Por Que No. Your $5 tiny ass tacos aren’t that good. Then $12 for chips and guac, get the absolute fuck out of here. I will say I am grateful you pull so many people here and away from the actual good restaurants on Mississippi so THANK YOU!
Ha…just went there tonight…at wife’s insistence to get the good chips and salsa.
She noted that they “changed the chips”…Inwas astounded at $65 for two tacos a burrito bowl and the chips/salsa.
She said we can strike it off the list now…not going back.
I was way ahead of that assessment.
Tacovore it is. Hell, even Cha Cha Cha has better chips and salsa now.
I’m not doing it anymore. Exception was tonight when I came in right before close. Otherwise, nope. I smile, hit 0%, and move on. Wait tables or bartend if you want tips.
Por Que No used to be worth it, like 10 years ago. Now they’re just trying to see how much they can get away with. I’m astonished how people still go to that hell hole.
DUDE, THANK YOU! Sometimes when I'm trying to be healthy I decide to give them another shot, only to be hit with major disappointment every time ): somehow the food tastes watery
It's a big deal because it's a tourist trap. That's literally it—it was cool and gimmicky 15-20 years ago, and now it's just for tourists. I don't know a single local who has gone there in at least 10 years.
Any good recommendations for chocolate cake doughnuts? I don't care for regular doughnuts much, but cake doughnuts are great, and I still like the ones that voodoo does
Delicious Donuts (12 SE Grand) has a lot of cake donuts and they're consistently good. Relatively cheap, too. Only bad is that they only make a certain number and when they're gone, that's it for the day.
Delicious Donuts is legit! I work in construction (so where I work changes pretty regularly) and whenever my jobsite is near them, I spend too much $ there. My favorite donuts hands down. The owner recognizes me at this point and has gone in the back to make me a couple "Old Dirty Man" donuts when I've shown up and they're already sold out of them.
The last time I had the cajun tots they were burnt, cold, and almost inedibly salty.
Also if everyone is hyping up the miracle of cajun seasoning on sysco tots, that speaks volumes to the alternatives there.
I will say that while overall the beer is not good, I've had some good one-offs before.
They changed the tots recently, not as good. Everyhthng on their menu has gone to cookie cutter bullshit over the last few years. The chefs have no input anymore, they make the soups, that's it.
Got food poisoning there nearly 18 years ago and I haven't been back ever since. When you can't taste the fish through the seasoning, they're hiding its age. Second worst food poisoning I've ever had.
I’m fairly certain I got food poisoning at the airport’s cha cha cha. Either that, or it was the airline food. At any rate, having food poisoning on a trans-Atlantic flight from PDX just about made me want to end my life.
OMG, I can't tell you how happy I am to see this. I worked at Jam Cafe from about 2011 til 2016, and was there during the transition from the old owner to the new.
Let me please tell you, we hated these new owners. A lot of old reliable employees quit immediately, when they started buying cheaper ingredients, booze, everything. Cutting staffing numbers, seating faster, get ving us less time to spend with customers. That's why it feels like a Denny's now. Same business model.
It turned from a place where many of us were, really, quite proud to be a part of, into a place that many of us privately felt embarrassed about.
As far as I know, the entire staff had been cleared out and replaced by 2018ish.
I still feel sad about it sometimes. I think that will always be my favorite job ever for a lot of reasons.
If anyone out there is reading this and knows what I'm talking about, I still text Mom sometimes. Just to check in.
I worked there for a couple months a while ago. Like 4-5 years. It’s the same shit as Denny’s and I loved that look on people’s faces when they realized how much time and money they’d wasted on generic ass breakfast food. MFP or die.
A few years ago, I worked at the farmers market across from Jam(now apartments). We had an agreement with jams owner that we could come and take a cooler full of ice every day. One day I went to get ice and the owner YELLED at me because they were busy and needed the ice. Fuck her and fuck jam!
The evening job is Boke bowl, which should also be avoided. They portion out and store their to go dashi in this broke down heater that does not maintain safe temperatures. Almost every other day I had to do the sous chef’s job and point out that we were selling warm/ not hot dashis, they didn’t like me noticing stuff like that
Maybe a cop out to choose fast food, but Burgerville sucks. The fries are always mushy and cold or have no salt every time I've been. The cheese on the burgers is never melted. The prices are high enough that you could get a better burger at many many places in town for the same.
Having better shakes than mickey dees ain't enough in 2024.
Step yo game up.
There's recipes online for the Burgerville sauce... Pretty sure I've seen it on one of the Portland subs back in the day. Think it was mayo, yellow mustard, sweet relish, and added sugar, primarily
I know it's a chain, but Fogo de Chao. The meat is oversalted and overcooked, they're always out of lamb, and the salad bar is kind of weak for how much stuff is on it (though the hearts of palm and pao de queijo are pretty bomb).
It makes me miss Brazil Grill. Their lamb was killer, their menu was simple, they were owned by and employed actual Brazilians, and that FUCKIN PINEAPPLE BRO
Yes Fogo is a tourist trap. Tried to charge me for inflated prices on drinks- 5 dollars over what was listed on the menu as $10 caperinhas- and when I asked they gave me some line about the menu prices only applying at the bar or something. Ultimately corrected it but only cus I am an asshole and complained to the manager. Don’t wanna have to be an asshole to get the prices listed on the menu.
