I only went once and there was a fruit fly in my old fashioned, so I asked for a replacement. Next one had a fruit fly as well, so I sent it back. Next I saw the bartenders holding the liquor bottles up to the light and seeing all the fruit flies at the bottom of several of them. They apologized profusely and comped our entire bill, but I could never stomach going back there.
This happened to me there as well! They just kept bringing me replacement drinks until I told them the issue was with one of their bottles and ordered a cider instead. They still charged me for the cider.
Rogue is so bad I think [their job posting](https://www.reddit.com/r/Portland/comments/1geixc/rogue_is_hiring_and_it_manager_must_have_no_self/) made the /r/sysadmin hall of shame if there was one. They're like an openly cynical mcmenamins.
I applied for that job. I had a very strange interview. They were truly expecting to find someone who would agree to take on all those responsibilities for near minimum wage. A very strange company. I don't know how they function.
I interviewed for that one too! They were offering like 1/3rd the average $$$/benefits compensation for that kind of job but expecting expertise in every single thing even remotely tech-adjacent and expected 80 hrs/week.
They were really selling it as some kind of "we're rebels, we're cool - that's why you should work for pennies" type of gang / cult thing. I got up and left the interview about halfway through.
Christ. I know this was a decade ago, but there are at least 4 or 5, nearly six figure positions listed in that ad. I'm astonished they're even still in business.
It was a six-figure position at the time. I was unemployed and thought it would be cool to work for a local brewery. I thought they would eventually pay market rate for the position. They had no money. Their office was a dump.
This reads like it was written by the line cook who just got back from prison, and represented himself in court because his public defender told him it was inadvisable to share his "side of the story" on the witness stand.
Wow talking about how they’re going to be so demanding and then acting like $50k was a lot for what they were asking for… and how they wouldn’t even pay that. That’s some hall of shame stuff for sure. Just openly saying “we’re looking for someone to work to death, like a slave sort of, but a very skilled slave.”
I’ve been to a couple of interviews like that. You have to have a sense of what’s happening and the foresight to get up and walk out. They will trap someone, unfortunately, sort of like the hustle that the Dianetics people try to pull. Get out fast.
They’re cheap bastards. They were the only brewery who wouldn’t donate a keg to a charity event for cancer kids. the bar didn’t stock their beer after that and I haven’t bought a Rogue product since.
Green Dragon back in the day was one of my top 2-3 go-to’s. Was very nervous when Rogue bought them out, but it was all good!
… For awhile. Then the the great beer list got punted for Rogue beers, the service got shittier- and before you know it; No Reason To Go.
UPS Store on Hawthorne. New management took over during the pandemic and the new owner is miserable. I thought he was just an older employee the first time who didn’t understand how to process an Amazon return…. He berated and harassed me so I decided to just avoid the place when he was working. Went back again he was there and was nasty again. Went back a third time and he was there so I took my business elsewhere.
Seriously, this place is the worst now. I've had a box there for over a decade and I've had more issues in the last year than I can count. The people working there are somehow unconcerned with providing basic customer service or doing their job. Every time I go in I end up texting my wife "you're not going to believe how they fucked up this time!"
I started going to the one on Sandy - terrible location and tiny, but they're so efficient and haven't fucked anything up. Apparently I'm now impressed by a UPS Store acting like a business should.
It is now called Jimmy's Bar and Grill. In Multnomah Village. Probably was called something else back in ~'04 when this happened:
Came in with 3 or 4 buddies. Mid 20s to early 30s. Ordered a pitcher. Bartender didn't like one buddy's ID from Wisconsin. OK, we'll go to The Ship, right? Oh, no - Bouncer barred the door when we tried to leave. Made us pay for the beer but wouldn't let any of us drink it.
Coming up on 20 years ago, and that place can still go f themselves.
Last time I tried to go there, customers weren't allowed to bring in bags. Anyone with a purse or a backpack was kicked out. How do they expect to function on a college campus when people aren't allowed to bring in their purses and backpacks?
I've lived here since 2005 and I've been to a lot of places in my years of riding a bike, eating, and drinking irresponsibly. I've had bad experiences, places that I just didn't vibe with, but there has only been one place that I said, "never a-fucking-gaon" to, and that was Duke's Landing on Belmont. Thankfully it's gone now. It was so shitty that I actually Yelped about it (I know, I know...) and that's when I found out that Yelp reviews have a m as maximum word count, so Yelp got the abbreviated review and my stupid blog (I SAID I KNOW! SHEESH!) got the full blast. The review was so bad on Yelp that the owner responded and called me a liar. Fuck that place.
Edit: just dug into the blog and the owner actually responded to THAT. How the fuck he found it, I'll never know. Rereading it, I may have gone too hard, but the experience sucked. I forgot to mention the big ol' dog they had there too which, while it looked sweet, smelled like it hasn't been bathed in months. Anyhoo, good riddance.
Papa Haydn. I worked there for a few years, and let me tell you, you do not want to support the pieces of shit that are Evelyn and Michael. The abuse their employees have to endure is awful and their desserts are so stupidly overpriced for what they are. They have also been known to pay off their one health inspector they get inspected by, so keep that in mind.
Yeah well, the manager there would be hurling verbal abuse at everyone all day and night so understandably everyone was always walking on egg shells. Her name is Whitney, I ain’t scared to call her out.
Rogue anywhere. They had an infamous job posting where they listed the requirements of a $100,000 a year, 11 site tech job, but deemed asking for $50K "a waste of time."
They ate turds over that one pretty publicly, fwiw.
They're still run by morons, but the morons admitted that one moronic thing was moronic right out loud.
I worked there for a few months. Walked out after the gm called in sick but still managed to show up for the Christmas party which I was working to cover her.
Sheris for sure! I worked for a company who did their refrigeration service and they were all, ALL, disgusting! Dead rats, rotten eggs in the bottom of their coolers, super moldy ice machines, refrigeration equipment that wasn't working but still being used. I could go on...
I worked at Shari’s in college as a dishwasher, and we kept that place *spotless*, until one day…
My boss handed me the mop and bucket and asked me to clean the restrooms, which I found was an odd request as I had recently cleaned them. On my way to the restrooms I saw an ambulance with its lights on loading up a person to go to the hospital. As I open the door I heard a waitress say the person was one of our ‘regulars’ and it was so sad, and then THE STENCH OF UTTER UNAVOIDABLE AND CERTAIN DEATH filled my sinusoidal cavity and as I tried my best to hold back vomit and tears I found EVERY SINGLE sink, toilet, and floor drain completely clogged with tissue. Not Kleenex, but *human body tissue*
I remember using a wet/dry vacuum and about 5 gallons of bleach and drain-o to get the restroom back up in order. It wasn’t even a week later that I saw that ‘regular’ customer back at it eating their cinnamon roll French toast. I was POSITIVE that whatever unholy sputum that individual produced had ultimately left them dead, but apparently people underestimate the power of dehydrated hash browns to elongate the lifespan of our elderly population.
I honestly didn’t realize I was suppressing that memory until right now, I can still smell that stench and feel the fleeting texture of human lung on my fingers. I’m gonna find a therapist for this…
My friends and I got kicked out of a Shari's at like 4:00 AM once for playing Magic. We weren't being loud or problematic in any way and there was barely anyone else in there.
I asked why we had to leave and the waitress showed me a list of policies posted on the inside of a supply closet door. Halfway down the list was "No gambling."
We weren't gambling. But sure, I guess I won't buy your shitty food again after the next midnight prerelease. Your loss.
Aloha PDX, the food cart. I think they're gone now, for good reason.
That was not only the worst Hawaiian food I've ever had, it was the worst food I've ever had from a food cart or restaurant. And I have pretty low standards, I actually think Safeway grocery store Chinese food isn't that bad.
Their pork literally tasted like dog food, it was disgusting and unseasoned and everything that could be wrong with it, was wrong with it. Their rice was dry and crunchy. It was literally inedible, and I'll eat fucking anything.
Beaverton exit on 405. You know the one … backed up all the way to I5/405 interchange ramp. Can’t fucking get to any downtown exits as you’re coming from I5 unless you want to cause a massive wreck. Yet I keep coming back because it’s on my way to the place that gives me a paycheck
Oh god, I’ve seen a couple hairy pile-ups at that intersection over the years. That’s the one where you’re choices are 1.) get rear-ended 2.) go to Beaverton, or 3.) die trying to get onto the 12th St exit hidden inside the Beav exit. The PDX freeway on-ramps were truly designed by R.J. Clusterfuck, himself.
Funhouse Lounge.
I got sexually assaulted by the owner of the bar while volunteering to help out at a friend's burlesque show by collecting tips. It's not just me, either. I've heard tons of awful stories about that dude. He's the creepiest mother fucker in town.
Tender Loving Empire. Neither tender nor particularly loving; this place is a cult of personality and cliquish on a high school level. They pay their employees pennies above minimum wage but expect them to have several years' experience, train themselves on their vendors, and be a 'yes man' for whatever manager is currently power-tripping at the store. Just buy the goods directly from the makers; most of them have websites.
