Everyday things that are different in Portland (restaurant, pricing)

[davemess10]

Originally Posted by backdrifter

I've never heard of a long john or a Boston cream donut, nor have I ever seen the 3rd one down. It just looks like a larger and more doughnut-y eclair.

Really?

Voodoo even came up with their own Boston Creme the Portland Creme.

[Yankeemama]

We have a great number of food carts here in PDX but actual food quality seems better in Seattle, San Francisco and I can't wait to try some amazing Korean taco trucks in L.A. when I go visit next month. Overall, though, it's nice to have options here. Just don't expect the same authenticity as other West coast cities. Good thing we have parking in neighborhoods near the trucks so that makes things convenient, too.

[hamellr]

Originally Posted by Yankeemama

We have a great number of food carts here in PDX but actual food quality seems better in Seattle, San Francisco and I can't wait to try some amazing Korean taco trucks in L.A. when I go visit next month. Overall, though, it's nice to have options here. Just don't expect the same authenticity as other West coast cities. Good thing we have parking in neighborhoods near the trucks so that makes things convenient, too.

I would 180 degrees disagree with you on this. I'd say that each of the cities you mentioned may have a handful of restaurants that are better quality most everything in Portland. But I feel that the overall quality of food and dining options is firmly in Portland's court.

To put it another way, I have to try hard - or visit a nationwide chain, to find bad or even mediocre food in Portland. If I pick a random place in Portland without doing any research, I'm pretty sure to get a good meal.

When traveling, I constantly feel spoiled by the quality of food here. When I find a restaurant in another city (especially Midwest and East Coast,) that even embraces "local, organic," I nearly have a heart attack. I find that Yelp and Urbanspoon reviews tend to be far more inconsistent when traveling then they are in Portland. For instance take a look at Pittsburg restaurant reviews, you'll have totally opposite reviews for the same place on the same day.

I have yet to find a single BBQ place in Dallas that even comes close to a place like Busters here in PDX, much less Clays off of Division. I'm sure one must exist, but I've been there three times in the past 8 months and tried about a dozen highly reviewed locations. I did end up finding the greatest steak ever about 30 miles south of Dallas though.

Now I will admit that this maybe due to the fact that we have more quality dining in proportion to our size then most other cities. It's also not fair that we have a pretty darn good cooking school here, and a large portion of it's graduates stay in Portland.

One thing I have learned, hotel front desk people in other cities rarely know good food.

I feel that Seattle has gotten better in the past 5 years or so but you have to stick to Fremont, Downtown, Greenlake and Queen Ann neighborhoods. SF is coming up on PDX too but still has a long ways to go and like Seattle - once you're out of the downtown area things start going downhill.

And LA... well, I'm not willing to quite pay the prices, or wait in the line to get some of the "great" food I've been told about there.

That all being said, if you send me a list of places to try in each of the above cities (no seafood, everything else is game,) I'll try them and will freely admit I'm wrong. I'm scheduled to be in LA for a couple of weeks real soon so I need some ideas anyways

[soonmoving1]

Originally Posted by Yankeemama

We have a great number of food carts here in PDX but actual food quality seems better in Seattle, San Francisco and I can't wait to try some amazing Korean taco trucks in L.A. when I go visit next month. Overall, though, it's nice to have options here. Just don't expect the same authenticity as other West coast cities. Good thing we have parking in neighborhoods near the trucks so that makes things convenient, too.

Do they have food carts in Seattle, SF please?

[Yankeemama]

Ok, I love a challenge. First off, S.F. and Seattle have more James Beard award winning chefs compared to our sweet Portland. Let's remember that Alice Waters kicked off a movement. There is also that Thomas Keller guy! Not to mention so many other relevant, significant, International Food Peeps that call S.F. Bay Area home. Seattle also has a thriving restaurant scene that the NY Times finally made some recent note of in last week's 36 Hour in series. L.A. does have great restaurants though the true love or food is nothing like it is here or S.F. or Seattle. Different culture. Enough said. Check out Sunset Magazine's most recent edition which discusses this exact topic. I was just having this discussion with my husband last night and was surprised that my new Sunset had an article contemplating this really life changing topic. . We are fortunate to have the time to worry about this stuff. I went to a food truck pod on Belmont in the 40's today and did try Fifty Licks' Carmelized Apple which I think is amazing flavor. Had a Violetta burger and tried Hubby's Gorgonzola Fries... perfect! I just wish we had more food trucks like these. I also enjoy Ruby Jewel ice cream, though I know their store front is not a food truck, but close. I need to ask my chef buddy in L.A. for rec.s because honestly, I know very little about L.A.. I grew up in S.F. and spent little time in So.Cal... like another state. I wish a Greek American from Astoria, Queens would open up a food cart here because that's what I miss from N.Y. more than anything else... and my favorite Uncle!

