Portland, OR

I heart Mexican food. But when it comes right down to it, most Mexican restaurants disappoint me. I believe the problem lies in the years I lived in Chicago, where good, real Mexican food was fairly plentiful. So far, my forays into the Mexican restaurant scene in Portland have been a mixed bag.

I did try San Felipe Taqueria today in Sellwood (6221 SE Milwaukie), and I am happy to say the food was quite good. I am a big fan of places that have a salsa bar with the pickled jalapenos and carrots. But more than that, I tried the fish tacos, and I liked them. I haven’t had a decent fish taco since living in Southern California, so it was such a delight to have some good fish tacos today. I would have preferred the fish to not be deep-fried, but with everything else on the tortilla, the fry-ness worked. The menu said something about the recipe being Marta’s(?) recipe from I forget. San Felipe, maybe, I guess I should have taken notes.

The small storefront reveals a much larger place inside. I had noticed the San Felipe Taqueria when I first moved here. I liked the sign. It’s a really happy fish flipping a pepper in its open mouth. Inside I noticed the same image but with an upturned Corona instead of the pepper. Cute. Unfortunately, presently the SFT is awaiting its liquor license, but once in hand, the place serves beer and margheritas.

I tried the tamale verde, and usually I don’t understand the attraction to tamales, this one was really good. There is also a “red” tamale, but didn’t try it. Maybe next time.

It’s one of those order at the counter, find a table and they bring you the food kind of place. Bus your own tables, too.

Cheap prices. Lots of old spanish-language film posters, and chipper music. I will definitely return.

Portland, Chicago, Mexican, Mexican restaurants, Sellwood, San Felipe Taqueria

Since I have moved to Portland, I have been struggling to find good delivery options for my lazy nights. Living in a college town and then a large city like Chicago, I have to admit that I have become rather spoiled. I know delivery exists in this town, but my luck so far has been spotty at best.

Which brings me to today’s topic. It’s more of a rave today, and Rudy’s Gourmet Pizza is my new favorite pizza place. I “dined in” the first time I went there, and if you go you have to look at the wall on your left as you go back toward the washrooms. It is an AWESOME pencil sketch of Michael Jackson. And there is a Ms. Pac-Man arcade game, the one you sit down at across from your opponent. The joysticks are a little slow to respond, but hey, it’s the novelty. I made it through four levels before I started getting annoyed. These new fangled video games we got now-a-days (I HEART MY XBOX 360!!) have absolutely ruined me for the slow, antiquated machines of my childhood, and yet still, I continue to plunk my quarters in them.

Rudy’s is at SE 47th and Powell, on the south side of the street. It has a small parking lot as well.

Dining in was nothing special atmosphere-wise, kinda like that pizza place all the stoners worked at in high school, but the service was quite good. Granted, we were the only two people there when we arrived, but as there are maybe twenty-five seats in the place, I don’t see service being a problem even when they are busy. The server was the cutest young girl, who had to get “Grandma” to serve the beer my boyfriend ordered. The beer selection is small, but well-chosen for the most part.

Side Note: How great is it living in Portland if you like good beer? Even small places strive to have only good beer to sell.

Last night, I tried Rudy’s for delivery, and what a pleasant experience. Not only was the guy who answered the phone polite and nice, helpful even, the pizza beat his thirty-five minute quote but a good fifteen minutes. That’s right, I got my pizza in twenty minutes. That is unheard of.

I am not entirely sure what the delivery zone is, but I am so happy that I live in it.

Here’s some specifics. The crust is thin and crispy, quite tasty, and the toppings are generous. The toppings are the usual quasi-gourmet style, with things like chicken and salami, polish hot dogs and meatballs, to veggies like artichoke hearts and portabello. My only beefs with the ‘za is that there are not cheese choices for the create-your-own’s. And the sauce is a bit on the sweeter side. That is not a problem, per se, I am just stating my opinion. There are also other menu items, of course, but I have yet to order anything besides pizza and Dr. Pepper. But the cute little girl that waited on me did offer Elephant Ears. Another time, perhaps.

Rudy’s Gourmet Pizza is located at 4716 SE Powell and the phone number is 503-771-8008. Oh, yeah, did I mention that the delivery was free of charge? Tip well! It’s worth it.

Rudy’s Gourmet Pizza, Portland, pizza, delivery, dining, Michael Jackson, Ms. Pac-Man, Chicago, Powell

This is a tale of brunch deferred. A sad tale indeed, but it comes with a happy ending.

