Wanna write for our blog?

It doesn't pay, except for the pleasure of feeling compelled to eat out.

E-mail us at pdxrestaurantreviews [at] gmail [dot] com if you're interested. Writing examples would be a good idea.

A Word on the Urbanspoons of the World

Gotta be careful here. As a food blog, we are not too distant a cousin to sites like Yelp and Urbanspoon, which allow you to look for quick info on eateries in whatever location you are. It seems that most of the people who come to this site are looking (though often disappointed due to our recent inactivity) for some insight on places to go to eat and why they should or shouldn't go to them.

All well and good. I have used Yelp and Urbanspoon in other towns when I wasn't familiar with the food scene and wanted to get an idea of what to do. I encourage that. What I generally do is look at the general info (number of stars, number of dollar signs, cuisine type and hours) and then leave my mind open. If a place has no votes, I avoid it. If it has lots of votes and a consensus low opinion, I avoid it. If it is a place where several people have voted it above average and it otherwise fits what I'm looking for, it becomes a possibility to be considered.

Where I part ways with these sites, though, is the commentary. Blog comment boxes are often the last bastion for the anonymous flamer. The only people who comment (other than the spammers who are trying to sneak a link into your blog) are people that read you a lot, people that strongly agree with you, or people that think you're an idiot. The primary population of people that comment at Yelp and Urbanspoon are those that really, really liked a place, or those that really hated it during one visit. Neither of those groups really offers a great deal of insight, and (unlike our blog) you don't get to see their opinions rendered again and again to decide whether they merit your trust or not.

JLowe, for one, was recently upset by Yelp. He was reading about a coffee shop he loves on there and, while there were some opinions rendered which were well-reasoned and fair, there were some absolute kooks there as well, clearly flaming the place without any really objectively reasonable basis. I've read the same reviews, and while I'm generally less likely to take offense at some of these sorts of things, I saw the "outlandish-statement-for-the-sake-of-having-an-opinion" sort of things that troubled him most.

So, by all means, go to Urbanspoon or Yelp for a quick idea. If you're looking for insight and opinion you can trust, check us out, or any of the other blogs in our blogroll, all of whom seem to care about being honest, forthright, and real with you.

Twitter Updates

Trying to get around the fact that we're getting lazy, I've added some Twitter functionality to the blog. I'll eventually get our other writers in on it, but at this point (at least) there'll be occasional, restaurant-related thoughts available in the sidebar (see "The Twits We've Twatted" section).

You can also subscribe to us here.

NEW AUTHOR!

Ask and ye shall receive!

Friend o' the blog Mak is now going to write for us. She herself is an accomplished owner of several defunct blogs and is a resident haunter of all sorts of food locations. Certainly she'll be able to add to our list of good lunch haunts, since she's inspired several of our prior posts.

We're happy to welcome her and look forward to seeing her stuff!

New Stuff SOON!

According to Blogger, it's been just shy of 3 months since we added a post to this space. Both JLowe and I have been in a budgetary swoon which, hopefully, will ease shortly.

Reader Mak, a close friend of the blog, asks in a wall post on my Facebook "are you guys gonna update your site or what?! I have new carts you should try."

Glad you mentioned that, Mak. As it happens, we were just talking about this sort of thing today over coffee at our favorite haunt (City Coffee on 4th and Salmon, where your humble bloggers get very special treatment). You see, we recently were notified that we're slated to be featured on a site called "Where the Locals Eat." According to the e-mail I received from them, we've been selected as one of "The Best Food Blogs in America" (clearly they're standards are low) and have been granted a spot in their locals section for The Best of Portland Food Blogs (you can find us here).

Of course, this shames us into wanting to do more writing. And, coincidentally, we have stuff to write about as tonight is Mrs. JLowe's birthday (dinner at Torro Bravo) and tomorrow is mine (dinner at Yuki Sushi).

So, new material coming, keep your eyes open, etc. We're always open to suggestions for places to review. We're also willing to come review your place in exchange for a free meal (note: we'll tell people the meal was free, and we'll be brutally honest. And we'll tip the waitstaff on what we would've spent).