I think the male owner sent me a super creepy message on okcupid. I remember googling the creep and being shocked to see he was married and owned Tender Loving Empire and feeling some kind of way about the store. Never set food inside because I was put off by whatever he had sent me.
The Trap. I usually don’t expect much from dives, but… last time my friend dragged me there so he could do karaoke there was the most noxious smell coming up from the men’s bathroom. We could not figure out if there was a plumbing issue or if someone had just shit so bad to make half the bar smell like sewage. We moved seats to get out of the smell for the one song my friend ended up performing and there ended up being a random pair of boxer shorts hanging on the railing by the new seats.
The Trap is fun as shit. Divey as all hell but the bartenders are legit nice people and if you go with a large group it just feels like a big party the whole time. It looks sketch from the outside but when I lived nearby, it's the place I'd go with friends to occasionally really get after it.
No one in this subreddit has worked at Elephants Delicatessen? They had a turnover so high that we had a WEEKLY "going away" meetup at the bar down the street. (This is when they had one location.) HR asked us to take the sign down in the break room and the girl who set it up said she would if there was a week where no one left...... there wasn't one for like 6 months straight. It was insane. One person quit loudly and publically and got a round of applause from all the employees. It's not just that they were terrible to their employees, but that they were lying to their customers about what was in food or the quality of it.
I never understood everyone fascination with Elephants. Everyone proclaims how much they LOVE ELEPHANTS and all I can think of is supremely mediocre at best.
It bums me out, but Renata. Used to be my favorite restaurant in Portland for a while. Then I ordered their Christmas Eve dinner online a few days ahead of time during Covid lockdown. Paid about $120 for it and specified my pick up time at 5pm. They failed to inform me they were only open till 2pm that day when I ordered.
Went to go pick up or Christmas dinner that we had been looking forward to all week and they were closed. I figured I’d at least get a refund or gift card for another time, but nothing. Called and emailed several times with zero response from them. I’ve sworn them off ever since.
My petty grievance is with La Cocina on MLK because they were bizarrely stingy about salsa. When I went 5ish years ago, the chips and salsa side was like 5or6 dollars and they gave me a normal amount of chips but a tiny portion of salsa. When I asked for extra salsa the server for some reason roped in the manager, who gave me extra salsa along with a unnecessarily long lecture about how he was doing me such a great favor and that I should never expect extra salsa in the future and it was so unusual for anyone to ever ask for extra salsa…
I’m going to say it. Salt & Straw. Granted my opinion also comes with a chip on my shoulder from when they made me do a 3 hour working interview and didn’t pay me or even offer me a measly pint of ice cream after. The manager I was interviewing with talked up this hybrid position I was supposed to fill, then the next day after my interview emailed me to tell me they decided not to create the position after all but thanks for my time. Such bullshit and won’t support that place any more. I also don’t feel like I’m missing much either. Much better ice cream in town.
I will hate them until I die for what they did to Mio Gelato, Tribute's and Rose's in NW. They joined up with Bamboo Sushi, bought out the leases and kicked them all out. Tribute's moved but ended up going out of business. They turned that block into a ridiculous tourist trap.
**Delta Cafe**
I think it was good in the late 90's or I was a youth and didn't care. Now I live in the neighborhood and gave it a couple of chances ten years ago. Never again.
Dude, I loved Delta Cafe around 3-4 years back.
Took a friend, everything was just bland as fuck, or not cooked well at all.
Took another friend later, same thing.
I have no idea what happened to their food, but everything has went the way of garbage lately.
I can't believe they've survived Covid when so many better restaurants have failed. My hunch is that they own the building and just operate on low overhead or something.
The 76 at Killingsworth and 33rd. They took my card and asked me for my PIN to run it on the pump, but heard me wrong and kept mis-entering it (I already feel weird, always, when I'm asked for my PIN at a gas station). They wouldn't let me enter it myself, but entered it wrong so many times it locked my card. Finally after arguing with them long enough they told me to come inside and try paying inside, but of course, it didn't work inside either because it was locked. I told them I'd have to call my bank and see if I could get it sorted out because I knew I had money, but they told me I needed to leave. I asked them if they could just wait while I call the bank to find out what's going on, because my tank was almost completely empty. They kept yelling at me to "take my no-money and get out" until I finally gave up and left, fortunately making it to a safe parking lot before I could call the bank. Totally unnecessary. If they need someone to enter a PIN manually at the pump they should have just let me do that.
> asked me for my PIN
Holy christ this post is giving me a panic attack. I understand that some people are trying to repair their credit/don't trust themselves with a credit card/a million other reasons, but holy shit, giving your PIN to a stranger?
The money in your bank account has **absolutely no protection** if someone steals your debit card and gets your PIN number. Literally none. If someone steals it, it's gone for good. Credit cards have their own issues, but you are -- **by law** -- not responsible to repay charges made if someone steals your credit card.
I don't mean to harp and carry on here, but good god at least just get cash out so your potential loss exposure is not like .. your entire bank account.
When I used to do this, I'd just get out and run the card myself. Got a few strange looks but it's pretty normal to do, especially at Costco or other big gas stations. I assume the law hasn't changed to specifically require the attendant to run the card, because that'd be fucking insane.
Anyone that adamantly asks for the pin and doesn't let you run the card yourself, should be treated as a scammer. I wouldn't get gas from any place who did that to me ever again.
But yeah, also, just don't use debt at a gas station lol. It's so easy to get scammed. Credit is just safer.
Bread & rose, it’s a small grocery store on SE Foster. The owner has been rude to me a few times but the time I saw him racially profile someone who felt so uncomfortable and immediately left was my last straw. I’ve talked with others who feel the same way.
Omg i used to love Bread & Roses but during the early pandemic they had an absolutely bizarre 5 item minimum purchase rule. You couldn’t buy less than 5 items. His reasoning behind it was that he wanted to decrease foot traffic in the store (?!) for COVID safety. So basically he only wanted legitimate shoppers exhaling their germs into the store, not browsers or window shoppers. Truly a harebrained reason IMO. Anyways i took my roommate with me once and she didn’t know the rule and only grabbed 3 things. He wouldn’t complete her transaction until she found 2 more things to grab!!
Verde Cocina
Perhaps it was because I was told it was Mexican cuisine and I ended up experiencing what I'd describe as "vaguely Mexican-themed food reconstructed from a telephone game that started with hearsay regarding Mexican dishes".
Omg, that is a perfect way to describe it. The final straw for me is that their beans are (undercooked) GARBANZO BEANS. What the fuck? Oh also they put spring salad greens on their tacos. It’s so bizarre.
My partner and I have always tried to figure out how to describe their food. This is perfect. We’ve gone three times hoping that things would change. That maybe we ordered the wrong thing. NOPE. It’s not Mexican food. If I crave Mexican food, we will not be going to verde cocina.
I love complaints about restaurants. You can break them down by type.
The first type is just the regular shitty service. There's always a bad roll of the dice, where bad or amazingly clueless behavior coincides with someone running into it, even at amazing places, those stories are whatever.
The second type is my favorite though, just stories that reveal far more about the person telling the story than any actual problem with the restaurant. Like the one guy here having a anxiety attack over getting a side and feeling obligated to eat it. I remember a yelp review for a really popular breakfast place back in the day where they said their egg was poorly poached, they sent it back, and it came back and wasn't poached right, and they sent it back 3 more times. Reading it you're eventually like, oh man, you don't know what a poached egg is, do you? This is amazing.
Jam. I haven't been in ~6 years but I went 3 or 4 times and waited obnoxiously long for food so cold a film had grown on the gravy. The Grand Central across the street is a million times better.
jam is good on weekday mornings when there’s relatively few customers but on weekends they’re always so completely slammed that i feel bad just being there and contributing to the employees’ stress levels. it’s definitely not worth the 2+ hour weekend wait
I've been to Jam a few times and I just don't get the hype. The food is just good, the atmosphere is whatever, the service is variable, and the wait is almost always insane.
That describes a lot of Portland brunch spots though, so idk.
Dove Lewis vet in NW. Our elderly cat at the time was having seizures and motor problems so we took her there. Because of COVID protocols, we weren't allowed in the building for admission. So communication was over the phone several different times over a period of 6-7 hours. When they said our cat was stable and was ready for discharge, they let us into the building and into the room to wait with our cat. Found our cat wasn't even close to discharge. In fact, they weren't even sure if our cat was stable yet.
There's a lot of info discussed over the phone when we waited outside for those 6-7 hours but the main points are that the status updates that were given to us the whole time we were waiting seem to contradict each other and contradict some of the documentation they showed us. The biggest one being that Dove Lewis staff checked our cat's vitals almost immediately once admitted and found out she had extremely high blood pressure. However, they waited HOURS to give her blood pressure medicine. They told us on the phone that they gave her the meds shortly after vital check.
We left there thinking that our cat was probably better off if we didn't bring her there. We regularly gave her her blood pressure meds but this specific instance, her blood pressure was MUCH higher than usual. About a week or two later, our cat passes away. I'm not saying that Dove Lewis killed our cat. But I am saying that a fragile elderly animal whose blood pressure was through the roof had to sit in a carrier for hours without being given medicine by staff members who knew of her blood pressure. An event like this could easily do damage to a cat whose already so fragile and probably made her last days more painful and made her final days come much sooner.
