woody "doggerdaddy" a.'s Profile

For all intents and purposes I was pretty "Meh" on Lucca.  The location worked for our group (walkable), the prices were right (moderate) and the scene was simply alright.  Yet, something about this place left me wanting more.  

I'm not sure if it was the quite the place i was looking for on this particular night or what but i was able to pick out several things that i did not like about it and very few that i did.   You're almost there Lucca, almost.  

Gripes:  Too many kids, not enough challenging food selections, average atmosphere.

Pros:  Giant pork chop (albeit a little too salty), Muscles Appetizer was good for the money.

All in all it was a good meal at a good price I just wanted it to be something that its not.

The 2nd edition of the Blitz empire is a perfect fit for SE Portland.  While the Downtown location beckons the ribbed shirt, cell phone on the hip crowd, Blitz Ladd is a more comfortable place to catch a Blazer game or just stop in for a good happy hour on the way home.  

Great pizzas and sandwiches, tons of beers on tap and super friendly servers.  

This is also a huge space which gave me pause giving a full 5-stars.  Even with 100 people there it feels a little empty.  Given the right event, game or rocking friday night its a 5-star for sure.

We, being the business I run and myself, had a run in with the owner of this place.  I have reconsidered my original 5-star rating purely based on his unprofessional and down right abusive treatment of us honestly trying to set up a fun party here.  We were accused of not respecting the fact that "He knows how to run an *ucking party!".  We were simply trying to gather information so we could tell our guests the right things.  

Thanks Frank.  You made our decision on where to take the party a simple one.  

Don't bother with this place.  I thought we'd found a gem and instead a turd.

This is not a not a review on the bagels.  If you could get bagels of this quality anywhere else - do it.  They are the best.  Perhaps that's why the owner only hired the lazy,  the unfriendly and the inept.  

Woah man, why get so bent outta shape over a bagel?  Point taken.  It's just a bagel, but when you have your order delivered wrong 3 of 4 times something needs to change.  

The benefit of the doubt:
It seems like Kettlemans is attempting to right the serious wrongs in their system by installing a new POS system.  My sincere hope is that since they no longer have to hand write orders that it will get better.  Where I see it going wrong is the people who operate it.  

It seems to me that anything beyond a simple plain bagel  and plain cream cheese is far too complex for these people to get straight and you should steer clear.   Unless of course you find it comical and have time to wait while they remake your breakfast.  I am way past this point, obviously.

2 words:  WHISKY WEDNESDAY!

a few more words.  The owners are great, bar is comfy and whisky is $2 off on wednesday... Where else can you get a Jamison for under $3?

Nowhere.

Downstairs and the back porch are the best, up is a little "different"

I read the previous reviews before taking my girlfriend and mom to Saylers and i must say, they are pretty spot on.   I'll just break my experience down by category.

Atmosphere:  A bit Denny's meets E. Oregon.  Big booths, big people, big everything.  Not alot of style per se, but still somehow approprite for the goings on, ie Meat Consumption.

Service:  We were promptly seated (arrived WED eve @ 7p, no reservation) and were given tiny glasses of water, and menus.  With in a few minutes our order was taken, but then we realized that we were not offered drinks, apps, etc.  I flagged down our waitress and asked for some onion rings (1/2 order for 3 people was too big!) and coctails, wine etc.  At this point the waitress seems to "hate us" as we were now "those people".  The rest of the service beyond this was excellent, except that i could see the staff in the waitress station eating (presumably on break) and that cracked me a little.

Food (starters):  The relish plate  was great.  The sour cream dip stuff was better.  Little corn, carrots, olives and celery were yummy.  Salads were also ample and though iceburgy still good.  The bread served was warm, soft, and tasty as well.   Our onion rings were  the feature of the early dishes.  They were like nothing i've had.  You just have to have them.  They are also cheap.  

Main Course:   (1) 12-oz Fillet Mignon, (1) 9-oz Fillet, (1) baked salmon.

My 12-oz steak was fantastic.  I assume the 9-oz steak was equally good judging from my Mom not complaining (which is legendary and frequent).  The salmon was met with indifference and a "It's ok."

We are not food snobs by any means but do enjoy spending good money on good food.  Total Bill $82 with tip (2 alcohol beverages, 1 coke)

Not bad.