When it comes to food, the only thing people agree on is that we
eat it. Arguments arise from the details: where to eat and what; what
constitutes a good value, good service, a good atmosphere. Who has the
best french fries in town? Is it unethical to eat food with a face?
(Okay, but what if you’re really hungry?) Should vegetarians be feeding
their pets veggie food, too? Why should I tip my server 20 percent for
doing her job? (That last one was a trick question—because if you
don’t, you will be karmically doomed to spend your next incarnation
washing dishes at a truck stop.) What if I like the idea of eating food
made with local ingredients, but a steaming bowl of pho with a healthy
shot of Sriracha is my only reliable hangover cure?
The New York Times‘ food blog recently devoted
several posts to the highly contentious issue of how to split a check
in a big party (separate checks, which screws over your server, or
split it evenly, even if some people ordered more expensive items than
others?). Food and service debates bubble up all the time on the
Mercury‘s Blogtown (blogtown.portlandmercury.com),
from the infamous pig head incident to discussions about tipping on
to-go orders, the perceived “low bar” for service in Portland, and
where to get the best cupcakes in town.
People have opinions about food, and they want to share
them—and as anyone who’s ever visited a food blog can attest, the
anonymity of the internet fosters a level of downright fussiness that
is truly awesome to witness in fully grown adults.
Never one to be outdone in the fussiness department, the
Mercury recently unrolled a reader restaurant review feature
on Found It!, our citywide search engine—and the skirmishing has
already begun. Is Dot’s Café (2521 SE Clinton) “one of the last
existing Portland icons,” or a hotbed of intolerably bad service? Does
Blossoming Lotus (925 NW Davis) serve the “best vegan food this city
has to offer,” or does that distinction belong to newcomer Nutshell
(3808 N Williams)? Or is Nutshell disqualified altogether because, as
one reader points out, “the other establishments shared by the owners
[ten01 and Tabla] serve foie gras”? For this food issue, we’ve taken a
look at the food fight, in all its hypoglycemic glory—from the
ethics of eating sustainably to the logistics of actually flinging food
(should you ever find yourself in a face off with grumpy
foodies).
We’ve also turned our restaurant directory over to the readers,
compiling your comments to get an idea of how Portlanders really feel
about restaurants in this town. Disagree with something you read? Feel
free to join the fray over at portlandmercury.com/dining.