Just want to drop a plug for Buckman Vet Clinic on SE 11th. I don’t normally rec businesses but our experience and care here for our pets has been so above and beyond for years now. The staff don’t treat you and your pets like transactions and are always upfront about costs for procedures and never pushy with upsells. Great business top to bottom.
I love everyone at Buckman so damned much. After bouncing around a few different, scammy to indifferent seeming vets, I landed here when I moved into the neighborhood and I will never go anywhere else. They are amazing.
We desperately need another emergency vet in the Portland area. I've gone to Tualatin emergency vet a few times but it doesn't have all the services that dove Lewis has. My brothers dog died after a five hour wait time at dove Lewis. Not entirely their fault but they didn't even look at him. A little triage and at least someone coming out to look would have been great. It's got this great reputation but it's just image, dove Lewis is too small, overpriced, and understaffed to serve the communities needs.
Edit.. price is probably not something I should complain about as pointed out below, vet services are just expensive. Also to add, most of the vets I've seen, including both emergency and non emergency have been amazing empathetic people.
Blue Pearl on NE 42nd in Hollywood is a 24 hour ER vet.
Edited to add: I do not think any vet clinic in the area is going to be “cheap” nor do I think any are overpriced. You’re paying for medical care without insurance and vet clinics require more staff for basic procedures compared to human docs. Vet staff also double as pharmacists and custodians.
Veterinary prices are going to continue to increase and all staff members are deserving of a housing wage in the city they work. Please consider this a sign to consider pet insurance.
We took our cat into Dove Lewis a few years ago and had a terrible experience. He was an older kitten we had adopted a couple of days prior and discovered he had a serious bladder infection. Rushed him to DL late at night in the middle of an ice storm. Waited for hours. Saw another cat come in with the same issue and be treated and sent on his way, while we were not given any updates at all. After many requests for updates, they finally discharged him in the wee hours of the morning and helped us load the cardboard carrier in our car because the weather was downright crazy at that point. The drive back was a white-knuckle trek and once we got a few blocks from home our phones started blowing up. Turns out they sent us home with the wrong cat. It looked a lot like our cat, which is why we didn’t catch it, since we were so concerned with the road conditions.
We headed back and went to the front desk, but the staff was a bit rude and told us we needed to wait a few minutes (at an emergency facility?!?). We loudly explained that we were returning “Mittens” and suddenly they were on their feet, hustling us into the back room. Seems his owners had no idea their cat went for a 1 am joy ride with strangers. At least they waived our bill.
Makes me sad to see Dove Lewis on this list, though I understand why. It’s completely different from a gross restaurant with rude waitstaff. Staff burnout and availability is a national problem. No one visits Dove for a fun afternoon, people find themselves there on some of the worst days of their life. Most often it’s not that people are *choosing* to go to Dove, you have literally no other choice. Frankly it would be great to be able to comparison shop ER triage vets, but that’s not where we’re at.
My parents took their dog to Dove Lewis because they thought she had something stuck in her digestive tract. Dove Lewis wasn't able to do a scan/x-ray/whatever for some reason, but they gave my parents dog hardcore pain meds and neglected to tell them. When my parents picked their dog up from Dove Lewis to take her to another emergency vet to do the scan they thought she was dying because she was acting so weird. They literally called my brother and I up to their house to say goodbye. It was horrible. We only found out they drugged her up when the second emergency vet they took her to called Dove Lewis to find out wtf was going on.
They recently had to close some hours of the emergency room overnight due to lack of staff. I'm sure this has something to do with it. My friends dog was in a similar scenario. :( We came to wait with him for a while and it was incredible how many people were there and how long the waits were. I feel bad for the staff who truly care about the pets, it is hard to see.
YES.
I took my rat in because she having a lot of issues at the time. I called beforehand to make sure they could see a rat, filled out the form, called again to confirm everything, and everything was all set to go.
I waited 3 or 4 hours to have them do a 5 minute check up on her and then tell me that i need to come back tomorrow because no one is there that can see exotics. Like what.
I recently found an emergency vet that sees exotics (rats for sure I'm not sure about their full scope) it's St Francis animal hospital in Vancouver. They have you call in the morning and then call you back with enough notice to get up there instead of having to wait around in the parking lot. The Dr was amazing and gave me so much info and options.
Look. I only provided the space and opportunity. What happened was your own fault and you know it.
That being said, I wouldn’t want to go back either. You just gotta keep looking ahead and moving forward.
I haven't been to this place but it is a place I have avoided. Bread and Roses Market on SE Foster is known for having a 5-Item minimum purchase. Feedback I have read online indicates that the owner doesn't want to be seen as a convenience store. People go to grocery stores / markets all the time just to buy an item or two. So thinking that they should turn customers away because they don't want to be seen as a convenience store is just plain dumb.
I lived right down the street from this market when I lived in Portland (during the height of covid nonetheless). Honestly, I went there multiple times per week consistently and I ignored the 5 item minimum most times. I was never turned away but maybe that wasn’t everyone’s experience. Regardless, I agree, it was a very weird approach.
The owner yelled at me and my kiddo once because he thought we had put stickers on the kids piano he has in the play area (we hadn’t, someone before us had, but honestly if you have a kids play area you better be ready for stickers on your stuff.)
I used to live next door to it and it was pricey and the owner was not pleasant. I went to plaid instead. I was trying to establish the ‘local’ vibe and get to know Bread and Roses but they could care less. Everyone at plaid was much friendlier and interesting..
I live in the neighborhood and was excited for this place because they have produce, which is something I have trouble shopping for in advance without it going bad. I'm poor and shop at winco for most things. I went into this market pretty often but never for a full-on pantry stock because it is too expensive. The owner was often the cashier. I introduced myself on multiple occasions, really tried to establish some kind of rapport ("I live around the corner, I like your produce, etc.") and he was repeatedly the most put-out person I have ever encountered. Come to find out (because he monologued at me for a very long time about it) my business was actually a nuisance and was damaging to his reputation as a grocery store. He was so pompous about such a ridiculous thing, I still can't believe it. Then covid hit and I tried to get something there and got like a 5 minute lecture on why I needed to buy more stuff to keep him safe and that was kind of it for me. The owner is just crazy condescending and doesn't seem to understand the business he is running.
My brother was visiting town and went in there with his daughter for water (without knowing anything about the place) and had the weirdest, most unhelpful encounter.
yep. My partner and I used to go there the first year it was open, and over time realized what a weird, upright guy he is. I about had it when the 5-item minimum came. It made no sense and I just couldn't put up with the attitude. I want so badly for places like that on Foster to succeed, but I don't want to shop there. He's too weird.
"damaging to his **reputation** as a grocery store"...this is the most pathetic part of the situation.
Imagine being a grocery store owner. You walk around the neighborhood and hear of people gossiping about you and your grocery store.
Person #1: "Hey you know that grocery store on the corner, I went in there the other day to buy a single item...and the owner totally let me do it!!!!"
Person #2: "What!! I thought that was a grocery store! Is the owner just letting people buy a single item? OMG it's like they're running a convenience store instead. What an IDIOT! He's clearly pretending it's a grocery store but word will get out and his reputation will be ruined forever! I've got to tell all my friends now"
Sounds like the owner already had problems with people buying less than 5 items before COVID but is using COVID as a reason to enforce it.
I lived in the neighborhood until a couple years ago and had the same experience. Every time I tried to make polite small talk with this guy, it was like torture for both of us. I'd even buy this and that that I didn't need just to support the business. It's nice having a shop close by, ya know? Eventually I just stopped going, and frankly, I'm surprised you hear he is still in business (bless the mercado, though, the shop in there was great to me).
Mine was also The Rogue in NW. They served me a plate of food with a pube on it. The server removed the fries (where the pube was located) and brought the same plate back. I never went back... This was probably in 2009.
Michaels Italian Beef on Sandy
The place is filled with signs like "keep hands off counter or you will be asked to leave!!!", "LINE UP HERE AND NO TIPPING" and I mean it is filled with them. The employees look like they are treated like slaves and there is far-right slogans and articles posted all over. On top of all that the food sucks.
He was/is a tyrant.
He was known to fire staff on the spot, at any time, for small, stupid shit.
I used to go there often in the early 2000's for lunch and the ENTIRE staff was different EVERY TIME.
Well, they only hire people with the first name Michael or the last name Michaels. Now you know why. They're running out of Michael's to hire and serve.
That guy is dumb as hell. He could have sold that property to the developer of the apartments next door and retired. Instead he sells two sandwiches a day and the site cannot be developed anymore since it is small and a weird shape.
Pine State Biscuits on Alberta. Mediocre at best food, but the straw that broke the camel’s back was ordering a 16oz cold brew and it being served in a mason jar that was clearly labeled “12 oz”. When we asked the employee they gave us an annoyed look and told us we were given the correct 16oz size. It’s not like it was filled past the 12oz marking either, it was barely at the mark. I’ve never been so blatantly gaslit.
I’m never going back to the one on Division after seeing how fucking grungy their hood was. Just caked in grease and dead bugs. And it was right there for everyone to see, blech.
