Cam "Accident with Power Tools" T.'s Profile

The corner of 38th & Belmont is somewhat of a gastronomic Bermuda triangle, businesses enter & become lost in the no man's land between the bustling food carts on 43rd and nouveau organic haute pub food in the mid 30 blocks. Between the sparse foot traffic & the lack of other nearby eateries it may very well take the second coming of Jacques Pepin or at least a media blitz of iPhone-esque proportions to keep eateries from being swallowed up by the Krakens of out-of-sight, out-of-mind, it's-deserted-so-it- can't-be-that-good, & my personal fave but-where-are-the-hi psters-to-light-the- way?

Despite the fact that the arctic desert sees more foot traffic than this quiet corner of Belmont, like salmon swimming upstream we decided to take the path less taken & keep returning like homing pigeons. Why? When I have a craving for a molten hot succulent fried (oh, my arteries!) fish sammie with a light tempura-like crust I just have to walk the 10 blocks here to get a basket with fries or even better golden starchy tater tots (never been charged $1 extra by the sweet proprietor) sprinkled with Greek seasoning salt & a soda for just under $9. If I can ever tear myself away from this crispy seafood delight my next foray will involve falafel smothered in tahini wrapped in a fluffy pita cuz they've got the fryer temp down perfectly, enough to keep everything crunchety yet not so hot that the insides aren't perfectly cooked & steaming for $5 (add $2 for the basket upgrade). I've been told that the gyro with their housemade beef gyro, (sadly most Greek restaurants buy their gyro meat pre-made & then slide it onto an industrial strength vertical spit & fire up the broiler) pickled bell peppers, feta, onion, tomatoes swimming in tzatziki on a fluffy pita is finger licking good. Not that I would know since the last thing I want to do is stick my beloved appendages between Capt Hook & his food. They also make a decent mlikshake if a bit on the sweet side. Have yet to try the fresh baklava in the pastry counter but don't think I'm not biding my time....

So yes, it's usually as empty as Snooki's cranium but that's where the similarities end. Delicious food at reasonable prices with friendly service & thoughtful if not locovore-based sourcing (they get their sammy bread from Chicago as well as their preserved peppers & white fish comes from the Louisiana Gulf Coast). So firing up the Yelpculator for our heavenly bodies gives us the following:
+1       delicious hot sammies & crunchety starchy tots
+1       reasonable prices
+2       great service
+0.38 the little things
resulting in a total of 4.38 stars.

So go forth & take a chance on that small empty neighborhood place with the smiling staff before they're just another "For Lease" sign in the window on your schlep down Belmont. Just ask the well loved & highly rated predecessors of 3801 SE Belmont, Misto Cafe, how accurate the statistics of business failure are. The US Small Business Administration sums it up pretty neatly: 50% of small businesses fail in the first year with 95% disappearing into the ether within 5 years.

after relocating to stumptown from the emerald city up north (please don't hate me, look at how fuzzy & muppety i am) we set about finding our little niches (new baker, new butcher, cool restaurants) and stumbled into this place.  the decor is done by Stanley Kubrick but fortunately the baked goods are made with love, butter, and just the right touch of salt.  lovely superskinny baguettes that are crunchy on the outside and springy-soft on the inside.  mmmm, scrumptious toothy crumb cake.  a classic lemon tart that is light and not sickeningly sweet.  i'm slowly making my way through the display case--okay, not that slowly, must fetch more balls at the dogpark!  all the items are really reasonably priced and the staff are friendly.  we've come in at the beginning of the day to just before they close and have never had problems getting lots of yummy goods. try it, you'll have to go crazy at the dogpark too.