The Low Road — Restaurant in Gresham

Prompt service for a Monday. Cocktails are pretty alright, but that old fashioned on the menu needs to have a different name. Ordered an Old Fashioned out of habit, got served some nonsense with muddled fruit and soda — read a book. It’s the most fundamental cocktail after the martini. There is a single right way to make it. Not sure how a human can open a bar without knowing what an Old Fashioned is, but hey, guess the trust funds gotta go somewhere. Blended slushie cocktails were absolute bangers by comparison, tap list is solid too. Deep fried pretzels is something I never thought I would see in my entire life, they had a ring of dark grease seeped into the dough like the smoke ring of a brisket, soaked up the fryer grease like a sponge, really whack concept. Garlic parm fries had a deep layer of oily grease on the bottom (Maybe 5 or 6 tablespoons spoons or a small ladleful), a pinch of parm from out the bag, and some pre-minced garlic from a jug. Not inedible, you could argue, and I agree. It’s a pretty alright place with somewhat ok prices. The bar manager and chef should take a field trip to some other proper cocktail bars and pubs sometime. Good food and good drinks don’t have to be complex, mysterious, or difficult to do. Simplicity is beautiful. Read the “Cocktail Codex”. Read “The Bar Book”. It’s borderline insane that you can open a bar without knowing such simple things. Again, service was prompt, big thumbs up — slushie cocktails were simple and fun. Flesh out the...

Mixed review here - We went here because we were in the mood for a taco Tuesday special and their advertised tacos sounded good. It was 6:00 and they were “out of tacos”. Okay, so we started with their 3 dip starter and beer while figuring out what we wanted - queso, salsa, and guac. The chips were really good. But nacho cheese sauce from a can is not “queso” and guacamole shouldn’t be squeezed out of a bag. We then sipped our beer and waited for our food, a Cobb salad and a cold chicken wrap with tots. 20 minutes later my salad arrived - with no dressing, and a chicken breast that I’m pretty sure was cooked on a Foreman grill. The same super processed from-a-bag guacamole and also from-a-bag bacon bits (at least it was real bacon and not bacos). 20 more minutes passed - my salad sitting on the table dry and inedible before my partner’s chicken wrap and my “blue cheese” dressing arrived. “Blue cheese” was ranch with a few chunks of blue cheese thrown in.

The tots were really good.

Service wasn’t great but that isn’t the fault of the staff - there were only 2 of them keeping up with the bar, dining room, and patio. They were trying their hardest.

There cook, however, should return to the high school stadium concession stand he came from.

Canned nacho cheese sauce is...

I stopped by when I had a couple of hours to burn in the area. It was my first time in that area and there are a lot of different food options.

The Low Road has a good atmosphere and it seemed like the staff had a great relationship with some of the frequent patrons which made it feel homey. There is outdoor and indoor seating available.

I was surprised at the menu. It had some really tasty options that elevated the normal pub fare. There were 3 different versions of Nachos that sounded great, a few chicken sandwiches, and nice versions of normal pub things. I ended up trying the fried pickles and they came out quick and in the normal fry shape, unlike the whole fried pickle you may get at the fair. They paired really nicely with the special sauce.

On the alcohol side, there wasn't a huge selection. It seemed that they catered to their specialty cocktails. There were about 6 beers on tap and they came perfectly cold. This is not a spot to do some whiskey tasting or test out some high end spirits. That isn't what the place is about though.

Great comfy vibe, lots of space for events. I imagine a busy night there could be pretty packed and fun. I'd definitely like to go back and try more...