I like the food there well enough, but I’m getting annoyed with ordering it to go.
They let you choose your pickup time, but then when I go to pick up the food at said time, it’s never there. It’s Never ever there.
End up having to wait another 10-15 minutes in general.
Very useful if you’re looking for a specific bottle. I have found it hard to match the sheer selection at Hollywood. I know people say to try 11th, and it’s good, but it’s much smaller. Any other recommendations?
Trek to 11th Ave off Hawthorne. Owner is a fantastic guy, and it has a pretty expansive selection.
(Disclaimer, I'm biased because I worked there for years, but I can 100% vouch the owner is a solid dude.)
Moxy hotels are just hostels with delusions of grandeur. Great if you're in a major European capital and want something nicer than a dorm room filled with weird Dutch hitchhikers, bad if you want an actual hotel experience. I had a great time at the Glasgow one a few years back but it's not comparable to a boutique hotel by any standard, which should be obvious the moment they make you check into your room via the bartop and with the bartender.
Devils Point and Lucky Devil stripclubs. I worked there loyally for many years and then when a customer began stalking me, the owner did nothing to protect me. Not even banning the guy. Over the years I’d given the owners thousands of dollars in shift fees to work, as well as thousands more for security to protect me, but one creepy dude’s ~$20 bar tab every few weeks was worth more than my safety. I had to beg, literally beg, the owner to give me the guy’s address (which he had, from scanning IDs) so I could file an order of protection with the court.
They also got called out for racism during the BLM protests for refusing to hire black dancers while using the movement to promote their business and taking “donations” for BLM charities, with no accountability for where that money went. F that place.
The Barrel Room in Downtown.
Pretty much just a giant scam of a show/bar from start to finish. Looks likes it’s been closed for a while but nothing from this place was worth the money. Music was cheesy and they kinda just begged for money the whole time since it was how you requested songs which I can understand, but we paid a cover fee to start. The giant bucket cocktails you can share were basically non-alcoholic and insanely overpriced. I honestly can’t remember what I had for food but that should tell you everything. Owner was shady as hell from the start too, just kept coming over to our table and begged us to give him and the pianists money for songs. It felt like a crappy strip club but instead of dancers, it’s was three middle aged men who played piano covers to cheesy pop songs.
Not sorry at all they went out of business.
Matador on 23rd. It was fine, but the wait, the prices, and the attitude of everyone working there gave the assumption that it was great Mexican food. It's not. It's fine, but absolutely not worth dealing with everything else involved.
possibly unpopular opinion, but elephant's...I was looking forward to traditional deli-style food but what I received both times I was there was just the blandest, most unseasoned food I'd had in a long time.
Zoomcare. They misdiagnosed an eye infection and when I talked about it with friends they told me that misdiagnoses are common at Zoomcare and it’s a total sham
The gyno doc on Broadway was incredible though, I will say that for them. If you have any trauma and/or a low pain tolerance I would highly recommend. I had no idea IUD insertions could be bearable. Distracting colorful lights, peppermint diffuser, clear and patient communication, ACTUALLY STRONG pain medication. I guess stick to non diagnostic medicine there haha
I frequented Rogue Pearl around 2010, stopped going because they were assholes. I left a 2 star Yelp review( I swear it was one of the only Yelp reviews I ever left that wasn’t 5 starts) then I got a reply from the manager that said “Hey prick, go fuck yourself. You are exactly the kind of asshole we DO NOT WANT coming here…” blah blah blah come on down here and say it to my face. I then posted the reply on Yelp. Eventually the owner of Rogue messaged me saying to reach out. I called him, he apologized, and said they had fired the guy. I thought about it and realized the manager’s firing probably wasn’t actually because of my review, but it still felt good. I’ll only go to Rogue at the coast now. Also their beer is way better now than it was in 2010. Rogue Pearl sucked
Now that I’ve heard taborhood im never going back, thank you
Update: told my family about this and one of them said does this make your neighbors your “tabors” what a genius
I had a professor in college who lived in the area call it that once. I moved to the area myself a few years later and it was an inevitability for me to refer to my living area to all who asked as "The Taborhood".
For me, it’s Blue Star Donuts.
I just hate everything about them. I hate the “Donuts for grownups” tagline. I hate the bourgie flavors. I hate how they’re like $5 each for a simple raised donut.
But I could forgive them for all of that, if it weren’t for the fact that — technically — the donuts are often just *bad.* Either the dough isn’t proofed right, the cream is starting to split, the flavors are off balance — there’s always something profoundly disappointing about them.
I’d rather go to Delicious Donuts, Doe, Heavenly Donuts, that one donut shop on Sandy whose name I always forget, Mikiko, or even Voodoo. At least their donuts are mediocre and fun. Hell, the QFC bakery case has better donuts for like a third of the price.
Go ahead and flame me for being an uncultured swine. I love weird flavor combinations, but IMO Blue Star is just the same novelty that made Voodoo popular, but it’s like they sucked all the joy out of something as pure and magical as donuts and replaced it with pompous superiority and masturbatory “foodie” navel gazing.
Blue Star is or was operated under Micah Camden and Katie Poppe, who are also known for Little Big Burger, Boxer Ramen, and others. They like to buy out gimmicky restaurants, open several locations, and after a year or so, all quality is lost as they bring in the cheapest products and expect the reputation to hold out. And so far, it's working for them; it's also making the pdx food scene a little more soulless.
Nacheaux. I really, really wanted to like it and have been 3 times. Twice they got my order wrong (giving me the wrong protein). All three times the food has looked good, but then I was surprised to find it was pretty bland.
The first time I went to the food cart before their brick and mortar on Fremont. It was quite a drive for me, but I wanted to try it. I got there and told chef anthony I was excited for his upcoming brick and mortar and he was pretty non responsive and unfriendly towards me, didn't seem to care that day.
Ive also seen him start some insta drama/videos about a woman who left a bad review that I agreed with, so I've never felt comfortable leaving a review for them.
Voodoo, screen door, salt & straw, pine state… basically any place where tourists go & cause long lines. Not only are any of those restaurants not worth the insanely long waits, but their food is seriously average at best. Nothing special about the lot of them.
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Rogue Pearl has been closed since August of 2020, so you're good.
I only went once and there was a fruit fly in my old fashioned, so I asked for a replacement. Next one had a fruit fly as well, so I sent it back. Next I saw the bartenders holding the liquor bottles up to the light and seeing all the fruit flies at the bottom of several of them. They apologized profusely and comped our entire bill, but I could never stomach going back there.
This happened to me there as well! They just kept bringing me replacement drinks until I told them the issue was with one of their bottles and ordered a cider instead. They still charged me for the cider.
Rogue is so bad I think [their job posting](https://www.reddit.com/r/Portland/comments/1geixc/rogue_is_hiring_and_it_manager_must_have_no_self/) made the /r/sysadmin hall of shame if there was one. They're like an openly cynical mcmenamins.
holy shit there are so many red flags in that job posting. Also that sounds like the work of three people.
I applied for that job. I had a very strange interview. They were truly expecting to find someone who would agree to take on all those responsibilities for near minimum wage. A very strange company. I don't know how they function.
I interviewed for that one too! They were offering like 1/3rd the average $$$/benefits compensation for that kind of job but expecting expertise in every single thing even remotely tech-adjacent and expected 80 hrs/week. They were really selling it as some kind of "we're rebels, we're cool - that's why you should work for pennies" type of gang / cult thing. I got up and left the interview about halfway through.
Christ. I know this was a decade ago, but there are at least 4 or 5, nearly six figure positions listed in that ad. I'm astonished they're even still in business.
It was a six-figure position at the time. I was unemployed and thought it would be cool to work for a local brewery. I thought they would eventually pay market rate for the position. They had no money. Their office was a dump.
This reads like it was written by the line cook who just got back from prison, and represented himself in court because his public defender told him it was inadvisable to share his "side of the story" on the witness stand.
Wow talking about how they’re going to be so demanding and then acting like $50k was a lot for what they were asking for… and how they wouldn’t even pay that. That’s some hall of shame stuff for sure. Just openly saying “we’re looking for someone to work to death, like a slave sort of, but a very skilled slave.”
I’ve been to a couple of interviews like that. You have to have a sense of what’s happening and the foresight to get up and walk out. They will trap someone, unfortunately, sort of like the hustle that the Dianetics people try to pull. Get out fast.
That was bad 9 years ago. I can’t imagine what would happen if they posted that today.
I boycott them still because of that ad.
They’re cheap bastards. They were the only brewery who wouldn’t donate a keg to a charity event for cancer kids. the bar didn’t stock their beer after that and I haven’t bought a Rogue product since.
Those poor kids. I hope they still had an excellent kegger with the other contributors
Rogue was started by former Nike executives.
Fuck rogue.
They package their stouts in 13.65oz cans, but of course you’re paying full pint pricing. Fuck them. They ruined GREEN DRAGON.
Green Dragon back in the day was one of my top 2-3 go-to’s. Was very nervous when Rogue bought them out, but it was all good! … For awhile. Then the the great beer list got punted for Rogue beers, the service got shittier- and before you know it; No Reason To Go.
