Echo Restaurant

10/10/09

excellent dinner and good service too

by pdxkh

We have been to Echo several times now (its in our neighborhood) and every time has been fabulous. On previous visits we had the steak and it was excellent. Last night I had the pork with spaetzle and it was delicious. The sauce was rich and flavorful, and the noodles were cooked to perfection. We had no problems with service the three or four times we have been there over the last several months. Service was great. This is one of our favorite regular neighborhood restaurants and we'll definitely be back! Oh, and they have great cocktails too!

• Pros: good cocktails, good atmosphere

08/16/09

Best biscuits in town!

by eatdrinkBmerry

that's right, breakfast is back, and everything I've tried is great. The biscuits are about a mile high and flaky. The servers are no longer a mile high and flaky-- like the other person mentioned, service has improved vastly since the new owners took over. Drinks are excellent, and the dinner menu is solid--now highlighting more local, seasonal food. A great place to meet up with people after work or get the weekend started off right.

03/17/09

Wow, nice brunch!!!!

by pdxprowl

We noticed that Echo had a sign out saying they were open for brunch on weekends so we stopped in to check it out. We've always liked their dinners and drinks so we were looking forward to enjoying ourselves.

First, there are new servers and having experienced the old ones let me just say WOW! The new servers are very very attentive. We had a menu, drinks, and a nice welcome without haste.

The menu was fabulous, the banana bread french toast was tasty, the sausage patties were amazing (ordered a second round of them), cheesy grits and potatoes were yummy, and like I said above, the staff were all on top of things.

So now Echo has added top notch help to what was already a top notch menu, good for them (and us)!!!!

• Pros: Fast and super nice service

11/13/08

Don't Bother

by 5Style

First off, to be fair, let me say that the food at this place is pretty good. Not great and more than a little overpriced for the quality that you get but still pretty good. What I take issue with is the service. I was just there with a birthday party and I feel safe to say that none of us in our rather large group were happy with the service that we got. A reservation was made it was made clear that a few extra people might be likely to show up. When they did, even though there was an open table nearby for them to sit at, the staff seemed rather upset about seating the extra people. Rather than being happy that we were giving them our business and chose their restaurant to celebrate a birthday at, the staff instead seemed rather put off by having to serve us and made us feel totally unwelcome there. They seemed to then really take their time to get around to taking our order, but then after that there was a longer wait for the food than anyone should be expected to deal with... especially with no apology or excuses as to why some of us waited one and 1/4 for our food to arrive. I waited that long for a hamburger! Inexplicably, others got their food much faster. It seems pretty elementary to me that all members of a party should be served at more or less the same time.

There are enough restaurants in Portland that actually care about your business, so I would recommend you check out any number of them rather than bother with this place.

09/25/08

Food average, service indifferent

by culinarybusinessshopper

Hello all,

Echo, nice to have it in North Portland right? Well, it has a pretty sign, which gives it a leg up on most of the nearby neighborhood dives. We ate here twice, each time feeling the service was "OK", and that the menu, while fancying itself to compare to what it percieves as counterparts (I,E. Gilt, Pause, Joe Bar), is little more than grease served on a bun.

The service is fine, as long as you are deemed "cool" by various criteria of your server. Personally, I went in and was scoffed at. I was in my work attire, which includes a tie. I was treated like Satan's love child with Sarah Palin, even though I wear a full tattoo sleeve underneath.

At any rate, I will never go back, and if you value your dollar, I advise you to do likewise. It strikes me as odd, that in a down eceonomy, the customer is not a guest, rather, a nuisance that passes through before closing.

• Pros: Better than having a parking lot or a house of ill repute
• Cons: Everything else

09/15/08

Love it

by IndigoFenix

I've been eating at Echo for years. I survived even 2006-2007 which seemed to be the year of like 3 chefs, who fooled around with their sturdy bistro menu, until their current chef was hired. Thankfully he's restored a reliable dignity to the menu which us regulars can appreciate.

