Food near the Oregon Convention Center

Nobody would claim this is great food. But it's very edible, and you get lots of food.

Here's the set-up. Walk in and order from the giant board of burritos, tacos, tostadas, quesadillas, taco salads, nachos and combo plates. Choose from 4 types of chicken (chile verde, mole, asado & chile colorado), chile verde pork or carnitas, carne asada or ground beef. Then there's beans: black, pinto, refried (all vegetarian). There's grilled veggies, and the option to swap in spicy garlic prawns or mahi mahi.

Prices range from $3.50-$9.50, most in the more expensive range.

Just like in a Mission taqueria, you follow your food down the line, so you can specify none of this or more of that, as you wish. (Unfortunately, that's where the resemblance to a Mission taqueria ends) Pay up, and take it back to your table. That's it.

In spite of having a small play area, this is not overrun by children, so it's quite pleasant for the child-averse.

They have maybe a half dozen beers on tap, and, of course, many margarita options. It's non-smoking until 9:30 pm.

Of course, there are downsides. If you want a beer or a drink, you'll need to go into the bar and purchase it, separate from your food. Getting a seat on the sidewalk is hard during good weather—it's popular. There is exactly one table salsa, and it's nothing to write home about.

I was attending an event at the Oregon Convention Center, and the "restaurants" in the OCC were closed. I couldn't bare the thought of going to Burgerville or Big Town Hero, nor could I stand the thought of seeing if American Cowgirls served lunch. The OCC was kind enough to provide a restaurant list, and of the three non-chains listed, I picked Bogarts.

Bogarts is a neighborhood bar, and it appears to have been here long before Metro and the State of Oregon built their buildings. It's tiny and dingy and redolent of stale smoke and the desperation of people playing video crack. I sat myself in the small non-smoking section (what a joke), looking over the giant grill that makes up the heart of the business.

It became immediately clear that its a family business: the daughter got me a beer, her mother cooked my burger, her aunt was doing something else. Micros on tap included Black Butte Porter, Fat Tire, Widmer Hefeweizen and Drop Top Amber.

Everything on the menu ranges from $6.50-$8: 1/3# burgers, hot and cold sandwiches, salads. Sandwiches come with chips, potato salad or cottage cheese. And while my burger was nothing to write home about, it wasn't bad—and I loved the option of cottage cheese!

I really appreciated the human touch there: the staff calling me honey, watching them interact, and give directions to someone who wandered in off the street. And in the end, I liked the quiet, the feeling I wouldn't be rushed out, the chance to sit and think and embellish my notes.

Chino Sai-Gon was formerly Saigon Kitchen, and like the old inhabitant, Chino serves from a Chinese, Vietnamese, and Thai menu. When we were there, the place was fairly quiet: a couple of families, us, a latina who ordered five or six entrees (they looked good, too), a parking garage attendent eating white rice and drinking hot water.

We ordered pot stickers (6 for $4.95), charcoal chicken ($7.50), a bowl of wonton soup (large, $5.95) and wonton egg noodle soup ($5.95).

The charcoal chicken came first. It's a classic play-with-your-food handroll experience, and one of my favorite things from the old Saigon Kitchen menu. This included a large oval plate of sweet and spicy grilled chicken covered in sesame seeds, a large salad plate with lettuce, cilantro, diced carrot & daikon, mung bean sprouts, and thin rice noodles, and of course, the rice paper circles to wrap everything in.

While some places (Pho Van pops to mind) have elegant hot water sleeves to soften your rice paper, Chino gives you a giant plastic bowl of steaming water. It works fine, it just takes up a lot of space... especially when you consider that the handrolls take up the whole table by itself.

So, you dip the rice paper until it's pliable, you fill it with stuff, and then roll it up like a salad roll (or a burrito), and dip it in the accompanying peanut sauce. Yum. If you like playing with your food, I definitely recommend this: it's generous and tasty.

Pot stickers were another big success. These came straight from the pan, toasty brown on several sides, and really rather big, stuffed full of some unidentified meat, probably pork. They were the best pot stickers I've had in recent memory.

