Grassa — Restaurant in Lake Oswego

Updated review: So my first experience here was amazing. Like, the food was over the top fantastic. So when I was craving some good pasta on the quick this weekend, I thought, “I know! I’ll order Grassa again!” Well, sadly my experience was pretty lackluster at best.

I ordered the exact same things I ordered the first time, the Carbonara and the Pork Belly Mac & Cheese. And whereas the first time they were bursting with flavor in every bite, this time they were, dry, over cooked and super bland. No real flavor at all.

I also ordered the Chicken Parmesan with some Pasta Marinara, and sadly the Chicken Parm did not arrive but instead another box showed up with only a few tiny raviolis in it. I’m talking kid size (see pic). It wasn’t terrible, but definitely not what I ordered. The odd thing was “CHX” was written on the outside of the box, so someone obviously dropped the ball somewhere. I’m not sure if it was Grassa or DoorDash, so I’m not deducting any stars for that particular issue, but I thought it was worth mentioning.

Nonetheless, for what I paid for the meal, and what I had experienced in the past, I expected a lot more. I would say this was a 2-star experience. So I’ll average the two and give them 3 stars. But I don’t know if I’ll go back anytime soon. — Original review: July 2021 So after getting home late from the office yesterday, I knew that there was no way I was cooking dinner. And I was having a mad craving for some good old fashioned pasta. Enter my best friend this past year, DoorDash. Only I didn’t want to have something I’d eaten before. I was lusting after something new, something unique, and maybe a little edgy…. Hello, Grassa!

I had heard excellent things about Grassa before, but had never gotten around to visiting. So this seemed like the perfect opportunity. So after viewing all of the drool-worthy pasta photos online, I selected a few varieties to try and put in my order. Less than an hour later, it arrived hot on my doorstep.

And my, oh my, was I in for a treat! This food was beyond being delicious… It was insane! And the Carbonara Pasta with the fried egg on top? (eyes currently rolling back in head) It has to be one of the best most mouth-watering things that I have ever eaten. The combination of flavors was quite literally out of this world and sent my tastebuds into full overdrive. We also tried the Pork Belly Mac and Cheese, the Kids Luke Pasta (only because I wanted a small side of something with some red sauce) and an order of garlic bread, and they were also equally delicious (although the Carbonara Pasta was the clear front runner).

Now I will say that the food was obviously heavily salted. Not in a “this tastes like something that just crawled out of the ocean” kind of a way. No, it was done so that the flavors popped perfectly. However, if you are someone with high cholesterol, high blood pressure, or basically anyone that follows a low sodium diet, I’m going to suggest that this “might” not be the place for you. Just sayin. But for everyone else, Go…. Go now!

And one last thing to mention. They are also doing cocktails to go. And DoorDash will deliver those too, as long as you have someone 21 or older with a valid ID to receive the order at the time of delivery. I ordered the Rosemary Sour which came premixed with the alcohol already in it, in a bottle large enough to pour two drinks. And not only was it delicious, the bartender definitely didn’t skimp on the vodka (yay, bartender!).

All in all, this place really can’t be beat. I can’t speak for the in-person dining experience because I haven’t had that opportunity yet, but I hope to one day soon. Because as wonderful as this food was delivered, I can only imagine what it would be like fresh out of the oven… All I can say is, hopefully they have a defibrillator in their back office because my heart might just stop...

I've reviewed Grassa before, so this won't be a long review.

Just have to say tonight I tried their current special, Chicken Parm Cannelloni.

Omg! One of the best things I've eaten in a while. This is an all timer here at Grassa. They've had some other great ones, this one is equal to or better than all of them.

Describing this will be difficult, but I'll try. Basically these are like Italian enchiladas with spicy chicken in a red sauce, with whipped ricotta on top. I really can't tell you how good this was.

The rest of our food was awesome tonight! Great job!

I said I would update my review on my next visit, and I'm glad we went back.

First- a manager reached out and apologized for our bad experience. We had planned on going back Friday night for our daughter's birthday, and he was kind enough to give us a gift card to help.

