10/24/09

SUNDAY BRUNCH

by jacob tanford

This is where we like to meet friends for brunch on Sunday. It has a central location without the hassle of being downtown. And that increasingly rare-in-Portland commodity: lots of free parking. The brunch menu is large and both the servers and the kitchen are really on top of it--coffee keeps coming and before you know it, there's your food! Although it has long been a popular place, we rarely have difficulty getting seated right away because they have lots of tables in three dining rooms. If you call ahead, they can put together a table for 10 or 20 by the time you get there. So when we want to get together with one or two other families--no problem.

• Pros: QUICK SERVICE, EASY FREE PARKING
• Cons: No sandwiches until noon

10/22/09

GREAT BREAKFAST WHENEVER YOU WANT IT

by jack asherton

I've been having breakfast here several times a week for years. They have a big breakfast menu with some outstanding dishes you won't find anywhere else in town. I often get the oatmeal-cornmeal pancakes with their thick sliced applewood smoked bacon. They make their own spicy chicken sausage patties and when they have the roasted potato special with the chicken sausage, green chilies, jack cheese and sour cream, I always order that. I work different shifts at a nearby hospital, so I really like the fact that I can get breakfast just about whenever I want it, except very late at night after they close. This is a place that I can bring anyone I work with because there's also several tofu scramble dishes and there's even gluten-free toast and english muffins.

• Pros: Best bacon and sausage in town
• Cons: Not open in the wee hours

10/20/09

THE BEST HUNGARIAN MUSHROOM SOUP IN TOWN

by inajane cowan

If you eat at a lot of other Portland neighborhood restaurants you will notice that many places from time to time will have Hungarian Mushroom Soup on the menu. Since there is not otherwise much in the way of Hungarian food in Portland, you might wonder why. Well, those of us who have been making the rounds of Portland restaurants for the last 20 years have realized that it is because Old Wives' Tales has made Hungarian Mushroom Soup famous. They have served it daily for many years, and OWT has such a loyal following for this soup that lots of other restaurants have added it to their rotating daily soup specials. But if you really want the Hungarian Mushroom Soup peak experience, Old Wives' Tales is the place to come. They serve it daily and if you come here some morning for breakfast you can even see people ordering it in the morning, getting their Hungarian Mushroom fix long before lunch time. I buy a quart of it to take home, either to serve as is, or over egg noodles with beef -- shortcut to the best Stroganoff!

• Pros: Ultimate comfort food on a rainy day
• Cons: It does contain wheat flour and so is not gluten-free

10/20/09

WIDE RANGING CHOICES

by june adelson

My favorite is the JAMBALAYA, which here at its simplest is a spicy vegan dish. At other Portland restaurants the jambalaya automatically is made with a chicken or seafood stock, and typically comes with pork sausage, chicken and shellfish already cooked into the dish, so you are locked into the chef's preferences. But at Old Wives' Tales you can add what you want, and as few or as many things as you want: prawns or other shellfish, spicy chicken sausage, salmon, other fish or some kind of cheese.

This is true of many of the entrees--you can choose the "protein" you prefer and whichever of the sauces or other special preparations that are on the menu that day.

• Pros: The choice is yours, not the chef's
• Cons: It can be hard to decide, but that's a good problem to have!

09/15/09

SOUP AND SALAD BAR HEAVEN

by Anna Banana

We've been coming here a couple of times each week since we moved to Portland and read about their soups and salad bar in an Oregonian review. They have one of the few salad bars in town and they make everything fresh, including their own unique dressings (they have Garlic Asiago instead of everyone else's blue cheese, an Apple Dijon Vinaigrette and a wonderful oil-free Cucumber Ginger VInaigrette unlike any other dressing I have ever had, plus several others).

The Salad Bar is all-you-can-eat, but the soups are served by the cup or bowl, and although many people come here for the sour cream rich Hungarian Mushroom Soup, they always have several vegan, gluten-free soups, the most amazing being the Coconut Cauliflower Curry.

