Pine State Biscuits

My mom called me recently and said she was watching that Food Network show, "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives".  She said they were showcasing this really great place called, "Pine State Biscuits" and that I should try to check it out.  What my mom didn't know was that I had spyed this place very shortly after purchasing a new home recently in Southeast Portland.  There are two locations, one on Alberta and one on Belmont.  Every time we have driven by, and they were open, there was a line out the door.  I couldn't tell how big the place was, but I assumed it must be good if people were standing in good Oregon rain, just to get a bite.  Matt and I finally got up early enough a few weekends ago to catch the place without a line.  Their menu is pretty short....and obviously dominated by their biscuits.  They have some interesting looking breakfast style sandwiches that look like a heart attack waiting to happen, just delicious just the same.  We went with the slightly (okay, not really) lighter fare of biscuits and gravy.  I had the one biscuit with gravy and an egg on top.  They have a fantastic mushroom gravy and also sausage gravy.  There are literally only about 10 seats in this place, which is obviously why there is always a line.  The interior is cute and "breakfast-ie".  It is not the kind of place you can go and sit for hours....people are waiting for your seat.  Despite not being able to dilly dally for an hour, it was a superb biscuit and gravy and we will be back for sure!  The biscuits are made fresh daily and in my opinion this is true gourmet establishment....they take breakfast VERY seriously!

http://pinestatebiscuits.com/

Steakadelphia

I grew up in Pennsylvania, and while my home town wasn't Philly....Pennsylvanians, as a whole, take their Philly Cheesesteaks seriously.  Amongst good chicken wings, cheesesteaks are the other food item I haven't really found to be as good as anything coming out of Pa.  I'm happy to report that today I found a place serving the closest thing to a cheesesteak, this side of the Mississippi.  It's called "Steakadelphia" and is located on Powell Blvd.  I had one today and it was perfection!  The perfect soft and chewy Italian roll, freshly grilled steak and bell peppers and mushrooms.  None of these ingredients were cooked ahead of time, so it did take a couple minutes to make, which in my book is definitely a good thing.  If you know anything about cheesesteak lore....you know that the type of cheese you put on your cheesesteak is an issue of large debate in the Keystone State.  Some prefer provolone, others prefer cheese wiz.....and I've never seen it myself, but I hear cheddar or cream cheese are also options.  So apparently Philadelphians get pretty carried away on this issue.  I heard recently that their football crowds get so unruly that they installed a court room within the new stadium in order to deal with the "unrul-ees" on site.  Maybe it's because someone put cheese wiz on their cheesesteak.  Well, either way, you'll be happy to know that "Steakadelphia" offers all four cheese options and plenty of additions (onions, jalapenos, peppers, mushrooms, etc.).

If you're lookin' for a quick bite, you have to check this place out.  I'll be back for sure.

http://www.steakadelphia.com/index.html

Madeleine Peyroux show/the Lamp

We went to see the Madeleine Peyroux show last night and before the show stopped at "the Lamp", right next door for dinner.  I checked out "the Lamp" online before we went.  Their menu seemed decent, a bit of cajun style fair...and some other bar staples.  When we walked in the door, I was honestly a little frightened (the pictures online made it look substantially better).  The interior reminded me of most every bad restaurant (meaning almost every restaurant is bad)  from the area I grew up in, Bradford County, Pennsylvania.  Bad decorations, old tables with formica tops, bad/old chairs....you name it...it wasn't pretty.  The service was pretty bad, but I cut them some slack because since it was right before the show and the place literally adjoins with the Alladin Theater, it got pretty packed before the doors for the show opened.  The food redeemed the restaurant....I had a pretty decent vege wrap with fresh vegetables and crumbled blue cheese.  Matt had a BLTA (Avacado)...pretty much your standard BLT (I had previously thought you couldn't ruin a BLT, but a recent visit to "the Montage" proved me wrong).  Both our meals were served with a very interesting jalapeno coleslaw.  The slaw was great (again....standard), but the added jalapeno was pretty interesting; too spicy for me, but I'm a bit of a wimp when it comes to jalapenos.  Not sure we will ever eat there again, unless in a pinch.  There is a German Sausage place right around the corner that looks very interesting.....

Oh...and the Madeleine Peyroux show was pretty excellent.  If it weren't 2 hours past my bedtime I might not have fallen asleep; also a little odd that every person there was at least 30 years my senior.  Still, couldn't be worse than that Norah Jones show a couple of months ago....

http://www.madeleinepeyroux.com/
http://www.thelamppdx.com/