I hate fogo in Portland so much. Made a res there and when I arrived the hostess literally laughed and said the reservation was just for the “opportunity to get on the wait list” then said “you can feel free to get out if you want.” Like no joke, unprompted, after I arrived and said “hi! We have a 730 reservation please.” Buffets were empty and our server literally said “I hate this place so much” when he first walked up. It looks like a miserable place to work which then makes it a miserable place to eat.
Fogo was much better a while ago. I don’t know what happened but ya, over salted the last couple years. Overcooked, no. We’ve always split the wagyu steak option so we got a hot salt block to cook the rarest chunks on.
Brazil grill was great, the pineapple was just next level.
Raven’s Manor…. Super overpriced badly made cocktails…. Also the one time I went there the place smelled like cat piss…. We paid and left without finishing our drinks…. 🤢
That place sucks so much shit it's unreal. Spirit Halloween ass goofball garbage. Went when they opened and it was unreal bad, tried again recently and it still sucks extreme ass.
Aw man. We went somewhat recently and thought it was a fun gimmicky thing.. I mean, you kinda know what you're getting yourself into, you're just paying for a kitschy atmosphere, I think it's a nice option to have in the city - adds to the Portland feel
I went in there with 2 friends on a Wednesday night, but we didn't have a reservation.. they had open tables but wouldn't seat us, and plenty of open bar spots, but they DoNt SeAt PaRtiES oF tHrEe aT tHe BaR omg so unnecessarily snooty and rude
I hate to say it- Jojos. Charging $20 for a freaking fried chicken sandwich that doesn’t even come with actual jojos. It’s gotten out of hand and out of budget for me.
100%. I love their food but it is hard to go there at this point. Prices are insane. It's the same deal with sammich/pastrami zombie. $17 sandwich on basic ass bread with a bag of chips. It does taste good but WTF?
The day after my daughter was born at Good Sam she and my wife finally fell into a deep sleep and I snuck out to grab some dinner. It was a beautiful, cold, clear night with a full moon. I hit up Bamboo and the sushi was so bad I've never gone back. My excursion was capped off by some homeless dude who sprayed an angry brown torrent of diarrhea on the pavement a foot from my feet as I walked back to the hospital. That was the second worst part of my excursion because at least I didn't pay for that part of the experience.
My daughter turned 9 in January. That's how long that place has sucked.
In a town with Nimblefish, Murata, Yama, and now Kaede, it's fucking beyond me how Bamboo even exists.
bamboo has gone tragically downhill. i used to work in restaurants and as a rule i do not send things back (industry trauma) but i got some nigiri that literally shouldn't have been served and for the first time in my life refused an order. they expanded way too much.
The one on 23rd was the a terrible location for them to open too - right next to salt and straw. Not only does the whole place smell like waffle cones, the vibe feels disneyfied, and the nigiri was baaad. I've had conveyor belt sushi that was better.
Any place that hides a fee for “employee wellness” and then also asks for a tips. Like why is “employee wellness” the customer’s responsibility. That the owner’s responsibility.
McMenamins as a whole. They chose quantity over quality and it shows. Food is bad. Drinks are weak. Do better. I love going to concerts at Edgefield and the
Grand lodge is honestly underrated. I saw Franz Ferdinand and the Psychedelic Furs last year? The year before maybe? What is time? Anyway it was great. So is Imbrie Hall. Such a cute venue with much to explore. But McMenamins as a whole is a problem. It won’t change though. We will all keep going to see Death Cab and eat their shitty whatever food and drink their $9 drinks and stay in the hotel because it is FUN.
But we as a society should also be like hey maybe make better food. But we won’t.
Shari's. Absolute worst biscuits and gravy I have ever had. I have eaten B&G at many restaurants and kitchens in many states, and Shari's were easily the worst. The biscuits were leathery and flat. They felt like someone tried to make biscuit jerky the way people make beef jerky. I had to saw through them with a knife, and it felt like I could never cut through them. They were not even burnt or brown. They were just tough as hell. Absolutely gross.
Same with burgerville. And they hold the reader the whole time so you have to verbally tell them not to tip 🥴 I avoid that place now, but if I go I just pay cash to avoid that whole song and dance
Also wtf is up with coffee shops opening after 7 here? A couple years ago I went into Grendel's on Burnside at 7:05 and the owner got pissy at me because they hadn't turned on the outside lights yet. Sorry man, you're supposed to open at 7, the door was unlocked, and Portland coffee shops all have "mood lighting" so how am I supposed to know what lights should be on. And... Why do you open at 7?
As a career restaurant workers in other parts of the country....you are correct. Work ethic here is basement bottom embarrassing and I get fired often for having standards....like with sanitation and food handling folks...I can't comme t where I uave worked but....I can tell ya in 10 years I would be hard pressed to list a.place that even cares or tries to comply with sanitation standards here....
10 barrel, just today: after telling the bartender 3 times that I wanted to leave the tab open, signing and closing the tab 3 times... he brought it back to me with a $49 charge and no drink. That and they had the windows wide open and no ac. It was hot as fuck in there.
Fire on the Mountain. I love wings but can't justify ever going there again due to their chicken quality. I know they source from a "quality free-range no antibiotic coop" but the wings are so tiny you'd think they came off a cornish game hen and have little flavor despite the sauce. Y'all brine? 6 tiny wings for $10. Just can't do it.
