SHAWDON'S BUFFET
2731 N Killingsworth, 285-4144
Whenever the thermometer tops 85, there are always those who cry out in anguish, "It's too hot to eat!" To them I say--great. All the more for me. Summer is the time for eating.
Yet there are certain dishes which are simply better suited to raw, blistering heat. Like barbecue. Like red, bloody meat and a chilly Heineken. And there is one restaurant in North Portland that turns out the most virile barbecue in town: Shawdon's.
Here you can get anything worth slapping on the grill--hamburgers (called "Boring Burgers" and "Boring Cheeseburgers") and the infinitely more exotic Trotter Pigs Feet. Yet despite the eclectic menu, it more or less relies on the same prime ingredient: delicious, artery-clogging, grease.
And what could be more deliciously greasy than an unlimited buffet--fried chicken, red beans and rice, pork chops, macaroni and cheese, enchiladas, collard greens, as well as Salisbury steak and gravy; a request for a "little of everything" will seriously take two plates.
The pork chops and fried chicken smack of a tangy sweet batter, one that begs to be saturated with milk gravy. There are also carbohydrates aplenty; the collard greens, for example, have a seasoned liveliness and comfort you wouldn't expect from such soggy looking green things. Similarly, the macaroni and cheese is a robust, sharp blend of spice, cheese, and pasta.
Though Shawdon's won't win any awards for decoration (much of the restaurant resembles a periwinkle blue, coastal hotel) you'll be surrounded by fellow heat-defying eaters who know what summer is truly all about: honoring their tastebuds over their thighs.