Best steak frites EVER. And don't forget the octopus salad and butter lettuce salad...so flavorful and amazing. The atmosphere is divine, makes you feel like you are in an exquisite French restaurant but yet it's a casual fancy. Their house red wine is really good too and reasonably priced. If you're not into waiting for a table or sitting in the dining area, take a seat at the bar and enjoy a drink. With tons of windows on that side of the restaurant, its an even more relaxed experience (and good for people watching!). read more

I was a little concerned with the recent negative reviews, but I am so happy we decided to eat here. We sat at the Chiefs counter and it was a great experience! If you are going with a few people or by yourself this is a must! We got to ask the chief questions about the menu and got some great recommendations. We started off with liver mouse and pork rinds (chief recommendation ). This was probably my favorite part of the meal and for those of you judging right now don't knock it till you try it! Then we moved on to their green bean salad and foie gras. Green bean salad was AMAZING! I was not a fan of the foie gras, but that is more of my taste buds then fault of the kitchen. Before our final course we also shared their special which was a tenderloin carpaccio. All I have to say is it melted in my mouth. Our final course was twice baked potato and the duck. Again it was delicious and I have absolutely no complaints. For drinks we got the senic route, Manhatten and we shared the champagne punch. For all of that we were well under $200. This is a must have restaurant that not only has amazing food, but incredible service. Alot of other comments talk about the noise level we did not have a problem with it, but if you are looking for a quite dinner this might not be your spot. If you are looking for delicious food, great service and a fun atmosphere this is your place. read more

I would do 4.5 stars if I could. 5 stars is close to impossible so take this for the compliment it is meant to be. My husband and I ate here the other night just because we had a night out without the kids. The hubs had a hankering for bone marrow. And neither of us were disappointed with the meal. We had booked on open table since it was a Friday night. There was a little confusion at first but ultimately we had a nice window seat thanks to an attentive manager. The atmosphere is very French bistro restaurant with a relative small dining room and a good amount of ambient noise (though not so much you can't have an easy conversation). Our server was attentive without being obtrusive and seemed pleasantly earnest in his descriptions of the specials. We ordered a bottle of red (Chateauneuf du pape) that was very nice. We started with 1/2 dozen oysters (shigoku - dee-licious) with a red onion mignonette. If there weren't so many other things we wanted to try we would've had a dozen. That was followed by the steak tartare appetizer. This was good but a little heavy on the capers so that the steak flavour was a little masked. Also the toast points, which were toasted slices of baguette had large holes in them so it was a little trickier to eat. The we shared a butter lettuce salad. Delicious tart vinaigrette with a herbaceous freshness. It was a tad on the salty side and a little overdressed but we enjoyed it nonetheless. Then the marrow bones. I would've liked a softer or less holy bread to spread the marrow on but it was grilled perfectly and so tasty. For entrees my husband had the lamb shank with fresh peas and I had the special which was braised ox tail on a bed of potato purée with Madison de place veggies and lardons. Soooo incredibly flavourful and comforting. I would've picked up the bowl and licked it if I could. The meat just fell off the bone. The veggies were so flavourful and the lardons not overpowering. The lamb was tasty and well cooked, and the peas were crisp and fresh but I definitely think I had the more scrumptious of the two dishes. Finally our meal finished up with an order of freshly baked mini madelines and a cup of nicely roasted decaf coffee for me. Such a great end to a great meal. The madelines were warm, lightly carmelized on the outside and warm and buttery on the inside. In short this meal made the list of great meals we have had in Portland and we will definitely be back. I'm thinking of trying the duck next time...unless that ox tail special makes a reappearance of course! Bon appetit! read more

Absolutely fabulous French food. They were totally accommodating with us and our young daughter, getting the food out quickly and packing up our dessert to go. The Portland Dining Month menu was delicious. read more

I went to St. Jack after work with a friend and the ambiance was the quintessential fall place to be. The windows offered a nice view for people watching and the happy hour menu was fabulous. They have a pork rind that is literally, as big as your face - what more can you ask for especially when drinks are delicious and discounted? I will definitely be returning to St. Jack to try their brunch and dinner menu. read more

Happy hour burger is killer good. Served with a "Deshler" coctail, the perfect early evening dinner. Though it is in a new building in NW (vs. the prior old building location in SE), we felt it had the same welcoming vibe... even for the window-frame draft on a cold afternoon ;-) read more