So, of course, we hadn't even finished our appetizers and the soup comes, and at this point, I'm almost full. Our table is completely full of dishes.

Now you might be wondering, what is the difference between wonton soup and wonton egg noodle soup? Well, the former has a spicier broth, and a lot of iceberg lettuce. Both have the wonton and the bbq pork and the occasional shrimp. The wonton egg noodle had a nice chickeny broth and thin egg noodles, and it came with its own small salad plate of cilantro, leaf lettuce, sliced jalapeno and quartered lime.

The soup in the end was fine, just nothing to write home about. It really could be a meal in itself.

So. The menu is huge, with over 150 items on the Chinese-Vietnamese menu, with just about everything under $10. The thai menu has an additional 17 items. Menu items are in English, overwhelmingly, so don't bother looking for pho or bun, look for beef noodle soup or vermicelli noodles. Still, some things are unclear: hot & sour soup: Vietnamese or Chinese?

We will definitely return, especially for those potstickers and charcoal chicken. But the rest of the menu is a crap shoot. I'll update this entry as we try new things.

They serve Stumptown coffee. They have excellent baked goods. They have the best breakfast sandwich in town, and some really yummy soups and sandwiches. Oh, and they even have salads.

Clay recommended this cute tiny cafe with "great panini!". First of all, they have a mirror ball. Portland Roasting provides a decent cup of coffee, and there is espresso as well. The breakfast menu is short: panini, bagel, fruit bowl and yoghurt. Lunch offers a variety of panini ($6.25-$7.25), cold sandwiches ($4.25-$5.75), and salads ($4.75-$6.50), as well as sandwich and soup or salad combos, and beer and wine. And yes, the panini are tasty. Service is not the speediest in town, but it's friendly. Seat yourself insider or out— with the only traffic being the MAX trains, it's pretty pleasant. And, they have WiFi.

Serves Stumptown coffee, and has breakfast goodies, sandwiches, WiFi and a fun vibe.

.1 miles

Burgerville USA
1135 NE M L King Blvd at Multnomah
(503) 235-6858
Burgervilles are general pretty good; this particular one can go either way. They use groovy ingredients and regional items, and while it's a little more expensive, it's also a little more tasty.

Cafe Today At the Liberty Center
650 NE Holladay St
(503) 230-9499

Denny's Restaurant
425 NE Hassalo St at Grand
(503) 236-3727

Red Robin America's Gourmet Burgers & Spirits
1139 NE Grand Ave at Multnomah
(503) 231-9223
A cheapest burger here, with fries: $8. The most expensive burger at Burgerville, with fries and a drink: $8.

Subway Sandwiches & Salads
1211 NE Mlk Jr Blvd
(503) 233-8246

.2 miles

Cafe 700
700 NE Multnomah St
(503) 232-9089

Cafe Today At the Lloyd Tower
825 NE Multnomah St, Portland, OR
(503) 231-1772

Wendy's
1421 NE Grand Ave at Clackamas
(503) 249-2911

.3 miles

Chipotle Mexican Grill
710 NE Weidler St at 7th
(503) 287-8242

Eduardo's Margarita Grill
1000 NE Multnomah St
(503) 281-6111

KFC
707 NE Weidler St at 7th
(503) 288-7244

McDonald's
1520 NE Grand Ave at Weidler
(503) 287-7719

Mashita Teriyaki
1612 NE 6th Ave
(503) 335-7185

Taco Bell
725 NE Weidler St
(503) 281-8351

.4 miles

Eagles Thai Restaurant
822 NE Broadway St
(503) 282-1399
a kinda greasy thai place

Mc Menamins Pub
1504 NE Broadway St
(503) 288-9498
great atmosphere, everything else so-so

Mudai Ethiopian Restaurant
801 NE Broadway St
(503) 287-5433
One of the best Ethiopian restaurants in town.