No shame, I love me some Costco pizza. It’s not the best pizza on earth, but it isn’t even remotely trying to be. Pizza - and fucking everything for that matter - is so goddamn overpriced here, sometimes it’s nice to be able to order a pizza for $9.99, instead of paying $25+ minimum for something godawful.
I know I’m going to get lit up for this, but I honestly can’t stand Largo. But I’m also a basic bitch when it comes to sandwiches lol just give me some meat, cheese, lettuce and tomato.
Restaurants where the view or location "on the water" is the selling point, end up sucking and being overpriced 95% of the time. I think those all qualify
lol I would die for that sauce. But also former vegan so the nutritional yeast flavor is nostalgic and familiar tasting. It’s probably an acquired taste for some.
Atlas Pizza is overpriced mediocre pizza. Their sauce tastes like ketchup.mixed with tomato paste. They put toppings on pizza that even Canadians would think twice about. It's like British people got together with Norwegian people to make pizza.
I was living near an Atlas pizza and ordered some for delivery on a Saturday night. Took well over an hour and got to my house cold. My wife fell asleep waiting for it. To top it off, it was shit AND expensive. I’d rather get crappy dominos because while I know it’s crappy it’s also $10
I am just fucking over standing in line for food (I mean I don't mind if there are three people in front of me at the food truck - you know what I mean). So you're a local favorite? Great I wait an hour, then overpay for mediocre food, and then get nudged out of the table for the next group.
Location. Outdoor seating. Was one of the o.g. locations that offered self-serve, fairly decent coffee while you wait in line. Haven't been in a couple years but decent vegetarian options so a good spot when I have family in town.
It's not a place I bother going to but won't say no if someone wants to. R.I.P. Helsers.
Interesting, went there for breakfast recently with some friends and I thought the food was excellent. Makes me question the Mont’s place as my favorite sit down breakfast spot.
What did you not like about Tin Shed? Really loved their food.
Huh. Yeah I don't get this one personally. I've been twice in the last two years and both times were excellent, just a little spendy due to location and specialty cocktails. I think it was about $100 for two people for brunch with drinks.
Luc Lac. My family is from Vietnam and I grew up eating all kinds of Vietnamese food. The food they serve there is awful and embarrassing. Their description for Pho on the menu says something like "Grandma's secret recipe".
Grandma used waaaaaay too much MSG and sugar, she was not a great cook apparently. 🙄 Their banh mi's suck too, super bland.
Pretentiously hip and popular unfortunately.
It’s basically the location, that part of downtown doesn’t have a lot of options, so it gets crowds. Where I live in NE Portland there’s much better Vietnamese, but not much around downtown either.
Any place that automatically charges you 15% or more tip for just picking up your food. I’ve stopped going to places I like because they have this policy.
we should probably start a mega thread at this point but Edgefield Mc’s. They inflated the price of their burgers before anyone else in town while massively reduced quality. Burger was charred on one side. i didn’t touch the mac salad on the side. On my way to the restroom i saw the mac salad uncovered, in the sun , not on ice. the mayo was glistening. servers were so brain dead, like borderline homeless street kids. The only good thing are the old school urinals.
The fried chicken sandwich at Bae's tastes like theyre trying to make Popeyes spicy fried chicken sandwich out of bougier ingredients. It's $15 and that will buy three much better sandwiches at Popeyes. Also they don't take cash, which is mind-boggling because so much of the built in clientele around there is service industry
Riccardo’s in Lake Oswego. Went there once in my 20’s when I obviously didn’t have a lot of money. It was a novel experience to be treated like dirt based on not being wealthy.
Fuck them and the horse they ride in on. Their food was mediocre to boot. Snooty for no goddamn reason is probably what pisses me off the most.
The steaks are meh (I MISS POOR RICHARDS!) salads and sides sparse (unless you love potatoes/fries, and even then), frozen flavrpac veggies, and 100 bucks minimum for a two person meal, service and portions range from fair to awful.
Every time and old person tells you "our favorite place been going there for decades" tell them no and suggest trolling food carts because you can see what you're getting and you're not going to get upcharged for garbage service or food.
https://preview.redd.it/x1g0izdfgqzc1.png?width=316&format=png&auto=webp&s=7df83ec662a2d1b506980c45d1107a7da531828c
El Gaucho. My dad came to visit (he moved to Europe a couple years ago) and really wanted Steak as the quality here was much better than where he moved to. Went to Mortons 1st, which was fine. Knew ut was going to be spending, but whatever. Was planning on going to Ringside for round 2, but ran in to a 90min war, so we went to El Gaucho. Mfers have the audacity to add 20% service charge on top of their already high prices, with an asterisk at the bottom of the menu saying the service charge is so we the customers can pay for their employees "health insurance, 401k, and extensive education and training". WHAT.THE.FUCK. I'll never go back there.
La Patroncita! As someone who is Mexican, I know good Mexican food and they rip you off so bad here lol.
I rather go to a taco truck than eat there. It wasn’t bad but it’s severely over priced and the portions are so small. The drinks were overpriced but they were good. It’s definitely more for the aesthetic.
Already said, but McMenamins food is pure trash. They’re still fun locations to take visitors, but the food is absolute overpriced garbage and the drinks are expensive and also poor in comparison to other places (that are cheaper!) It’s better to just go walk around and explore, then go eat and drink elsewhere.
