There's a reason Ken's is so popular. Several reasons actually. It's damned delicious, the service…read moreis wonderful, and the vibes are immaculate!! When we arrived after 7 pm on a Saturday night, I expected the place to be jumping, which it was. However, the dining gods showered favor upon us, because we walked in, were immediately greeted by a friendly front-of-house staffer, and shown to a perfect shady outdoor table for two. (And given that Portland is currently experiencing an unprecedented heatwave and it was nearly 90° today, it was appreciated!!) Our drinks and an order of Caesar salad arrived promptly by our very kind server. The salad was everything you want in a Caesar- creamy dressing, sweet lettuce, crispy but not dense croutons, and plenty of yummy shaved Parmesan cheese. We decided on the Mushroom pie and the Mortadella/Pistachio pie. Both were piping hot and delicious with a perfectly crisp/blackened crust. I will admit the only flaw in my mortadella pizza was that I found it really oily. I loved Boyfriend's mushroom pizza though!! We had plenty to take home for another meal. The outdoor ambiance was a distillation of everything I loved about Portland: sitting under shady trees, a cooling breeze, and amazing people-watching from our sidewalk spot. We were even treated to a random bike parade of fabulous sparkly queer bicyclists blasting cool disco tunes as we ate! Just learned that it's an annual summer event called Pedalpalooza and I am HERE FOR IT!! Thanks for a great capper to our couple of days in Portland, Ken's!!

The only reason I didn't give this restaurant five stars was the check-in process, which could use…read moresignificant improvement. At first, I didn't feel like a valued customer. Fortunately, those concerns disappeared once we were seated. Parking can also be a bit challenging. That said, the food was outstanding. The pizzas and appetizers were top-notch, and the ice cream was an excellent way to end the meal. Once we were seated, the service was attentive and very good. The restaurant was bustling, creating a lively atmosphere. We ended up eating outside since it was the first seating available, and we enjoyed our meal there.

This is a familiar type of place for Portland - not inexpensive, but great food. It's small,…read moreshareable plates. A friend brought me here and we split 8 plates and each had a dessert. One drink and the "Employee Health" charge of an additional 5% made the bill $163.80 before tip. Okay, so that's the not inexpensive part. As for the food, there were several great dishes. I was not wild about the salad we got, The Crunchmaster Crisp, the my friend said a different one she had previously was really good. We got the Crusty Avocado - seeds coat the outside and inside the avocado is filled with Ahi tuna. That was a good dish. We also had Garden Peas which were pretty good. The trout was excellent, the Fried Chicken was unique, and quite good. We got a couple of the skewers (they're small!), the pork belly and the steak and both were great. I could have ordered several and made a meal out of those! The Milk Chocolate dessert was good, but I wasn't a big fan of the "baby popcorn". The Whip-a-licious was well liked by my friend. It was better than I thought it would be because I'm not a big passion fruit fan. Our service was excellent. All together, I definitely recommend for the food, atmosphere, and service. Just be prepared for an expensive night out!

I really wanted to love this place because of all the hype. Their Instagram makes everything look…read moreincredible, so I came in with high expectations. Took my then partner on a date here. Overall, the experience was fun, but the food didn't quite live up to it for me. The menu feels more like tapas or shareable small plates, so expect to order several dishes if you're hungry. I also found the portions to be pretty small for the price. Refer to the photos. We came here for date night in March and were seated on the outdoor patio. Although they had heat lamps, it was still pretty chilly. The drinks, however, were the highlight of the evening. Mine even came with a fun little elixir shot on top, so cute! Be sure to make a reservation because this place gets busy. While I probably wouldn't come back for the food - I'd definitely stop in again for the cocktails and the atmosphere.

Dolly Olive has been a favourite of ours since we lived in the Pearl, and now that we're out in the…read moresuburbs, it's still one of the places we make a point of going back to regularly. Tucked into the corner of SW 12th and Alder in the West End, the space is warm and comfortable with wood accents, soft leather banquettes, and just the right amount of energy. The Dolly Focaccia with roasted garlic and olive oil, the Roasted Carrot & Farro Salad and the Grilled Heirloom Carrots are all simple and delicious. On the pasta side, the Tagliatelle al Burro is perfect, and the Black Kale Pesto Mafaldine with roasted mushroom and the Braised Short Rib Arancini with pecorino aioli and honey are equally good choices if you're after something a little more complex. The folks who work here are knowledgeable and attentive, never intrusive. Even with the drive in now, it's worth it every time. Highly recommend, whether it's a special occasion or just a reason to head back downtown.

This was my only other scheduled meal…read more I wanted to treat my friends to a meal on our friend's wedding day. Figured it would be the best way to kick off our day. Luckily, I was able to secure a reservation. The walk over was under 10 minutes for both of us. It gave me just the perfect amount of time to kill a j. I was ready to drink all the things. Sure enough, my hydration station had 3 options. Limoncello spritz for the fun category, water for hydration and Americano soda for the caffeine. The spritz was perfection. We started off with an order of the arancini. As we were unsure if we would like it, we got one then got another one as soon as we got our first bite. That was followed by the donuts. We were all in agreement that some type of dipping sauce would be a nice touch. My suggestion is dulce de leche. We then went to town on the broccoli &! Italian sausage, hash and tagliatelle. When I tell you - I was in food heaven. That tagliatelle was IT. My friends were kind enough to let me finish the rest. I gave way to the other two. Despite being ridiculous full, we still managed to make room for dessert. We got the cookie and lemon pound cake. Bro that pound cake can get it. The mascarpone whip on top made me tingle on the inside after I got a taste. My gawd I wanted to eat the whole thing. The biggest compliment came at the end of the night when my friend told me I chose the perfect spot and picked all the right dishes. Big thanks to Mike for taking such great care of us. He had the best response to my answer when he asked if we had allergy restrictions. I can't wait to come back the next time I'm in town.