Lorri "work. eat. yelp. sleep." E.'s Profile

This is a great addition to NE Portland along Alberta St.  Aviary brings a creative flair to tapas, with an Asian inspired twist and very creative dishes.  

The plates were beautifully prepared, with the food presented like precious little artworks on the plate.  Beautiful food is always an added bonus.  So the presentation gets 5 stars.  

Onto the food - The recipes are very creative.  Possibly a little too creative for some who prefer ordinary recipes, but if you like a melange of flavors and unexpected dishes, this might become one of your favorite restaurants.  I enjoyed pretty much all of the dishes we sampled (crab, pumpkin, pear salad, pork ribs), but my husband only like about a quarter of what we ordered, so this place was a huge disappointment to him.  He also said the beef (which I didn't try) was fatty and tough.  Since that was his main entree, he left pretty much feeling still hungry.  I felt like the place has "Iron Chef" style foodie ideas and recipes, but like Iron Chef -some of the pairing of ingredients works, and sometimes it is just a little off.  I think they pulled off most of it, to be honest, but like I said, if you aren't into the more unique dishes this might not be your place.  

I hope they extend their menu, or mix things up from time to time.  The menu seemed small.  Not to compare them to Toro Bravo (but I can't help it since this seemed like a tapas style restaurant), but Toro's menu has about 30 more items on it--if you are doing smaller plates it is nice to have more of a variety.  I know most restaurants can't stock a zillion ingredients or they would go out of business, I am just hoping they will branch out some or offer more seasonal recipes.  Food - 2 stars from my hungry hubby, 4 stars from me.

Our service was just fine, friendly, and a little slow at spots but I think they may still be working the kinks out.  Service - 4 stars.

Ambiance - The dining room is average side, concrete and wood, so it is open and loud.  They should remove the boxes of wine and beer stored under the wall of seats along the back wall.  Diners sitting in those seats will end up kicking the box under their chair all night, which is uncomfortable.  Ambiance - 3 stars

Overall, I would give this place a 3 to 4 star review.  I will go ahead and round it up to 4 as I think they are probably still getting things worked out, and will improve as they figure some things out.  I would try them again once they have been opened a bit longer.

I have an old house built in 1900, which means a never ending stream of home maintenance and repairs.  You know how it is, sometimes when you least expect it, you need to fork over fat cash for a home maintenance expense.  

Like the time the 60 foot pear tree fell over and took out an entire stretch of my cedar privacy fence. $Cha-Ching!  Or the shoddy electrical work that means half the lights in my house seem to be burned out at any given time, and how I learned that all the power in my basement goes out every time it rains due to a poorly mounted exterior outlet. $$Cha-Ching!!  And let's not forget the hundred year old terra cotta sewer line that waited to disconnect itself from the city main line shortly after I moved into the house.  $$$Cha-ching!!  

The house maintenance budget never quite covers all that needs done around here.  And the yard?  The yard is another story altogether.  I can't keep up with it.  But I love my house, it is old and  peaceful and solid, and has taken good care of me since I moved in.  I want to take care of it as best I can so maybe some day another generation will be able to enjoy it as much as I have.  

Which leads me to my latest investment in home maintenance. This spring, I could no longer ignore the fact that the laurel hedge that someone planted years ago next to my front porch was no longer really just a hedge.  It had become a full-on tree.  In fact, since moving in six years ago, the hedge has taken on the appearance of hugging the side of my house. It curves up and around my gutters, and wraps around the porch.  Not just the porch, really--half of my house was obscured from view.  And, since my neighbor's house is a mere ten feet from mine, half of HER house was also now obscured and being hugged protectively by the gargantuan green giant of a laurel.  She didn't appreciate her house hugging experience as much as I did, and would make polite comments and suggestions from time to time about how something smaller might look nice in that spot.  And, the laurel was now reaching up and into the overhead electrical lines.

After paying a small fortune every year to have the "hedge" trimmed back and watching it go through a massive growth spurt immediately thereafter, I realized it was time to swallow my Portland tree-hugger-I-can't-cut-down-a-tree guilt complex, and face the facts.  It was time to remove the laurel hedge/tree.

