine Best Burgers Vietnamese Food The Best Comfort Food
Ok, with all of the Screen Door recommendations I’ve gotten lately, I have at least three separate meals I need to eat there, now including this burger. I’ve also heard Metrovino does a phenomenal (though somewhat elite?) burger. Also, the Bar Avignon notes make me want to run back there, ASAP. :)
Ha ha, I read “Head-on fried chicken” and was wondering how that worked. I mostly cook at home, but I love to eat out at:
1. El Nutri taco truck. It’s two blocks from my house. The huarache is fabulous.
2. St. Jack. Awesome happy hour, perfect steak frites.
3. Gruner. Love love love.
4. Portland Soup Company. I’m a student at PSU and this is one of the few tasty food trucks nearby. Great pulled pork sandwich, homemade cookies.
5. Toro Bravo. I’m amazed every time I go. The braised salsify is incredible.
man i need to get myself to screen door! been hearing so much good stuff about that place lately. ;)
Hmm, let’s see:
1. Fonda Rosa. Best made-to-order chips and guac. Get the cornmeal dusted halibut tacos. You won’t be disappointed. All the recipes come from the owner, Hugo’s, village (and neighboring villages) near Monterrey, Mexico. I’d call that authentic.
2. Spints. Hard to narrow it down to just one thing, especially since it changes seasonally, but haven’t been disappointed yet. Bunny stew that I had for my birthday in November still haunts me. So good. The rye breads are to die for.
3. Serratto. Happy hour mussels…need I say more.
4. Tapalaya. Jambalaya. It’s always just a hair different whenever we go, but always perspiration-inducing good. Cornbread is fantastic too.
5. Bella Gioia. The entire shop was literally imported from Italy. Cooks, oven, floors. Go there when you have time to BS the hours away (very Italian) with the beautiful owner Altea. Oh, and the pizza, thin, crisp crust, is perfect. So is the chickpea soup.
Then the next morning you can go back to Screen Door for the bacon praline waffle with fresh fruit or the chicken & waffles. I seriously can’t believe that there wasn’t a category here for “the brunch spot”.
Hi Allison, if you like the Screen Door burgers, come to our food cart Chili Inside, Chili Outside at NW 19th & Quimby and try our burger. We also use Painted Hills beef and a custom made Portland French brioche bun – for under $5.00! Granted, our burger is smaller but our price reflects the size. Come give it a try!
Great article and recommendations! Being newish to Portland, I love hearing about places I have yet to try. Planning my next meals around this list…particularly excited to try Los Gorditos Taqueria – this Southern Californian needs to find a decent Mexican lunch spot.
@Kirsten As a former Cal gal myself, LG hits the spot. I’ve heard awesome things about Sanchez Taqueria in Tigard, I’ll be checking that out soon. I’m still on the hunt for a decent baja-style fish taco… The fish tacos at LG are PHENOMENAL, but not the classic fried fish, cabbage, white sauce that I’m craving. Not sure I’ll find it in PDX, but I won’t give up the hunt! Happy eating :)
A good read Ms. Jones. I’ve never once tried Pho Huy, but will gas up the car and head out to Happy Valley as soon as possible.
Allison, congrats on the new gig!!
Mike- Congrats on your gig as well. Good thing you’ve got a car, now you can try the suburbs
Great recommendations, it clearly shows that you eat at a lot of the same places in the same neighborhood. Now that you know a lot about SE Portland dining options get out there and try something on the west side or up in NE.
@ Allison – though Los Gorditos is the best mexican around, if you crave fish tacos the best I’ve found are at San Felipe Taqueria on SE Milwaukie. Check it out.
Love all these recs, though one of the best kept secrets in town is Slow Bar, for the best burger in town (Slow Burger) and everything else on their amazing menu. This is not your typical bar food!