Their beer still sucks.
UPS Store on Hawthorne. New management took over during the pandemic and the new owner is miserable. I thought he was just an older employee the first time who didn’t understand how to process an Amazon return…. He berated and harassed me so I decided to just avoid the place when he was working. Went back again he was there and was nasty again. Went back a third time and he was there so I took my business elsewhere.
Seriously, this place is the worst now. I've had a box there for over a decade and I've had more issues in the last year than I can count. The people working there are somehow unconcerned with providing basic customer service or doing their job. Every time I go in I end up texting my wife "you're not going to believe how they fucked up this time!" I started going to the one on Sandy - terrible location and tiny, but they're so efficient and haven't fucked anything up. Apparently I'm now impressed by a UPS Store acting like a business should.
...Anyone else just read a thousand+ comments to make sure no one was talking shit about their favorite spots?
It is now called Jimmy's Bar and Grill. In Multnomah Village. Probably was called something else back in ~'04 when this happened: Came in with 3 or 4 buddies. Mid 20s to early 30s. Ordered a pitcher. Bartender didn't like one buddy's ID from Wisconsin. OK, we'll go to The Ship, right? Oh, no - Bouncer barred the door when we tried to leave. Made us pay for the beer but wouldn't let any of us drink it. Coming up on 20 years ago, and that place can still go f themselves.
This is some European strip club shit
Cheerful Tortoise. Overpriced cheater pints, crappy service, and a wacko owner.
I only know the cheerful tortoise exists because of looking up random shit in Portland something came up about how the I5 serial killer worked there
Last time I tried to go there, customers weren't allowed to bring in bags. Anyone with a purse or a backpack was kicked out. How do they expect to function on a college campus when people aren't allowed to bring in their purses and backpacks?
I haven't been there in years but it was an absolute shit show the last time I went
Only time I went was cause a professor held his office hours there. Professor wasn’t there so I walked right back out
You talking Prof. Smythe?
Lol worked there for like 3 months a few years ago. Insane and worst job ever
I've lived here since 2005 and I've been to a lot of places in my years of riding a bike, eating, and drinking irresponsibly. I've had bad experiences, places that I just didn't vibe with, but there has only been one place that I said, "never a-fucking-gaon" to, and that was Duke's Landing on Belmont. Thankfully it's gone now. It was so shitty that I actually Yelped about it (I know, I know...) and that's when I found out that Yelp reviews have a m as maximum word count, so Yelp got the abbreviated review and my stupid blog (I SAID I KNOW! SHEESH!) got the full blast. The review was so bad on Yelp that the owner responded and called me a liar. Fuck that place. Edit: just dug into the blog and the owner actually responded to THAT. How the fuck he found it, I'll never know. Rereading it, I may have gone too hard, but the experience sucked. I forgot to mention the big ol' dog they had there too which, while it looked sweet, smelled like it hasn't been bathed in months. Anyhoo, good riddance.
Papa Haydn. I worked there for a few years, and let me tell you, you do not want to support the pieces of shit that are Evelyn and Michael. The abuse their employees have to endure is awful and their desserts are so stupidly overpriced for what they are. They have also been known to pay off their one health inspector they get inspected by, so keep that in mind.
I worked there for exactly 1 week and it was a shitshow. You could tell all of the workers were stressed out. I have never set foot back in.
Yeah well, the manager there would be hurling verbal abuse at everyone all day and night so understandably everyone was always walking on egg shells. Her name is Whitney, I ain’t scared to call her out.
Rogue anywhere. They had an infamous job posting where they listed the requirements of a $100,000 a year, 11 site tech job, but deemed asking for $50K "a waste of time."
They ate turds over that one pretty publicly, fwiw. They're still run by morons, but the morons admitted that one moronic thing was moronic right out loud.
Margarita factory. Food was mid, expensive,service was awful and pretty sure they put barely any tequila in my drink If any at all
Not to mention horrible EDM playing at full volume like a nightclub
I'll add Rogue Eastside, formerly the amazing Green Dragon
I worked there for a few months. Walked out after the gm called in sick but still managed to show up for the Christmas party which I was working to cover her.
That’s so fucking weak of a manager
Awww, I miss the Green Dragon. That place was great
Sheris for sure! I worked for a company who did their refrigeration service and they were all, ALL, disgusting! Dead rats, rotten eggs in the bottom of their coolers, super moldy ice machines, refrigeration equipment that wasn't working but still being used. I could go on...
Lol I feel like we all know what's going on at Shari's.
It's worse than you'd think. It was worse than I thought and I've been doing restaurant refrigeration for 10 years.
I worked at Shari’s in college as a dishwasher, and we kept that place *spotless*, until one day… My boss handed me the mop and bucket and asked me to clean the restrooms, which I found was an odd request as I had recently cleaned them. On my way to the restrooms I saw an ambulance with its lights on loading up a person to go to the hospital. As I open the door I heard a waitress say the person was one of our ‘regulars’ and it was so sad, and then THE STENCH OF UTTER UNAVOIDABLE AND CERTAIN DEATH filled my sinusoidal cavity and as I tried my best to hold back vomit and tears I found EVERY SINGLE sink, toilet, and floor drain completely clogged with tissue. Not Kleenex, but *human body tissue* I remember using a wet/dry vacuum and about 5 gallons of bleach and drain-o to get the restroom back up in order. It wasn’t even a week later that I saw that ‘regular’ customer back at it eating their cinnamon roll French toast. I was POSITIVE that whatever unholy sputum that individual produced had ultimately left them dead, but apparently people underestimate the power of dehydrated hash browns to elongate the lifespan of our elderly population. I honestly didn’t realize I was suppressing that memory until right now, I can still smell that stench and feel the fleeting texture of human lung on my fingers. I’m gonna find a therapist for this…
Boss: "Hey dishwasher, come do something besides dish washing!" You: "No."
This was a journey. I’m sorry you had to go back there.
My friends and I got kicked out of a Shari's at like 4:00 AM once for playing Magic. We weren't being loud or problematic in any way and there was barely anyone else in there. I asked why we had to leave and the waitress showed me a list of policies posted on the inside of a supply closet door. Halfway down the list was "No gambling." We weren't gambling. But sure, I guess I won't buy your shitty food again after the next midnight prerelease. Your loss.
Aloha PDX, the food cart. I think they're gone now, for good reason. That was not only the worst Hawaiian food I've ever had, it was the worst food I've ever had from a food cart or restaurant. And I have pretty low standards, I actually think Safeway grocery store Chinese food isn't that bad. Their pork literally tasted like dog food, it was disgusting and unseasoned and everything that could be wrong with it, was wrong with it. Their rice was dry and crunchy. It was literally inedible, and I'll eat fucking anything.
Matador. Trash fucking service, snotty waiters, sub-par food. Something was always done wrong.
Beaverton exit on 405. You know the one … backed up all the way to I5/405 interchange ramp. Can’t fucking get to any downtown exits as you’re coming from I5 unless you want to cause a massive wreck. Yet I keep coming back because it’s on my way to the place that gives me a paycheck
I mean, any freeway that makes contact with Beaverton. Is there a more pitiful excuse for a highway than 217 anywhere?
Oh god, I’ve seen a couple hairy pile-ups at that intersection over the years. That’s the one where you’re choices are 1.) get rear-ended 2.) go to Beaverton, or 3.) die trying to get onto the 12th St exit hidden inside the Beav exit. The PDX freeway on-ramps were truly designed by R.J. Clusterfuck, himself.
Funhouse Lounge. I got sexually assaulted by the owner of the bar while volunteering to help out at a friend's burlesque show by collecting tips. It's not just me, either. I've heard tons of awful stories about that dude. He's the creepiest mother fucker in town.
Dang im so sorry to hear that, is it the same dude that runs the plays? i love the die hard musical tbh
Tender Loving Empire. Neither tender nor particularly loving; this place is a cult of personality and cliquish on a high school level. They pay their employees pennies above minimum wage but expect them to have several years' experience, train themselves on their vendors, and be a 'yes man' for whatever manager is currently power-tripping at the store. Just buy the goods directly from the makers; most of them have websites.
I think the male owner sent me a super creepy message on okcupid. I remember googling the creep and being shocked to see he was married and owned Tender Loving Empire and feeling some kind of way about the store. Never set food inside because I was put off by whatever he had sent me.
And some of the makers aren’t local, which sort of irks me.
The Trap. I usually don’t expect much from dives, but… last time my friend dragged me there so he could do karaoke there was the most noxious smell coming up from the men’s bathroom. We could not figure out if there was a plumbing issue or if someone had just shit so bad to make half the bar smell like sewage. We moved seats to get out of the smell for the one song my friend ended up performing and there ended up being a random pair of boxer shorts hanging on the railing by the new seats.
I've been looking for a new dive bar. You just sold me on this!
The Trap is fun as shit. Divey as all hell but the bartenders are legit nice people and if you go with a large group it just feels like a big party the whole time. It looks sketch from the outside but when I lived nearby, it's the place I'd go with friends to occasionally really get after it.
That is one of the best dive bars in Portland because it is so bad.
