Bernie's Southern Bistro

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foodie394

Joined 5 years ago

We have eaten here from the opening!! We always are sooo happy. Great food and staff!! We always enjoy a great drink aand the best southern food around!! Thanks to Kelly and her staff. We have enjoyed watching her grow!!

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AlexMielnik

Joined 5 years ago

XOXO!!...we love this place!!!. Sonya (my wife) and I have been coming to Bernies for the last 5 going on 6 years. We consider this to be our all time favorite restaurant in Portland. We love the fact that the menu changes every three months...it's exciting to see what will be up next. Angela, Ryan, and Kelly (Restaurant owner) are the nicest people you will ever meet! This place can get very busy...as a "regular" we're use to that fact and we're okay sharing with other Portlanders :) Food is always great...drinks are even better. We are Bernie's fans thru and thru!!

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eewilson80

Joined 6 years ago

Go for Happy Hour!!!. We spent a lovely afternoon in the amazing patio/garden of Bernies enjoying their happy hour this past weekend. We got a variety of items including the mac and cheese, sweet potato fries, hush puppies and fried okra. Lots of great flavors from spice to sweet to creamy goodness. We had a large party and everyone seemed very satisfied with the food. Our one complaint. Weak drinks! Or at least the mojitos were. Next time we are sticking to the margaritas.

Doesn't Recommend

pixie29

Joined 5 years ago

Overpriced. Portland Monthly raved about this place, as well as a lot of people I know. We were VERY disappointed, once again, how can you mess up fried chicken? It was overpriced for what you got, and didn't have a whole lot of flavor. The fried green tomatoes were awesome, but that's it. This place was packed too, so what's up w/Portlanders? Can't we find some good southern/soul food?

Doesn't Recommend

trapizumac7

Joined 7 years ago

Disappointed with Appetizers and Service. I must have gone on the wrong night, since all the other reviews rave/jump up and down about the amazing food and service. Overall, I will NOT recommend this food establishment. The service was horrible and the food was extremely disappointing. Do not get the fried green tomatoes, okra or the hush puppies. Go somewhere else. The orange jalape?o marmalade was an awkward mix of textures and did not satisfy my palate nor did it compliment the grainy and dry hush puppies. I rather eat wet corn bread mixture instead. The okra was too peppery and the crust was too thick. Who is the chef? Did s/he ever had fried okra? Hush puppies? Fried green tomatoes??! Seriously folks. Go to the South and try some real food.

However, the cod cakes were decent. I won't pay 9 dollars for 4 quarter sized cakes that were not laced in gold. That is the only thing that would have made them delicious.

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ichooseportland

Joined 6 years ago

Great atmosphere, great cocktails and nice happy hour $3 menu. Took the parents here on the way to the airport. Had a fabulous time!!! As soon as we walked in we were greeted and brought to a table. Went for cocktails and the $3 bar menu. Got what we came for and more. First of all, our drinks were amazing. Strong, creative, and smooth. Deep fried pickles and sweet potato fries, fun, fun, fun. The food was fine, especially for $3 plates. Not a fan of the fried chicken that was on my Poor Fat Boy Salad, but the Jack Daniels molasses vinaigrette was phenomenal. We actually had two people waiting on us and they were both very kind and attentive. We'll be back and with friends in tow. Try the TennesseeTruffle, amazing!!

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kristalox

Joined 6 years ago

Great place!. This was our first time at Bernie's and we will definitely be back. We made reservations and were seated immediately. The ambience is warm and blends well with the Alberta surroundings. I've read reviews about the service; the hostess was fine and our server was pretty good. The food is worth going, even if the service is lacklaster. not that we had that experience. For starters, we ordered the fried green tomatoes and they were good and the spinach cakes were fantastic! Their signature dish - Fried Chicken- was pretty good and the meatloaf was amazing! The Autumn Salad was also very, very good. Dessert - Bananas Foster Bread Pudding with caramel sauce - was just out of this world and had everyone's eyes rolling in the back of their heads.

We had a great experience at Bernie's and we'd be happy to go again.

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mc250

Joined 6 years ago

Nice atmosphere, helpful staff, food ok. I've been to Bernie's two times now with very similar results. The waitstaff was very friendly and nice, waters were promptly refilled, etc. The atmosphere is comfortable and attractive. My only problem was with the food, it wasn't bad by any means but it wasn't anything special either. I know there are a ton of great reviews about this place so maybe the two times I've gone they've been having an off night. We tried the spinach cakes, I ate half of one but didn't really want to eat the rest. My wilted greens salad with beets was alright, though again not outstanding. I tried my friend's chicken and dumplings, rather bland and the dumplings didn't seem to have even a hint of the sweet potato that was supposed to be in them. Another friend's salad had a good flavor to the dressing. I might give them another try if I am in the area and the other great restaurants nearby have no open tables, might not.

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dlish

Joined 6 years ago

Outstanding food, great atmosphere. For years, I heard how great Bernie's food is and the restaurant exceeded my expectations. First, it's fun to drive along Alberta and see the many wonderful choices that have emerged over the past few years. We didn't have reservations at Bernies (it was Saturday night about 7 when we arrived) but we sat at the bar and the bartender made great recommendations. The fall menu had been developed that week. My husband had one of the three regular courses that remain on the menu year round -- the fried chicken and sweet tea -- and I tried the salmon with pecan rice and brussel sprouts (outstanding!) with a glass of the LeNoble Chardonnay. For dessert we split a nicely size chocolate banana bundt cake. The bill was $48 plus tip. Great evening!

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bpenguin6

Joined 6 years ago

Virginian finds southern comfort food in PDX (Sweet Tea and all). This is my favorite place in town. It's craveable on every level. I love how personable the staff is...they always recognize us when we come in and make us feel right at home. As wonderful as the service is, the food is even better. The cornmeal crusted oysters appetizer is nothing short of A-mazing. The southern fried chicken breast, shrimp and grits, collard greens and blue cheese grits are MUST try. Also, when available you'll never find a better piece of Pecan Pie. ;-) Thank you to a very special owner for giving Portland such a wonderful place to have a beautiful dinner.