ISSUE #35.50 • SPECIAL SECTION •

Restaurant Guide 2009

100 of our favorite places to brunch, lunch and dine. Including the Restaurant of the Year.

BY BEN WATERHOUSE | bwaterhouse at wweek dot com

[October 21st, 2009]

Congratulations! You are now the proud owner of a 2009 Willamette Week Restaurant Guide. We’ve spent the past two months eating all over the city to assemble this list of our 100 favorite restaurants. We hope it will be of use to you throughout the year to come. To that end, here’s how it works.

THE MAP Want to find a restaurant near your office, home or favorite theater? Click on the restaurant in the guide to the right.

THE RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR We had a little trouble making up our minds this year, so in addition to our favorite new restaurant we’ve called out two runners-up. They start on here.

HIGH FIVE Our favorite picks in 14 categories, including a few things we love that wouldn’t fit anywhere else in the guide.

THE MONEY THING Every restaurant has a dollar rating, referring to the cost of most entrees on the menu:

$ Inexpensive: Less than $10
$$ Moderate: $10-$20
$$$ Expensive: $20-$30
$$$$ Very Expensive: Over $30

BUT WHAT ABOUT... Don’t see your favorite restaurant? Check out our Cheap Eats guide in March or Devour, our new guide to markets and food artisans, in April. If it’s not there, either we haven’t heard of it or didn’t like it. Send your suggestions to bwaterhouse@wweek.com, and we’ll check them out next year.

That’s all I’ve got, folks. Dig in!

—Ben Waterhouse

Comment on Restaurant Guide 2009 Comment RSS feed

Mike Quigley writes on Oct 22nd, 2009 6:20am

Comment 1 | Respond

Another restaurant guide? How many will still be in business six months from now?

Ben Waterhouse writes on Oct 22nd, 2009 8:44am

Comment 2

Given trends from last year, about 85.

EJ writes on Oct 22nd, 2009 2:14pm

Comment 3 | Respond

Nice list this year. I'm happy to see a few oldies but goodies who've been excluded in years past (e.g. Wildwood, my personal fave). Good job.

TtT writes on Oct 22nd, 2009 8:57pm

Comment 4 | Respond

Thanks also for listing Al Forno on NE Alberta as among the better pizza joints in Portland. Aesthetics aside, the ingredients are top notch, the simplicity makes for a great taste and the crust is perfect. True rustica Italiano!

Andrea Manning writes on Oct 23rd, 2009 9:39am

Comment 5 | Respond

That all depends on how many people are willing to support the places they love. If you like a restaurant - try to go there once a month. Hell, if you like a local small business, try to buy something once a month. Doesn't have to be a lot, but if you want to choices other than Wal-Mart and Fred Meyer and The Olive Garden, it takes our support.

Sgt. Stryker writes on Oct 25th, 2009 10:01am

Comment 6 | Respond

This list is biased. Many of these will be gone by next summer.

Ben Waterhouse writes on Oct 25th, 2009 2:24pm

Comment 8

Of course it's biased! They're our favorite restaurants.

Bertha writes on Oct 25th, 2009 1:00pm

Comment 7 | Respond

Please stop comparing NYC and Portland pizza. If you have ever eaten at the temple of Pizza( Di Fara's) you would understand. Also, Brooklyn has slice joints everywhere. Everyone loves what they love.. let's.enjoy Portland for itself, not in comparison.

TtT writes on Oct 25th, 2009 2:52pm

Comment 9 | Respond

Hey Bertha; I am in total agreement. Having grown up in NY and living and loving PDX for over 20 years, NY Pizza is not necessarily the best. It's just good for that particular style. I have found very tasty pizza in Portland and I am just as satisfied. I don't get why we need to copy other places. This is not NY and I didn't move here to experience a clone of NY. However, if they keep up with the meter nazis, we will be like NYC.

Annie Mac writes on Oct 30th, 2009 10:57am

Comment 10 | Respond

Hey, where's the index? Page 6 (in my hard copy) says there is one, but, I sure can't find it.

Will you post a one- or two-page (8 1/2 X 11") version I can print out and insert?

Ben Waterhouse writes on Oct 30th, 2009 11:17am

Comment 11

It's with the map on page 9.

Annie Mac writes on Oct 30th, 2009 2:28pm

Comment 12 | Respond

Thank you, Ben.

My copy says there's an index "sorted by the days they're open and the meals they serve". That info isn't on pg 9.

David writes on Nov 2nd, 2009 9:15pm