Portland Whirlwind: Southern Style
Hey y’all! Hope you’re ready for some soul food. I’m out in North Carolina visiting family, so my southern drawl is starting to creep out and I’m feeling like it’s high time we shared Screen Door restaurant and Pine State Biscuits with you. These were two of the biggest highlights of our PDX trip– who knew Pacific Northwesterners could do Southern so well??
Our Screen Door supper was hands down the BEST meal we had in Portland– which says a lot, considering all the amazing food we ate that week. We had to wait about an hour for a table, even though it was only Thursday, but the experience was absolutely worth every minute of the wait. We started off with hushpuppies and a couple of cleverly named cocktails (mine was Texas Black Gold), then eagerly got to work on buttermilk fried chicken, mac n’ cheese, catfish, collard greens, and cornbread. I also had this amazing salad with figs and nuts, but that was only so I wouldn’t feel quite as guilty about the other stuff. The mac n’ cheese was nothing short of life-changing. It was seriously epic. I think it actually beats the pants off the mac at Taste and Bad to the Bone.
The restaurant itself belies the down-home roots of the cuisine. It’s dimly lit (hence the not-so-magical pictures), with lots of warm woods and simple, industrial lighting. It feels more chic and urban than you might expect from a place where half the stuff on the menu is fried… but it totally works. We finished with an apple crisp for dessert (not quite on par with my own version, but good) and made it back to the Ace just in time to slip into our delirious food coma.
The next morning, believe it or not, we were ready to make the trek to Pine State Biscuits. It was actually afternoon by the time we managed to get up, get ready, and get to the other side of the city by bus, but it was still technically breakfast. Pine State makes some pretty fantastic biscuits. And sausage. Even around 1:00 PM there was still a line practically outside the door! I have a feeling the four or five small tables inside are packed from opening till closing. We devoured a couple biscuits and then set out to explore the city.
Mmmmmm, biscuits.
- Jessica
screen door is one of the places that we wanted to go but didn’t have a chance to!! looks sooooo amazing. oh and i’m craving biscuits now!!!
j.
Comment by jennifer — November 17, 2010 #
[...] Bistro, lattes at Stumptown Coffee, afternoon snacks at Clyde Common, southern food at Screen Door, more awesome breakfast at Pine State Biscuits, sandwiches at Kenny & Zuke’s, [...]
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