Screen Door - new restaurant on E Burnside

I debated whether to start a new thread for this or not. This restaurant came up recently in a post about ';kid-friendly'; restaurants around Lloyd Center.

Last night we tried Screen Door (located at E Burnside/24th). We%26#39;ve been on a ';southern'; kick recently, with dinners at Lagniappe and Bernie%26#39;s Southern Bistro (both on Alberta St.) in the past week. Also, some friends had dined at Screen Door last weekend and recommended we go. Had to see how this new place compared, I guess... :)

We were the first to arrive for dinner around 5:45 (open 5:30-10 Tues-Sat, 10-2:30 for brunch on weekends). By 6:15, the place was about than half-full and by 7 was nearing capacity. The atmosphere is comfortable if a bit cold. A small bar, tables with an assortment of second-hand chairs, and some bench %26amp; booth seating around the perimeter. Bare concrete floor, sheetrock walls and ceiling and minimal decor...all these plus concrete block wall and plate glass windows on the street sides made the noise-level quite high. They also have an ';open kitchen'; at the back of the restaurant; initially there was some noise from there, though it eventually was drowned out by conversation and loud music from the speakers above the bar. By the end of dinner, conversation was difficult; when we left, we both had ringing ears and headaches. They really need to do something about absorbing the sound.

Our impressions of Screen Door%26#39;s food were generally favorable, though it ranged from outstanding to disappointing. We started by sharing an appetizer of soup (sweet potato, corn %26amp; bacon - which was very tasty) and a starter portion of the grits and and shrimp, covered with shaved parmesan. This was easily our favorite dish of the night. They serve it as a larger dinner portion, too...highly recommended.

For her main course, my wife choose the buttermilk chicken, which looked great but turned out to be mostly a thick, sorta bland breaded coating. Underneath, the breast meat portion of the chicken was great, but the rest was nothing special. There was a smoky tasso sauce for dipping in. She also got the mashed sweet potatoes and another side of sliced tomatoes, cucumbers and onions in a vinaigrette. Mashed potatos had good flavor but a stringy consistency; veggies were very good %26amp; fresh.

I got the ';Screen Door Plate';, a choice of 3 sides and cornbread for $13. I choose the red beans and rice, breaded pork chop and sweet potato fries, though there are about 10 items from which to choose. Pork was probably the best tasting. A smallish piece of meat (bone-in) but good breading and well cooked. It was served adjacent to the red beans, which were thinner and more watery than typical rb%26amp;r I%26#39;m used to. Flavor was ok - odd bits of stringy meat in the plentiful sauce and not enough beans. They serve the red beans with the pork on the regular menu - it was pretty good mixing the two together. Fries were good, crisp, not greasy.

There were 4 or 5 items on the dessert menu, but we had no room for dessert (and couldn%26#39;t tolerate the noise level anymore).

We had a couple beers, Turbodogs from Louisiana%26#39;s Abita Brewing, a favorite of ours (they have 6 or 7 choices on tap and a few more in bottles). A few interesting looking mixed drinks %26amp; a wine list that was pretty limited rounded out the bar.

Service was very friendly initially. The server we had was a woman who, though not ';rude';, seemed cold and aloof. No friendly banter...kind of ';all business';. There was a very long wait between the appetizer course and main course, all without explanation or apology. Just before the main course was served, the server brought out some beets with goat cheese %26amp; balsamic (southern?), which I guess was an attempt to appease us - some cornbread 10-15 minutes earlier might have been better.

Cost was probably appropriate, maybe a bit high. We had dinner with tip %26amp; drinks for under $60. Entrees $10-15

There are a few problems to be worked out at Screen Door, but I though it was a good dinner overall. I%26#39;d give the experience a 7 on a 1-10 scale. We do plan to go back, especially for that delicious shrimp %26amp; grits!

B

Screen Door - new restaurant on E Burnside

Thanks, Brian! We hope to spend some time in PDX next month. My daughter wants to go to the Lloyd Center for some shopping, we%26#39;ll probably drop by and check it out. I%26#39;ve never been to this area of PDX before. Sounds like you had pretty good meal, sounds like a nice comfort-food type place. :)

Screen Door - new restaurant on E Burnside

Hi Brian,

have you read the discussion on Screen Door over at portlandfood.org? Those that have been there, said much the same thing, about the noise and decor and those delicious shrimp and grits!

I will go there just for the grits lol...

Hopefully, the owners read the forums and will get the hint about the noise levels. There are a couple of places here in Portland that have annoyingly high noise levels..all those high ceilings and cement floors..

Thank you for posting this...

syrahgirl, you really should try some new places when you come back to visit. Broaden your horizons , so to speak :)

Hi MSU...

I noticed that you mentioned that you%26#39;d been eating a lot of Cajun...don%26#39;t know if Multnomah Village is convenient for you, but little old O%26#39;Connor%26#39;s has been there for years, with one of the biggest menus around, plus a huge list of specials every nite. Never had a bad meal there, and we love just schleping around the Village before/after dinner.

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