Originally Posted by hamellr

I would 180 degrees disagree with you on this. I'd say that each of the cities you mentioned may have a handful of restaurants that are better quality most everything in Portland. But I feel that the overall quality of food and dining options is firmly in Portland's court.

To put it another way, I have to try hard - or visit a nationwide chain, to find bad or even mediocre food in Portland. If I pick a random place in Portland without doing any research, I'm pretty sure to get a good meal.

When traveling, I constantly feel spoiled by the quality of food here. When I find a restaurant in another city (especially Midwest and East Coast,) that even embraces "local, organic," I nearly have a heart attack. I find that Yelp and Urbanspoon reviews tend to be far more inconsistent when traveling then they are in Portland. For instance take a look at Pittsburg restaurant reviews, you'll have totally opposite reviews for the same place on the same day.

I have yet to find a single BBQ place in Dallas that even comes close to a place like Busters here in PDX, much less Clays off of Division. I'm sure one must exist, but I've been there three times in the past 8 months and tried about a dozen highly reviewed locations. I did end up finding the greatest steak ever about 30 miles south of Dallas though.

Now I will admit that this maybe due to the fact that we have more quality dining in proportion to our size then most other cities. It's also not fair that we have a pretty darn good cooking school here, and a large portion of it's graduates stay in Portland.

One thing I have learned, hotel front desk people in other cities rarely know good food.

I feel that Seattle has gotten better in the past 5 years or so but you have to stick to Fremont, Downtown, Greenlake and Queen Ann neighborhoods. SF is coming up on PDX too but still has a long ways to go and like Seattle - once you're out of the downtown area things start going downhill.

And LA... well, I'm not willing to quite pay the prices, or wait in the line to get some of the "great" food I've been told about there.

That all being said, if you send me a list of places to try in each of the above cities (no seafood, everything else is game,) I'll try them and will freely admit I'm wrong. I'm scheduled to be in LA for a couple of weeks real soon so I need some ideas anyways

[Yankeemama]

Ummm, YES, they do.
QUOTE=soonmoving1;19664727]Do they have food carts in Seattle, SF please?[/quote]

[EnricoV]

Originally Posted by Yankeemama

Ok, I love a challenge. First off, S.F. and Seattle have more James Beard award winning chefs compared to our sweet Portland. Let's remember that Alice Waters kicked off a movement. There is also that Thomas Keller guy! Not to mention so many other relevant, significant, International Food Peeps that call S.F. Bay Area home. Seattle also has a thriving restaurant scene that the NY Times finally made some recent note of in last week's 36 Hour in series. L.A. does have great restaurants though the true love or food is nothing like it is here or S.F. or Seattle. Different culture.

How ironic, considering we contributed James Beard. And Thomas Keller is not in San Francisco, The French Laundry is in Yountville, in the Napa Valley. Which understandably, does have a great concentration of great restaurants. But again, not San Francisco. Hubert Keller is in San Francisco, though. But sure, San Francisco has great, high-end dining. How much of that do you or I do, though? Me -- it'll be never. I don't like the pretension. It's the quality of the day-to-day choices that makes much more of a difference to me.

[EnricoV]

Originally Posted by soonmoving1

Do they have food carts in Seattle, SF please?

Some, but not nearly so many. I know that Seattle has made it a lot tougher on licensing, which has slowed their growth. Not sure about SF. I think it might be in the same situation.

[TDNY]

The food in Portland now vs when I first started visiting in the 90's is better by leaps and bounds. I like the food scene now, and wasn't impressed at all back then.

I love the fierce pride of Oregonians for their locally produced food, but I haven't yet had anything raised locally that struck me as better than many other places. I haven't eaten everything so far but I'm trying!

I'm certainly open to suggestions.

[imphouse]

Coming from a drought area, I always get a kick out of the drinking water fountains downtown (and a couple randomly around in other places - like Mississippi) that are constantly running for the benefit of pedestrians. How do those work - water is recycled as it runs back through or what?