We had just picked up out of town company at the airport, and were headed for the Saturday market, so this place was an easy stop on the way. I’ve never been here before, for some reason, I thought it was kinf of “touristy”, even tho it is Portland’s oldest family owned restaurant (since
1907, so says the sign).
We were there a couple of moments before they opened, and the man opened the door to the small crowd waiting and said “sit anywhere,” but when we tried to go into the bar, he said “not there.” They seemed a little disorganized right at opening or maybe they were understaffed, there weren’t that many customers, but service was less than stellar. It was ok, just not at the top of their game, one would suppose.
We were determined to salute the morning with Mimosas, ordered, and after a bit of wait, our server informed us there was no champagne in the house. Nor was there lemonade, as that was another choice. (A seafood restaurant w/o the makings of lemonade?).
A compromise was reached with one Lemon Drop, one iced-tea, one Crater Lake Orange soda, and we placed our order. Since I am BurgerDogBoy, I was very tempted to try their Tillamook cheddar cheeseburger, but I was full up on burgers for this week. I inquried about the fish sandwich, which, after all, is a fish burger, isn’t it? The server informed me that indeed they breaded the cod in house, and I went with it, and a side of slaw.
The food took a relatively long time to arrive, considering, one of our other parties had a dozen raw on the half shell, the other partyordered a cup of clam chowder and a BLT.
The food was above satisfactory, again, not stellar, but good enough. The cocktail finally arrived mid meal. By this time, maybe 45 minutes after opening, there seemed to be more staff on hand, and things started to go smoother.
The bill was $52, seemed OK for what they delivered. I would have stiffed them on the tip, but I wasn’t paying. I liked that part!
