[PDX] Index


Alexandrya — Lebanese,: An excellent little Lebanese restaurant that's very underutilized. They have great falafel and the best baklava in town bar none. I can't think of a place with better service, the staff are attentive but not overbearing and very understanding.

atmosphere (4/5): Quite pleasent, but nothing special
cost (4/5): $10 will get you a plate, a drink, and a dessert.
drink (4/5): Be sure to check out the Jallab (a sweetened flavoured tea-based drink).
food (4/5): Wonderful falafel, tzatziki, and malwe (dessert). Best baklava in town.
service (5/5): Superb.
vegitarian (3/5):
Alexis — Greek,
215 W Burnside: atmosphere (4/5):
cost (3/5):
drink (3/5): The Greek coffee is excellent
food (5/5):
service (4/5):
vegitarian (4/5):
Baan Thai — Thai,
SW Broadway (Broadway & Hall): A small Thai restaurant off Broadway with exceptionally spicy food. They have your standard selection of Thai including both noodle dishes and curries. They have a five star system for spiciness: "Regular" is one star and is spicy, the spiciest option at most restaurants is a two star, a full five stars is a no-man's land, trust me. You can only get higher than a three star if you've been there enough that they recognize you, or if you speak Thai.

atmosphere (3/5):
cost (3/5): Go in the early afternoon to get the cheap lunch prices, after 16:00 the prices go up for dinner.
food (4/5):
spice (5/5): "regular", "hot", "very hot", "Oh god no!", "..."
vegitarian (4/5):
Broadway Coffee — Tea House, Café,
SW Broadway (Broadway & Hall): A nice little Latin/Thai tea/coffee shop off broadway just under Baan Thai with a couple outside tables, some nice tables up front and two nooks around back. They also sell Tibetan teas.

atmosphere (4/5): Very comfortable with good lighting and a Latin soundtrack.
cost (3/5): They don't take credit.
drink (4/5): Be sure to check out their la té, er, "La Tea", which is tea flavoured with steamed milk and honey.
service (3/5):
Chit-Chat Café — Café, Japanese,
SW Hall (6th & Hall): Yet another kissaten in the area, it's the place that used to have "coffee, bento, bagel, deli" printed on the windows; the new slogan isn't much more enticing. A nice little place to crash and study for an hour or two. The soft rock on the radio gets annoying, but the little couches around the sides are quite comfortable. Their drink selection is the standard coffeeshop selection plus bubble teas. In the mornings they have a nice selection of bagels and smear (I highly recommend the spinage and parmesian), and later on they have light "Japanese inspired" fare like bento. Their miso is a vegitarian shiroi (white) style and is quite good.

atmosphere (2/5): I'd give a 3 were not for the tunes.
cost (3/5):
drink (3/5): The Dutch hot cocoa is made with real milk and cocoa, check it out.
food (4/5): Diverse fare and all of it's done just a bit better than you'd expect
hours (3/5):
service (3/5):
vegitarian (3/5):
El Grillo — Mexican,
703 SW Ankeny St. (7th & Burnside) — 503-241-0462: Inexplicably shares a bathroom with Mary's strip club next door. Voted one of WW best cheap eats 2000. They give huge servings for low prices, and have something like six different types of meat to put on things (or vegitarian).

cost (4/5): Lots of food, really low prices.
drink (3/5): They have Jarritos.
food (4/5): Authentic.
vegitarian (4/5): Almost everything is available in vegitarian.
Free Geek
1731 SE 10th Ave (10th & Market): A non-profit organization that rebuilds old computers and gives them away to those in need, recycling those that can't be salvaged. They also have a thrift store where you can get reasonable equipment for pocket change.

atmosphere (5/5):
cost (5/5): The thrift store has rock bottom prices on used equipment.
drink (1/5): N/A (though coffee, tea, and soda are around.)
food (1/5): N/A (though there is free food around frequently.)
hours (4/5): Tues~Sat 11:00~19:00
service (4/5): Core and Staff are all quite helpful.
vegitarian (5/5): When food's around, it's almost always vegi or vegan.
wired (3/5): Wired available for volunteers.
Nicholas Restaurant — Lebanese,
318 SE Grand: atmosphere (3/5): Adobe-style walls, nice Arabic music in the background.
cost (4/5): They don't take credit, but they do take checks.
drink (4/5): They have some nice yoghurt drinks and Turkish coffee.
food (5/5):
vegitarian (4/5):
Portland Area Argentine Tango — Dancing,: A website with extensive coverage of the local Argentine Tango scene..

cost (5/5): Free
service (4/5): Very comprehensive
Portland Industrial Gothic: A website and mailing list devoted to the darker side of the club scene in Portland (and Seattle).

cost (5/5): Free
service (4/5): Very comprehensive
Portland Lindy Society — Dancing,: A website with listings of some local Lindy Hop events.

cost (5/5): Free
service (3/5): Focuses mostly on the North Star Ballroom.
SwingOut.net — Dancing,: A website with a calendar of local Swing goings on.

cost (5/5): Free
service (3/5): Other than the calendar the site gets updated infrequently.
The Delta — Cajun,
4607 SE Woodstock Blvd.: atmosphere (4/5): Nice decor, though the music can be a bit loud at nights.
cost (3/5): Cash & check only.
drink (4/5): Lemonade, rootbeer floats, and a full bar.
vegitarian (2/5): Selection is small, though good. Most of the rest is fish.
The Fireside Coffee Lodge — Café,
1223 SE Powell (Milwaukee & Powell): The Fireside is a nice little café just off Milwaukee and Powell that serves up great drinks you can sit and sip while enjoying the wireless access and air conditioning.

atmosphere (4/5): Somewhat peculiar hunters' lodge theme, but they have airconditioning!
cost (3/5): Standard coffee prices. There's a service charge on debit cards (but not credit cards).
drink (5/5): Excellent. Check out the Mexi-Mocha and the French (Itallian creme) Sodas.
food (3/5): Soups and sandwiches mostly. Also candybars and pastries.
hours (5/5): 24/7.
service (4/5): Quick and they'll usually bring it to where you're sitting.
vegitarian (4/5): Excellent, for what it's worth.
wired (5/5): Free wired and wireless (with a minimal purchase).
The Pied Cow — Café,
near SE30th & Belmont: atmosphere (4/5): Nice neo-Victorian motif in an old Victorian house. Outside patios are also available.
cost (2/5): The food's a bit pricy, but the drinks are standard prices.
drink (5/5): Coffee, tea, wine. A huge selection
food (4/5): A great selection of both sweet and savory.
vegitarian (5/5): Everything is, other than the salmon, I believe.
The Tao of Tea — Tea House,
near SE 35th & Belmont: atmosphere (5/5): The light, temperature, and sound are perfectly balanced and the decor is nice.
cost (3/5): A bit pricy for some drinks and snacks, others are a bit cheap <shrug>.
drink (5/5): A huge variety of teas and tisanes.
food (5/5): An excellent selection of asian snacks and appetizers.
vegitarian (5/5): All of it so far as I know.