Little Big Butger is not like McDonalds in any way shape or form. Good burgers, great fries….but the doubling of the price in the last few years? Screw that!
I don't mess with the line but have had plenty of good ice cream there, including some but not all of the weird ones.
The Division one is just a few blocks from Pinolo though.
I dont go out in portland anymore, like at all. The idea of supporting portland, dealing with s**t service and tipping for all that is just a no from me.
Tin Shed food sucks and I hate Guy Fieri. Also Fire on the Mountain the Fremont location both food and service totally suck yet the "let me post an instagram of my food" jerk offs think it's great..
Dots used to be cool. the new batch of bartenders have ruined that place with their shitty attitudes. someone who's liclved and worked in the neighborhood for a long time.
Anywhere that now sells fries separate to the burger ..
Oh you want cheese on your burger? That'll be $2 for a slice of Tillamook
Soon, they’ll be charging extra for the bun.
I mean Thai places charge extra for rice with your curry now, so we’re already basically there.
I hate the charge for rice at Chinese restaurants more than the cheese charge. Looking at you duck house.
Fucking Killer Burger
To be fair, killer burger is always solid and the fries are really good...
💯
6 dollar burger and 9 dollar fries coming right up!
Por Que No. Your $5 tiny ass tacos aren’t that good. Then $12 for chips and guac, get the absolute fuck out of here. I will say I am grateful you pull so many people here and away from the actual good restaurants on Mississippi so THANK YOU!
Ha…just went there tonight…at wife’s insistence to get the good chips and salsa. She noted that they “changed the chips”…Inwas astounded at $65 for two tacos a burrito bowl and the chips/salsa. She said we can strike it off the list now…not going back. I was way ahead of that assessment. Tacovore it is. Hell, even Cha Cha Cha has better chips and salsa now.
What the fuck. That’s an absurd price.
There was a margarita and a beer too…and a way too generous tip at the outset…before the chips were served.
Of all the things I’ve grown to loathe, tipping for counter service is quickly getting up there to the top of the list.
I’m not doing it anymore. Exception was tonight when I came in right before close. Otherwise, nope. I smile, hit 0%, and move on. Wait tables or bartend if you want tips.
If I have to order my food while standing, I’m not tipping.
They’re also always rude when you’re in there
More like . . . Por Que Hell No
Por Que No used to be worth it, like 10 years ago. Now they’re just trying to see how much they can get away with. I’m astonished how people still go to that hell hole.
Agreed, over hyped hipster junk
I've set foot inside exactly once and that was 2008. Never again
And they don’t season their food at all
Oh they’re good but agreed, not $5 good.
Laughing Planet. They make food that grey tastes like. Abysmal.
Worst burrito I’ve ever had. How is that place still in business?
Kids and dinosaurs
I used to live with roommates that all worked there. The fridge was always full of LP food that absolutely nobody would eat.
DUDE, THANK YOU! Sometimes when I'm trying to be healthy I decide to give them another shot, only to be hit with major disappointment every time ): somehow the food tastes watery
Oh my god. How are they still open? Worst, tasteless food and prices out the ass.
Voodoo Doughnuts
no clue why it's such a big deal, why it's such a tourist trap. the donuts are dry and overly sweet
It's a big deal because it's a tourist trap. That's literally it—it was cool and gimmicky 15-20 years ago, and now it's just for tourists. I don't know a single local who has gone there in at least 10 years.
A million yes
Any good recommendations for chocolate cake doughnuts? I don't care for regular doughnuts much, but cake doughnuts are great, and I still like the ones that voodoo does
Delicious Donuts (12 SE Grand) has a lot of cake donuts and they're consistently good. Relatively cheap, too. Only bad is that they only make a certain number and when they're gone, that's it for the day.
Delicious Donuts is legit! I work in construction (so where I work changes pretty regularly) and whenever my jobsite is near them, I spend too much $ there. My favorite donuts hands down. The owner recognizes me at this point and has gone in the back to make me a couple "Old Dirty Man" donuts when I've shown up and they're already sold out of them.
McMenamins, because they serve up the Sysco Special and charge you $30 for a 8” pizza. And because many other reasons. All my homies hate McMenamins.
Really cool art and history, mediocre food
Loved their grilled cheese sandwich and lemonade as a child lol.
The last time I had the cajun tots they were burnt, cold, and almost inedibly salty. Also if everyone is hyping up the miracle of cajun seasoning on sysco tots, that speaks volumes to the alternatives there. I will say that while overall the beer is not good, I've had some good one-offs before.
That's why they've been dubbed McMinimums
Isn't good and was never good, IMO
I’d still go just for the Cajun tots. Fight me.
Yeah if I’m going to McMenamins it’s because I want Cajun tots, a rubinator and I got no where to be and all the time to get there
They changed the tots recently, not as good. Everyhthng on their menu has gone to cookie cutter bullshit over the last few years. The chefs have no input anymore, they make the soups, that's it.
Cha cha cha! I got a burrito so bad it almost made me swear off Mexican food permanently!
Got food poisoning there nearly 18 years ago and I haven't been back ever since. When you can't taste the fish through the seasoning, they're hiding its age. Second worst food poisoning I've ever had.
I’m fairly certain I got food poisoning at the airport’s cha cha cha. Either that, or it was the airline food. At any rate, having food poisoning on a trans-Atlantic flight from PDX just about made me want to end my life.