I went to a neighborhood place, in the SE quadrant of Portland, but I won’t name the place outright, as I do not feel that my singular experience should be taken as a rant or a rave of such place. Anyhoo, I went with my boyfriend, and as we pulled up, there were three people waiting outside. Two together and one singularly, as it seemed from how they were spaced. I usually hate waiting at a restaurant for a table. I tend to immediately think that I will find another place, before realizing that by the time I would get to a new place, I would have already been sitting down at the first place I went.

However, I was persuaded to wait. We went inside, and there were more people waiting inside. A good sign, right? Two other couples or so I figured, but the woman who greeted us, a server, was so sunny and bright in her welcome, and I figured that even if I left, I’d feel like a jerk after that welcome.

The server informed us that we could help ourselves to some coffee. Aw, sweet. There were ample cups, and two big urns of coffee, but alas no spoons — no clean spoons, that is. There were thermoses of half and half and milk, but these were empty. I am sure I could have been “that girl” and asked for fresh spoons and milk, but everyone looked pretty busy, and I hate being a fuss.

A spate of tables left about twenty or so minutes later, and we were given a table. The special had just run out, but a new special was now available. I listened to a description that included smoked salmon, capers, and creme fraiche on toast. I was tempted, and decided to go for it, as it seemed an alternative for a favorite of mine, bagels and lox, a classic brunch dish, right?

The food came. I was served a scramble of eggs, non-smoked salmon, and capers, all cooked together. Where was the creme fraiche, and when did eggs enter the dish?

Here is the problem. It is not that I don’t like eggs, it is that I don’t like regular salmon. I like salmon raw and smoked, but when it comes to regular old salmon, I am just not a fan. I have had it right of the water, and still, not a fan. Unless we are taking Copper River salmon, and then it is a different story. But this salmon in the eggs with a few capers was not Copper River. Not by a long shot.

But I was in a pickle. Do I send it back? What do I say? My boyfriend suggested I simply say that the dish wasn’t what I expected. Ah, but who is to blame for that - me, the server who didn’t know what the special really was, not having seen it, or the chef that may have incorrectly described it to the server? Who’s to blame, Alice?

Anyway, I did nothing. I scraped the eggs/salmon/capers off the toast, and ate the toast. There were some potatoes in a little nest formation that were flavorless and swimming in grease, and though parts of them looked crispy, they were totally soggy and also inedible.

I don’t go out for brunch often. It has to do with my sleeping habits, mainly, but also I am usually disappointed in brunch. I make decent breakfasts myself, so I have little need for someone else to poach my eggs. And here I was, still hungry and frankly just sad.

Until…who I assume is an owner or manager (but also serving tables), came over and dropped off a cookie. A big, delicious vegan cookie. How did he know? How did he know that not only was I sad because my breakfast sucked, but also that a cookie would make everything better?

Granted, the cookie did not mean that I didn’t dwell on the experience for at least another hour or two afterward, but the dwelling was more about how much of a chicken I am when it comes to complaining about food in a restaurant.

Nor did that cookie make up for the painful Oscar Wilde monologue that served as, ahem, entertainment. Advice to Portland: Live entertainment is not necessarily a good thing.

brunch, Portland, SE, smoked salmon, salmon, copper river, vegan cookie, Oscar Wilde

So, I saw someone else doing a meme about their city, and thought that it would be a perfect post for here. Mind you, these are all my opinions, and you may not agree, but that’s kinda what I want; I want to know what you think I should go check out! Broaden my horizons and tell me to change my tastes in Portland!

Best Place To Eat: I never tire of eating at Rose’s Deli & Bakery. This is a Portland based (with shops in Sherwood, on NW 23rd and downtown near 5th & Clay) deli with the tastiest turkey clubs I’ve ever had. When I worked near the 5th & Clay location, I would eat there as a splurge during lunchtime. Besides two or three people in that office, it’s what I miss most about working there!

Best Shopping Mall: None of ‘em. I am not much for malls. There is the Lloyd Center, Washington Square, Bridgeport Village and Clackamas Town Center, but I’m not a huge fan of any of ‘em. If I have to pick one … I’d go with Bridgeport, because their stores are a bit more high end. I prefer to shop at the Goodwill on NW 22nd and Burnside!

Best Tourist Attraction: Hands down, Powells wins this for me. I’ve never been in a cooler bookstore, and I love going in. I have to either take a large amount of money into the bookstore, or take no money at all in order to survive. With seven locations across Portland, it is easily accessible no matter where in town you’re at, and I absolutely recommend it!

picture by me

Portlanders … have you been outside lately? Did you get outside this weekend? No, really?! Did you? I spent the majority of Saturday outside in the sunshine and freezing cold wind with one of my best friends, Cav.

