Park Stone (Portland, OR)

9921 NE Cascades Pkwy, Portland, OR 97220

 

 

Park Stone Wood Kitchen & Taps is a “new American cuisine” type restaurant. It serves pretty much the usuals, burgers, sandwiches, steaks, etcetera.

 

I get the Parkstone BBQ Burger ($17) with a side of Sea Salt Steak Fries ($4). The burger is perfectly prepared, medium and juicy, but is not very spicy. The steak fries are big and well prepared. Tasty.

 

VERDICT: 88/100

Not exceptional, and a bit pricey, but overall good and in a nice atmosphere.

Fried Egg I'm In Love (Portland, OR)

780 SW Broadway (Pioneer Courthouse Square)

 

Fried Egg I'm in Love is a typically hip Portland food cart that does breakfast sandwiches with funky names and combinations. There is also an actual restaurant in another part of Portland. 

I get the Yolko Ono ($8), which usually is toasted sour bread with egg, sausage patty, pesto and cheese but I replace the latter two with sriracha sauce. While it obviously is not worth $8, it is a remarkably tasty breakfast sandwich.

[ Oops, I was so hungry that I ate my sandwich before taking a picture ]

VERDICT: 89/100

Cool and tasty breakfast sandwich food truck

Fuller's Burger Shack (Portland, OR)

10131 NE Cascades Pkwy, Portland, OR 97220

 

Fuller's Burger Shack is a pretty large, upscale burger joint in the Cascades Mall on the outskirts of Portland. It serves a four different burgers, including one beyond meat, as well as tator tots, crinkle cut fries, and shakes. They also have a monthly special burger. I get the October Special Burger ($10,50), the Spicy Maple & Cheddar Bacon Burger, which oddly they still sold in December. It looks a bit like a whopper, in size and in massive amount of lettuce on it. It is their classic burger with a spicy maple & Apple compote atop a spicy, honey and Cayenne aioli (I hold off on the cheddar). The organic patty is tasty but the burger is overall much more sweet than spicy and overpowered by lettuce etc.

VERDICT: 83/100

Good and big burger but expensive.

Baba’s Mediterranean Grill (Portland, OR)

10215 NE Cascades Pkwy, Portland, OR 97220

 

Baba's Mediterranean Grill is a kind of Chipotle for Mediterranean food, where you choose your protein (humus, falafel, meat) and then whether you want it in a pita, bowl or with rice. It has two locations in Portland.

I mix it up and get a bowl of humus and add chicken and a pita ($7.50). The chicken is tasty but too salty, the pita nice and fluffy, but the humus too watery.

 

VERDICT: 81/100

Pretty decent for fast food Mediterranean.

Andy's Frozen Custard (Athens, GA)

 2180 W Broad St, Athens, GA 30606

 

Andy's Frozen Custard is a chain of frozen custard places with currently almost 100 locations in 14 states, mostly in the Southeasr and Southwest -- although it originated in Missouri. It offers various "Blizzards", i.e. frozen custard blended with various toppings, in various sizes.

 

I got the Bulldawg Concrete, undoubtedly a local name for a more common option, which is frozen custard blended with melted chocolate chips and cherries. The "Small" ($4.99) is actually quite big (and expensive). I eat only a bit of it, as it is mostly just bland and sweet.

 

 

VERDICT: 77/100

Basic frozen custard "blizzards".