J & M Café
527 SE Ash, 230-0463
Despite that the J & M Café is almost never open, the food is great, the service is out-of-control fast, friendly, and efficient, and it is very un-Portland like, in that it doesn’t take forever.
Their dishes are decidedly unique combinations and use fresh ingredients. They have a bevy of strange-ingredient scrambles, including a house-made chorizo, roasted red pepper, cheddar, and sour cream scramble; a tofu, garlic, spinach, and feta scramble, and, on my particular dining occasion, an entirely interesting special. It was a densely populated scramble of roasted eggplant, pine nuts, green onion, fontina cheese, and a fresh artichoke salsa, which tasted a lot like a pico de gallo. While one might think this dish would be too confusing, they do a great job of not overloading on anything. The ingredients were fresh-tasting, the eggplant was deliciously seasoned, and the salsa was a cold, refreshing contrast. Their egg benedict-type dish, for example, is made with two basted eggs, bacon instead of ham, and a blend of cheeses in place of the hollandaise.
The big, airy auditorium space at the J & M is also a plus. You don’t feel like you’re sitting on top of anyone, and if it’s not busy, you could comfortably chill over five or six cups of coffee–granted it’s before 2 pm. KATIE SHIMER
Michael’s Italian Beef and Sausage Company
1111 SE Sandy at Burnside,
230-1899
Tucked neatly in the industrial district surrounding Burnside and Sandy, I can easily imagine Michael’s bustling lunch crowd; big burly guys eating sandwich after sandwich crammed with sopping wet beef. But the star of the show is the Chicago Style Italian Beef sandwich, which is cram-packed with the drippy deliciousness of thinly sliced, roasted top round marinated in its own gravy, topped with peppers (your choice: hot, mild, or pepperoncinis), sauteed onions, and jammed into a soft Italian roll. It’s like a French Dip sandwich that’s already been dipped for your convenience.
Naturally, there are other meaty delights on the menu, including the Italian Sausage (which is the teensiest bit dry, but a delight when ladled with beef juice), and the Chicken Italiano (brimming with thick hunks of chicken breast and doused in lemon sesame gravy). And what would a Chicago-style restaurant be without a Chicago-style frank? This one is a quarter-pound, Sinai 48 Kosher doggy (nice choice) loaded down with mustard, relish, pickle, onions, tomatoes, and peppers. The only drawback is the bun that can hardly bear the weight of such a gastronomic juggernaut. WILLIAM STEVEN HUMPHREY