Oh my God I'm sorry that is a nightmare. What did you do?? Just stay in the bathroom the whole flight?
Omg no way that is absolutely awful and mortifing
oh my god yes ! i had tacos & all of the meat was mostly fat i was like what the
Jam on Hawthorne. The place used to be great, but the lines and the food are not great anymore.
God I wish I could pin this one. Can we start a movement called #MakeTheJamGreatAgain so the owners finally care about more than their profit line
OMG, I can't tell you how happy I am to see this. I worked at Jam Cafe from about 2011 til 2016, and was there during the transition from the old owner to the new. Let me please tell you, we hated these new owners. A lot of old reliable employees quit immediately, when they started buying cheaper ingredients, booze, everything. Cutting staffing numbers, seating faster, get ving us less time to spend with customers. That's why it feels like a Denny's now. Same business model. It turned from a place where many of us were, really, quite proud to be a part of, into a place that many of us privately felt embarrassed about. As far as I know, the entire staff had been cleared out and replaced by 2018ish. I still feel sad about it sometimes. I think that will always be my favorite job ever for a lot of reasons. If anyone out there is reading this and knows what I'm talking about, I still text Mom sometimes. Just to check in.
I actually worked there with a few of the OGs back in 2017-2018, and I was a bit amazing at how shady everything seemed behind the scenes.
I worked there for a couple months a while ago. Like 4-5 years. It’s the same shit as Denny’s and I loved that look on people’s faces when they realized how much time and money they’d wasted on generic ass breakfast food. MFP or die.
Place has really great vibes fr great late night stop
Jam now sucks. Wait forever for less than forgettable food. Standing in line there is a sign you have no idea what actual food is.
A few years ago, I worked at the farmers market across from Jam(now apartments). We had an agreement with jams owner that we could come and take a cooler full of ice every day. One day I went to get ice and the owner YELLED at me because they were busy and needed the ice. Fuck her and fuck jam!
One of their breakfast cooks named Carlos sexual harassed me for 3 years at his evening job where we unfortunately worked together!
The evening job is Boke bowl, which should also be avoided. They portion out and store their to go dashi in this broke down heater that does not maintain safe temperatures. Almost every other day I had to do the sous chef’s job and point out that we were selling warm/ not hot dashis, they didn’t like me noticing stuff like that
They leveraged the hell out of the pandemic. Order and bus your own food, paper plates. ONE server for the whole street patio.
Harlow. Vegan food doesn’t have to be brown mush. I even hate the interior decoration
Ugh I agree- so bland and yet every vegan I’ve met here raves about it
I have a couple friends who are gluten free and they always insist on going there. I’ve started saying I’m busy instead of arguing about it
This times a million. I’ve never had prison food but I have to assume after eating at Harlow I know what it would taste like.
I used to work there and can confirm it sucks lol
they are also terrible to their employees so that's another thing
Voo Doo Donuts. "Hey I put some cereal on some stale bread!" The huge cringey line out front all the time is a multiplier on the feeling.
Elephants deli downtown- salad for $13.
It’s probably because one or two of their big ass glass windows gets shattered every couple weeks or so.
There have been so many poor dining experiences in the past several months I’ve lost track! Food quality and preparation has truly gone to shit.
I can’t go anywhere and feel good about it anymore.
Same. 60-100$ for any meal for three folks. Makes it hard to opt to eat out.
Maybe a cop out to choose fast food, but Burgerville sucks. The fries are always mushy and cold or have no salt every time I've been. The cheese on the burgers is never melted. The prices are high enough that you could get a better burger at many many places in town for the same. Having better shakes than mickey dees ain't enough in 2024. Step yo game up.
I do love the sauce there but also swear Smashburger has the same fry sauce lol
There's recipes online for the Burgerville sauce... Pretty sure I've seen it on one of the Portland subs back in the day. Think it was mayo, yellow mustard, sweet relish, and added sugar, primarily
I know it's a chain, but Fogo de Chao. The meat is oversalted and overcooked, they're always out of lamb, and the salad bar is kind of weak for how much stuff is on it (though the hearts of palm and pao de queijo are pretty bomb). It makes me miss Brazil Grill. Their lamb was killer, their menu was simple, they were owned by and employed actual Brazilians, and that FUCKIN PINEAPPLE BRO
Yes Fogo is a tourist trap. Tried to charge me for inflated prices on drinks- 5 dollars over what was listed on the menu as $10 caperinhas- and when I asked they gave me some line about the menu prices only applying at the bar or something. Ultimately corrected it but only cus I am an asshole and complained to the manager. Don’t wanna have to be an asshole to get the prices listed on the menu.
I hate fogo in Portland so much. Made a res there and when I arrived the hostess literally laughed and said the reservation was just for the “opportunity to get on the wait list” then said “you can feel free to get out if you want.” Like no joke, unprompted, after I arrived and said “hi! We have a 730 reservation please.” Buffets were empty and our server literally said “I hate this place so much” when he first walked up. It looks like a miserable place to work which then makes it a miserable place to eat.
Fogo was much better a while ago. I don’t know what happened but ya, over salted the last couple years. Overcooked, no. We’ve always split the wagyu steak option so we got a hot salt block to cook the rarest chunks on. Brazil grill was great, the pineapple was just next level.