I'm done. I've given this restaurant three tries. Each time the service was terrible. This time, it had been a long time, possibly over a year. I gave it the good ol "three times a charm" chance. We arrived early. There were few tables full in the bar. We were not served menus for a good 10 minutes after we arrived. Finally, we placed our order for a Stoli Vodka and a wine, plus the server offered US dollar oysters and I promptly ordered a half dozen. It took about 20 more minutes and two more requests for our server to come tell us that she was mistaken (she was "new") and they didn't have Stoli. So I ordered another vodka brand. It took another 20 minutes to arrive. Meanwhile my husband's wine arrived and he was patiently waiting for my drink to arrive. It took forever. Also, she tells us they don't have dollar oysters on Fridays. Oops. No offer of full priced oysters, so when I asked she said sure. Finally they came. I was still hungry after the oysters so I ordered fries. They took another 30 minutes! Everything took way too long. We got the check. No comp for anything--bum information due to a "new" employee, but we paid full price. We are so DONE with this place. Never again. read more

The tripe was thick and chewy and the rest I didn't finish or take home. It was a shame, since I went a few years ago and it was pretty good. Service was friendly. read more

I fell in love with the first St. JACK on 5 corners. I have been to the new space 5-10 times in the last year. The ambience is warm. I miss the mac and cheese on the menu. But the chicken liver mousse is exceptional. The desserts are also very good. read more

St. Jack - Chocolate Gatau. With Orange Coulis and house bubbly. - French Near Me - Portland, Oregon

Mediocre service, very loud ambience, and incredibly messy happy hour burger; left most of it on the plate. I've had better burgers for a lot less. read more

Awesome evening with my wine tasting club. St. Nick took amazing care of our table of 8. I had the mushroom soup and the crepe. Amazing and terrific service. We all left happy and committed to revisit soon!! A slice of Paris!! read more

Great French restaurant on NW 23rd! Had the tomato bisque in a baked puff pastry and the steak frites. Both were amazing. The bartender made a great Manhattan! Will definitely return on my next trip to PDX. read more

On a Wed. evening, they cancelled our reservation when we were six minutes late, even though the restaurant was 1/2 full. Not a problem, as we were seated, but decided to eat in the bar instead, because the music was louder than most discos. It could have been a 3-star rating if they had turned down the noise to non-deafening levels, as the decor was quite nice and trendy. We had a cheese plate ($15 for three teeny tiny samples), a tomato tart, a flank steak (really mediocre - very fatty), and french fries (heavily brined to the point of poisonous). When I was in France for two years, I would have sent these "pommes frites" back to the kitchen. The french bread was unusually good for Portland, as was the house wine, and service was OK. Bottom line - for $110, I won't go back. It might be OK for $70 for two. It's overpriced, and the chef needs to try tasting the food before serving it - I felt as if I was in Hells Kitchen without Gordon Ramsey doing quality control. read more

Why is it that Americans NEVER MAKE GOOD POUTINE!?!? It's not that hard! I thought this restaurant was maybe a 5 out of 10. The poutine was bad. The fries weren't cooked all the way thru. There was no gravy. You don't put peas on poutine!!! This place also proved that when a sandwich had good bread, it doesn't mean it's going to be a good sandwich. My burger bun was great! Unfortunately that was all that was good. read more

I would say it worths 4.5 star but for the paintings I will round to 5 star, which reminds me the paintings my family member brought from Paris. The chef is Canadian but worked for several decent French restaurants. The ambience was lousy, more like a Bistro Style. I liked their bar food far more than restaurant part. Chicken liver mousse was so silky and smooth, balanced well with Poached Prunes and Dijon. Poutine was a meat sauce like stuff with fresh Pomme Fries, portion was decent and the sauce infused with strong red wine which made me nearly drunken. The Butter paired with Baguette was good; Creamy Tomato Soup was good with crispy pastry. Mushroom Tarte was good with French style Pesto, but the matsutake was not the finest quality. Oxtail Bourguigon was not that fresh and not that tender, sauce was good but lacked the caramelized Onion even pearl onions to intensify the flavor. Apple Tarte Tatin was so hearty and I liked the Cognac infused Ice Cream. The price was generally reasonable considering so many dishes we have ordered. And generally they were cooked authentic, except for some flaws. The service was really excellent. The main chef was friendly and talkative. read more

See all

Servers were nice. Service was a little slow. But my main problem was the piece of halibut I got was pretty small and was very salty. The sauce that was with it was tasteless and it was on a bed of corn relish. For $37.00 I expect a lot higher quality and a gourmet meal. Also it's a very small place and very loud, hard to have a conversation at dinner which is the reason you go to dinner with friends. My butter lettuce salad was a huge chunk of butter lettuce with a few small pieces of avocado talked in between not a great salad especially for the price. This was my second time sorry to say I won't be back , only reason I came back was because the first time was pretty good, years ago. read more

Had steak tartare for the first time here; I am now a huge raw meat fan. Nice atmosphere. Will be back to try other items on the menu.

