Portland
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Helser's On Alberta Inc
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Sunday brunch filling and great value. Everything tasted just fine, and service was standard. We sat at the bar, which had a/c blasting on a chilly day-I had to wear my coat for the duration. But, all in all was a good experience. Hollandaise sauce perfect.…
Ditch your usual eggs and bacon for the Brioche French Toast, Scottish eggs, or the Pear & Havarti Pie. Daily specials keep it fresh.
Just Be Nice to People....
Last weekend my girlfriend suggested that we walk down and meet some friends of our at Helser's On Alberta. It had been about 10 months ago we had gone for the first time. I remembered the food
being good, however i didn't really have a desire to go back there for some reason?...
Well this weekend it was made very clear why I had no desire to go back... The Service is Lame. I'm not talking about the Service of the whole establishment... I'm talking about 1 particular waitress that I had the misfortune of getting the last time I was there.
She would not give the time of day to anyone at the table except my girlfriend and her sister... it was to the point of being ridiculous. She only made eye-contact only with my girlfriend... and only asked her questions like if she wanted more coffee (I sat there with an empty coffee the whole time). It was almost like my girlfriend was a language interpreter... except there was seemly purposeful disregard for the guys at the table... it was So blatant.
My food was outstanding... however, I personally would never treat anyone with such disdain regardless of their: race, sex, orientation... or whatever. So i will certainly Not support an establishment (even if it has great food) that employs a person that has that little regard for some of it's customers.
In short my experience was: once again the really poor attitude of our server eclipsed the fine food that Helser's serves.…
yum in my mouth. One of the better breakfast places in Portland. Generous with the right ingredients. I recommend the mushroom hash (especially for garlic lovers) and the veggie benedict,
Woah..Darn near crapped my pants.
Second time there..and the last.
Having read some of the reviews, and seeing the place on tv I decide to give it a try. My first time there was on a Sunday morning about 8:30-9:00. There was no waiting and when I got in I saw there was 1 or 2 tables avail in an otherwise crowded room. What I mean by crowded is the chairs and tables are really crowded together. You have to really "navigate" your way through the maze just to get to the restroom. I opted for the seat at the counter. (There is a good view of what the cooks are doing with your food from there).
I was especially anxious to try the "Scotch Egg" I'd seen on tv and the online menu. It is a curious thing made up of a hard boiled egg, wrapped in bratwurst, breaded, then deep fried. What makes it curious is that when I eat eggs and sausage I want them to taste like eggs and sausage. If I want them to taste like chicken then I wait a little longer....till they hatch into chicken. This thing tastes exactly like deep fried chicken with the texture of cold greasy sausage,and an even colder hardboiled egg. Damn thing coats the inside of your mouth like a greasy kitchen sink drain
Next was the "Bacon and Tillamook scramble. The first time it was good. Lots of fresh cooked bacon, eggs, potatoes, all scrambled together with a ton of chedder cheese melted all over the top. Yeah that was good.
HOWEVER...the second time around was WAY different.
I skipped the Scotch egg for obvious reasons but wish I'd skipped the whole darn trip. I had the scramble again and couldn't believe it was supposed to be the same thing. Barely 1 egg, 1/2 a bottle of bacon bits, way to many potatoes, and lots cheese, all piled up and stacked into an over crowded toaster oven on top of other dishes being cooked. Somewhere under all the dirty plate bottoms was my toast.
The actual service was good and the coffee cup was never empty, the waitress was friendly and talkative, so I thought maybe just a bad day for the cook, maybe I'll try again some time. Well about 20-30 minutes after I left it hit me....bad. ! ! I cramped up while driving home and almost crapped my pants. Thank God Burger King has a bathroom. Next time I'll just try B.K.'s breakfast burrito.…