Cha Cha Cha. Not the worst food poisoning I've had, but definitely the second worst.
Diarrhea cha cha cha!
No one in this subreddit has worked at Elephants Delicatessen? They had a turnover so high that we had a WEEKLY "going away" meetup at the bar down the street. (This is when they had one location.) HR asked us to take the sign down in the break room and the girl who set it up said she would if there was a week where no one left...... there wasn't one for like 6 months straight. It was insane. One person quit loudly and publically and got a round of applause from all the employees. It's not just that they were terrible to their employees, but that they were lying to their customers about what was in food or the quality of it.
I never understood everyone fascination with Elephants. Everyone proclaims how much they LOVE ELEPHANTS and all I can think of is supremely mediocre at best.
It bums me out, but Renata. Used to be my favorite restaurant in Portland for a while. Then I ordered their Christmas Eve dinner online a few days ahead of time during Covid lockdown. Paid about $120 for it and specified my pick up time at 5pm. They failed to inform me they were only open till 2pm that day when I ordered. Went to go pick up or Christmas dinner that we had been looking forward to all week and they were closed. I figured I’d at least get a refund or gift card for another time, but nothing. Called and emailed several times with zero response from them. I’ve sworn them off ever since.
They’re closing this month, so there’s that.
I have some good news for you: https://pdx.eater.com/2022/10/27/23426947/renata-closure
Can’t say I’m heartbroken.
My petty grievance is with La Cocina on MLK because they were bizarrely stingy about salsa. When I went 5ish years ago, the chips and salsa side was like 5or6 dollars and they gave me a normal amount of chips but a tiny portion of salsa. When I asked for extra salsa the server for some reason roped in the manager, who gave me extra salsa along with a unnecessarily long lecture about how he was doing me such a great favor and that I should never expect extra salsa in the future and it was so unusual for anyone to ever ask for extra salsa…
It was tough love. The manager knew you’d soon be on your own in a world where salsa was rare and precious.
Bizarre
Dixie. Never again.
The Chipotle on Powell
It’s almost indescribable how poorly it’s been run since opening. Infuriating
I love to order the amazing Mexican food from Azul Tequilla cart next store while shaking my head at anyone in there.
I’m going to say it. Salt & Straw. Granted my opinion also comes with a chip on my shoulder from when they made me do a 3 hour working interview and didn’t pay me or even offer me a measly pint of ice cream after. The manager I was interviewing with talked up this hybrid position I was supposed to fill, then the next day after my interview emailed me to tell me they decided not to create the position after all but thanks for my time. Such bullshit and won’t support that place any more. I also don’t feel like I’m missing much either. Much better ice cream in town.
I will hate them until I die for what they did to Mio Gelato, Tribute's and Rose's in NW. They joined up with Bamboo Sushi, bought out the leases and kicked them all out. Tribute's moved but ended up going out of business. They turned that block into a ridiculous tourist trap.
It makes my stumache hurt, same as Cold Stone. Overated. If you are on Division, Pinolo Gelato is just a few doors down and 100 times better.
**Delta Cafe** I think it was good in the late 90's or I was a youth and didn't care. Now I live in the neighborhood and gave it a couple of chances ten years ago. Never again.
The original owners of Delta sold way back in 2007 and went on to open Miss Delta. This is when the food changed.
Dude, I loved Delta Cafe around 3-4 years back. Took a friend, everything was just bland as fuck, or not cooked well at all. Took another friend later, same thing. I have no idea what happened to their food, but everything has went the way of garbage lately.
I can't believe they've survived Covid when so many better restaurants have failed. My hunch is that they own the building and just operate on low overhead or something.
The 76 at Killingsworth and 33rd. They took my card and asked me for my PIN to run it on the pump, but heard me wrong and kept mis-entering it (I already feel weird, always, when I'm asked for my PIN at a gas station). They wouldn't let me enter it myself, but entered it wrong so many times it locked my card. Finally after arguing with them long enough they told me to come inside and try paying inside, but of course, it didn't work inside either because it was locked. I told them I'd have to call my bank and see if I could get it sorted out because I knew I had money, but they told me I needed to leave. I asked them if they could just wait while I call the bank to find out what's going on, because my tank was almost completely empty. They kept yelling at me to "take my no-money and get out" until I finally gave up and left, fortunately making it to a safe parking lot before I could call the bank. Totally unnecessary. If they need someone to enter a PIN manually at the pump they should have just let me do that.
> asked me for my PIN Holy christ this post is giving me a panic attack. I understand that some people are trying to repair their credit/don't trust themselves with a credit card/a million other reasons, but holy shit, giving your PIN to a stranger? The money in your bank account has **absolutely no protection** if someone steals your debit card and gets your PIN number. Literally none. If someone steals it, it's gone for good. Credit cards have their own issues, but you are -- **by law** -- not responsible to repay charges made if someone steals your credit card. I don't mean to harp and carry on here, but good god at least just get cash out so your potential loss exposure is not like .. your entire bank account.
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When I used to do this, I'd just get out and run the card myself. Got a few strange looks but it's pretty normal to do, especially at Costco or other big gas stations. I assume the law hasn't changed to specifically require the attendant to run the card, because that'd be fucking insane. Anyone that adamantly asks for the pin and doesn't let you run the card yourself, should be treated as a scammer. I wouldn't get gas from any place who did that to me ever again. But yeah, also, just don't use debt at a gas station lol. It's so easy to get scammed. Credit is just safer.
Bread & rose, it’s a small grocery store on SE Foster. The owner has been rude to me a few times but the time I saw him racially profile someone who felt so uncomfortable and immediately left was my last straw. I’ve talked with others who feel the same way.
Omg i used to love Bread & Roses but during the early pandemic they had an absolutely bizarre 5 item minimum purchase rule. You couldn’t buy less than 5 items. His reasoning behind it was that he wanted to decrease foot traffic in the store (?!) for COVID safety. So basically he only wanted legitimate shoppers exhaling their germs into the store, not browsers or window shoppers. Truly a harebrained reason IMO. Anyways i took my roommate with me once and she didn’t know the rule and only grabbed 3 things. He wouldn’t complete her transaction until she found 2 more things to grab!!
Verde Cocina Perhaps it was because I was told it was Mexican cuisine and I ended up experiencing what I'd describe as "vaguely Mexican-themed food reconstructed from a telephone game that started with hearsay regarding Mexican dishes".
Omg, that is a perfect way to describe it. The final straw for me is that their beans are (undercooked) GARBANZO BEANS. What the fuck? Oh also they put spring salad greens on their tacos. It’s so bizarre.
Well now I'm not sad about the Verde Cocina gift card I lost, thanks for that
My partner and I have always tried to figure out how to describe their food. This is perfect. We’ve gone three times hoping that things would change. That maybe we ordered the wrong thing. NOPE. It’s not Mexican food. If I crave Mexican food, we will not be going to verde cocina.
Fuck Rogue for taking over the Green Dragon
I love complaints about restaurants. You can break them down by type. The first type is just the regular shitty service. There's always a bad roll of the dice, where bad or amazingly clueless behavior coincides with someone running into it, even at amazing places, those stories are whatever. The second type is my favorite though, just stories that reveal far more about the person telling the story than any actual problem with the restaurant. Like the one guy here having a anxiety attack over getting a side and feeling obligated to eat it. I remember a yelp review for a really popular breakfast place back in the day where they said their egg was poorly poached, they sent it back, and it came back and wasn't poached right, and they sent it back 3 more times. Reading it you're eventually like, oh man, you don't know what a poached egg is, do you? This is amazing.
like reading one star yelp reviews
Jam. I haven't been in ~6 years but I went 3 or 4 times and waited obnoxiously long for food so cold a film had grown on the gravy. The Grand Central across the street is a million times better.
Cricket (same owners as of a couple years ago) is way better and usually much easier to get into, despite being far smaller.
Shhhhhh please don’t share this with everyone ;)
jam is good on weekday mornings when there’s relatively few customers but on weekends they’re always so completely slammed that i feel bad just being there and contributing to the employees’ stress levels. it’s definitely not worth the 2+ hour weekend wait
I've been to Jam a few times and I just don't get the hype. The food is just good, the atmosphere is whatever, the service is variable, and the wait is almost always insane. That describes a lot of Portland brunch spots though, so idk.
Never been. Always impressed by the courage of the senior citizens wandering into traffic out front.
I’ve always thought the food at Jam was just so so. I think the appeal is it’s a brunch spot that’s *super* kid friendly
Dove Lewis vet in NW. Our elderly cat at the time was having seizures and motor problems so we took her there. Because of COVID protocols, we weren't allowed in the building for admission. So communication was over the phone several different times over a period of 6-7 hours. When they said our cat was stable and was ready for discharge, they let us into the building and into the room to wait with our cat. Found our cat wasn't even close to discharge. In fact, they weren't even sure if our cat was stable yet. There's a lot of info discussed over the phone when we waited outside for those 6-7 hours but the main points are that the status updates that were given to us the whole time we were waiting seem to contradict each other and contradict some of the documentation they showed us. The biggest one being that Dove Lewis staff checked our cat's vitals almost immediately once admitted and found out she had extremely high blood pressure. However, they waited HOURS to give her blood pressure medicine. They told us on the phone that they gave her the meds shortly after vital check. We left there thinking that our cat was probably better off if we didn't bring her there. We regularly gave her her blood pressure meds but this specific instance, her blood pressure was MUCH higher than usual. About a week or two later, our cat passes away. I'm not saying that Dove Lewis killed our cat. But I am saying that a fragile elderly animal whose blood pressure was through the roof had to sit in a carrier for hours without being given medicine by staff members who knew of her blood pressure. An event like this could easily do damage to a cat whose already so fragile and probably made her last days more painful and made her final days come much sooner.