And, hey, Mak, wanna come write for us?

New Reviews Coming

In the next day or so:

Alameda Cafe (breakfast)
DiNicola's Italian Restaurant
Jake's Grill

We'll also run our first forum question. Check back for more later!

New Year's Addendum

JLowe and I both gained a lot of weight this holiday season. He from his father's excellent cooking, me from my penchant for appetizers at my wife's and my various functions.

Anyway, the first half of January we're in detox mode, doing the annual flushing of our systems using the much-reviled but remarkably effective "The Master Cleanse" diet.

So, anyway, don't expect much new in the next two weeks (although JLowe did claim dibs on writing up our foursome's New Year's Eve outing to The Charthouse, which--aside from being seated an hour after our reservation time--was absolutely lovely).

New Year's Resolutions and the Appropriate Canning of the Rules

2007 was a banner year for our little blog here. Over the course of just a few months, we put out 76 posts, almost all with something worthwhile to say about the local food scene, and received 7,021 hits. Not too shabby.

But what is perhaps more remarkable is the amout of content that didn't get put up this year. We have this rule, you see: no writing about a place once a whole day has passed since you ate there. The rule was designed to ensure only the freshest of posts. The rule ended up killing a lot of good material.

Some of the places that didn't get posted last year, despite our gastronomic endeavors at each:

• The Hunan
• Gresham Typhoon
• Masu Sushi
• Yuki Sushi
• Buffalo Wildwings
• The Charthouse
• Chin Yen
• Jake's Bar and Grill
• Gustav's
• La Bamba

And, certainly, many more I'm just failing to remember.

Seems our "freshness" rule got in the way of sharing quality info. So, our New Year's resolutions:

MORE POSTS, MORE PICTURES, and NO MORE RULES (at least, none that constrain us from offering useful info; if a post will suffer from too much time passing, we'll let it go in favor of another outing).

Also, if you have a place you're interested in and want to know about, let us know. We take suggestions, but chances are also pretty high that, between JLowe and I, we've been there and can offer some advice.

Finally, I hereby declare the death of GastroBoy. He was once a useful member of this blog; now he's just dead weight. Fare thee well, Chuck.

We're Still Here

We're just not going out so much lately. I'm saving for a vacation, and JLowe's been experimenting with food at home (tonight he's invited me over to try his first-ever batch of crock pot hot wings). GastroBoy forgot his password, so who knows if you'll ever read his drivel here again...

Anyway, we'll be back with more news and reviews sooner or later.

Concordia Ale House

JLowe's already covered this place, just shy of a month ago, but I get a crack at it too, if only to explain new rule of sorts.

You see, tonight our wives were heading out to dinner, which meant that JLowe and I had to head out to dinner as well. I mean, really, we didn't strictly have to, but what fun is it to stay in?

We discussed our options. The first idea I had was Halibut's, over on Alberta, because I haven't had fish and chips for awhile. But, as we talked over that option, a couple of thoughts came to mind.

First, Halibut's (or any good fish and chips place) was a touch more expensive than I was down for this evening. And, second, I had my daughter and didn't remember if Halibut's had kiddie seats. So a new option needed to be found.

My next thought was Concordia. JLowe loves it. I like it a lot, too. And they have a wide selection of beer, which I like a lot. And they have kiddie seats, which I like a lot. And they serve good grilled cheese, which just made it too good to pass up.

So, off we went. As we arrived, we were both starved and, just as importantly, parched. The service was prompt, and beers were quickly ordered.

I went for the Caldera something or other, a beer from (I believe) Southern Oregon which was quite tasty. JLowe got the Nostradamus, and later opted for an ESB. Whatever. Beer is good, but it's not the point of a food blog.

We opted for an appetizer. Last time we did this, we downed some onion rings. This time we went big and ordered the Buffalo Wings.

I wasn't expecting much. Wings can be wildly inconsistent, depending on where you go. My old favorites used to be at Big Daddy's, until they started sucking. I've been at a loss for favorites since (though Fire On The Mountain, over on Interstate Avenue, is quite good, but that's for another day).

