Cheap Eats PDX, pt.1: Serratto

I don't get out for it often, and don't know how widespread it is in other cities, but here in Portland you can eat for a ridiculously cheap amount of jack by hitting happy hours at various restaurant bars. And here it's not just divey bars offering semi-petrified hard boiled eggs floating like a science experiment in a jar behind the bar. Practically every high end restaurant in town has some sort of cheap eats. Usually it is a discount on their appetizer menu, or a special happy hour menu. This is the first in what I promise will be an ongoing report on how tio get yur food groove on for less. One of the best in town that I've come across is at Serratto on NW 21st & Kearney. We stopped in yesterday for a quick bite. The burger above, with smoked bacon, white cheddar, house-made bbq sauce and crispy fried onions and a nice size pile of frites was a mere six bucks! And it was actually one of the best burgers I've had in town, perfectly cooked, a good quality hand-formed beef patty, meltingly cheesy, although next time I'll have them hold the bbq sauce. It was good but I'm not a big fan of that particular condiment. It was a crazy bargain! Serratto has a ton of other tempting options you can snag from 4:30-6:00 every day, including pastas, pizzas, french onion soup, etc. We opted for a really delicious bowl of manila clams steamed with saffron, white wine, and other well chosen flavoring agents ($6), an excellent beet, pear, and chevre on baby greens salad ($4), and their crispy fried calamari with a lemon-caper remoulade ($5) that was slightly underdone but if it was made correctly it would be a killer deal. Let's see...four different (not small) plates of satisfaction at one of Portland's best restaurants for $21. Let me hear you say "Hell yeah" people!!

Down-@-In-N-Out

Living here in the great NW, particularly Portland, we sometimes feel like we miss out on things the rest of the country takes for granted. Not that we want them. Tornados ripping through our trailer parks? Nah, Oklahoma seems to have a pretty good handle on that. A billion cicadas emerging from the earth to serenade us? Better Ohio than here. A very "attractive" front lawn whose main design features are gravel and cactus? Have at it, Phoenix. Then there's the legend of the IN-N-OUT burger. Now that is something I've been curious about. Lots of my foodie friends here are expat Cali denizens, and all I hear about is how much they miss the great fast food burgers at IN-N-OUT, they're so good, the fries are awesome, blah, blah, blah. I have to admit, having a soft spot for decent fast food (is that an oxymoron?) on occasion, and being one who if he hears about something good to eat immediately develops a craving for it, I was feeling kind of left out. Well, seeing as how the nearest franchise is about 500 miles south of here, there is somewhat of a logistical problem.

But it just so happened that w and I were in SoCal visiting some friends of hers last weekend, within about a five minute drive of an IN-N-OUT joint. Jackpot! I immediately was talking non-stop about how we have to go. When can we go? Are we there yet? Basically letting my inner five-year-old run free. So, if nothing else but to shut me up, we went. I have to admit on entering, even at 3pm on a Sunday afternoon, the barely controlled chaos inside is amazing to behold. People lined up 15 deep at the register, the teenage slaves on the line hammering out orders, watching the potato dude slamming spuds through the french fry cutter, the expediter shouting out pick up order numbers to overweight, overwrought parents...pretty awesome. So we ordered, me, on the advice of our experienced friend, getting a double-double, fries, and a chocolate shake. We took it outside, where we could be closer to the relaxing sound of cars and semis roaring by on Highway 101 about 50 feet away (which, believe it or not, really was preferable to hearing screaming kids inside), and grabbed a table. The burgers are pretty tempting to look at, the shake decent, the fries a somewhat underdone but well-salted almost golden. But after taking one bite, then another, I can only ask, "What the fuck is the big deal?" Yeah, it was freshly made. The condiments were pretty good, the tomato was actually red, but this is what has my friends pining for their ex-home state? I need some help here. Am I missing something? Or is this some big cult where if you go several times something in the food dulls your tastebuds to the point where average fast food seems like three-star dining? Hey Cali, like humidity on an August afternoon in Manhattan or rednecks in Texas, you can keep 'em!

Praise be to Burgers!

Can there be better news for those of us who worship at the altar of a great burger and fries? Especially when the supreme creators of the Burger, those Gods of Grilled Ground Beef at Castagna Café have just let me know they are going to be opening for lunch starting June 12th! Let the angels rejoice, because more chances to eat their divine burgers and heavenly fries are to be celebrated. Owners Kevin and Monique are also working on some specialty sandwiches with house roasted meats and a few other variations from their regular café menu. Lunch service is going to be starting June 12th, and will be served Tuesday through Saturday. The hours are tentatively planned to run from 11:30-2:30. I'll have more details as they become available.