Meriwether's Restaurant

07/17/2008 Posted by justamamma

9 AM: "So, table for two?" "No, six. Outside please." (six people all present) "Outside is reserved for a private event." "I think we'll have to go somewhere else ... the inside isn't great for the two year old ..." "You can come back at 1pm." .... wow.

07/10/2008 Posted by VickyUnleashed

Another new chef as of June 2008. Prices are inappropriate: $35 for a ribeye steak (that's ribeye, not filet), $15 for a bowl of fish stew, $20 for risotto with green peas, $14 for a bacon cheeseburger. On the lunch menu, spaghetti with a fresh tomato sauce is $16. Seriously. The food tastes pretty good, but the prices for relatively common dishes have become insulting. The chopped salad for $14 contains one slice of chopped bacon, about two ounces of chicken, and maybe an ounce of ham. It does arrive with two deviled egg halves, however, that are quite tasty. Otherwise, the outdoor garden is more beautiful than ever, and their cocktails are about the same price as you'd expect in any upscale venue. I'll continue to enjoy drinks in the garden, but will dine elsewhere. Service is generally excellent.

Pros: Beautiful setting, good service

Cons: Food is too expensive for the quality

06/15/2008 Posted by hatetocook

Spendy, trendy menu in a BEAUTIFUL space- expected a romantic evening. Turned out to be very disppointed. Our waitress,( who I overheard was a manager- why is she waiting tables when there seemed to be twenty other people dressed like her all milling around?) acted more like a diner server- as she was very short with her responses and not a lot of knowledge about the wine. Plus I had a hard time getting her attention when we needed bread, a steak knife, stuff like that. My husband's steak was almost cold by the time he cut into it, and my salmon was dry, even with the skin on. I know they have had a lot of turn over with the loss of their last chef, but I guess I feel that when I am paying over $30 an entree, (and up to $14 a glass for wine, even WHITE!) I should still get what I am paying for and be treated to a fine dining expereience with good service. All in all, I felt like I was at a place that likes itself more than it should. I would say that if you want an equally beautiful patio AND decent service, go to RIcardo's in Lake Oswego instead.

Pros: patio

Cons: service and price

03/07/2008 Posted by solipsis

We liked that Meriwether's is located on the fringes of NW, bordering train tracks and industrial buildings which reminded us nostalgically of the "old NW" we tend to prefer. I'd reserved a table online only the day before and wrote the comment that it was our 10-year anniversary dinner. We were welcomed at the door with "happy anniversary" and were shown to a very nice semi-private table. Although we rarely treat ourselves to a dinner as fine as this, my partner has cooked in "haute cuisine" kitchens for years and we consider ourselves blue-collar foodies. My partner remarked that "there wasn't one mistake on the plates", meaning that in addition to his venison wellington with foie gras and my roasted duck being cooked perfectly, every garnish and ladle of sauce was there for a reason and proportioned exactly right. The ambiance was darkened, candlelit, and romantic, but still relaxed. The service was impressively good. Nothing at all went wrong! We will definitely be back for the next special occasion.

Pros: Food, Ambience, Location, Service

Cons: None

02/15/2008 Posted by tkearney2

We thougt we'd try this northwest restaurant and were very disappointed. There are many other fine restaurants in Potland, try another place.

0 out of 3 people found this review helpful

01/17/2008 Posted by judy38

I'm not an exotic eater, relying on the breakfast staples of scrambled eggs/bacon or quiche with fruit.. and I wasn't disappointed. I can't really review anything more epicurean than that (blush). I visited in all seasons, my favorite being when it's warm enough to sit outside on the patio about 11:00 or so. Just beautiful. My least favorite is the "main floor" which lacks the intimacy of the upper level or the ambiance of the patio.. but the food continues to be great wherever you sit.

Pros: They take reservations.. and it's on the TriMet bus line.

Cons: Kind of out of the way for downtown Metro dwellers

10/02/2007 Posted by hstewart08

I had a 50 person party there. It was fabulous except they did not follow directions and charged our bill three times. It messed up our credit cards for some time! We since have gotten them much business but we don't feel recognized. We love the garden, outside seating. The food is good sometimes but it changes too much. We would eat there once a week if they brought back the food we liked, like the duck.

Pros: The garden!

Cons: The menu changes too much

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful

08/30/2007 Posted by blogpdx

went for the first time on 8/27. the steak was awful- dry and bitter. shocked that a classy restaurant should fail so badly. maybe it was an off night, but the chef should monitor what comes out of the kitchen

Pros: soup

Cons: entree

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful

05/21/2007 Posted by nateskate

I went to Meriwethers for the first time over the weekend. I must say I had mixed feeling going in after reading the mixed reviews on various sites, but was blown away. We were seated shortly after arriving in the bar area (no reservations.) Our server was very nice, attentive, and informative about the drinks and the food menu. We perused the drink menu and were told of the infused vodka selections and the 'Drink of the Day' option, which on Sat was strawberry infused vodka with strawberry juice and topped with prosecco. Very delightful. A rhubarb martini was ordered by my husband and was awesome. It was subtle and fresh without the overload of sugar that many places drown their martinis with. We were informed of the food specials and were excited to try the razor clams. It was excellent, served with some slaw type topping and celery root remoulade. The pasta dishes are all made in house so we had to split the gnocci upon the waiters recommendation. Outstanding. Light and pillowy with extreme flavor and very rich. I ordered the sturgeon, another special, and my husband had the hanger steak, a house specialty served with bone marrow. The stugeon was served over spaetzle and was possibly the best sturgeon dish I have ever had. The hanger steak was a perfect medium rare and the bone marrow is such a nice treat. Would have enjoyed something other that fries with the dish, but that's how they serve it. We had another round of martinis and can only assume they used fresh glasses, but probably wouldn't have cared if they reused our old ones. With the great food, drinks, and service, something so minimal shouldn't be used as distraction. The chocolate pecan torte was big and rich enough to share. I highly recommend trying this place and making a personal judgement instead of relying on sites to decide for you. Will definitely be returning.

Pros: Food, drinks, service

Cons: Noisy in the bar

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful

05/21/2007 Posted by pdxd

We went to Meriwether's last Friday - we were looking for a nice outdoor patio (the weather was supposed to be good & I recalled they had done a good job with their outdoor space - but hadn't been there in well over a year. We arrived around 6 - there were a few people sitting in the outdoor covered tent, but we sat at one of the open tables near the fire pit thing. After sitting there for around 10 - 15 minutes unserved we assumed we must be in the wrong area - maybe they weren't serving that space? There were no less than 5 servers at the outdoor wait station at one point - all looking at us - no one came to take our order, or inquire if we were waiting for a table or inform us that we were in the wrong spot or anything. So we went inside - it looked like the weather was going to turn, so no great loss. Sat at the bar and the bartender was friendly and served us right away. But when I ordered my second martini (Stoli up with a twist) I was blown away. He shook it up and then proceeded to pour the martini into the SAME GLASS I HAD JUST FINISHED!! He reached in, removed my previous twist, poured away and plopped a new twist in. Didn't even shake out the dregs from the last one. First of all, any bartender should know that a martini needs to be served in a CHILLED glass. I could forgive a room temp glass, but the SAME glass? In all my years of drinking martinis, I've never seen this - even in the most divey place. We didn't order food - it's a good thing - they probably serve the dessert on the same plate as your entree after scraping off the scraps. Don't waste your time here.

Cons: Poor service, incompetant bar staff

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful