Grassa

By Matthew Korfhage

1205 SW Washington St., 241-1133, grassapdx.com. Lunch and dinner daily.

Like an old punk rocker who now works in marketing, craft-pasta spot Grassa has aged surprisingly gracefully. The restaurant's rough edges—unpredictable tunes at unpredictable volume, dining-room staff with occasional kitchen manners—have become idiosyncratic elements in a machine that's now quite well-oiled. The housemade pasta is likewise often well-oiled, the product of a richness-is-all philosophy showrunner Rick Gencarelli also brought to sister shop Lardo. For housemade pasta, the value proposition remains impressive and the menu's off-the-wall ideas now seem less foodie-pleasing quirk than careful design, whether a pankoed pork belly mac ($12), angel-hair "ramen" Guidoed up by broccoli rabe ($13) or a toothsome $14 gnocchi that's secretly Old Bay clam chowder in the form of starchy pillows.

Check out Willamette Week's 2016 Cheap Eats guide here.

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