Newport Seafood Grill
1200 NE Broadway St
(503) 493-0100
appetizers, salads & happy hour are great; entrees are underwhelming

Quiznos Sub
1130 NE Holladay St
(503) 467-4500

Stanford's Restaurant & Bar
Multnomah & 9th
(503) 335-0811
an underwhelming chain

Sushimania
914 NE Broadway
(503) 288-5149

Temptations Cafe
1201 NE Lloyd Blvd
(503) 546-2550

The Village Inn Pancake House
1621 NE 10th Ave at Weidler
(503) 284-4141
breakfast all day! Eat with your grandparents!

.5 miles

Doug Fir Restaurant
830 E Burnside St at the Jupiter Hotel
(503) 231-9663
serving food almost round the clock, and a fun goofy bar.

The Farm Cafe
10 Se 7th Ave
(503) 736-3276
dinner only, vegetarian & pescatarian

The Orient Chinese Restaurant
1025 NE Broadway St
(503) 282-5811

Le Pidgeon
738 E Burnside St, Portland, OR
(503) 546-8796
dinner, Sunday brunch. One of the best (and smallest) restaurants in town

.6 miles

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

Echo Restaurant
2225 NE M L King Blvd
(503) 460-3246

Grand Central Bakery & Cafe
1444 NE Weidler St
(503) 288-1614

J & M Cafe
537 Se Ash St
(503) 230-0463

Koji Osakaya Japanese Restaurant
1502 NE Weidler St
(503) 280-0992
sushi is so-so, entrees are better

Milo's City Cafe
1325 NE Broadway St
(503) 288-6456
good breakfasts, awful dinners

Panda Express
1403 NE Weidler St
(503) 287-1118

Pastini
1426 NE Broadway St
(503) 288-4300
quite possibly the worst almost-cheap pasta in town

Pizza Schmizza
1422 NE Broadway St
(503) 517-9981
Slice joint with beer on tap

Restaurant Yuki
1337 NE Broadway
(503) 281-6804
Korean style sushi

Subway Sandwiches & Salads
1301 NE Broadway St
(503) 284-4782

Sushi Land Marinepolis
1409 NE Weidler St
(503) 280-0300
conveyor belt sushi

Taste Tickler
1704 NE 14th Ave
(503) 282-3681

.7 miles

Michael's Italian Beef
1111 Se Sandy Blvd
(503) 230-1899

Nicholas Restaurant
318 Se Grand Ave,
(503) 235-5123

Old Wives Tales Restaurant
1300 E Burnside St
(503) 238-0470
Salad bar and veggie/vegan options - really gives vegetarianism a bad name

Pho Green Papaya/Sunset Factory Teriyaki & Deli
402 Se M L King Blvd,
(503) 231-1431
underwhelming pho joint -- has vegan pho and other vietnamese vegan items

Produce Row Cafe
204 Se Oak St
(503) 232-8355
Cute little pub with great beer selection, and an outdoor patio

Queen of Sheba
2413 NE M L King Blvd
(503) 287-6302
Ethiopian restaurant with a huge selection of vegetarian options

Sheridan Fruit Co
409 SE Martin Luther King Jr
(503) 236-2113
This is a store, obviously, though a great source for fruit & beer. You can get sausages and other grilled items from the grill out front. Very reasonable and very tasty. There are also a few tables outside.

Taco Del Mar
438 SE M L King Blvd at Stark
(503) 232-7695

.8 miles

Broadway Grill & Brewery

1700 NE Broadway St

(503) 284-4460

Lousy service, lousy food, lousy beer

Cadillac Cafe
1801 NE Broadway
(503) 287-4750
Breakfast. Very queer popular.

Cafe Wonder
128 NE Russell St
(503) 493-0371
dinner only. Nice bar.

Foti's Greek Deli
1740 E Burnside St
(503) 232-0274
Excellent gyros

Lemongrass
1705 NE Couch St
(503) 231-5780
Excellent vietnamese restaurant with some huge service problems. Dinner only.

My Father's Place
523 Se Grand Ave
(503) 235-5494
great greasy breakfast joint

Russell Street Bar-B-Que
325 NE Russell St
(503) 528-8224
BBQ for people who don't know any better. And vegetarians.

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...

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

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