Paley's Place

10/23/09

What a dissapointment!

by Crab Lover at Citysearch

I can't believe that people really enjoy this restaurant. I have eaten there 3 times and was totally unimpressed. Went there for Thanksgiving a couple of years ago and it was terrible, Turkey was dry, stuffing was awful.

There are so many better restaurants in Portland. Bluehour, Merriweathers, Papa Haydn's to name a few.

• Pros: None
• Cons: Poorly prepared, underseasoned, bland food

09/15/09

Such a huge disappointment

by couldvbnbtr at Citysearch

I was so excited when a friend of mine invited me to dinner at Paley's Place. I sifted through the reviews and was looking forward to it. I found the food be be very average for the price. My particular entree, sweetbreads and pork belly, was so small I left the place hungry. This after having an appetizer and dessert. I totally understand the concept of European portions, however, for the price one pays, the portions are ridiculous. Much better restaurants in Portland.

• Pros: cute place
• Cons: tiny portions

08/17/09

Not a Romantic Place at all

by nicolehercules360 at Citysearch

We walked in and there was no sitting area while you wait for your seat. The table in front had power bars for sale, which to me is a turn off coming into a so called omantic restaurant. We were seated way in the back room which was like a closet. The atmosphere was very plain for romance, and so very very noisy. We ended up tipping the waiter and leaving before our drinks even came. We went to Ringside on Burnside and it was the best meal I have ever had by far!!!!

• Cons: Very noisy and way to small

02/12/09

Unfriendly, Unprofessional and Arrogant

by vercasson at Citysearch

My first visit to Paley's was nothing special. The food was good, although very small portions and our server was pretty unfriendly. The menu also states "all substitutions will be kindly denied". Pretty arrogant and unaccommodating.

Unfortunately, I decided to give them another try.

We spent the majority of our visit listening to the wait staff consistently complain about their customers in the

dining room. One situation in particular regarding a drink being sent back, kept the staff bickering and complaining about the customer all night. All over a little drink. I felt like saying: "Hey just make the guy another drink and move on".

• Pros: Creative Menu
• Cons: Unfriendly, Unprofessional and Arrogant

01/20/09

Terrible service - So many wonderful restaurants in Portland - you can do better than Paley's Place

by bachman at Citysearch

I went there last night with a group of 9 people. Our server was curt and unfriendly. Portions were small and I didn't care for the fact that I had to shell my own prawns. They just don't look that great heads and all on a plate not to mention there were THREE of them. Once shelled there was barely a bite. I won't be back.

• Pros: Nice hostess
• Cons: Poor service/bad presentation

10/04/08

TERRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE

by foodadmirer at Citysearch

I thought the customer service had little to be desired. The waitress was very rude and was very unwilling to explain the menu to me. I specifically told her that I wanted to possibly share a meal because I didn't know if I could eat an entire meal by myself and I wanted to know the size of the portions. She never even mentioned that they have half and full portions. She was very curt. The menu just shows 16/32 who in the world is supposed to figure that one is for half portion and the other is full portion and the full portion is so small it looked like a half portion. It tasted good but barely filled you up. When I got the bill 100 dollars for 2. I was shocked because I felt the fish plate I ordered was a half portion and was only 16. I asked for an explanation and the manager's best waitress said that she did not do wrong in not telling me about the half portions because it is clearly evident on the menu. She said it with such attitude. The manager backed up her rude employee and even stated she was one of the best waitresses and that they are not supposed to explain to customers whats on the menu because that could offend customers. They don't even know the first thing about customer service which is the customer is always right and you don't justify errors made by your staff. I had the worst experience there. They belittled me for not reading the menu correctly. It was very very poor customer service and due to this I would never return.

