I heard about that... Didn't she say something about limiting them to "one per lifetime"?

Sounds and looks like a good place, but the little video on their website is so painfully precious it kind of scares me away. iPhone! Tattoos! Coffee! I love all three, but serving them up like that is just too much pandering for words.

Some places in this town suffer from their earnestness: earnestly ethical, earnestly high-minded, earnestly down home... They can all be a bit much for a casual eater, just looking for a good meal. The Original appears to be earnestly hip. I hope it's tempered with time.

Hell, even I suffer from earnestness... No one's perfect. I hope my earnestness is tempered with time too.

PAC, I think I suffer from Earnest Goes to Camp.

i've passed by the dinerant and it looks new and clean. i look forward to the review. thank you for posting this.

$8.50 for pastry, juice, coffee and fruit?!
$9.50 for a ham and cheese omlette?!
christ.

Who knew an invented American word could be more pretentious than just using bistro or brasserie?

Looks pretty good though (including the fries in your pic). Are they open until four in the morning by any chance?

looks good, but i am not sure why people like voodoo, they have the worst doughnuts i have ever had!

A "dinerant" that charges nearly $4 for a "homemade pop-tart", and $12 for some of their (lobster corndog) appetizers, doesn't sound gimmicky to you?

Wow.

I can't imagine those prices are out of sync with, say, the Bijou and Mother's. Same neighborhood, same target audience. Lobster corndogs are pretty old hat, and when is anything with lobster cheap?

Earnestly hip? I don't know. I want to give it a fair shake, but my problem with the menu, the decor, the video, the comments from the Sage Restaurant Group, etc, is that it seems so lacking earnestness. It's a "concept" -- something contrived in order to appeal to demographics and give the impression that it's "original". You know, like TGI Friday's and all the crap on the walls and the "flare".

It's not just "new to you" - it's only been open a week. And they are open "late," apparently. What's late for this town - 11:00pm or so? I stopped in a few days ago and had a milkshake and a shrimp and grits appetizer. Both were pretty good, but the price tag ($6 for the milkshake and almost $10 for the app) won't have me running back.

I used to be a manager for Voodoo Doughnuts and now own Brunch Box, and trust me, this idea came up a few times. Ehhhhhh... turned it down *laughs/shrug*. Don't get me wrong, we definitely do ridiculous; this burger concept just did not have enough practical appeal for us--here's hoping it works for them.

Okay, wow Portland people, I have been in Portland for 3 years and have come to find one and one one common thing between all these people who call themselfs "Weird" is everyone likes, wait drastic understatement, loves to complain about everything. For the people in these "reviews" which I'm glad your reviews aren't posted anywhere but local web pages due to the fact no one would go anywhere if they read all of these. The person who was ragging on "The Dinerant" phrase, many companies form words out of common like wise words to make a phrase, "Pac-West" = Pacific West, "HP" = Hewlett-Packard, getting it? Now to the "I can't believe the prices" people, every menu has it's expensive items, I dare you to go to Jake's, Mother's or any restaurant that isn't fast food and order a similar item, I'll tell you what will happen, either it's gonna be straight from a freezer and over-priced or they will say they can't do it. And something you should think about when your bitching about prices, realize how much prep and effort goes into getting and making food, and not just food like other places, ie frozen fish in from the East Coast(Jake's Seafood) or frozen chicken(Mother's), they are using local fresh stuff, breads from a local bakery, beef ground fresh, fruits picked from local patches(farms), they aren't skimpping on anything nor it's not like they are making pure profit. And with that said, I gotta say to the guy who compained about 6 dollars for a milkshake... 3 scoops of home-made at a local creamery ice cream, fresh hand cut berries(or other toppings), covered in fresh whip cream and a cherry, o and can I saw the size, more than you can eat. Trust me, share it with a friend. And how he complained about the "ALMOST 10 dollars for shrimp and grits" okay lets break this down.. wild prawns and blue flint grits, I have ate this dish 3 times now, it's right on, the prawns are huge but perfectly tender, tastes as if someone just shucked the shells off before they came out and the red house-made olive oil that comes out perfectly drizzled on it so you get just the right amount in every bite, phenomenal tasting. So that's my review on "The Original: A Dinerant" Wow can you believe there is actually a review out there now that says something positive? -UrMann

I miss Hamburger Marys....

I know this article is old, but I just stumbled across it and felt like commenting. To anyone moaning the it's gimmicky: Portland itself can be pretty painfully hip and Portlanders often eat that gimmicky stuff right up. I mean, Voodoo donuts is loved by many locals and is certainly iconic (the major named one of their donuts, the Portland Crème, the official donut of the city). But you could easy say that a place that names their confections things like "Cock 'n Balls', 'Triple Chocolate Penetration', and 'Dirty Ol' Bastard", marries people, and makes wacky flavor combinations like the former NyQuil Glazed or Vanilla Pepto Crushed Tums doughnuts is decidedly pretty gimmicky. And yet, they do not suffer from it. Why? Because gimmicks work and ultimately it's fun.