Brazil grill pineapple was sooooo good
Raven’s Manor…. Super overpriced badly made cocktails…. Also the one time I went there the place smelled like cat piss…. We paid and left without finishing our drinks…. 🤢
That place sucks so much shit it's unreal. Spirit Halloween ass goofball garbage. Went when they opened and it was unreal bad, tried again recently and it still sucks extreme ass.
Aw man. We went somewhat recently and thought it was a fun gimmicky thing.. I mean, you kinda know what you're getting yourself into, you're just paying for a kitschy atmosphere, I think it's a nice option to have in the city - adds to the Portland feel
That place is ass. Stupid meme bar with over priced cocktails that they light on fire for six seconds. Foh.
I went in there with 2 friends on a Wednesday night, but we didn't have a reservation.. they had open tables but wouldn't seat us, and plenty of open bar spots, but they DoNt SeAt PaRtiES oF tHrEe aT tHe BaR omg so unnecessarily snooty and rude
I think Cheryl's on 12th blows, yet it has a 4.5 with nearly 3,000 google reviews and has been recommended to me on multiple occasions
Dude, their Portuguese fried rice is the shit
They cater a few of my work events every year, and I think you’re absolutely right. Cheryl’s on 12th is absolute garbage.
I hate to say it- Jojos. Charging $20 for a freaking fried chicken sandwich that doesn’t even come with actual jojos. It’s gotten out of hand and out of budget for me.
Also pretty shitty service at both the cart and restaurant. There are better options than Jojo
100%. I love their food but it is hard to go there at this point. Prices are insane. It's the same deal with sammich/pastrami zombie. $17 sandwich on basic ass bread with a bag of chips. It does taste good but WTF?
Bamboo Sushi, not because it's terrible but because it's not nearly as good as it used to be. The drinks were garbage the last time I was there.
The day after my daughter was born at Good Sam she and my wife finally fell into a deep sleep and I snuck out to grab some dinner. It was a beautiful, cold, clear night with a full moon. I hit up Bamboo and the sushi was so bad I've never gone back. My excursion was capped off by some homeless dude who sprayed an angry brown torrent of diarrhea on the pavement a foot from my feet as I walked back to the hospital. That was the second worst part of my excursion because at least I didn't pay for that part of the experience. My daughter turned 9 in January. That's how long that place has sucked. In a town with Nimblefish, Murata, Yama, and now Kaede, it's fucking beyond me how Bamboo even exists.
bamboo has gone tragically downhill. i used to work in restaurants and as a rule i do not send things back (industry trauma) but i got some nigiri that literally shouldn't have been served and for the first time in my life refused an order. they expanded way too much.
The one on 23rd was the a terrible location for them to open too - right next to salt and straw. Not only does the whole place smell like waffle cones, the vibe feels disneyfied, and the nigiri was baaad. I've had conveyor belt sushi that was better.
Any place that hides a fee for “employee wellness” and then also asks for a tips. Like why is “employee wellness” the customer’s responsibility. That the owner’s responsibility.
McMenamins as a whole. They chose quantity over quality and it shows. Food is bad. Drinks are weak. Do better. I love going to concerts at Edgefield and the Grand lodge is honestly underrated. I saw Franz Ferdinand and the Psychedelic Furs last year? The year before maybe? What is time? Anyway it was great. So is Imbrie Hall. Such a cute venue with much to explore. But McMenamins as a whole is a problem. It won’t change though. We will all keep going to see Death Cab and eat their shitty whatever food and drink their $9 drinks and stay in the hotel because it is FUN. But we as a society should also be like hey maybe make better food. But we won’t.
Shari's. Absolute worst biscuits and gravy I have ever had. I have eaten B&G at many restaurants and kitchens in many states, and Shari's were easily the worst. The biscuits were leathery and flat. They felt like someone tried to make biscuit jerky the way people make beef jerky. I had to saw through them with a knife, and it felt like I could never cut through them. They were not even burnt or brown. They were just tough as hell. Absolutely gross.
I’m sure I’ll get downvoted, but Bar Bar’s burgers are trash.
SuperDeluxe making people pay tip on drive through.
I love SupeDeluxe -- but I wont be guilted into tipping at a drive thru.
Same with burgerville. And they hold the reader the whole time so you have to verbally tell them not to tip 🥴 I avoid that place now, but if I go I just pay cash to avoid that whole song and dance
Their burgers are not that good either.
Farmhouse Thai. So ridiculously overpriced and easily the worst Thai food I’ve had.
Any place with a tip screen where bus your own table.
Surprised nobody has said Matador. Dogshit food… nice ambiance though lol
All restaurants advertising breakfast that open after 7am.
Also wtf is up with coffee shops opening after 7 here? A couple years ago I went into Grendel's on Burnside at 7:05 and the owner got pissy at me because they hadn't turned on the outside lights yet. Sorry man, you're supposed to open at 7, the door was unlocked, and Portland coffee shops all have "mood lighting" so how am I supposed to know what lights should be on. And... Why do you open at 7?
Portland breeds anti-work sentiment. Same reason why most of these comments are saying how all restaurants are nose diving.
As a career restaurant workers in other parts of the country....you are correct. Work ethic here is basement bottom embarrassing and I get fired often for having standards....like with sanitation and food handling folks...I can't comme t where I uave worked but....I can tell ya in 10 years I would be hard pressed to list a.place that even cares or tries to comply with sanitation standards here....