If you want "fast" food, you don't even have to wait for your server to take your order--just head for the soup and salad bar, which includes house-made corn muffins, multi-grain rolls, croutons & crackers and even rice cakes for people who can't eat gluten (or who like rice cakes, which I do!)

They also have organic chicken soup, but it is not on the soup bar. It is put together to your order in the kitchen, with a choice of vegetables and choice of either rosemary poached chicken or southwest spiced chicken. So you actually have a choice of several chicken soups and can add noodles or rice if you wish. Chicken soup costs more, but there is a quarter of a pound of natural northwest Draper chicken in each bowl, so it is really an entree or a whole meal in itself, rather than a first course.

The one thing you will not find on the large menu, which includes dozens of entrees and sandwiches, is French Fries. They don't even have a deep fryer. So you will not be tempted to eat what none of us should be eating anyway!

• Pros: FOUR FRESH SOUPS EVERY DAY
• Cons: NO DEEP FRYER, NO FRENCH FRIES

09/15/09

NO CHARGE FOR THE PRIVATE DINING ROOM

by m harvey

Both the business that I work for and a non-profit group that I volunteer with have regular breakfast, lunch and dinner meetings in their private dining room. Since they do not require a minimum amount to be spent by each person, some of us just have a bowl of one of their wonderful soups, while others really chow down! It can be hard to find parking around many restaurants, but there is lots of free parking all around. In any large group of people, there are going to be some with special dietary needs, such as gluten-free, which this place accommodates with a large menu, many choices. It is hard to find private dining/meeting rooms!

• Pros: CENTRAL LOCATION, EASY PARKING
• Cons: NO HARD LIQUOR, JUST BEER AND WINE

09/15/09

Healthy, delicious food for all ages

by toby lynn

We've been coming here since they opened in 1980! At first we came when our kids were young, so we could enjoy a second cup of coffee or a second glass of wine while the kids played in the playroom. Over the years we came to appreciate the way the large menu could accommodate the food allergies of different family members at the same time as it pleased our different tastes. Now we bring our grandchildren here, and when we come without them, we sit in the quieter classical music dining room which is in a different part of the building, away from the playroom.

• Pros: Large multi-ethnic chicken, seafood & vegetarian menu
• Cons: No hamburgers or steaks for die-hard red meat eaters

02/07/09

Ruined our Saturday

by Perin55

We will never go back to this restaurant. Never, never again.

Hostess sat us at the nosiest table in the restaurant where is right by kid's play area.

After drinks were served, they didn't take our order and left us in the noise for 20 min.

Finally I stood to call server and asked her to move our table to quieter area. Then another server

(Older man) came and move us to only two tables down. (Basically the same noisy area.).

We felt very insulted because many many tables right in the middle of restaurant are empty.

Why do they do that to us? Racial issue or what?

12/15/08

Food is average, owner treats staff poorly.

by beth_rice1

After hearing the owner screaming at and berating her staff we won't be back. We had the BLT and the Huevos Rancheros , all of which were quite good but the atmosphere was awful. Much rather spend our money time at any number of equally good or better places in Porltand that don't scream at their staff in full hearing of the patron.

• Pros: Large selection...veg, vegan , gluten free
• Cons: Owner has no respect for staff

07/03/08

Be careful!

by FoodLover08

Not a bad place to eat, with the following warnings considered:

-The Hungarian Mushroom soup is roughly 30% sour cream and is anything but fresh on most days.

-Nearly everything, minus the meat and sandwiches is microwaved.

-Most salad bar salads are 'walk-in specials': comprised of old salad dressings and and prep ingredients that are not selling.

-Everything is way overpriced. Eat before 4:30 for a dollar off the same item, if it is on both lunch and dinner menus.

The seafood is kept on ice (not frozen) until sold and fittingly can be quite odoriferous.

There are some good items on the menu, if enough salt and pepper are added!!

Enjoy!

• Pros: Good for kids and groups
• Cons: Most of the food is not good.