Portland's Restaurant

Recommends

minxster

Joined 5 years ago

Good food, good service, and convenient public transit!. A friend and I had tickets to the Suns game and decided to get some dinner before the game but didn?t want to deal with the hassle of the bars near the arena so we agreed to meet at Portlands instead. Fantastic idea!! The place was fairly quiet and we quickly got a table in the bar and had dinner and drinks. The owner(!!) brought our food out to us personally and asked us if we were heading downtown (indeed we were!) and he told us we could catch the downtown DASH bus for free right outside the restaurant and it would drop us off right in front of the arena. We decided to try it and, wow, was it a snap! We were the only ones on the bus and like promised it dropped us off in front of the arena after a quick and scenic 15 min ride. We had a laugh at the game traffic along the way! We took a peddle cab back to our cars after the game and went home happy campers! Downtown is cool again!

Recommends

purrkittykitty

Joined 5 years ago

Forgotten Gem. Wow, with light rail construction almost done you would think this place would be packed! Easy to get to, great parking, diverse menu, fun wines by the glass. The food was great, the happy hour specials were good and the atmosphere was awesome! Urban, classy but casual. Organic locally grown produce, wow! The Feta Walnut & Spinach Salad and Vine Ripe Tomatoes & Mozzarella went great with the Peppe Rosso pizza. We also tried the Parmesan Fries, hooked for life. I can see why they won best french fries! We had a fun time. Thanks Portland's and Thank you staff for your great service! So much better than some of the other places downtown. Friendly, attentive and efficient. Definitely a great place to hang out!

Recommends

aliusman

Joined 6 years ago

Best Pizza. Very nice pizza and other stuff. Customer services are great. Wine is not as good but fair enough. Resturant environment is also very nice

Recommends

sbspfga

Joined 6 years ago

Only lunches. The beer selection is limited, but they do have good beers for what type of bar they are. They cannot be compared to a Yardhouse because the atmosphere is just different from that of any local breweries that have over 100 beers on tap. Service in the bar has not been as good, it does seem like regulars have a royal treatment and tend to be over-bearing because they feel like they own the place, all the while demanding a lot more from the bartender. Lunches are great in the bar, the young bartender is so friendly and makes it easier to go back to work in the afternoon.

Doesn't Recommend

seeyurself

Joined 6 years ago

Not for me. Beer selection over- rated. Going here, though, I discovered Carly's Bistro just down the street that night, that has a real beer selection and a better view of downtown Phoenix.

Doesn't Recommend

jdolphingirl

Joined 8 years ago

Beer selection overrated. I went here because they won the citysearch best beer bar. Was I ever disappointed in the beer selection . I can think of two other places in town that kick their butt, Papago Brewing with 30 taps and 500 bottled beers and the Yardhouse with over 100 taps.

The crowd was on the older side also, not really my scene. Food was very good however. I will say this, given that there is nothing else in the downtown area that is any good, if you are in the area I would recomend it, however, if you want a huge beer selection, go elsewhere.

Recommends

guntheressen

Joined 6 years ago

Awesome Pork Chop!. I Went to portlands on a Saturday Night recentl to entertain some out of town guests. We had a 6:30 dinner reservation, and were seated promptly by an attractive blonde woman. Our waiter was well spoken young man who had some wonderful suggestions from the menu. and managed to make a wine reccomendation that complimented all of the meals on the table.

I had the "Cowboy Chop" Having lived on a hog farm, I am usually dissappointed by restruant pork dishes. I was pleaseantly surprised, the chop was tender, cooked perfectly, and had a wonderful apple sauce on it. My date got the beef Stew which she remarked was also wonderful. One of our guests ordered the Ostrich, which I sampled, and I will be ordering it the next time I go! The Ostrich was served with asparagus, and the texture of the meat was more like beef than anything. We all ordered different desserts. The tiramisu was awesome, and the choclate tort was positively decadent, the Apple Strudel is as close to the real thing as you will find in Phoenix. The bill came, and for four adults eating dinner with Drinks and dessert, I found the price to be quite reasonable.

Doesn't Recommend

bisbee

Joined 7 years ago

I have a feeling the service is great for the tenants or regulars, BUT.... It was "First Friday (09/01/06)", the restaurant had three tables occupied; so it was slow. We were asked to wait (over 5 minutes) for a four top to be cleared ~ This was the start of our ordeal. The Hostess (may have been an owner and definitely with child) sat us and we asked if we could get some water and she responded in a lofty tone that the waitor woud take care of this. The waitor came over in a good time and was pleasant (positive). We placed our order and asked that the order come out at the same time since three of the four in our group were having appetizers instead of a main course. The waitor informed us that the main course (the special of the day) would take 5 minutes longer even though we asked that it would come out together. We agreed to this, but 15 minutes later and three of us were finished while the fourth had not received his meal. We asked to cancel the order and the waitor kept saying it will be right out, but by this time 40 minutes later we just wanted to leave. The waitor told us that he had told us it would be 10 to 15 minutes. All I can say is four of us heard 5 minutes and we all felt the waitor was just covering up his mess. The food we recieved was good (a positive). We have been to Portlands at least 6 times over the past year. While the food has always been good the service has ALWAYS been Marginal to Poor. After this experience we will not visit this less-than-friendly establishment again. It is such a shame, they have a good location and food.

Doesn't Recommend

can8tv

Joined 7 years ago

Just don't get it. Since moving to Phoenix in early June, have been to Portland's twice. I just don't get it how it gets rated as a great happy hour. Sat at bar and ordered appetizers and it was like pulling teeth. Bartender not friendly both times, service slow, food okay, and the acoustics are awful. What it has going is a great location.

Recommends

srphx

Joined 7 years ago

Great great great!. Portland's is an all-around great dining experience. The dining room is small enough that you receive great personal attention from your server. Our waiter was very knowledgeable about the menu and the extensive wine list. Our wine selection couldn't have been better paired with our meals, and the prices were in line with the quality, unlike some places that like to inflate prices. This is a great place for a date - either in jeans or dressed up. The bar was rocking the night we were there, but the restaurant proved to be quiet enough for conversation. All around a terrific experience. My only complaint is that the fish I ordered was overcooked. Perhaps that's my own fault for ordering fish in the desert ...?