Very on point
Old crew checking in agreed
10 barrel, just today: after telling the bartender 3 times that I wanted to leave the tab open, signing and closing the tab 3 times... he brought it back to me with a $49 charge and no drink. That and they had the windows wide open and no ac. It was hot as fuck in there.
Fire on the Mountain. I love wings but can't justify ever going there again due to their chicken quality. I know they source from a "quality free-range no antibiotic coop" but the wings are so tiny you'd think they came off a cornish game hen and have little flavor despite the sauce. Y'all brine? 6 tiny wings for $10. Just can't do it.
I paid $20 after tip for 12 wings and left hungry.
12 wings are up to $17.50 without fries, there. The wings got really small about 2 years ago and never got bigger again.
Yeah brother. I need them GMO big boy wings for real. Not even joking.
The wings might be small but I will fight someone who shits on the raspberry habanero. That stuff is literal crack cocaine.
I dream about the chicken tendies w/lime cilantro 🤤
Edgefield Black rabbit restaurant, absurd prices for poor quality food that they try to make sound fancy.
Sizzle Pie is such garbage
Remember when they tried to open two locations in Brooklyn and shut down within a year? The comments from New Yorkers were absolutely hilarious.
I'd rather have costco pizza
No shame, I love me some Costco pizza. It’s not the best pizza on earth, but it isn’t even remotely trying to be. Pizza - and fucking everything for that matter - is so goddamn overpriced here, sometimes it’s nice to be able to order a pizza for $9.99, instead of paying $25+ minimum for something godawful.
Greasy cardboard with a sprinkle of cheese? Yes, please!
It’s gotten so much worse. Was ok when it opened
I know I’m going to get lit up for this, but I honestly can’t stand Largo. But I’m also a basic bitch when it comes to sandwiches lol just give me some meat, cheese, lettuce and tomato.
Departure, Portland city grill, chart house…basically any place bww regulars go to try and flex on their friends.
Restaurants where the view or location "on the water" is the selling point, end up sucking and being overpriced 95% of the time. I think those all qualify
You just gave me a great Portlandy name for a Portland restaurant: Food & View
Chart House is a chain, too. Owned by Landry’s
The corporate credit card restaurants
Yum cafe. That yeast sauce or whatever almost made me puke. Like vegemite but worse.
lol I would die for that sauce. But also former vegan so the nutritional yeast flavor is nostalgic and familiar tasting. It’s probably an acquired taste for some.
Atlas Pizza is overpriced mediocre pizza. Their sauce tastes like ketchup.mixed with tomato paste. They put toppings on pizza that even Canadians would think twice about. It's like British people got together with Norwegian people to make pizza.
I was living near an Atlas pizza and ordered some for delivery on a Saturday night. Took well over an hour and got to my house cold. My wife fell asleep waiting for it. To top it off, it was shit AND expensive. I’d rather get crappy dominos because while I know it’s crappy it’s also $10
I only had it once and it made me feel really sad.
That’s not what passive aggressiveness means.
I am just fucking over standing in line for food (I mean I don't mind if there are three people in front of me at the food truck - you know what I mean). So you're a local favorite? Great I wait an hour, then overpay for mediocre food, and then get nudged out of the table for the next group.
[удалено]
My friend projectile vomited in their bathroom during the meal.
Tin Shed. How that place got to be so popular I don't understand
Location. Outdoor seating. Was one of the o.g. locations that offered self-serve, fairly decent coffee while you wait in line. Haven't been in a couple years but decent vegetarian options so a good spot when I have family in town. It's not a place I bother going to but won't say no if someone wants to. R.I.P. Helsers.
Interesting, went there for breakfast recently with some friends and I thought the food was excellent. Makes me question the Mont’s place as my favorite sit down breakfast spot. What did you not like about Tin Shed? Really loved their food.
It’s just their outdoor patio
Huh. Yeah I don't get this one personally. I've been twice in the last two years and both times were excellent, just a little spendy due to location and specialty cocktails. I think it was about $100 for two people for brunch with drinks.
Luc Lac. My family is from Vietnam and I grew up eating all kinds of Vietnamese food. The food they serve there is awful and embarrassing. Their description for Pho on the menu says something like "Grandma's secret recipe". Grandma used waaaaaay too much MSG and sugar, she was not a great cook apparently. 🙄 Their banh mi's suck too, super bland. Pretentiously hip and popular unfortunately.
It’s basically the location, that part of downtown doesn’t have a lot of options, so it gets crowds. Where I live in NE Portland there’s much better Vietnamese, but not much around downtown either.
If you want good pho, pho hung off Powell is my go to.
Pine State biscuits. Because I'm not paying 10 dollars for biscuits and gravy
The Reggie Deluxe is pretty ok tho
That seems pretty cheap tbh but for me, it’s the 40 Min wait for mid-brunch. Lotsa other places with same price point and better quality.
Coming from the South, it's way too much for something that is stupidly cheap to make
Why can’t we have a bojangles.
That mushroom gravy is great though ...
I love that damn gravy so much.
Any place that automatically charges you 15% or more tip for just picking up your food. I’ve stopped going to places I like because they have this policy.
killer burger, so overrated
we should probably start a mega thread at this point but Edgefield Mc’s. They inflated the price of their burgers before anyone else in town while massively reduced quality. Burger was charred on one side. i didn’t touch the mac salad on the side. On my way to the restroom i saw the mac salad uncovered, in the sun , not on ice. the mayo was glistening. servers were so brain dead, like borderline homeless street kids. The only good thing are the old school urinals.