After two Halloween house parties on Friday night (where I showed up as a time traveler from the 60’s and was stalked by an Arnold Schwarzenegger and a drunken cowgirl) I woke up to the prettiest Saturday I’ve seen in a long time. Rather than nursing my slight hangover, I dressed in my finest Ohio State and Oregon State gear (I’m such an OSU fan!) and headed to meet my friend. We were both starving so I had my very first slice of Escape From New York pizza. I’m not normally a huge pizza fan, but this slice was utter perfection. The perfect proportion of pepperoni (try to say that ten times fast!) to the crust & sauce. I enjoyed the entire slice.

Continuing the wander, Cav and I stopped outside of Exit Real World where Cav bought snowboarding gloves that were 50% off! They were having a great sale and besides waiting in line for a really long time to pay, service was good.

Right after buying gloves, I decided it was the perfect time to let Robot Piercing shove a huge needle and then a stainless steel ring through my upper cartilage in my right ear. I had been thinking about it for months and had the perfect chance to do it. Jo, at Robot Piercing was the best and now my right ear throbs randomly. It’ll take a while to heal, but I love it already! I absolutely recommend Robot Piercing on NW 23rd (near Burnside).

After the stabbing, Cav and I made our way to Powell’s (which deserves a whole different post) to pick up No Plot, No Problem by Chris Baty for National Novel Writing Month. Streetcar to the library, then home again to watch the Ohio State football game and cheer the fact that both my Oregon State Beavers and those damned University of Oregon Ducks won their games this weekend, too!

Get outside. It’s good for you … and who knows, you may decide randomly to stab a hole through a body part!

About Portland OR, Portland OR, Portland, NW 23rd, Robot Piercing, Escape from New York pizza, Ohio State, Oregon State, University of Oregon, Portland weather, piercing, walking, Powell’s

This week’s Friday Feast will actually focus on food! Yay! Tomorrow night, some friends and I are going to celebrate a boyfriend being in town by having happy hour at Portland City Grill. While this isn’t generally a finance-friendly place to eat dinner, we’ve found that the happy hour menu is fantastic and we can feed a group pretty cheaply!

Located on the 30th floor of the Unico/US Bankcorp Tower (111 SW Fifth Avenue, 97204), Portland City Grill offers a beautiful view of the fair city. Two full walls of the “bar” area are glass and you can enjoy the sun beaming in (not tomorrow night, though), watch the sunset (when the sun is actually out) and even see Mount St. Helens as she burps steam (on a clear day). If you’re lucky, you’ll actually be able to grab one of the corner booths and have the most perfect view of everything.

Hours
Portland City Grill is open:
Monday-Thursday: 11am-Midnight
Friday: 11am-1am
Saturday: 4pm-1am
Sunday: 4-11pm

Happy hour is served:
Monday-Thursday: 4:30-6:30pm and 10pm-close
Friday & Saturday: 4:30-6:30pm
Sunday: 4pm-close

Reservations
The bar doesn’t take reservations, but for dinner reservations, call the restaurant at 503-450-0030

Parking
While parking downtown is limited, Portland City Grill offers two and a half hours of free parking in the Unico/US Bancorp Tower’s underground facility or nearby garage.

Happy Hour Menu
My favorite happy hour food items at Portland City Grill include their Teriyaki Chicken Rice Paper Spring Rolls ($2.95), the Thai Lemongrass Beef Tenderloin Satay ($3.95), the Ginger Hoisin Chicken Satay ($2.95), the Dungeness Crab & Bay Shrimp Bruschetta ($3.95) and the Dungeness Crab Cakes ($4.95) (and I don’t normally like crab OR shrimp!)!

So, if you’re looking to get out and have a cheap happy hour with a beautiful view of Portland, check out Portland City Grill and enjoy yourself!

About Portland OR, Portland OR, Portland, Friday’s Feast, Portland City Grill, fine dining, Portland fine dining

Number 5 in my list of 10 Things I Love About Portland was the fact that there are LOTS of good things to eat here in town!

The best way to find great grub in Portland is to ask around. Everyone has their own opinions and is more than willing to share them with you if you’re willing to listen. I will expound on this topic more in the future, with my own opinions and reviews (and whatnot) but for now, I’m going to City Search to share the Best Cheap Eats 2007 with you.

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photo courtesy of Sarah Gould

On my drive home from work today I got to thinking about the things in Portland that I love, so I mentally made a list!

10. I love the weather, whether it’s sunny or rainy, I love the weather. If it rains I wear different clothes. If it’s sunny I roll my windows down while driving.

