very much under construction1

restaurants

  • Kizuki Ramen & Izakaya - Actual factual Japanese ramen that has the most wonderful broth options. Their delivery never ends up as good as eating it there. It’s still worth the money, but maybe not the calories – and when they mess up the addons, it can ruin the night. Had it for the first time in Beaverton. If it’s not desperately cold out, get the yuzu shio broth. (If it is, get the garlic tonkotsu)
  • Fogón Cocina Mexicana - On the one hand, so few restaurants with huge menus manage to do all their options well, and here we have one that does. On the other hand, it is tremendously loud inside such that it’s an exhausting experience on a weeknight. On the third hand, they have this lovely tiny strip of outdoor seating…
  • Tamaribar / Rondo - Izakaya isn’t, like, dignified and healthy. It’s beer-friendly and accompanied by a movie silently projected on a screen. It’s another-round-please-friendly. It’s always got things to try that you haven’t had before. It’s keep-ordering-things-till-you’ve-spent-like-120-dollars-and-regret-nothing-friendly. Fully recommend, even if you have someone with you who doesn’t eat seafood. (And try the ice cream!)
  • Cinnaholic - I wanted to like it, but it was somehow too sugary even for me.
  • u:don - Order way less than you think you want!! Oh my God they gave me what-would-be-$25-anywhere-else of pork belly in a $13 bowl of noodles, and an amount of aburaage that could feed a family for a week. Hefty! Fatty! Not health food! Delicious!
  • Paparepas - Rarer than it should be for me to be able to look at a menu and see more than one appealing vegetarian option. I tried their vegan “impossible meat” arepa and it was good – and all the cheese-dishes won’t let you down. The meat stuff is also good… but come on, you could be satisfied with the plantain options alone. (I’d recommend only getting the beans if you’re getting a bowl format; they’re a little too liquidy for the premade arepa.) Don’t miss the condiments! We’re arguing only over whether to get a bottle of the cilantro sauce or of the spicy cilantro…
  • Chung Chun Rice Dog - corn dogs, but rice, and… embellished? Koreans know how to do American food better??2
  • Mamnooncita - Do you like Chipotle, but wish that it featured some Lebanese flavors and more legumes? Are you a Denny Triangle tech worker with an hour to get lunch into yourself before you must return to your laptop? Mamnooncita is here for you! I kind of want to recommend this to everyone so that it survives and thrives, and I kind of want to tell no one so that the lines stay quick. Excitingly varied veggie options, breaks my heart that the cauliflower is spicy.

uhhh other stuff

  • Raygun Lounge - some of the best nerd vibes of anywhere I’ve ever been. I’ve been in there very few times but still donated to their GoFundMe
  • Phoenix Comics and Games - don’t get me wrong, there are still folks there who are exactly how you’d imagine from The Stereotype, but it does excellently at also being welcoming to, you know, queer weirdos who want to upgrade their3 pronoun pins or buy zines4

we have a local the onion and it is quality

  1. I may move ‘recommendations’ out to their own page, or ‘restaurants’, or I have no idea, but not yet ↩

  2. I haven’t been to Korn Dog yet even though it’s dangerously conveniently located but I am ready to go consume the LD50 of mozzarella. ↩

  3. lol at this use of 3rd person like it weren’t my goddamn pronoun pin I mean ↩

  4. you know, The Other Stereotype. ↩