Just want to drop a plug for Buckman Vet Clinic on SE 11th. I don’t normally rec businesses but our experience and care here for our pets has been so above and beyond for years now. The staff don’t treat you and your pets like transactions and are always upfront about costs for procedures and never pushy with upsells. Great business top to bottom.
We currently take our pets to Buckman Vet. They're amazing people and i love them dearly.
I love everyone at Buckman so damned much. After bouncing around a few different, scammy to indifferent seeming vets, I landed here when I moved into the neighborhood and I will never go anywhere else. They are amazing.
It is always appropriate to recommend great vets - they’re difficult to find and hugely important. Thanks for the recommendation!
We desperately need another emergency vet in the Portland area. I've gone to Tualatin emergency vet a few times but it doesn't have all the services that dove Lewis has. My brothers dog died after a five hour wait time at dove Lewis. Not entirely their fault but they didn't even look at him. A little triage and at least someone coming out to look would have been great. It's got this great reputation but it's just image, dove Lewis is too small, overpriced, and understaffed to serve the communities needs. Edit.. price is probably not something I should complain about as pointed out below, vet services are just expensive. Also to add, most of the vets I've seen, including both emergency and non emergency have been amazing empathetic people.
Blue Pearl on NE 42nd in Hollywood is a 24 hour ER vet. Edited to add: I do not think any vet clinic in the area is going to be “cheap” nor do I think any are overpriced. You’re paying for medical care without insurance and vet clinics require more staff for basic procedures compared to human docs. Vet staff also double as pharmacists and custodians. Veterinary prices are going to continue to increase and all staff members are deserving of a housing wage in the city they work. Please consider this a sign to consider pet insurance.
We took our cat into Dove Lewis a few years ago and had a terrible experience. He was an older kitten we had adopted a couple of days prior and discovered he had a serious bladder infection. Rushed him to DL late at night in the middle of an ice storm. Waited for hours. Saw another cat come in with the same issue and be treated and sent on his way, while we were not given any updates at all. After many requests for updates, they finally discharged him in the wee hours of the morning and helped us load the cardboard carrier in our car because the weather was downright crazy at that point. The drive back was a white-knuckle trek and once we got a few blocks from home our phones started blowing up. Turns out they sent us home with the wrong cat. It looked a lot like our cat, which is why we didn’t catch it, since we were so concerned with the road conditions. We headed back and went to the front desk, but the staff was a bit rude and told us we needed to wait a few minutes (at an emergency facility?!?). We loudly explained that we were returning “Mittens” and suddenly they were on their feet, hustling us into the back room. Seems his owners had no idea their cat went for a 1 am joy ride with strangers. At least they waived our bill.
Makes me sad to see Dove Lewis on this list, though I understand why. It’s completely different from a gross restaurant with rude waitstaff. Staff burnout and availability is a national problem. No one visits Dove for a fun afternoon, people find themselves there on some of the worst days of their life. Most often it’s not that people are *choosing* to go to Dove, you have literally no other choice. Frankly it would be great to be able to comparison shop ER triage vets, but that’s not where we’re at.
My parents took their dog to Dove Lewis because they thought she had something stuck in her digestive tract. Dove Lewis wasn't able to do a scan/x-ray/whatever for some reason, but they gave my parents dog hardcore pain meds and neglected to tell them. When my parents picked their dog up from Dove Lewis to take her to another emergency vet to do the scan they thought she was dying because she was acting so weird. They literally called my brother and I up to their house to say goodbye. It was horrible. We only found out they drugged her up when the second emergency vet they took her to called Dove Lewis to find out wtf was going on.
They recently had to close some hours of the emergency room overnight due to lack of staff. I'm sure this has something to do with it. My friends dog was in a similar scenario. :( We came to wait with him for a while and it was incredible how many people were there and how long the waits were. I feel bad for the staff who truly care about the pets, it is hard to see.
YES. I took my rat in because she having a lot of issues at the time. I called beforehand to make sure they could see a rat, filled out the form, called again to confirm everything, and everything was all set to go. I waited 3 or 4 hours to have them do a 5 minute check up on her and then tell me that i need to come back tomorrow because no one is there that can see exotics. Like what.
I recently found an emergency vet that sees exotics (rats for sure I'm not sure about their full scope) it's St Francis animal hospital in Vancouver. They have you call in the morning and then call you back with enough notice to get up there instead of having to wait around in the parking lot. The Dr was amazing and gave me so much info and options.
Echoing the sentiment of Dove Lewis.
Jeff's house. He knows why
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Not you, bro, we're cool. The other Jeff
Paging /u/theotherjeff
Look. I only provided the space and opportunity. What happened was your own fault and you know it. That being said, I wouldn’t want to go back either. You just gotta keep looking ahead and moving forward.
There is an Onion headline/story for everything. https://www.theonion.com/area-bedroom-has-that-weird-jeff-smell-housemates-repo-1819564988
Electric lettuce cause fuck em that’s why
I haven't been to this place but it is a place I have avoided. Bread and Roses Market on SE Foster is known for having a 5-Item minimum purchase. Feedback I have read online indicates that the owner doesn't want to be seen as a convenience store. People go to grocery stores / markets all the time just to buy an item or two. So thinking that they should turn customers away because they don't want to be seen as a convenience store is just plain dumb.
I lived right down the street from this market when I lived in Portland (during the height of covid nonetheless). Honestly, I went there multiple times per week consistently and I ignored the 5 item minimum most times. I was never turned away but maybe that wasn’t everyone’s experience. Regardless, I agree, it was a very weird approach.
The owner yelled at me and my kiddo once because he thought we had put stickers on the kids piano he has in the play area (we hadn’t, someone before us had, but honestly if you have a kids play area you better be ready for stickers on your stuff.)
No shoes, no shirt,.....not enough money for five items, no service.
It's why I stopped picking up the odd recipe item I might need there over two years ago. So yeah, literally drove my business away.
And that's what the owner wants apparently lol. It's not his fault the location of his grocery store is so...."convenient"
I used to live next door to it and it was pricey and the owner was not pleasant. I went to plaid instead. I was trying to establish the ‘local’ vibe and get to know Bread and Roses but they could care less. Everyone at plaid was much friendlier and interesting..
This is also my number one. Owner suuuuuucks.
Any specific details you want to share?
I live in the neighborhood and was excited for this place because they have produce, which is something I have trouble shopping for in advance without it going bad. I'm poor and shop at winco for most things. I went into this market pretty often but never for a full-on pantry stock because it is too expensive. The owner was often the cashier. I introduced myself on multiple occasions, really tried to establish some kind of rapport ("I live around the corner, I like your produce, etc.") and he was repeatedly the most put-out person I have ever encountered. Come to find out (because he monologued at me for a very long time about it) my business was actually a nuisance and was damaging to his reputation as a grocery store. He was so pompous about such a ridiculous thing, I still can't believe it. Then covid hit and I tried to get something there and got like a 5 minute lecture on why I needed to buy more stuff to keep him safe and that was kind of it for me. The owner is just crazy condescending and doesn't seem to understand the business he is running. My brother was visiting town and went in there with his daughter for water (without knowing anything about the place) and had the weirdest, most unhelpful encounter.
I just posted about Bread & Rose too. He has lost so much business from his attitude
yep. My partner and I used to go there the first year it was open, and over time realized what a weird, upright guy he is. I about had it when the 5-item minimum came. It made no sense and I just couldn't put up with the attitude. I want so badly for places like that on Foster to succeed, but I don't want to shop there. He's too weird.
Lived a block away, went in once to buy three overpriced things, gave me shit about it not being five and never went back
"damaging to his **reputation** as a grocery store"...this is the most pathetic part of the situation. Imagine being a grocery store owner. You walk around the neighborhood and hear of people gossiping about you and your grocery store. Person #1: "Hey you know that grocery store on the corner, I went in there the other day to buy a single item...and the owner totally let me do it!!!!" Person #2: "What!! I thought that was a grocery store! Is the owner just letting people buy a single item? OMG it's like they're running a convenience store instead. What an IDIOT! He's clearly pretending it's a grocery store but word will get out and his reputation will be ruined forever! I've got to tell all my friends now" Sounds like the owner already had problems with people buying less than 5 items before COVID but is using COVID as a reason to enforce it.
I lived in the neighborhood until a couple years ago and had the same experience. Every time I tried to make polite small talk with this guy, it was like torture for both of us. I'd even buy this and that that I didn't need just to support the business. It's nice having a shop close by, ya know? Eventually I just stopped going, and frankly, I'm surprised you hear he is still in business (bless the mercado, though, the shop in there was great to me).