This time our experience was a typical Lardo/Grassa experience, excellent!

We also had a friend in town from Cincinnati who was blown away. Had to let us know that there was nothing in Cinci like this. Food came out quickly and hot, all of it perfect. I had the Carbonara again, great, but also sampled the Cacio e pepe and kids mac and cheese. All really good.

Everyone loved their food, staff was friendly and helpful- all in all a nearly perfect experience!

Great job!

I've never left a bad review at a Grassa or a Lardo. This will be the first and it really didn't need to be.

Let me preface this by saying we have eaten multiple times at all Grassa's other locations. Never had an issue at any of them. It's a place we take out of town visitors - so we love Grassa.

So tonight we arrive, busy not crazy though. The girl at the counter was friendly and took our order.

We had ordered a Ceasar salad which came promptly. It was really good.

Then we waited- and waited. No worries we thought although it had been a half hour. When people who came in after we had ordered and were seated got their food and we hadn't- we started to get irritated.

I went back to the counter and saw our order sitting in the window. I asked the three people who were working if they had forgotten about us, one lady asked our number I said 11- she looked at my food in the window turned around and told me it would be brought out in a moment.

A few minutes later a young man who was also at the front when I inquired came over to our table. It seems he got elected to come over and not apologize. He said "your food should be put soon, sometimes we make things in big batches and this happens." A simple "I'm sorry, we messed up " would have been better.

I asked him if our food was getting cold as it was in the window - this made him go check on it. Finally he came back with most of our order. Ravioli, carbonara, and meatballs. I asked about the garlic bread we ordered- he said it was stale and they were making us some fresh.

Honestly- this irritated me as much as anything. Our garlic bread had gone stale...? So what happened?

The moment of truth came, how was the food. Cold. Carbonara lukewarm is like glue. Really frustrating as it tasted like it would have been perfect had it been brought out when it should have been. I was so hungry at this point I didn't want to wait longer and complain.

Finally our garlic bread came when we were finished with our meal. It was good- but the reason you order garlic bread is to eat it with your pasta- not to eat it after dinner.

The most frustrating thing is after I went and asked about my order, rather than trying to make things right they ignored us. Once again- I would have been happier if they just apologized. I understand everyone has a bad day- hope this is just one of those.

If we have better experiences in the future I will be happy to...

PRETTY TASTY PASTA

Grassa has some things to figure out if they are going to survive the carnage at Mercado Grove. Spending $110 on a meal for three people comes with some expectations and Grassa falls short in a few key categories.

SERVICE Their service is efficient, but fraught with attitude and are keen to say “no” instead of yes even when request is simple. When asked for a spoon to serve the dishes we were sharing among us, the dude said they didn’t have spoons. The party next to us had a large serving spoon in their dish and the hipster just walked away shaking their head when I pointed it out. Seems like Grassa should invest in the “universal utensil” and not expect folks to serve or eat with just a knife and fork.

ATMOSPHERE The joint is cute. Seating is not that awesome, though. Not enough big booths and way too many high tops. Luckily the music isn’t quite as loud as it was, but the awful acoustics in the place make it very difficult to have a conversation during your meal.

PASTA One of our dishes had the pasta cooked perfectly, but the other two had one over cooked and the other undercooked. They just can’t seem to nail it a lot of the time. Sauces are very tasty, but they would benefit from a more diverse offering of some standard dishes. I do love that they make the pastas in house and when they are cooked properly with adequate sauce, they are FANTASTIC.

PRICES The value here is dependent on what you order. Cocktails are a fair price, but some of the dishes are scant on protein. For a counter service spot, this is an expensive meal.

Dishes to order: -SPAGHETTI ALA CHITARRA -SPRING PEA RAVIOLI SAFFRON MAFALDINE ROASTED BEETS

Dishes to Avoid: Pork Belly Mac & Cheese (and I love pork belly) Carbonara: Grassa’s version is more of a miss than a hit Fried Brussels Sprouts: Greasy

UPDATE They now have spoons available for all who want one and the carbonara was almost...