Stark Street Pizza Company 9234 SE Stark 255-2364 Growing up outside Chicago, I spent most of the time I wasn’t in school tagging along with my parents to a pizza joint or a bowling alley or a bowling alley that served pizza. Stark Street Pizza Company is reminiscent of those old Highland Park, or Highwood, […]
Katie Shimer
Posted inMovies & TV
Bridget’s Back!
(That’s Not a Good Thing)
Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason dir. Kidron Opens Fri Nov 12 Various Theaters Romantic comedies are like fantastical sci-fi stories for women. It’s always the same outlandish formula: Rich, handsome, emotionally mature men make fools out of themselves trying to win one seemingly average (but deep-down special) woman’s heart. Occasionally, even I–a heartless, drunken […]
Posted inUncategorized
Eating Rich
Italian Caffé Bleeds Cream
Portofino Caffé Italiano 8075 SE 13th 234-8259 You’re either a cream sauce person or you’re not. When you peruse an Italian menu, you either see the alfredo and vodka sauce dishes and your mouth waters, or you ignore them altogether, opting for a spicy arrabiata sauce, or a chunky meat or marinara. I’m not a […]
Posted inUncategorized
A Steak Joint for the Ages
Sir Loins: An Airport Oasis
Sir Loins Restaurant 8025 NE Sandy Blvd. 284-7107 I have two food fetishes, and both are kind of dirty. The first is my fetish for weird meat: goat, sea cucumber, quail, rabbit, tongue, frog, alligator, duckling, buffalo, whatever. The second is old people restaurants–places that serve weak coffee, strong drinks, and steak for lunch. I […]
Posted inMovies & TV
Sick Film For Sickos
Saw Teaches People Like Me a Lesson
Saw dir. Wan Opens Fri Oct 29 Various Theaters Saw is one of those movies I wish I didn’t see. Most nights, I have an easy enough time imagining the violent horrors that could befall me–tackled and bludgeoned in the shower, snatched at the ankles from under my car, abducted into a white van while […]
Posted inUncategorized
Bars of the Damned
Creepy (But Fun!) PDX Drinkeries
If you’ve spent any significant portion of your life in bars, you know the dark side of humanity hangs out where the light is dim, the air is smoky, and fresh fruit means dried-up pieces of lime. As Halloween approaches, the pull to the dark side gets stronger, and us boring common folk look for […]
Posted inUncategorized
The Buzz in Sushi
Hama Makes Sushi Relevant
Hama Sushi 4232 NE Sandy Blvd 249-1021 Sushi restaurants are something like Britney Spears–trendy, and sort of over. That doesn’t mean, however, that either is entirely irrelevant. A decent piece of Spears gossip can spice up a middling conversation (or People magazine cover), and a trip to a good sushi bar can be the spark […]
Posted inDestination Fun
Parties for the Naughty
For a lot of us Portlanders, there´s no hope. We realize we´re steeped in booze and depravity, and in fact–we like it that way. One thing we also like, though, is fun. Fun with drinks, fun with drugs, fun with our drunken, druggie friends, and fun at the expense of others. This section of our […]
Posted inDestination Fun
The Guide to all your Party Needs
Beer John’s Market, 3535 SW Multnomah Blvd, 244-2617 If you live in southwest Portland, you get your keg here. Lutz Tavern, 4639 SE Woodstock, 774-0353 Picking up your keg is an excuse to grab a beer at one of the most comfortable (and out of the way) watering holes in town. Mt. Hood Beverage, 3601 […]
Posted inUncategorized
The Most Important Meal
Helser’s: Spotty But Worth It
Helser’s On Alberta 1538 NE Alberta 281-1477 You’re awake. It’s Saturday noon. Your head is thumping. Your mouth is dry as a sandbox. You’re dying of thirst and starvation. You stumble out to the kitchen for a glass of water. The sink is jammed with dishes and you can’t maneuver your cup under the faucet. […]
Posted inDestination Fun
Parties for the Nice
To all the scrapbook makers, bakers, and craft partakers–this section is for you. Because you´re always looking for a way to nourish healthy friendships, and have a little fun while you´re at it, this guide to ¨nice¨ (read: not drug, alcohol, or cruelty focused) parties should give your brain a jumpstart on new ways to […]
Posted inUncategorized
Macaroni Grill?
The Name Says It All
Romano’s Macaroni Grill 300 SW Yamhill 546-3040 Every time I go home to Chicago, my parents pick me up from the airport and we drive straight to the Cheesecake Factory restaurant–a two-story corporate monolith with a chintzy, fake sense of elegance, that granted, serves a decent piece of cheesecake. I don’t understand why this restaurant […]