Chris Onstad

An excellent rotisserie chicken sandwich and herbed fries at Lardo Westside. The lighting at the new Lardo – Westside is excellent, so this week’s post-review photo roundup is nothing like the wet-yeti-on-security-cam footage you typically see from me. Also, in the busy lunchtime environment among the thirty other people photographing their lovely sandwiches, I feel […]

The following is not a review, but a recap of a single experience at a restaurant that does not open until tomorrow. It is generally my policy to review restaurants that have been open at least two months, but due to the circumstances I explain below, I feel like something should be said, if only […]

Apple, cheddar, bacon, honey. Tasty & Alder. At 1pm on a very recent Thursday, the very new Tasty & Alder was slammed. We took a spot on the waiting list, were carefully minded, and twenty minutes later wedged into a two-top in the middle of the room. Staff handled the capacity crowd with ease; dishes […]

fineartamerica.com …But non-alcoholic drinks are the order of the day when I’m on the clock. If a restaurant has a serious cocktail program then of course I taste, but review dinners are sober affairs, and I’m typically stuck with just water or the dreaded, “Diet Pepsi? Of course! And how about some crayons for Mr. […]

The business end of the Italian hoagie. Shut Up and Eat, the subject of this week’s Last Supper review, serves oversized, boldly-flavored sandwiches that have all the visual swagger of the name, but eat like intelligently constructed, thoughtfully-portioned things. You can pick them all up, you can take a bite without wearing it ear-to-ear, and […]

It is Calzone Madness Right Now. (Featured calzone courtesy of Bandini Pizza and Pasta) For awhile, I thought the best calzone in town was to be had at Nicholas—which is strange considering that it’s a Lebanese joint. (This is also not saying that it’s awesome.) I found a sizable one at Bandini Pizza & Pasta […]

I had a couple extra photos from last week’s review of Southland Whiskey Kitchen, so here they are, with some additional commentary that couldn’t fit in my weekly allotment. My photos, as is tradition, are terrible; they are stolen during nervous moments, they are badly lit, they are poorly composed. That’s fine, because Nolan Calisch’s […]

Menu/job application in one. There is a deep, dark place in my heart for that old Americana dining room, the kind with stainless steel tabletop “chandeliers” of salad dressing, a 1950s illustration of a chef on the menu, and baked potatoes that come with two cups of whipped butter and sour cream. Enter Scappoose’s Longfellow’s […]