Bernie's Southern Bistro

Six years ago, my wife and I moved into NE Portland near Alberta Street, and not long after moving into the area, we had dinner at Bernie's Southern Bistro. We didn't go back, until last night. I don't know, we were just not that impressed six years ago. But last night, my wife came back into town, and we started having the dinner conversation; "What do you want?" "I don't know, what do you want?" "I don't know, what do you want?"

After batting back and forth, we both concluded that we didn't want to cook, so we decided to cruise NE Alberta Street until we found something. We started at 33rd, got all the way down to 15th, and started on our way back. Nothing was jumping out at me. My wife said, "How about either Concordia Ale House or Bernie's?" I love Concordia Ale House, but my wife's suggestion of Bernie's Southern Bistro was intriguing...


...And I am glad we went. We were immediately greeted when we entered the restaurant. Within a minute, we were being led to our table. Water and cornbread magically appeared, as we considered the menu. There were only a few selections, but they all looked good. My wife ordered the meatloaf, with sides of mac and cheese and buttered peas. I ordered the skinless boneless fried chicken, with mashed potatoes and collard greens. While we waited for our meals to arrive, our server noticed that we had scarfed down the cornbread and brought us a little bit more. We didn't wait long.

This was comfort food. My wife's meatloaf was fantastic. She could only finish (with my help) one of the two slabs. So, for lunch and again for dinner today, I got to have meatloaf sandwiches...but I digress. Our daughter loved the mac and cheese, as did my wife. The buttered peas were firm, not mushy.


The fried chicken was terrific. The plate came with both a breast and a thigh. Presenting it boneless made for easy eating with a knife and a fork. The mashed potatoes were country-style, with some lovely lumps. The collard greens came in a bowl and were prepared to perfection. I'm not a big fan of collard greens, but I ate every last bite, and was happy. Between the two plates that we ordered, we shared or meal with our two-year-old, and had left-overs.

Both plates were $15.00 a piece, and worth every penny. Our next trip to Bernie's will be far sooner than six years from now. You can find Bernie's Southern Bistro at 2904 NE Alberta Street.