4.21.2008

Cha Taqueria and Bar

Tonight, my wife and I have a little time alone without the little one, between getting off of work and her class tonight. So, we ran up to Cha Taqueria and Bar, located at 305 NW 21st Avenue. She's been raving about the happy-hour menu for weeks.

When we arrived, we were promptly seated. Our server disappeared for a moment and returned with blue corn chips and their special salsa...which was unusual and delicious. But he warned us that the salsa would be disappearing soon, due to the main ingredient's exponential cost. He told us that the salsa was made of cilantro, onion, garlic, green tomatoes and avocado. I think he must have left out one ingredient, for the salsa had some spice to it as well.

My wife and I both ordered a plate of tacos (2 tacos per plate - $5.00). I ordered the tacos pescado (Ono!!!) and she ordered the tacos pastor. We were both pleased with our choices. Each dish came with some black beans. With our drinks, we were quite full (two pints will do it).

Besaws

My wife and I used to live in NW Portland, and every Saturday, as we were driving around, we would see this huge line at Besaw's, located at 2301 NW Savier Street. So, we never stopped. But recently, we were out and about together on a weekday and spotted that there was no line. So, this time we stopped.

Once inside, we had to wait for a few minutes. It's a nice space, with lots of stained wood. My wife, as usual, chose French Toast. Our little girl had oatmeal. I chose an omelette. Now, on the website there is a link to the menu. The omelette that I chose is not on that omelette, which is sad, because I found the omelette an unusual choice.

I love cheese omelettes. It's the type of omelette that is a no-brainer for me, as it's pretty hard to screw up (although many establishments have managed to succeed!). What made this cheese omelette unusual is that there were two cheese omelettes, each with about seven choices of cheese. I didn't read the fine print, so the server had to correct me when I chose all seven cheeses from one of the omelettes. He politely told me that I could only choose three cheeses.

With my omelette came toast and potatoes, both which were good, but not noteworthy. All in all, the meal was good. My wife liked her French Toast. Our little girl ate only some of her oatmeal (she's going through a phase). The bill came out at about $25.00 (pre-tip).

It was a solid meal, but I was very glad that I didn't wait for 45 minutes to sit. That would have been just too long for this place. So, go, but watch out for the line.