We typically go to Chef Aaron's St Jack once a month while we continue to explore other notable PDX restaurants. This is not fine dining. The main dining room can (is) noisy (why we always sit at the chef counter). There are more expensive and fine dining restaurants in PDX - and these are excellent. There are more 'spicy' Asian style restaurants in PDX - and these are excellent. There are more 'cutting edge' restaurants in PDX - and these are excellent. But for us, we find the St Jack take on Lyon comfort food to be a main stay. We love the house specials and Chef Aaron's suggestions to be spot on (often times our meal is completely 'off the menu'). So we continue to love Chef Aaron's take on Lyon style French cuisine and still keep this as our 'go to' PDX restaurant (which is hard to do in a place like PDX where there are so many great chefs and restaurants). Oh, and we really love some of the creative cocktails (PDX tradition of course) and the wine list is also very good in that it has some of our favorite OR wines (not pinot). With 2 cocktails, 2 wines each and multiple shared starters and small plates and a main, we are easily only around $50 a piece for an excellent dinner. read more

We came here to celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary, and we had an amazing experience. We shared a butter lettuce salad to start and had the lamb and trout for our entres. Everything was delicious, and the dishes very well thought-out. The salad was fresh, crisp and cold with a touch of creaminess from the avocado - perfect. The peas and potatoes were a great accompaniment to the lamb, which was just delicious, and tender, cooked perfectly. The trout was flaky and tasted divine. Very well done! The staff was warm, welcoming, and friendly on a busy Saturday night. We will be back again and again! Thank you for a great night! read more

My dinner companions would give this a higher rating, because they all found their chioces to be very nice. I, however, made a bad choice, the onglet steak frites, though I didn't realize it until after attempting the third bite of steak. Our server, who was quite professional, explained when I ordered that it was like a hanger steak, and somewhat muscular, but cut for tenderness. In the event, it was not tender. It was not even chewable. I didn't finish it. I should have sent it back, but I didn't want to spoil the mood of my fellow diners. When they had finished I did let our server know that my dinner was inedible. He made the appropriate apologies, and to the credit of the manager they took care of the matter when the check arrived. For that reason I can give them three stars, though two-and-a-half might be more accurate. They handled a bad situation correctly, with good service, and a professional response to a customer's complaint. I did take a sample bite of my wife's steelhead, and it was perfect, and my companions also said the same for their dinners. read more

Paris via Portland! Variations on the classic steak frites, Coquilles St. Jacques (Portlandized to Jack, of course!), and made-to-order bite-sized many-to-the-order mini-Madeleines contend with french twists on freshest of seafood, veggies, cheeses, and so much more. Boîtes bring it all together for a bon temps for all! read more

Food was fine, but the mood at our table went downhill when our waiter announced that they did not have any ketchup for the pommes writes, but could bring some Dijon mustard. This is Portland, Oregon. If you don't want to serve your fries with ketchup, that's fine. But skip the prevention if a customer requests the usual fry condiment. This was our second visit and we won't be back. read more

The whole experience, from the kindness of the bartenders to the attentiveness of our server to the quality and joy of the food was top notch. They even do traditional absinthe pours with a selection of spirits, which gives them an immediate a+ in my book. It is a little pricey, so reserved for splurging and special occasions, but very very good. read more

I brought my mom here for her first wedding anniversary since my father had passed. I asked them to make it special for her and they did a great job. We were seated immediately upon arrival and while we were looking at the menu we were brought sparkling wine as a "present for our occasion". It was perfect. We toasted my father, and future happy occasions. I could not have thought of a better way to remember him. Everything was beautifully presented and delicious. The mussels were amazing, the salmon my daughter had was great. I had the tomato tarte tartin and it was wonderful. My mom ordered a steak and while it was very good, it was the least interesting entrée. We had dessert and everyone enjoyed their selections. They made sure we had water and anything we needed by checking in frequently but unobtrusively. Getting more bread to sop up the mussel broth was easy. I will be going back, read more

Fantastic food! I ordered my steak blue... typically, I have to send it back since most kitchens in America have no idea what they are doing, but this place nailed it!! read more

We came here to celebrate my husband's birthday with friends and it was AMAZING! The place had our reservation ready and didn't rush us at all. We enjoyed a leisurely 3 hour dinner and each course was wonderful. The server was informative and kept the drinks coming. Attentive but not over the top. The food...so delicious! Everyone loved their food from the steak frites, to the steelhead and the duck. The salmon pate appetizer was so good that I could've licked my plate and the fresh made madeleines for dessert are a must! We'll definitely be back for more! read more

We tried St Jack while visiting from San Francisco. While SF has amazing food, we were blown away by St. Jack. We got to the restaurant 20 minutes early for our reservation and they were still able to seat us right away. The service was very friendly and attentive, and provided great recommendations. We had the black cod and lamb shank en croute - one of the best meals we've ever had. read more

