Delta Cafe

02/13/08

Great place for drinks and grub

by hohum234 at Citysearch

I love this place. Not only does it have good food, huge portions, stiff drinks, but the staff is friendly and fun. Yeah it gets busy and service is not 4 star but that's not what this place is all about. If your looking ofr a funky atmostphere, some real character, good peopel watching and just plain 'ol good food come here. If your looking to be sucked up too and need a flashy new "contrived" place go to the pearl.

• Pros: Fried Chicken and bloody Mary

02/08/08

What happened to this place?

by GaussLaw at Citysearch

Did they change ownership or something. I used to love this place. My girlfriend and I would go there all the time, and would never leave less than completely stuffed. I swear you used to get three sides with an entree, now only 2. Oh, and what happened to the complimentary cornbread. You used to get a basket right away when you sat down, then it changed to only being with the meal, now you have to order it as a side. If you are going to skimp on these things, at least knock the price down a little.

The service is at least still friendly, although I can't say I recognize any of the faces anymore. Maybe I am just getting old, but this place ain't what she used to be.

• Pros: Service is good
• Cons: You get less for your money than you used to.

02/02/08

Reminded me how far away I was from home. The worst excuse for a Southern restaurant I have ever experienced.

by Michael504 at Citysearch

This place is terrible... Were do I begin.

My girlfriend and I moved up here to PDX from New Orleans after hurricane Katrina. Occasionally homesick, we tried to find a few places around here to get some southern comfort food.

Unfortunately, this place is the worst excuse for a Southern restaurant I have ever experienced.

Ever heard of Southern Hospitality? They have no concept of it here. When we walked in the door, an employee at the host stand just looked at us, didn't say a word, turned around and walked off to find something else to occupy herself. We waited for about five minutes until the next party walked through the door and promptly wrote their name down on a seating list hidden behind the host stand podium. The silly cap gun holstered, goofy-frame glasses girl at the host stand that left us stranded was obviously too tragically hip to let us know we had to jot our names down on the seating list, so were we were skipped by this other group who, sadly, must have been here before and known the drill. It took us nearly an hour to be seated at a table, and the wait continued still.

The food was trash. I ordered "red beans and rice" only to get a plate of chili beans. Chili beans??!!! When someone orders red beans and rice, don't give them a cup of Wendy's 99 cent chili. My girlfriend ordered a po-boy, and she got a nasty looking slice of bread with a single leaf of romaine lettuce and a couple of oysters. The bread they used was bad enough to ruin a perfectly good sandwich, but to call a sandwich a po-boy when you replace the traditional fluffy mound of shredded crisphead lettuce with a single wet leaf of romaine is an atrocity. If Harry Lee were here, he?d jail you for that.

After waiting over 20 minutes for the bill, we realized the only way to get our check was to leave the table and flag down one of the passing employees pretending to ignore us.

• Pros: nothing
• Cons: everything

01/10/08

Beloved neighborhood hangout

by mle422 at Citysearch

Caution, this place will cause cravings.

Among the delectable, reasonably priced menu, the amazing specials and the friendly service, one could easily find a new favorite at the delta cafe. True comfort can be found in the gooey mac and cheese, or the mouth-watering plethora of flavors that unite in the garlic cheese grits.

If you are in the mood for a whole meal, or just some sweet potato fries and a cocktail created from their in-house infused vodkas, gins, and tequilas, Delta always serves it up right.

• Pros: food, bar
• Cons: cash or check only

01/01/08

You get what you want.

by jkllll at Citysearch

So the Delta isn't for everyone. I agree. Don't go there if you want your behind kissed. I like it that way. The food is good, and not over priced. I live right down the road, and I'm definately happy that it is there. I've read many of the reviews and most of the negative reviews come from people wanting to be pampered. Get over yourself. Fill up your own water for once in your life. People get busy. I understand that you want to be catered to, but this isn't the place. That to a degree is why I like it. Bottom line is good food. Maybe not cajun authentic, but pretty close. Be warned you might wait, but if you care to have an experience, wait. If your not happy with the service tip accordingly, let them know and they will learn. In conclusion don't go. All of you takers, don't go.

12/03/07

Horribly Rude Staff

by motrcity at Citysearch

Arrived on a recent Friday night. There wasn't a wait list. We asked to sit in the bar and were just handed menus and told to seat ourselves. We headed to the bar to find there were no available seats. We were left standing in the bar with no table. We turned around to find a large group of people now waiting on tables in the restaurant. Within 5 minutes two tables opened up in the bar. One very dark and cold table that a couple had left after already getting menus and waters and a warmer cozier unclean booth. We put our coats on the cozy booth to reserve it while they cleaned the table. A server came by and told us we could either return to the dank table (not even our table) or go sign up on the wait list behind the now huge line. I tried to explain what had just happened and that we were just told to seat ourselves, he refused to listen and was extremely rude. He schooled me that "you just don't sit at an unclean table, you just don't". Hmm, neither of us had actually sat anywhere at that point, and now will NEVER sit in this restaurant again. This restaurant is NOT worth the trouble. By the way, fauxhawks, not that hip.

• Pros: Nearby
• Cons: Bad service. Rude staff.

06/30/07

Bad all the way round

by julietellen at Citysearch

A 25 minute wait, even though we'd called since we were bringing in a large party(the person who took our reservation 'forgot'). Indifferent service, grit and rocks in both the mashed potatoes and the pot/chz casserole. Led Zep 4 played over and over, dirty and delapidated building AND, the greasey dumpster in the back lot is not the most appetizing thing I can think of. And they have the worst hushpuppies I've ever eaten. The shrimp in the jambalaya was unshelled and the salad had brown chunks of lettuce. We took some friends from out of town and were totally embarassed to have picked such a lame place to eat; especially with so many other great eats in PDX. Maybe this USED to be a good restaurant?

• Pros: the blackeyed pea fritters were good
• Cons: everything else

05/12/07

MMmmmm... artery clogging goodness....

by kas26 at Citysearch

I concur with some of the below posts: food = great, service = pretty damn bad (and believe me, it's tough to admit). If you're in no rush whatsoever, grab some drinks, sit at a table, and shoot the breeze while you wait for your (obviously not very busy) server to bless you with their presence. You're going to want your orders ready when they show up because if you ask for a couple minutes, you're going to get at least 10, eek. That said, the food you can't beat in this part of town. :) NOTE: DELTA DOES NOT TAKE PLASTIC. Carry cash. :)

• Pros: Mac 'n' cheese, huge portions, gigantic drinks, funky paint decisions
• Cons: Service (over 5 trips in 8 months) is consistently lame.

03/25/07

The best southern food in the Northwest.

by national4 at Citysearch

You will love this place. We went on a double date to roller skate at Oaks Park. So this was an easy stop for dinner. The place was lively but not too noisy. The service was very attentive and helpful. And the food was so good! Two of us had the blackend catfish. That was so amaing. A huge piece of catfish. The meatloaf was really good. and the collerd greens were so good. Oh and the mashpotatos with gravey!

Over all good time. And a great bloody mary. And a nice price.

• Pros: Food, service, Bloody mary
• Cons: The beers are too big.

02/22/07

This place marks the spot for Southern comfort food in Southeast Portland.

by Contributor at Citysearch

In Short
What started as a cool Reed College hangout has since been discovered by the rest of Portland. Drinks are geared toward the college crowd--40-ounce Pabst Blue Ribbons served in a bucket for two and shots of Jim Beam. Dinner entrees include tasty favorites done right, like barbecued chicken and ribs, blackened catfish, jambalaya, gumbo and fried chicken. Most items include a biscuit or cornbread and two side dishes.