But the budget was tight.  I still have to pay to deal with the upside down electrical box on my fence that fills with water when it rains, and the burned out light fixtures. What to do? I could go straight to craigslist and hire the first cheap guy I can find.  But I made that mistake already, twice.  Learn from my mistakes.

The last guys I hired to powerwash and repaint my white picket fence just totally ignored all the local vegetation, and went ahead and spray painted my neighbor's beloved Japanese maple tree white.  Did they not know there are open spaces in between each picket?! (morons!) My neighbor wasn't too happy with me for that one.  I was mortified.  It wasn't like I could wash the paint off.  

And the real reason I have the electrical box hung upside down on my back fence is because of ANOTHER craigslist hire.  The guy who replaced the fence that the fallen pear tree destroyed was to thank for the electrical situation.  It was nice of him to reattach the electrical box, don't get me wrong.  I guess he didn't know the plastic door is supposed to flip open from the bottom and not the top.

So anyway, long story short--DON'T hire the cheapest guy you can find on craigslist.  Hire someone who is licensed and bonded, and who has integrity, and has good references or reviews.  Like these guys.  

Bridgetown tree service PROMPTLY answered my email and call to get an estimate to remove my laurel situation, gave me a more than fair price, showed up on time, respected my neighbor's Japanese maple tree (since I sort of threatened I might kill them if they so much as bent a twig on it), carefully removed the laurel trees and stumped them out, and cleaned up the whole mess.  In and out in just a few hours.  My whole house is brighter, although I will sort of miss the trees hugging my porch.  I will plant some dwarf trees back in there, something my neighbor will also enjoy.

I highly recommend Bridgetown Tree service, as one of the best tree removal services in Portland, and they were affordable too.  I would definitely hire them again.

I've had my hair done a few times now by Chelsea Gomes at Tint Salon, and she does an amazing job!  I like to have natural looking highlights added, especially during our dark winters when I start to lose my real summer highlights.  I talked to Chelsea about what I wanted--which was definitely not a cheap looking dye job that looked fake.  I am pretty scared when it comes to adding color to my hair, and we've all seen those people who have gotten a botched color job, eeek!  She really listened to me, and made me feel confident.  Chelsea knew exactly how to blend in my new highlights with my real ones and the hair color looked amazing and natural.  I think Chelsea is one of the best Portland hair colorists in town.  She also gave me some tips on a better haircut, and added volume to my long hair with some carefully placed layering around my face.  I got tons of compliments.  

She is an experienced stylist who really listens to her clients, and she is super nice and easy to talk to.  Also, she is really efficient, and I didn't feel like I had to spend half my day in there, which is nice because I am always too busy to go have my hair done.  

Anyway, I kept meaning to write her a nice Yelp review to say "thanks" for my awesome hair, so I finally got around to doing it.  Thanks, Chelsea! :-)

I had one of the best days ever when I went on a Portland food carts tour this past weekend.  Part of my dinner was at the food cart pod on 12th and Hawthorne, where I had my first sampling of poutine from Potato Champion.  I love potatoes, and who doesn't love fresh french fries?  As mentioned in other reviews, you can get various sauces.  I had never had poutine so I was curious to try it, especially when some guy was standing there drooling over his jumbo sized stack of fries, and raving about how amazingly addictive it was.  Poutine is french fries covered in gravy and cheese curds.  It sounds gross.  It looks revolting.  But it tastes divine...

I think they're onto something: just about anything would taste better when wrapped in a soft, warm, fresh waffle.  Now I'm sitting here contemplating how many miles I will need to run on my treadmill or how far I will have to bike today to burn off my Flavour Spot waffle sandwich.  I'm thinking a lot.  

Oh - that was deliciousness.  This popular Portland food cart sits in an awkward spot over on the corner of Mississippi Ave and Fremont.  Now I know why there are usually throngs of people hanging out on their gravel lot surrounded by chain link fence.  Take whatever "bad" food you love, like sausages or fried chicken, wrap it in a fresh waffle hot off the griddle, and slather it in maple butter or peanut butter, or Nutella or whatever strikes your fancy.  M-m-m, it was sweet and savory goodness.

We had a great time as always with the Yelp crowd, this time "on a boat" on the Departure rooftop.  Lovely patio, tasty food, friendly service, and great drinks.  Thanks to Don B. Ninkasi, House Spirits, and Departure for a great event.  It was nice seeing everyone!

Yea! A new comedy club in town.

About the club: it is nice and spacious and clean and comfortable.  It lacks any discernable Portland uniqueness, which is kind of a shame.  In spite of being on Hawthorne, it feels like a very Midwest suburban club to me, with a fairly sterile, styleless environment, and mediocre (yet expected) selection of bar food.   I still enjoyed a plate of neon-orange-goo-covered nachos, and a glass of nasty red wine that I sipped very, very slowly.  (I enjoyed it anyway, because I started the day at the Yelp event at Departure, then a real dinner at Alu, and was feeling pretty happy by the time we got here).  They do have a nod to some local beer and wine selections on their menu, and as I mentioned--a nice selection of completely predictable bar food, and prices that aren't *too* bad.  The tickets were cheap for the show, considering, so they want you to buy lots of food and drinks. They say 2 item minimum order, but I only choked down one glass of wine and no one complained.  Like Harvey's, they try to get your contact info on little sign up cards - it remains to be seen if (like Harvey's) that means we signed ourselves up to be stalked with telemarketing style phone calls trying to get us to return.   God, I hope not.

The service was friendly and fast and very pleasant.  It was overall a really great time!

Oh, I forgot to mention the comedy.  If I  were reviewing the show, I would say that 2 outta the 3 comedians were funny (really LMAO funny), but the one comedian had the whole audience sitting there feeling awkward and uncomfortable as he struggled through his act, red-faced and getting louder and louder and louder as one joke after another feel flat (doing your jokes louder doesn't make them funnier).  Because this is Portand and we are so darned nice, we were polite in our rejection, and a few giggled politely.  I know he was trying, and I felt sorry for him (but still wanted someone to turn on the red light and make it stop).  

They also have an open mic night, if any of you Portlanders want to try and make us laugh.

LOL = 4 stars

I eat here every chance I get, which is once a week because that is about how often I have enough free time to take a real lunch.  I am always coercing my coworkers and dragging them off to hot pot with me.  I have gotten better at making my soup, which is something of an art form and takes practice.  I always get sassed by the server, but that just makes me feel like a beloved regular.  If you are new to making hot pot, be warned that you might burn your...er...face off, if you aren't accustomed to the level of heat in the spice, but by now they almost give me "native" seasoning (#2 bright red bowl swimming in spice) because I have worked my tolerance levels up.  I still love Hot Pot.  It's one of my favorite places to go in Portland.

One day I had a random craving for Pho. I must admit, I am not a usual Pho connoisseur, so I don't have much of a Pho yardstick to compare this place to (having eaten at only 3 or 4 Pho places so far.) I am somewhat suspect of mystery meats floating around in a bowl. But, I do love good soup, so I am still looking for the best Pho near my house and work. This day, when the random Pho craving hit, I didn't even know which Pho to try and we were in the car just driving around so I simply pointed my car at Sandy Avenue where everyone knows you will find a string of Pho joints. Got Pho? has a cheesy name, but I was pretty satisfied with my massive steaming bowl of salty broth and noodles with basil on top. The prices seemed decent for the massive quantity of food. The ambiance is lacking, but the service was very friendly. I would go back. I will remember Got Pho the next time I am randomly driving up Sandy Ave and have that soup craving again.

I'm a pretty impatient person, and I must not be the only one because these ZoomCares are popping up all over town.  They are the place to go for basic healthcare when you don't want to wait 6 weeks to see your over booked regular doc, or waste a small fortune in the emergency room at the hospital (especially if it isn't really an emergency).  They offer a basic menu of basic healthcare, for average people who do or don't have insurance, at reasonable prices (reasonable = still expensive, but less than some places and especially less than the emergency room).  No frills, sort of like urgent cares used to be only they have more appointments available so the "Zoom" part is more applicable.

I like that you can visit their website and get a same day appointment and be in and out of there with minimum hassle.  I saw a physician's assistant who spent plenty of time with me.  They called several times to see how I was doing afterwards, which was a nice touch.  My own usual doc never does that, so the bonus service was kind of notable.

I wouldn't go here for true emergencies, but if you just need some help with an injury or allergies, or something straight forward, go for it!