• Pros: FRESH FOOD
• Cons: TERRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE AND SMALL PORTIONS

07/08/08

Did not live up to the hype - the service was terrible.

by lehmanwj at Citysearch

My wife and I moved to Portland several years ago from NYC and we are continually impressed with the quality of Portland restaurants. We went to Paleys last Sunday and were very excited to experience this so-called Portland institution. From the outset, we were disappointed. The hostess is pathetic. We arrived at the restaurant without reservations and the hostess told us it would be a 11/2 hr wait - despite the fact that there were 4-5 open tables in the restaurant. When I asked about the open table the hostess said that they were expecting those tables to be filled momentarily. We understood and went to the bar for a drink. There the bartender was equally disinterested in providing any service. We waited at the bar for 45 minutes and 3 of the tables never filled and the hostess was not interested in seating us. After 45 minutes, we left and went across the street to Wildwood. At Wildwood, we had a wonderful meal with a waiter whose passion for food and wine made the meal memorable (in a positive way). It was a stark contrast to Paleys.

• Pros: open on Sundays
• Cons: everything else

05/19/08

Poor Service, Will not go back

by CrockerBikeNut at Citysearch

My wife and I went to Paleys Place on May 2nd. The appetizers were decent, nothing exceptional, the salads came about an Hour after we finished the appetizers, and the meal arrived about 45 minutes after we finished our salads and had finished a bottle of wine. The special pork dish the waiter raved about was tough and inedible. It was only the 3rd time in my life that I sent a meal back to the kitchen. The waiter apologized and said that the kitchen agreed there was a problem with my meal and would I like something else. I ordered the Halibut, which tasted fine but it was lukewarm. Again, it took about 20 minutes and my wife had finished her meal by the time it came. From that point on, we had a different waiter for desert, one for coffee and another one to bring us our bill. Our original waiter could not be bothered with finishing out the service. I don't think we'll be back. I don't mind spending the money if quality and service comes with it, but Paleys Place was very dissapointing. BTW, if you want a truly exceptional meal and great service, go to ROUX. They could teach Paleys Place a thing or two.

08/08/07

How do you say, CRAPPY!

by nice2bhomeagain at Citysearch

As my title suggests this place has crappy food, crappy atmosphere, crappy service, crappy parking, and crappy prices! Paley's was rated as one of the best 10 in Portland. Hmmm... Against the advice of 3 couples I know to have experienced Paley's I decided to experience it myself, with my wife (because of the rating I had read). I'm not sure where the rating came from. It must have been the varments, as varments seem to be comfortable in any environment just as long as there is a similance of food. And for the varments there is no charge, just as my $90+ disaster should have been. The meat entrees were way way way overcooked, like a rock, and I like rare to medium rare meats. How could a "chef" go wrong? The balance of the meal was blan, no taste. Their banner should read "...and we use NO SPICES". Dry 'Cream of Wheat' may be a good comparison to the flavor profile we experienced. So we thought, " while we're here (and already in agony) maybe desert will bring some life back to our tastebuds. Desert was better than the pior, yet less than what my wife can do in her little country kitchen (with SPICES). If you don't mind the feeling of being another popped corn in a box of 'Cracker Jacks' then the atmosphere will likely be just fine. My experience, hardly enough room to back out your chair to get seated at your table, and definately not romantic. You might as well be seated right along with everyone else in the house at one table. Service is not a concept here. Make a reservation, be there on time and get seated (wait, wait, wait), have your order taken (wait, wait, wait), get a cup of coffee and water (wait, wait, wait, finally after 3 attempts to get a staff member to recognize your existance), refill on coffee while waiting for sawdust tasting appetizer (wait, wait, wait, finally after 2 attempts to get a staff member to recognize your existance), , refill on coffee while waiting for entree (wait, wait, wait), finally entree, 2-1/2 hours later. $ & Parking, WRONG

• Pros: If you like to waste time and money, this is it!
• Cons: Nothing good can come from this experience.

07/12/07

Outrageous!!!

by hqonly at Citysearch

The restaurant would not make a 7:00 PM reservation. They said they open at 5:30 PM, will make a 6:00 PM, 6:30 PM or a 7:30 PM dinner reservation but not a 7:00 PM even though they were not booked. Further, they said that if I want to dine at 7:00 PM it won't be happening at Paley's, not just today but ever! Well, all I have to say is that a restaurant that treats the dining community in this fashion deserves to fail.