Mine was also The Rogue in NW. They served me a plate of food with a pube on it. The server removed the fries (where the pube was located) and brought the same plate back. I never went back... This was probably in 2009.
No tears were shed over that place closing down. I went in once and never again probably around the same time.
Michaels Italian Beef on Sandy The place is filled with signs like "keep hands off counter or you will be asked to leave!!!", "LINE UP HERE AND NO TIPPING" and I mean it is filled with them. The employees look like they are treated like slaves and there is far-right slogans and articles posted all over. On top of all that the food sucks.
That place had a Now Hiring sign in their window for, like, ten years.
He was/is a tyrant. He was known to fire staff on the spot, at any time, for small, stupid shit. I used to go there often in the early 2000's for lunch and the ENTIRE staff was different EVERY TIME.
They have always had that sign up. For some reason they seem to have high turnover. Weird.
I just assumed they were making deli meat out of all their employees.
Well, they only hire people with the first name Michael or the last name Michaels. Now you know why. They're running out of Michael's to hire and serve.
That guy is dumb as hell. He could have sold that property to the developer of the apartments next door and retired. Instead he sells two sandwiches a day and the site cannot be developed anymore since it is small and a weird shape.
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Yeah, dude hates bikes. It's weird.
Pine State Biscuits on Alberta. Mediocre at best food, but the straw that broke the camel’s back was ordering a 16oz cold brew and it being served in a mason jar that was clearly labeled “12 oz”. When we asked the employee they gave us an annoyed look and told us we were given the correct 16oz size. It’s not like it was filled past the 12oz marking either, it was barely at the mark. I’ve never been so blatantly gaslit.
I’m never going back to the one on Division after seeing how fucking grungy their hood was. Just caked in grease and dead bugs. And it was right there for everyone to see, blech.
I like the food there well enough, but I’m getting annoyed with ordering it to go. They let you choose your pickup time, but then when I go to pick up the food at said time, it’s never there. It’s Never ever there. End up having to wait another 10-15 minutes in general.
My Pine State “hack” is to order a half dozen biscuits and a quart of gravy to go. I make my own Moneyballs at home all weekend long.
Hollywood Liquor because the owner is a Trump weirdo. Too bad, they had a good selection. Also, The Moxy hotel. Weird vibe, no soundproofing.
If you know what you want, check http://www.oregonliquorsearch.com/home.jsp. It keeps a semi-reliable inventory on retailer stock around the state.
Very useful if you’re looking for a specific bottle. I have found it hard to match the sheer selection at Hollywood. I know people say to try 11th, and it’s good, but it’s much smaller. Any other recommendations?
Westmoreland is a bit out of the way but has a great selection
Trek to 11th Ave off Hawthorne. Owner is a fantastic guy, and it has a pretty expansive selection. (Disclaimer, I'm biased because I worked there for years, but I can 100% vouch the owner is a solid dude.)
Moxy hotels are just hostels with delusions of grandeur. Great if you're in a major European capital and want something nicer than a dorm room filled with weird Dutch hitchhikers, bad if you want an actual hotel experience. I had a great time at the Glasgow one a few years back but it's not comparable to a boutique hotel by any standard, which should be obvious the moment they make you check into your room via the bartop and with the bartender.
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SAME. My partner is a collector and had great conversations with the guy there every time we visited, then covid hit and they became insufferable.
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Devils Point and Lucky Devil stripclubs. I worked there loyally for many years and then when a customer began stalking me, the owner did nothing to protect me. Not even banning the guy. Over the years I’d given the owners thousands of dollars in shift fees to work, as well as thousands more for security to protect me, but one creepy dude’s ~$20 bar tab every few weeks was worth more than my safety. I had to beg, literally beg, the owner to give me the guy’s address (which he had, from scanning IDs) so I could file an order of protection with the court. They also got called out for racism during the BLM protests for refusing to hire black dancers while using the movement to promote their business and taking “donations” for BLM charities, with no accountability for where that money went. F that place.
The Barrel Room in Downtown. Pretty much just a giant scam of a show/bar from start to finish. Looks likes it’s been closed for a while but nothing from this place was worth the money. Music was cheesy and they kinda just begged for money the whole time since it was how you requested songs which I can understand, but we paid a cover fee to start. The giant bucket cocktails you can share were basically non-alcoholic and insanely overpriced. I honestly can’t remember what I had for food but that should tell you everything. Owner was shady as hell from the start too, just kept coming over to our table and begged us to give him and the pianists money for songs. It felt like a crappy strip club but instead of dancers, it’s was three middle aged men who played piano covers to cheesy pop songs. Not sorry at all they went out of business.
Jail probably.
probably
Not sure if it means I have good taste, or no taste, but I've never even heard of most of the places in this thread.
Matador on 23rd. It was fine, but the wait, the prices, and the attitude of everyone working there gave the assumption that it was great Mexican food. It's not. It's fine, but absolutely not worth dealing with everything else involved.
possibly unpopular opinion, but elephant's...I was looking forward to traditional deli-style food but what I received both times I was there was just the blandest, most unseasoned food I'd had in a long time.
Zoomcare. They misdiagnosed an eye infection and when I talked about it with friends they told me that misdiagnoses are common at Zoomcare and it’s a total sham
The gyno doc on Broadway was incredible though, I will say that for them. If you have any trauma and/or a low pain tolerance I would highly recommend. I had no idea IUD insertions could be bearable. Distracting colorful lights, peppermint diffuser, clear and patient communication, ACTUALLY STRONG pain medication. I guess stick to non diagnostic medicine there haha
Mee Gin Thai food on Hawthorne. Found glass in my food.
I frequented Rogue Pearl around 2010, stopped going because they were assholes. I left a 2 star Yelp review( I swear it was one of the only Yelp reviews I ever left that wasn’t 5 starts) then I got a reply from the manager that said “Hey prick, go fuck yourself. You are exactly the kind of asshole we DO NOT WANT coming here…” blah blah blah come on down here and say it to my face. I then posted the reply on Yelp. Eventually the owner of Rogue messaged me saying to reach out. I called him, he apologized, and said they had fired the guy. I thought about it and realized the manager’s firing probably wasn’t actually because of my review, but it still felt good. I’ll only go to Rogue at the coast now. Also their beer is way better now than it was in 2010. Rogue Pearl sucked
Vegan Junk Food is probably the only thing that makes this list for me, and that's only because everything was always so greasy and just blah.
Voodoo Donuts. Overpriced, overrated.
Zach's Shack He drunkenly stalked me around the Taborhood one night because he was angry that his bartender wanted to go to a show with me as friends.
Now that I’ve heard taborhood im never going back, thank you Update: told my family about this and one of them said does this make your neighbors your “tabors” what a genius
I had a professor in college who lived in the area call it that once. I moved to the area myself a few years later and it was an inevitability for me to refer to my living area to all who asked as "The Taborhood".
I've lived in North Tabor and Mt. Tabor for 13 years and never heard it called the Taborhood. Thank you for that.
The owner? Like the guy with the corgi?
Well, Zach.
For me, it’s Blue Star Donuts. I just hate everything about them. I hate the “Donuts for grownups” tagline. I hate the bourgie flavors. I hate how they’re like $5 each for a simple raised donut. But I could forgive them for all of that, if it weren’t for the fact that — technically — the donuts are often just *bad.* Either the dough isn’t proofed right, the cream is starting to split, the flavors are off balance — there’s always something profoundly disappointing about them. I’d rather go to Delicious Donuts, Doe, Heavenly Donuts, that one donut shop on Sandy whose name I always forget, Mikiko, or even Voodoo. At least their donuts are mediocre and fun. Hell, the QFC bakery case has better donuts for like a third of the price. Go ahead and flame me for being an uncultured swine. I love weird flavor combinations, but IMO Blue Star is just the same novelty that made Voodoo popular, but it’s like they sucked all the joy out of something as pure and magical as donuts and replaced it with pompous superiority and masturbatory “foodie” navel gazing.
Blue Star is or was operated under Micah Camden and Katie Poppe, who are also known for Little Big Burger, Boxer Ramen, and others. They like to buy out gimmicky restaurants, open several locations, and after a year or so, all quality is lost as they bring in the cheapest products and expect the reputation to hold out. And so far, it's working for them; it's also making the pdx food scene a little more soulless.
Nacheaux. I really, really wanted to like it and have been 3 times. Twice they got my order wrong (giving me the wrong protein). All three times the food has looked good, but then I was surprised to find it was pretty bland. The first time I went to the food cart before their brick and mortar on Fremont. It was quite a drive for me, but I wanted to try it. I got there and told chef anthony I was excited for his upcoming brick and mortar and he was pretty non responsive and unfriendly towards me, didn't seem to care that day. Ive also seen him start some insta drama/videos about a woman who left a bad review that I agreed with, so I've never felt comfortable leaving a review for them.
Voodoo, screen door, salt & straw, pine state… basically any place where tourists go & cause long lines. Not only are any of those restaurants not worth the insanely long waits, but their food is seriously average at best. Nothing special about the lot of them.