The Florida Room

435 N Killingsworth St, Portland, 97217
*This is a Plain Jane favorite.*

You know what kicks ass about the Florida Room? Everything.

I got hooked on the Flo' Ro' when I lived two blocks away and was semi-unemployed. I probably spent more time at this bar than at home during those five months; hence it became my Cheers. Now I live an inconvenient distance away (i.e. farther than stumbling), but I keep going back. Here are just a few of the reasons why:

1. 3-7pm happy hour every day. That's right, every day, including weekends. $1.50 for a pint of Pabst during happy hour. $1 cans of Old German all the time.
2. This place is all about the art. No, seriously! It's weird art, but art nonetheless. Take for example the rotating front window display to the right of the door. Often features nude barbies in compromising positions, but every week a new twist. Or there are the hand-painted tables inside. Or the hand-drawn art on the chalkboard beer menu behind the bar. One of their employees does that, and she's freakin' awesome. Or the generic landscape paintings all over the place that someone added the Hamms bear and other cartoon characters into. Holy crap, that's genius!
3. Speaking of art, they even allow you to create some of your own: the bathroom walls are painted in chalkboard paint and chalk is provided. This often ends in a lot of genitalia drawings and swear words, but every so often there's something original and worthwhile. Not that I have anything against genitalia or swear words.
4. Bacon-infused vodka. Okay, I've never tried it, but I like that they have it. But it doesn't stop there, folks. They are, in fact, quite famous for their Bloody Marys. "Church of the Bloody Mary" menu. Check it out.
5. There's a covered, outdoor patio for smokers that's semi-enclosed in plastic during the cooler months and is equipped with overhead heaters. So considerate! And did I mention you can bring your DOG to the patio? Hell yeah. Why leave your best friend at home when s/he can kick it at the bar with you? As long as s/he is well-behaved and gets along with other dogs and people, that is.
6. And I can't neglect to mention the peeps: I adore the staff! They are funky and funny and quirky and kind. Unless you are a jerk or creeping out the customers, in which case they will not hesitate to 86 you. As it should be, in my opinion.

Gravy

3957 N Mississippi Ave, Portland, 97227

I ordered--and could only eat 1/4th of--the scramble with ham, cheese and onion. Ginormous! And excellent. Came with a huge patty of hash browns.

The coffee's on the weak side, but they let you drink it while you wait for a table. It was super busy, as are most brunch places in P-town. I was glad we got there before the rush; we only had to wait 10 minutes.

Not eaten but ogled was the oatmeal brulée: a mound of thick oatmeal topped with fruit and something sugary. Looked interesting & will have to try it sometime.

Was relieved there was nothing too weird on the menu...except perhaps veggie gravy, which my companion had, and he seemed satisfied with it.

Overall: would hit it again, but next time will plan to split something.

Eddie's Pizza

1210 N Killingsworth St, Portland, 97217

Awesome pizza, kick-ass wings, and HUGE, HUGE, HUGE portions!

Have eaten here twice. First time was pizza with thick & crunchy crust (they also have thin crust pizza) and buffalo wings (sauce: mild with garlic). At first was confused about the price of the wings and the fact that you could order just 3 of them, but when they came the mystery was solved. These ain't no little drummettes, my friends. These are real, enormous chicken wings. The "mild" sauce was plenty spicy. Delish! The pizza, too, was impressive. As was the red wine.

The second time was for lunch, and my companions and I discovered that in addition to great pizza and wings, they have scrumptious, enormous sandwiches and fresh, gigantic salads. One thing you cannot accuse Eddie of is skimping on the portions. And yet the prices are still so very reasonable!

Speaking of Eddie, he was there in the flesh both times I went in. There and actually working (as opposed to some owners who merely lurk in the guise of "supervising"). He was friendly and personal and asked after us, but without being creepy or overbearing.

The restaurant is newly renovated, too, with a faux gas fireplace that really does blow hot air into the room, gorgeous tiling, spacious booths covered in red vinyl (I am such a sucker for red vinyl booths!), and an overall pleasant, open atmosphere.

There are only two things I think could use improvement. First, they only offer Barq's rootbeer. Yuck! I know a lot of people love pizza & beer, but for me it's pizza and rootbeer, and I would to see them offer a bottled one like ICB or Thomas Kemper. Second, the timing of the food was off. First one person's sandwich came, then a few minutes later another person's, then a basket of fries, then a salad...you get the idea. It took probably 10 minutes for all the food to get on the table. Would've been nice to have had it all come at roughly the same time.

The verdict: This is a great value. Good food, huge portions, reasonable prices.

Pix Patisserie

3901 N Williams Ave., Portland, 97227

Trudged through several inches of snow for half an hour to get to Pix today. The good news was that they were open, the bad news was that none of the bakers showed up due to the snow, so I did not get the croissant I had come for. Poop.

This was my second visit to this Pix location (the other is on SE Division & 34th). The first time I had a hot chocolate and grilled panini sandwich. It was an artichoke and red pepper panini with some kind of cheese thrown in, but they used pickled artichokes that completely overpowered the other ingredients and made the bread soggy. Yuck! The hot chocolate was what brought me back today.

On this visit it really hit home how grossly overpriced Pix is. $18, which included a very modest tip, bought my companion and I two hot chocolates, a breakfast sandwich (cheddar, bacon and tomato on brioche) and a slice of undercooked quiche. There's nothing that grosses me out more than runny eggs. Neither my companion nor I were satiated by our small meal, nor can I say that the food was worth the exorbitant price.