Now if only they'd bring back that heavenly orange 'tiramisu' cake they made earlier in 2008. Sunshine on a plate I tell you.

Their dinner plates are always good, you won't be disappointed. Appetizers change from time to time, but are also reliably delicious (my current favorite is the beet and goat cheese terrine as well as the prosciutto wrapped shrimp). Just want a simple burger, well they have that too and they make it better than I can make it myself.... which says something.

Cocktails: always delicious and priced just right.

• Pros: great food, stellar service
• Cons: can get noisy on a weekend dinner hour service

03/18/08

Best steak I've had in Portland...28 year native resident

by grneyedgrl80

My bf surprised me on Valentines Day w/ reservations here. I have to admit walking in I was skeptical. The place is tiny and all the tables were so close together. The booths near the window were the only decent seats, and we didn't get lucky enough to get one. Because the place is so small, it is also loud. Despite the music, I could hear my neighbors conversations as well as those between the waitstaff. This was the only major downfall of the place. I'm sure on a less crowded night it's cozy and quaint.

Anyway- they had a special Valentines menu, with a few courses or ala carte. We decided on ala carte. They brought us bread w/ this special herb butter. It had garlic & other spices mixed in with it. It was fantastic w/ the fresh warm sour dough bread. I don't normally like sour dough, but the butter made up for it.

For our entrees we had to wait a bit, but it was expected since it was a holiday. I ordered the new york steak w/ potatoes & chard. My boyfriend ordered a chicken dish w/ melted cheeses...I think it was the Chicken Roulade. The first bite of the steak was heaven. It was cooked to perfection (which is hard to do, I like it medium well & most places under cook it), & seasoned as though it had been marinating for weeks. It was tender, juicy, and amazing. The fingerling potatoes that came with it were a perfect side. They were roasted perfectly & had a ton of flavor. Even the chard (which I'd never had before) was good. My bf also really enjoyed his chicken, but after taking a bite of my steak he was really disappointed he didn't get it too.

For desert we had the souffle. Made to order, it was worth the wait. We devoured it.

Not only was this the best meal I had all year, but I would have paid twice as much for it. At only about $75 dollars for the entire meal, it was perfectly priced & competitive w/ other places that claim to be fine dining & charge 2x as much.

I'd highly recommend this place to anyone. It's truly a hidden gem.

• Pros: The food, especially the steak
• Cons: small, loud

02/25/08

Great Baby!

by michellesfashions

We had great service and great food. Very fun. The staff is super friendly and down to earth. We will definately be back.

01/06/08

Not a favorite, but wouldn't avoid it

by chefsister

I've been eating here for a couple years. I try to stick to the standard menu items. I think they have rifled through several chefs since my first time because anything besides the standard items depends on the time of year. Summers A year ago it was great! The menu was full of life, local ingredients, flavorful, nice portions and lovely service. Over the last 6 months service has taken a dip, the food is mediocre at best and the menu is lacking any luster. Stick with Echo staples: Mac & Cheese, Beet Salad, Crab Dip. Great Happy Hour type place, would bring a date to impress.

• Pros: The neighborhood doesn't have too many other nice places
• Cons: food is never consistant,

11/07/07

innovative takes on classic food, the burger, the mac'n'cheese

by smythe1977

I see that they are at it again...a new kitchen staff and a new menu. I know some of the cats that work here and they told of upcoming changes to the menu... I was a little nervous as new staff can ruin everything, but they are keeping many of their tried and true classics. I had the new saffron shrimp rissotto and was delighted--although there was alot of rice. I was told they brought back a previous "killer dessert" and was given a chunk of bananna-bread bread pudding with chocolate and topped with caramel and ice cream...mmmmm.

• Pros: cool 30-something waitstaffers actually know something
• Cons: high ceilings make it somewhat drafty/chilly