We went by County Cork the other night, and happened upon their happy hour (4-6pm). The menu is all about food, ranging from $2-$4.50. The HH menu includes a burger, BLT, scotch egg, banger and mash, fish-n-chips, plain ole chips, wraps, and a fish sandwich. Be forewarned, the tables are sticky—it used to be that the tables were covered by plexiglass, but now the tables and their sticky paint is exposed, and well, sticky. The food was by and large good, not exceptional, with the exception of the scotch egg which had the life cooked out of it (I guess that'll learn me about ordering a scotch egg at an Irish tavern). And a hamburger, banger & mash, scotch egg, and two pints were $17.50—pretty exceptional, really.

And if you're going for beer, particularly Irish beer, the County Cork can be pretty good. Compare Beamish, Guinness & Murphy's for example. Of their 20 taps and several cask engines, there's most always a cider, a couple lagers (Harp & Miller), and generally a broad selection of beers, some familiar, some less so.

For a brewpub, the food is some of the best in town. Which is to say it's uneven, but still; there's a reason this place is full at meal times. There's a good-sized, and diverse, menu of salads, sandwiches, and full entrees. And they have killer fries. Also, a great weekend breakfast.

But my beef with the Laurelwood is that it's wildly popular too. At least, most of the times when I've been there, it's so loud that I couldn't hear anything my companion said. But, if you don't like kids, really lots of really little kids running about willy-nilly, just as if they've been drinking beer and own the place, don't bother.

If you don't like kids, don't bother with this. Beer, some organic, a bar, and plenty of space and toys and other kids to distract your little ones while you suck down a cold one.

Dude, I just got the best festivus present ever! The New Old Lompoc project on N Failing, aka Failing Williams, aka 5Q, is open! They have all the Old Lompoc Brewery beers on tap, natch, including an insane five (5!) winter seasonals, as well as hard liquor. Two nitro thingees. They have this sophisticated space, not as self-consciously cool as Pix next door, but lovely in an astere, calm sort of way. They have—wait for it!—a garage door (thankfully not open this time of year). They have these crazy huge long booths which practically demand interaction, and appear to be built for beer lovers. And real adult food. The macaroni & cheese of the day yesterday was a rib-eye in a red wine-cream sauce over penne—a lovely stroganoff of sorts. The steak was delicious and a steal at $14, presented over the rich, creamy and thoroughly homemade mashed potatoes, and perfectly done veggies. Meatloaf, well damn, I loved that, too. They have a healthy list of appetizers, salads and sandwiches too, and the fries look great. No wi-fi yet. They'll start brewing in the spring, and distilling in the summer. Damn!

Regular house pints are $3.50. There's a happy hour, too.

Other Press:

• Like a breath of fresh air, the Fifth Quadrant beckons
  Liz Colie Gadberry, the Portland Tribune

I didn't come up with this definition, but when you hear family restaurant, you need to abandon hope that the food will be anything better than edible.

When I first moved to Portland, my ex used to drag me to Poor Richard's in Hollywood. We'd sit in the bar, order a stiff drink and a steak, and each time I'd realize that I had blocked out the previous visits and how awful it was.

Similarly, recently, I was thinking that it wasn't all that bad. Sadly, I was wrong.

Poor Richard's has a dining room and a lounge. The dining room is shabbily colonial, with tables here and there of large family gatherings and elderly folks. We didn't visit the lounge, but I'm sure it was probably a little less comatose.

The claim-to-fame for Poor Richard's is their two-fers: order two of the same thing for one low price! You have a choice of tenderloin ($21.95-$32.95), top sirloin ($20.45-$27.45), cod fish & chips ($21.95), pork loin ($19.95), and three different styles of chicken ($19.95). Admittedly, you save a buck or two off the menu price, but realistically, these aren't incredibly cheap prices. Even the single menu prices aren't cheap.

We ordered a couple beers (the hefeweizen was fine, but less popular beers weren't quite right), an appetizer of Teriyaki Grilled Chicken Strips ($5.95), and the 8oz top sirloin. The chicken strips were speedy and quite tasty.

Dinners include your choice of

cole slaw, tossed salad or soup of the day, garlic bread, choice of baked potato (after 4:00pm), seasoned french fries or rice pilaf, coffee and tea and soft vanilla ice cream. All dinner items are cooked to order.

We were quite hungry and our waitron quite accommodating—we consumed multiple small baskets of garlic bread. The cole slaw arrived, a perfectly round scoop with a big round slice of pickled beet laid against it. The cabbage was cut into tiny tiny pieces and the dressing was too sweet.

Not long afterwards came our steaks. I ordered a loaded baked potato and they took me at my word—it was the highlight of the meal for me. The steaks—eh? Tough, gristly, overcooked. Admittedly, when a steak costs $15, I'm not expecting much, but there are plenty of great steaks at the $20 mark, and good steaks at $15. Just not here.

I'm usually a good eater, but the potato was all I could finish.

With tip, it was over $50, which is straying into special-occasion territory. And while the people watching is excellent, I can't recommend this for a special occasion.

• BarFly

If you are here from anywhere else, you might just think of the Spaghetti Factory as a chain, which is true. This is an excellent place if you want salad, pasta and dessert on a budget if you stay away from the alcohol. You'll see lots of families there, just for that reason. That, and the menu is very kid friendly. However, let's just be serious: the pasta sucks. But the prices are inexpensive, the drinks strong, and the view of the river downright intoxicating.