And I don't understand in the least why they serve on the side the most disgusting olive/pickle mix that can be had; it tastes of nothing but vinegar. Surely a single edible olive is better than a small dish full of inedible ones?

I have to say that I was a little disappointed in my hot chocolate today as well. On my first visit, it was just the right temperature and had a lovely, thick layer of heavy, homemade whipped cream floating on top. But today I got hardly any whipped cream at all, and the pieces of crushed cocoa-covered hazelnuts used as a garnish, while they looked nice, did nothing good for the drinkability of the beverage. I ended up fishing all the little pieces out with my spoon.

Maybe I'm just grumpy due to limited mobility brought about by the snowfall. I'm willing to give Pix one more chance: the memory of that first hot chocolate haunts me, and I still have to try their croissants. But I'll steer clear of the sandwiches and quiche from now on. Totally not worth it.

Thai Food Café

833 N. Killingsworth St., Portland, 97217

Shortly after this place opened, about a month ago, one of my roommates was walking by and happened to glance in through the window. To his surprise, a short woman standing behind the counter waved at him. Not wanting to be rude, my roommie waved back. The woman was quickly joined by a 50-something, silver-haired man, who beckoned my roommate to enter. Again, not wanting to be rude, and curious now about who these people were (did they recognize him from somewhere?), he entered.

Turns out the wavers were the restaurant's owners trying to get new people into their place. An interesting tactic. The roommate was on his way somewhere and couldn't stop to eat, but before jetting out the door he mumbled a promise to come back sometime.

As far as I know, the roommate hasn't returned to Thai Food Café to eat, but I've been in twice. Both times I had a joygasm over the Tom Kha soup, which is far better than the Pad Thai Kitchen's already excellent Tom Kha. Thai Food Café's mild chicken Tom Kha is flavorful, complex, and still spicy enough to make me sweat without setting my tongue on fire. How did they do that?!

The only other dish I've sampled is the Crab Fried Rice, which sounded excellent but was a disappointment to me. To be fair, the Crab Fried Rice is subtle and shouldn't have been tasted after I'd been slurping on the Tom Kha. But there also wasn't much fried about it, and the frozen Five Vegetable Medley in the rice put me off.

My dinner companion on my first visit, however, seemed quite happy with the salad rolls, and though she found the pumpkin in the pumpkin curry not cooked *quite* enough, she said she was glad at least that it was not overcooked.

I did enjoy the ambiance. It's kind of a funky, festive, cafeteria-style eatery, with plastic tablecloths, kitschy decor and bright colors everywhere...very appropriate to North Portland. The local jazz station plays at an acceptable volume that adds to the atmosphere without drowning out the patrons' voices.

They're open every day from 11am to 9pm, and with house specials like Flaming Beef (served on fire) and Evil Jungle Noodles, daily lunch specials for $6.50 and a bomb bowl of Tom Kah, this place is a decent choice for PCC Cascade students.

Pause

5101 N Interstate Ave, Portland, 97217

Probably the best burger and fries I've ever had in my life. E-VER. And a huge plate of it will only cost you $8; no need to order an appetizer, though if you are in the mood for one I recommend the crab and shrimp con queso dip.

Pause stands out because it makes everything in-house, from molding their own patties (no frozen meat here!) to hand-cutting their fries, to the homemade chipotle mayo (which I didn't try because it showed up unexpected and therefore suspect on my bun, but which I'm sure is excellent).

The thing is, what I regularly order at Pause I love, but there's really nothing else on the menu that tempts me...except perhaps the mac and cheese, if not ordered with rosemary and broccolini. I don't know if they do this on purpose so they can have a relatively small menu with something that appeals to everyone, or whether they just have really eclectic taste.

As for atmosphere, I give it an A-. The layout inside is strange and not very feng-shui, but there are plenty of booths and everything's clean. The interior also manages to come across as industrial and warm at the same time. The bar is smoke-free, so you can actually taste your food (big plus, though after Jan. 1 all bars will be smoke-free anyway). There's a great outdoor seating area for the warmer months too.

And yes, Pause does take-out.

The verdict: When I'm in the mood for a burger or even just a basket of the best fries EVER, Pause is where you'll find me.

The Creamery *CLOSED*

1224 N Killingsworth, Portland, 97217

I was walking to the MAX one morning, and one of The Creamery's employees (or perhaps the owner himself?) was standing out front handing menus to passers-by. I glanced at it, saw they offer a full traditional English breakfast, and put it on my list of places to check out.

This morning I finally got the opportunity to breakfast at this little cafe, and I have two words for you: Grease Bomb.

On the plus side, the grilled tomatoes were cooked just right, the hash browns and baked beans were tasty, the hot chocolate was delicious enough to entice my lactose-semi-intolerant breakfast companion to the very last drop, the staff was eager to please, the music selection was eclectic and pleasing, and all the grease did a good job of lubing up my digestive tract for my morning BM.

On the down side, most everything was overcooked. If the bacon had been any crispier I would've chipped a tooth on it. The fried toast was fried all the way through rather than just crisped on the outside and resembled an enormous, grease-laden crouton. The scrambled eggs bordered on rubbery.

My experience made me sad; I could see how hard everyone was working, how concerned they all were that my companion and I had a pleasant experience. I also like the menu in theory, as it contains the traditional standards for American and English breakfasts that I love.

I think if the cook learns to tone it down a bit, they start making the house coffee a little stronger and they extend their hours to catch the coming-home crowd, this place has the potential to be a convenient hot spot for commuters walking to and from the MAX and buses.

*Note: since the writing of this review, The Creamery has become The Fish & Chip House. I have not tried it out since the name change.