The service was amazing and the wait staff was very attentive and friendly! The food was delicious and I wanted to order everything off of the hors d'oeuvres menu but we settled with the crispy pork rinds - yum, beet salad, and escargot - packed with flavor and lots of garlic, just how I like it. For the main dishes we had the oxtail - really good flavor and lamb shoulder confit - delicious. The Kohlrabi was really good with the lamb and I would've loved more of it on my dish. Overall, great dinner and I'll definitely be coming back to try more dishes! read more

I stopped in for a delightful pitcher of bitters & booze & some light eats - pom frites + Butter Lettuce salad. "Fries" were really delicious, parmesan cheese sprinkled on top. I loved the bar ambiance and open feel. Service was pleasant and not too pretentious considering the first impression. Reminds me a Cafe Nell and we welcome them to our NW area! Come enjoy wine, the open kitchen feel and some great french cuisine. read more

A chill spot for a nice dinner with friends or a date night. Good atmosphere. Came her with girl friends before a whiskey tasting across the street. Food did not disappoint! It was very good! read more

This place has been come a big hit. I would definitely recommend a reso for any night of the week really. Because of this, we stayed at the bar top with our group and ate which was totally fine. The bartender was super nice and friendly and quick...seemed they were well staffed and food came out very timely. We order oysters first which we were disappointed they didnt have any horseradish or hot sauce but thats just a preference and they were a bit sandy (but can be expected with seafood). Otherwise they were pretty good and fresh. We then ordered the steak and fries. It wasn't any top of the line steak by any means but it was cooked just right and very tasty with the demi they topped it with. The music threw me a little off for being a french-ish restaurant, they were playing more hipster portland type music, but it kind of made it more comfortable. They have a few tables outside and i believe you can reserve them so definitely call ahead if you're looking for that option. Decent prices on alcohol for being a frenchy place. Nothing cheap by any means but i've definitely seen steeper on booze for what it is. read more

St. Jack's never disappoints! The service from Tyson was fantastic - he had great wine pairing recommendations. The menu is great for sharing and feels like an updated version of traditional French cuisine. It's a great spot to celebrate special occasions, to impress a date, or just for a tasty night out. The dishes are priced right and the ingredients are seasonal. Love this spot! read more

A pricey spot but their happy hour makes for a happy wallet. Check out the fried chicken Sammy and grab a cocktail. Yum!

I can not say enough good things about this restaurant! I have several favorites, but my ultimate favorite is the bone marrow appetizer with the tomato soup with puff pastry (Tip: put the bone marrow on the puff pastry - EXQUISITE!) I recently had the lamb which was divine! As for drinks, their house Manhattan is the perfect accompaniment to any meal. My husband loves the escargot and oysters on the half shell and we both enjoy the steak tartare as well as the steak onglet entree. LOVE THIS PLACE!!! read more

I came to St. Jack a couple weeks ago with friends and we sat in the bar. We snacked on various food items first and ultimately ordered burgers to finish off the meal. The burgers were... very good but not blow-your-mind amazing. I definitely liked them, but my bun fell apart a bit while eating. Overall, I liked the place but wasn't amazed by it. read more

I absolutely love this place. Four of us went on Saturday and got a table immediately as some others left. The service and cocktails were excellent and I particularly enjoyed the French wine list. But the real reason I cannot wait to go back? The poutine and the coquille St. Jack (cute, right?). The gravy on the poutine was outstanding. I could not stop eating it and I woke up thinking about it the next day. The sauce on the scallops was ridiculously good. We cleaned the shell with bread. Our friend's sister and brother-in-law wandered in as we were nearing the end of our meal and I made them get these dishes. The other dishes we tried were very good versions of French classics. I will go back for sure the next time I am in Portland. read more

Perfect for what it is - well priced french delicacies. Great service and a really nice bar area. I had duck and my date had the steak frites. We also had the cheese plate which was really tasty. read more

This is hailed as one of the best restaurants in Portland, and that is a reputation that is indeed deserved, even among the foodie haven that is Portland. The atmosphere is romantic and intimate without being crowded; France meets PNW. Their cocktails are really good and innovative -- their Scenic Route, which calls for Cynar, is something I had to go home and try to re-create. Don't kill me, but I can't remember what I ordered for dinner, only that I walked away feeling so happy and like I had paid for a truly memorable dining experience that we will definitely be back the next time we're in town looking for a special night out. read more

Amazingly sophisticated flavors, excellent drinks, great environment. The meal was exquisite. A true labor love and every bite was a true artistic vision realized. The kind of food that makes you sad at the meals conclusion, because the experience has come to an end. read more

Great happy hour. I enjoy the burger (the best!), truffle fries, mussels & butter lettuce salad.