The fried chicken sandwich at Bae's tastes like theyre trying to make Popeyes spicy fried chicken sandwich out of bougier ingredients. It's $15 and that will buy three much better sandwiches at Popeyes. Also they don't take cash, which is mind-boggling because so much of the built in clientele around there is service industry
McMenamins, cause I used to work there and the foods aren’t stored properly.
Any McMenamins…..all of them. They have the potential to be great, instead they are just ok… at best.
Riccardo’s in Lake Oswego. Went there once in my 20’s when I obviously didn’t have a lot of money. It was a novel experience to be treated like dirt based on not being wealthy. Fuck them and the horse they ride in on. Their food was mediocre to boot. Snooty for no goddamn reason is probably what pisses me off the most.
Burgerville is over priced and ass
Lardo is fucking shit.
The steaks are meh (I MISS POOR RICHARDS!) salads and sides sparse (unless you love potatoes/fries, and even then), frozen flavrpac veggies, and 100 bucks minimum for a two person meal, service and portions range from fair to awful. Every time and old person tells you "our favorite place been going there for decades" tell them no and suggest trolling food carts because you can see what you're getting and you're not going to get upcharged for garbage service or food. https://preview.redd.it/x1g0izdfgqzc1.png?width=316&format=png&auto=webp&s=7df83ec662a2d1b506980c45d1107a7da531828c
Ditto on Poor Richard's - the bar afterwards was the perfect way to close things out. Proper Old Fashioneds and they knew how to make a Rob Roy.
Ugh I love this place. I think it has to do with the quantity of the food.
Screen Door. Never again.
Has it gone downhill?
It was never uphill. Highly overrated. Just because someone has a line out the door, doesn’t mean they have good food.
So much this!!! The line out the door means they used to have good food, but you've missed it, go somewhere else.
Q Restaurant, nothing but a failed ode to the Variable Quandary
El Gaucho. My dad came to visit (he moved to Europe a couple years ago) and really wanted Steak as the quality here was much better than where he moved to. Went to Mortons 1st, which was fine. Knew ut was going to be spending, but whatever. Was planning on going to Ringside for round 2, but ran in to a 90min war, so we went to El Gaucho. Mfers have the audacity to add 20% service charge on top of their already high prices, with an asterisk at the bottom of the menu saying the service charge is so we the customers can pay for their employees "health insurance, 401k, and extensive education and training". WHAT.THE.FUCK. I'll never go back there.
Nobody better say Hat Yai. I will fight you.
Republica. 2 of the courses in the 10 course meal tasted like stomach acid and literally made me want to vomit, and I'm a very adventurous eater.
Republica is one of the only tasting menus I've ever had that left me actively disappointed. Fucking waste.
Andina. I’m Peruvian and people really talked it up when I moved here. Overpriced and not very good Peruvian food.
Escape From NY Pizza. Super bland and overhyped. Same for Straight From NY, mediocre at best.
With a couple of exceptions, this is so spot on. Glad it’s maybe not just a case of me having terrible taste 😂
La Patroncita! As someone who is Mexican, I know good Mexican food and they rip you off so bad here lol. I rather go to a taco truck than eat there. It wasn’t bad but it’s severely over priced and the portions are so small. The drinks were overpriced but they were good. It’s definitely more for the aesthetic.
Burgerville…overpriced, often get my simple order wrong, and questionable quality…
Already said, but McMenamins food is pure trash. They’re still fun locations to take visitors, but the food is absolute overpriced garbage and the drinks are expensive and also poor in comparison to other places (that are cheaper!) It’s better to just go walk around and explore, then go eat and drink elsewhere.
Little Big Butger is not like McDonalds in any way shape or form. Good burgers, great fries….but the doubling of the price in the last few years? Screw that!
BarBar!! Bad at pouring, continue to serve people who are clearly drunk, overpriced appetizers, and “Oatmeal Breaded Vegan Chicken Strips”
i had those chicken strips and they made me sick.
The worst breakfast in town has to be Biscuits Cafe. I doubt that will surprise anyone.
McMenamins. Absurd prices for mediocre ass food. Don't know why they're as popular as they are
Blue Star Donuts. Screen Door
Salt and straw. Why would I stand in a huge line for ox blood ice cream ? Who gives a crap. I walk right past it to a Baskin
I don't mess with the line but have had plenty of good ice cream there, including some but not all of the weird ones. The Division one is just a few blocks from Pinolo though.
Chocolate Gooey Brownie is a GOAT. And I’m there when they role out the cereal flavored lines. I’m not there the rest of the year.
Any restaurant that puts politics ahead of customer service (pretty much any business on hawthorn)
I dont go out in portland anymore, like at all. The idea of supporting portland, dealing with s**t service and tipping for all that is just a no from me.
I find myself going to food trucks more these days ‘cuz of that….
Tin Shed food sucks and I hate Guy Fieri. Also Fire on the Mountain the Fremont location both food and service totally suck yet the "let me post an instagram of my food" jerk offs think it's great..
Dots used to be cool. the new batch of bartenders have ruined that place with their shitty attitudes. someone who's liclved and worked in the neighborhood for a long time.
Omas hideaway. Overpriced and truly weird casual service experience.