Portland: Driftwood Room at the Hotel deLuxe

This has to be one of the coolest bars in Portland . . . dark, intimate, and feeling like you've just entered the set of Mad Men. Or, maybe Bewitched . . . seems like you could run into Larry, Louise, Samantha and Darrin having a cocktail here on any night. There is a great happy hour menu, with interesting choices that are beyond the usual burger/fries/olives at some other places. My personal favorite is the savory gorgonzola cheesecake, served warm with roasted garlic and bread. It is close to perfect.

The down side of this place is the service, which can only be described as disorganized. There dosen's seem to be a particular server assigned to any given table, it all feels pretty random. And, maybe because of that, nobody takes responsiblity for checking in, taking orders, delivering drinks and food. On our evening one of the bartenders came over and took our drink order, then disappeared. Eventually the drinks arrived, but we had to flag someone down to order the above mentioned cheesecake. Someone else brought the cheesecake, and we asked her for another drink. Ten minutes went by and no drink, so when the original bartender walked by we asked about it and he was like 'oh, yeah' and walked over to the bar and brought the drink to the table . . . it had been sitting there all along and nobody bothered to deliver it. Disorganized and less than concerned about service, that's the take here.

Oh, and one more thing . . . my companion ordered this way: "I'd like a Bombay martini with three olives" and the bartender responded "What kind of vodka do you want?". Really? The BARTENDER? My personal soapbox is that a martini IS gin with a whisper of vermouth . . . and olives! You want onions with that? Then order a Gibson. And if I had wanted vodka, I would have ordered a VODKA MARTINI. Oh, and just because it is served in a martini shell doesn't make it a martini . . . so take your chocolate, pomegranate, coffee and cheese flavored drink and enjoy it . . . but don't call it a martini. OK, getting down off the soapbox now.

EatHereOrNot: EAT HERE