I hate to damn Bridges with faint praise, but it's a neighborhood joint. Mind you, they're reasonably friendly, generous with the food, relatively popular, so much so that there's frequently a wait, and their food is consistently not bad. It's just inconsistent about being great.

Bridges is a sunny little corner breakfast joint. There are a couple booths, and quite a few tables, but it's crowded enough that wheelchair access would be a hassle.

It's smoke-free inside, and they have an awning hanging over some picnic tables on the Russell Street side if you prefer the company of your dog, or want to people-watch the folks going in and out of the Nike Outlet store. There is some exposed bike parking, and a gravel parking lot behind for the motor vehicles.

The menu is split into Benedicts ($9.50-$10.25), Omelettes ($8-$9), and Specialties ($7.25-$9.25). There's a dazzling selection of food items: burritos, french toast, fruit plates. You can also get cocktails and mimosas ($4.50-$6.50), bottled beer ($2.75-$3.25, selection varies, though usually it's some Wolaver's Organic Pale, Deschutes ales, Fat Tire, and Henry's), and wine by the glass.

Most non-carboload dishes come with potatoes. These are garden variety roasted potatoes, and like most places in town that serve them, they're not very good. They tend towards mushy.

This morning, we ordered a classic Benedict, and the Eggs Fiesta. The latter seems like it should have an exclamation point—whadda name! But sadly, the Fiesta, while its individual components were okay, there was nothing about the combination to write home about.

The benedict was fine. No complaints. Local canadian bacon, nice sauce, eggs just right. If only the potatoes were better.

Almost a year after they opened, we thought it was time to revisit Cafe Wonder, in the daylight basement of the Wonder Ballroom. I'm happy to say that while there have been some shifts in the menu, it's still good, and still reasonable.

On the bar side (and realistically, the entire place is in sight of the bar) they have 4 beers on tap (Lagunitas IPA, Pyramid Hefeweizen, Fat TIre Amber, and Miller High Life). Luckily, they also have good selection of bottled beers, wine, and cocktails, including an afterschool special for welldrinks, $2, 5-6:30 pm, which packs the place.

The menu is short and simple: the east side's cheapest steakfrites (steak and fries, $14.50), mac-n-cheese, fish-n-chips, fried chicken, veggie risotto, caesar salad, a chicken sandwich and a hamburger, with a range of prices starting at $7.

We ordered the caesar, which was tasty and huge. It's not the city's best caesar, but it's quite edible all the same. We also ordered the fried chicken. According to the menu, it's a quarter chicken, so we were a little surprised to have it come as a breast and a leg. Still, I suppose those are probably the favorite parts of chicken. The chicken was fine, but the real standout was the tiny serving of greens, which may well be the best in town. Rich with pork, complex and slightly bitter, these are what greens are supposed to be.

Servings are generous and there is none of this well-intentioned but badly executed fusion cuisine one sees in other parts of Albina. And, the fries are great.

We also had great service: a waitress who seemed to have a degree in mindreading, always at the ready to get us more alcohol or more napkins. The room is quite lovely as well. Oh, smoke-free and free wifi, too. Now, if only it was also child-free...

Sickie food in my household is amerochinese, the unchallenging chinese food of our youth. But, the things you really want when you're sick: hot & sour soup, eggrolls, maybe some kung pao chicken—well, why is it so difficult to find decent food close to home?

The Orient is not the sort of place I'd recommend you eat at. It's odd. The bar is bright and undistinguished, and the dining room is essentially a long hall with booths on both sides. And rails in front of the booths, just, I guess, so customers don't get out of line. Or something.

Take-out is a mixed bag. Hot & sour soup is actually spicy, and while no one will confuse it with Wong's King Seafood's or Sungari, it's not bad (and the best, sigh, I've had from NE). They show a bit of care with their foodstuffs: a garlicky dipping sauce for potstickers, crab puffs actually taste a little like crab and contain scallions, and deep fried items are separated from their sauces (dude, so they're crispy still!). Still, the entries were no great shakes and may well have come from Panda Compress for all I know.

Produce Row Cafe has 15 taps, over 200 bottled beers, and a full menu, including an abbreviated happy hour menu M-F 4-6PM. It's also a bit chilly when it's relatively empty. They offer wifi, pool, a huge deck, and that beer selection is pretty exciting. I just wish I was a bit more excited about the food. We tend to get burgers and fries, and the fries are great. The burger is just okay. They offer live music almost every night.

CLOSED 12/31/2006

The Farm Cafe
10 SE 7th Ave at Burnside
(503) 736-3276
higher end vegetarian and fishetarian food

Le Pigeon
738 E Burnside St at 8th
(503) 546-8796
lepigeon.com
excellent & popular place for brunch and dinner.

Doug Fir
830 E Burnside St
(503) 231-9663
breakfast lunch and dinner, drinks, hipsters, WiFi

J & M's Cafe
537 SE Ash St
(503) 230-0463
Low-key breakfast joint

Mudai Ethiopian Restaurant
801 NE Broadway St
(503) 287-5433

Chino Sai-Gon
835 NE Broadway St at 9th
(971) 230-1600
Vietnamese-Chinese food

Blowfish
914 NE Broadway at 9th
(503) 288-5149

Nicholas Restaurant
318 SE Grand Ave at Pine St
(503) 235-5123

Michael's Italian Beef & Sausage Co
1111 SE Sandy Blvd at Burnside
(503) 230-1899

Old Wives' Tales Restaurant
1300 E Burnside St at 13th
(503) 238-0470
possibly the dullest vegetarian restaurant ever. Gives vegetarians and vegans a bad name.

My Father's Place
523 SE Grand Ave
(503) 235-5494
a good place to start the day with breakfast and a shot of the hair of the dog that bit ya.

Restaurant Yuki
1337 NE Broadway
(503) 281-6804
mediocre (for the price) korean-style sushi

Milo's City Cafe
1325 NE Broadway St
(503) 288-6456
breakfast is fine--avoid for all other meals!

Taste Tickler
1704 NE 14th Ave at Broadway
(503) 282-3681
cute local sub shop

Chai Yo Thai Restaurant
1411 NE Broadway St
(503) 287-0505

Echo Resturant
2225 NE M L King Blvd
(503) 460-3246
great happy hour

Montage
301 SE Morrison St
(503) 234-1324
overrated but fun for the scene

Cadillac Cafe
1801 NE Broadway
(503) 287-4750
popular queer breakfast spot

Clarklewis
1001 SE Water Ave
(503) 235-2294
Supposably good.

Zell's an American Cafe
1300 SE Morrison St
(503) 239-0196
excellent breakfast!

Chez Jose'
2200 NE Broadway St
(503) 280-9888
very child-friendly mexican

Blue Nile Cafe
2225 NE Broadway St
(503) 284-4653
excellent though inconsistent Ethiopian