9. I love driving in Portland. Yes, I love driving in Portland. Most people bitch & moan about the traffic, but I don’t mind it. I like to drive on the freeways, the highways, the main streets, the back streets and down golf cart paths. (Okay, I’ve never tried that last one!)

8. I love SEEING Portland. This is probably why I don’t mind driving in town. I get to see my beautiful city.

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If you live in Portland, OR there is not one street you can drive down or walk on where you don’t see a Starbucks, other coffe chain, small independent coffee shop or someone carrying a coffee in their hand.

But what is that makes Portland a coffee lover’s town, is it the insane amount of creative energy brought in by the diversity of Portlander’s that can only be enhanced by a cup of coffee? Is it the rain that chills our bones for 6-8 months a year, so we need something warm to gives an extra boost?

Well being a coffee lover myself, I am convinced that when you go to small coffee shops such as; STUMPTOWN, you feel a sense of community and there are always regulars working on laptops. When you go to Starbucks you can feel like you have social status because you are able to pay for a 5.00 cup of coffee.

Not only are we a city that lounges in coffee shops, or wireless cafe’s but we house the The American Barista & Coffee School, which trains baristas for the top coffee companies in the world.

Coffee, rain and lattte artwork! Amazing! And because Portland is such a city geared for coffee I will be highlighting a new favorite coffee shop every week! So check it out!

“The morning cup of coffee has an exhilaration about it which the cheering influence of the afternoon or evening cup of tea cannot be expected to reproduce.” ~Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., “Over the Teacups,” 1891

While writing about Voodoo Doughnuts yesterday, I came across this really cool YouTube video about what makes their doughnuts so special. Some people are willing to go through just about anything to wrap their lips around one of the bizarre doughnut concoctions.

I got a personal kick out of the interview with Tres Shannon, co-owner of the peculiar shop, when he was asked about some of the more memorable people who come into Voodoo Doughnuts. A few years ago, I worked for one of the most successful indie record labels in L.A., Dimmak, owned by Steve Aoki, who also owns Cold Crush Records. So i got a kick out of it when they mentioned The Coup and Livesavas (a hip-hop trio based right here in Portland,) as some of the really cool people who come into the shop to satisfy their nighttime munchies! But that wasn’t even my favorite part of the interview, it was actually the part where Tres was saying that he “was looking at the hole one day, and just really understanding it.” Yep, you’ve really got to love the inherent weirdness of Portland!

Oregon has always been a mecca for hippies and outdoor lovers alike, and Portland is no exception. But aside from the ever popular outdoor sports of hiking, biking, kayaking, mountain climbing, sight-seeing, skating, skiing, snowboarding, and all of the other great outdoor activities that Portlanders and Oregonians love so much, there is an entire culture of people that embrace the hippy bohemian lifestyle. It has become a part of Portland’s reputation, part of its style, and part of the locals’ way of life. From eclectic dining experiences to eccentric style and fashion, themed restaurants to street fairs and waterfront festivals, Portland one proud-to-be-weird city!

Just a few examples of some of the weird things you can eat and strange things to do while in Portland:

• Voodoo Doughnuts - Not your typical doughnuts! Open 24 hours, 6 days a week, and lots of strange toppings on their menu. Things you may have heard of, things you’ve probably never dreamed of, such as vegan doughnuts, maple-bacon donuts, cock-n-ball or voodoo doll doughnuts, cereal-topped doughnuts, and even a Doughnut & Wedding Chapel, where for $175 you can get married and have doughnuts and coffee with 10 of your favorite people! They even have a Doughnut Eating Contest on the first Friday of the month!
• Apizza Scholls - Some of the greatest pizza, and the strangest rules, you’ve ever imagined. But you’ve got to time out your trip just right, because they open at 5:00 p.m., and when the fresh hand-made dough is gone - they close up shop! The rules are, no more than three toppings, no more than one meat topping, and no substitutions on house pizzas. Why? According to the pizza chef, too many toppings prevent crust from cooking to perfection!
• Horse Project - You’ll just have to find your own place within this project, whether you choose to find pretty ponies in the streets, decorate them, or just laugh at them, they’re everywhere. Just make up your own adventure, but be sure to check out the history of the project!
• GrassHut - Check out some really funky art at the Grass Hut on Burnside. Their blog is pretty strange too, but if you’re in the mood to take a wild and funky trip to their gallery to check out some of their artwork, you won’t be disappointed!
• My Father’s Place - For some great nighttime fun, and a taste of the truly fun and weird people in Portland, take a load off and go for a drink while you ponder the concept of mannequin parts on the ceiling - seriously!

portland, oregon, art, nightlife, weird, fun places, food, strange, pizza, donuts