James Beard was the ultimate foodie, and he was a Portland native. Winning a James Beard Foundation Award is one of the highest honors a restaurant or chef can receive.

Tonight, the James Beard Foundation Awards were announced in New York. Sadly, no Portland, Oregon, winners on the list this year, but it’s still an excellent reference for great food around the country.

The Salmon Creek (Vancouver) location of Burgerville will begin serving local beers and wines on Friday, May 1. In a move that is the first of its kind in the Northwest, the high-end fast food chain will offer specially chosen wines and beers to compliment their gourmet seasonal offering menu.

An internationally renowned sommelier has chosen the initial wines to be the Ponzi Tavola Pinot Noir, O’Reilly Pinot Gris and the Eyrie Vineyards Chardonnay. The selected beers include Widmer Hefeweizen, Full Sail Amber and Terminal Gravity ESG. [Read more →]

T.G.I. Friday’s is trying to get diners back through their doors by offering $5 salads and sandwiches all day throughout the month of May. The prices are so discounted that they haven’t been this low since the restaurant opened in 1965!

We wonder if the other casual sit-down chains will be far behind in slashing prices. It’s getting rough out there for restaurants!

As the recession creeps along—especially here in the Portland area—everyone seems to be reigning in their entertainment and dining-out budgets. While the days of dropping hundreds of dollars for a high-end steakhouse lunch with co-workers might be over for most of us, being economical doesn’t have to mean sacrificing a good, quality meal.

The two Blue Sage Café locations (one in West Linn and one in Lake Oswego) are offering a very unique way to enjoy a nice meal: you pick your own price! Dine-in customers pay full-price for their beverage, and then get to decide what they want to pay for their meal.

The Southwestern-style restaurant has been offering the “Your Price is Right” program since March, but you better stop in for a visit soon, as the special offer ends April 30.

Looking for a way to save money without depending on daily dining off a drive-thru Value Menu? As many fast food joints start to skimp on portion size and food quality, our very own Burgerville is making strides in the way fast food should be—healthy, while remaining affordable.

Already known for utilizing many local products, vendors and ingredients, Burgerville has recently expanded their seasonal options to take advantage of what’s fresh and plentiful at the moment. April’s seasonal selections include a Spinach Florentine Breakfast Pastry and a Spring Spinach and Chicken Salad. In May, they will be adding asparagus items to the menu.

If you are ready to get out of the house and enjoy some of the rare Oregon sunshine, I suggest you hit Saturday Market on the weekends. Sure, the crowds can get large and the food stand lines can get long, but there are lots of deals to be found. At Beirut Café I got a huge garlic chicken pita sandwich for less than $7, and then indulged in a gigantic iced coffee for $2. For dessert there was the must-have elephant ear and a honeydew-flavored bubble tea.

Saturday Market has food for everyone in the family, from pizza and burgers to Hawaiian and BBQ. Not to mention all the great fun foods, like ice cream, kettle corn and fudge! Saturday Market is a fantastic place to visit for locals and tourists alike.

Saturday Market is open Saturdays and Sundays until December 24.

What are your favorite recession-friendly lunch spots? Send us a tip!

Wong Kee Dim Sum Restaurant
28 NW 4th Avenue
Portland, Oregon 97209
503-229-1888
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Then my friend Matt mentioned how amazing the dim sum is at Wong Kee—in fact, his entire family would occasionally drive all the way from Corvallis just to eat there when he was a kid. So I had to take him up on his offer to try it out.

I’ve had the regular menu at Wong Kee before, so I knew the food would be great, but I was very excited and delighted to try so many delicious dim sum treats all in one sitting. [Read more →]

Sadly, Stumptown Lunch didn’t make this top 50 food blog list from the Times of London, but it’s still a fun read to peruse.

I am sure we were #51….

Ping
102 NW 4th Avenue
Portland, OR 97209
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We have been waiting and waiting for Ping to open their doors in heart of Chinatown, and it turns out they’re now open for dinner! The latest creation of Pok Pok restaurateur Andy Ricker, Ping serves up a mouthwatering Asian fusion menu, specialty cocktails and a rather impressive beer list.

It’s just too bad they are only open for dinner! Hours are Monday through Saturday, 4 to 10 p.m. Remember, no reservations are taken, so be sure to get there early. We expect this place to be packed! Regardless, the Lunch Lady and crew are going to attempt getting a table sometime this week or next.

Check out some of the early reviews.

This is gloomy, but not unexpected, news. The Oregonian reports on the sad state of the local restaurant business. We’ve had to pinch our own dining-out dollars recently and this awful, crappy weather doesn’t help! If you have the means, visit your favorite local eateries. We don’t want Portland to become a bastion of just Burger Kings and Taco Bells!

We have been waiting months and months for Davis Street Tavern to open, and according to their Web site the new Old Town eatery is now open daily from 4 p.m. until “late.” They plan to start serving during lunch in January!

We can’t wait to try the cozy-looking place out (ah, sometime after all this darn snow melts)! Until then we will resort to drooling over their creative and mouthwatering menu!

Davis Street Tavern
500 NW Davis Street
Portland, OR 97209
503-505-5050
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Skyline Restaurant
1313 NW Skyline Boulevard
Portland, OR 97229
503-292-6727
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Foodies around the world know the name James Beard, one of the most acclaimed American chefs of all time, so it’s a little odd to see a browned-with-age newspaper clipping framed on the wall at Skyline touting Beard’s professed devotion for this tiny retro diner’s burgers.

I happen to share Beard’s devotion to Skyline, and I have been visiting for more than two decades. Even though I don’t live as close as I did growing up, the food and atmosphere keep calling me back and Skyline never fails to satisfy.

Established in 1935, you would guess by looking at the former drive-in that very little has probably changed since the days when teenagers cruised up through the West Hills to enjoy some late-night hamburgers and milkshakes.

The drive-in service is gone, but the burgers and shakes survive. The dining area is a smattering of cozy booths and a handful of stools at the counter, all of which tend to fill up quickly during peak hours. The wood paneled walls are covered with children’s crayon drawings, mementos collected over their years in business and lots and lots of business cards (some pinned to the wall four or five deep). All of which add to the charm of this bygone-era establishment, but also take into account that their bygone-era approach means this is a cash only restaurant. (They do have an on-site ATM.)

The menu is plentiful and retains a definite diner feel with some modern upgrades (like the vegan black bean burger), but the main draw to Skyline is the burgers with their toasted, buttery buns. [Read more →]

Thai Food Café
833 N. Killingsworth Street
Portland, OR 97217
503-285-8745
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Rating:

Unfortunately, I somehow woke up to discover my left mandibular second molar (that’s one of those back teeth used for chewing) had slightly cracked in my sleep (how does that happen?). Regardless, I wanted some Thai food, cracked-tooth pain or not. (OK, OK, the tooth really isn’t that bad!)

I met up with my awesome friend Steph for a late lunch in the super-sunny dining room and we were immediately welcomed with cups of warm tea—perfect just coming in on a cold winter day. The hosts were incredibly nice and very attentive to our needs.

We were pleasantly surprised by the lunch specials. There are 15 lunch options, ranging from Pad Thai to curry dishes to stir fries that you can order with a meat, veggie or seafood selection. If you choose to add vegetables, tofu, chicken, pork or beef it’s just $6.50, if you want shrimp, squid or scallops it’s $8.00. They also offer soy meat and seafood options for veggie and vegan patrons at similar prices.

I went with Pra Ram with chicken and Steph tried the Pad Thai with chicken. Just after we ordered our entrees we were served a complimentary cup of delicious coconut soup. What a treat! It was creamy and full of flavor. [Read more →]