The order came out pretty quick (and, to my pleasant surprise, they brought my daughter's grilled cheese at the same time, which was great because I was dreading having to watch her sob as we ate spicy chicken and she sat, hungrily, being denied nourishment). The wings were quite good. Meaty, without an actual wing in the bunch. What was there were actually 10 smaller-size drumsticks. The sauce was nice and spicy. They came with ranch (really, I think wings should come with bleu cheese, but you can't have it all...) and an assortment of carrots and celery.

Having bitten off about as much as I could chew, I hoped that my burger would be quick so that I could down it before my body realized I was already at capacity. They obliged, which was nice, and also unexpected. I have to say this for CAH: in the past 6 months or so, since my first visit, the service has gotten much, much better.

I ordered the Firehouse, which is JLowe's favorite burger there, and mine as well. There's a picture of it on his prior post. It's a half-pound patty with a couple of onion rings, pepper jack cheese, a spicy sauce of some sort, and jalapeno slices. Very good. Very heavy. And very flavorful.

This leads me to one of my primary reasons for writing, actually. A little piece of house-keeping.

In the middle of eating, I mentioned to JLowe (who was looking on hungrily at my burger, since a recent dietary issue has him avoiding the Firehouse for a month or so) that my burger was very good tonight. He retorted by noting that he was considering in his mind whether the Firehouse was the best burger in town.

I stopped eating immediately. JLowe had blasphemed.

Though we haven't been there recently to allow a review (since all reviews must be posted within a day of eating at a place, to keep us honest and current), it is well-settled in my mind that Stanich's (and, particularly, the one in NE Portland) has the best burgers in town. Particularly the "World's Greatest Cheeseburger," an aptly-named behemoth topped with cheese, bacon, ham, an egg, and the ubiquitous special sauce (really, why does everyone think it's so special when we all know that it's thousand island dressing?). We've both acknowledged that this is the burger by which all other burgers are to be measured, and we've both universally failed to find anything even close to wresting the title away from it.

So, I was shocked at JLowe's impudence. He'd clearly lost his marbles. And, yet, I needed to really think this through because, damn it, the Firehouse is a really good burger.

A compromise was accomplished when I pointed out that we were comparing apples to oranges. Burgers have a traditional range of toppings, including (and pretty much limited to) cheese, tomato, lettuce, onion, pickle (or relish), catsup, mustard, mayo, special sauce, and for fancy folks mushrooms, eggs, ham, and bacon.

The Firehouse, therefore, isn't strictly a burger. It has an onion ring, jalapeno's, and a spicy sauce (as opposed to the special sort).

So, we've reached a compromise, and it will frame our future burger discussions. There are burgers, and there are "boutique burgers," which are those that have special and entirely non-traditional flourishes which remove them from the typical burger discussion.

The new rule set, and with an agreement that it would be posted forthwith, I returned to mowing through my newly-dubbed boutique burger. So far, the best boutique burger I've encountered in town.

And, by the way, I think this place has the best fries in the city. Bar none. If I find better, I'll let you know. But don't hold your breath.

With 4 beers, an appetizer, two burgers and a grilled cheese sandwich, the bill came up to $49. Not too shabby. And we got a new rule, a nice buzz (at least in JLowe's case), a full toddler, and a resolution to our hunger out of the deal.

If you can, go to the Concordia Ale House. It is very, very hard to walk out disappointed...

Another Rule

As I awaited today's lunch at Tabor with Mak and Rusty, I formulated a new rule. It's the Rule of Three and it's simple.

Let's face it, an eatery is going to have an off-day. An eatery is going to have items that it does well, and items that aren't so great. Many places have more then one cook or chef, and some chefs are just superior (they've got the mad skills of culinary excellence). Ingredient issues, demand pressures, etc., all play a part.

Every place I eat, given those realities, deserves three shots to impress me, to satisfy me, to make me feel warm and full in my belly...and to make me feel good about the money I just forked over to fill my pie hole. But if I still find a place to be horrible after the third dining, then I am done and I will not return. AND you WILL hear about it.

So, Tabor was OK today (Rusty's review below is spot-on). But given the menu, I anticipate there is room to impress...

Red Coach (and a word about us)

First, the word about us...

It's becoming apparent to me as I read our blog and see the sheer amount of reviews we've put up in just the first 5 days (I think this one will be number nine) that one could read this and draw the conclusion that we are rich. Oh, how I wish that were true.

I'm noticing the vast majority of our posts are lunch-related (we keep them categorized, for your convenience in seeking reviews) and that's fitting, considering we all work downtown and are frequently scrambling for lunch. As such, generally you are getting reviews of meals that are about $7.50 at the most, so despite the fact that we may be hitting lunch spots more than you are (or, indeed, more than we should), you are getting reviews of places that fit in the "average Joe" framework that we're aiming for.

The fact is, we've been using the blog as an excuse to get out more. I think, over time, you will see us posting in fits and spurts as our wallets (and wives) protest our excitement at "research" (or eating, however you'd rather refer to what we do).

By the way, Gastro Boy is home with an ear infection. I imagine he'll be back in earnest in the next week or so...

Anyway, JLowe and I went to the Red Coach (there are two links there...) today for lunch. Located in a non-descript location on Broadway, a half-block north of Pioneer Courthouse Square, Red Coach is one of those places that's easy to miss, but hard to forget.

The restaurant itself is interesting. Originally opened over 30 years ago in another location, the restaurant has been in its present location for about 24 years now. It's down a hallway sandwiched between an optician and some other storefront, and occupies two floors on the backside of the Charles F. Berg Building. The decor, as I understand it, dates back to the original restaurant, so there are a bunch of plush leather benches situated throughout, some looking distinctly like half-benches that, I would imagine, used to be abutted by a wall. Visually, it's kinda shabby in a neat, "Keep Portland Weird" sort of way.

Each floor has its own grill, chef, and waiter/waitress. The guy at the front is one of the owners, and though semi-retired, he's always there for the lunch hour to direct you to an open seat and to take your money when you leave. And, I swear to God, he's always wearing the same exact outfit. It's eerie; every time I'm there, it feels pretty much exactly the same. The only thing that ever varies is the company.

The food is simple. Burgers, fries, sodas, and delicious milkshakes (I've never had one, but my friends rate them highly; be warned, one shake will usually satisfy two people). Though there is a menu, you don't need it. As one commenter on the Portland Metblog once noted, "Your only reasonable options are Carl's Special, Carl's Special with bacon, Double Carl's Special, [and] Double Carl's Special with bacon." And that's true.

All of the above options are cheeseburgers. The doubles have two patties instead of one. All specials come with fries and a soda. It's hard (unless you diverge and go for a shake) to spend more than $10 for lunch there. And you can feel good about spending what you do there, because everything's made with food from (more or less) local sources, including Franz Bread, Columbia Empire Meats, and Sunshine Dairy.

Today I opted for the Double Carl. I usually don't go so far, but JLowe owed me lunch (dating back to the Podnah's outing and some creative accounting). The burgers are straight-forward, no-frills affairs. The meat is good, there's not a greasy feeling to the food, and its substantial without being overwhelming. The fries are crispy and fresh. The soda has free refills. All good traits in a burger place.


Double Carl, fries, and a soda...Heaven!

We escaped for $17.25 between the two of us (and JLowe had bacon, that glutton). And we were both thoroughly satisfied.

If you go to Red Coach, bring cash. No checks or cards accepted. But, despite the hassle, the visit is well-worth it and you'll be back again and again.

The Newest and Greatest in Portland Food Blogs

My friend Gastro Boy and I went to No Fish/Go Fish for lunch today, and on the way back we were discussing food, restaurants, and blogs discussing them. And we decided we wanted in. I've invited JLowe, as well, because he and I appreciate a good food adventure here and there.

The rules here are simple.

1. We only write about restaurants or food vendors we've been to in the last 24 hours.
2. We are regular guys. We write about restaurants from a Average Joe viewpoint.
3. No snobbery allowed.

We hope you enjoy the offerings. Your thoughts are welcome throughout...