3 Doors Down Cafe & Lounge — Restaurant in Portland

3 Doors Down (3DD) has arguably the BEST HAPPY HOUR IN PORTLAND! There, I said it. Now you can bypass all the hemming and hawing about whether or not you may want to go and jump straight to planning your visit!

Key Info: They're open every day but Monday They have a few tables outside (covered by an awning) that seat 1-4 people on days when the weather is nice. Added bonus for being on a side street of Hawthorne so you don't have a constant stream of people walking by. They have an extensive dinner menu full of very authentic Italian dishes (avg entree ~$18-35, salads from $6-12) But WAIT, you say, I want to check out their infamous Happy Hour. Don't fret, because they have the LONGEST HH HOURS I'VE EVER SEEN! Tues, Wed, & Thurs it's 5-9:30pm, and Sunday it's all day (4-9pm). No more rushing as fast as you can from work to barely get seated and order before HH ends!

You should DEFINITELY try at least these HH dishes, though admittedly I'd feel comfortable recommending everything else I've tried here, too: Tortiglioni with vodka sauce & sausage ($8.50) - this is my favorite dish on their entire HH menu! Al dente penne pasta, in a creamy tomato/vodka sauce with a delicious sausage right in the middle to contrast the noodles. Pugliese with white bean spread (only $3) - made of beans, olive oil, garlic, and rosemary. It's sooo rich in flavor I have to think they sneak some butter in it, too, but I could be wrong. Although it's not officially unlimited, they usually refill it a few times if your table is hungry enough to eat all the bread/spread before your entrees arrive. provolone & prosciutto stuffed cherry pepper ($2.50) - pretty self explanatory: 2 spicy peppers with delicious meat and cheese. So good! Bibb lettuce with chives & bacon, and topped with a creamy garlic dressing ($4) - the perfect side to most of their dishes Baked macaroni & cheese ($6) - This is close to my favorite mac & cheese in PDX (second only to Leroy's Familiar Vittles' burnt mac & cheese)

Don't forget they have several HH drink specials, too in case you need some alcohol to help your work-related stress melt away :-) I usually stick with the draft beer, but many others have raved about their stiff drinks.

Oh yeah, and when it comes to dessert, I think they have the best Tiramisu in town. If that doesn't prove their Italian chops and make you want to check it out, I'm not...

Did a combined birthday/valentine's day dinner here on 2/15. I'd eaten at 3 Doors Down on one previous occasion, maybe 3 years ago or so.

We arrived and were greeted with a slightly awkward "how can I help you" - I'm assuming by an employee who isn't greeting customers particularly often. We gave her our reservation information, while another employee took our coats. The woman who showed us to our table was warm, and welcoming - and this was indeed an indication of how our meal would go.

I can't remember our waiter's name, taller gentleman with glasses. Very friendly. Throughout the whole meal he maintained his professionalism while not coming across at stuffy, or uptight - using a thoughtful amount of sarcasm, and such.

I think we really enjoyed everything that we ate, so I'm not going to delve too deeply into the dishes. I really think it's a case of no wrong answers when choosing from 3 Doors Down's menu. The olive and meat antipasti was a nice pairing with the complimentary bread (white bean dip is all sorts of tasty). Leak and cauliflower soup was delicious, and portioned really well - enough to enjoy, but not so much that it will affect the rest of the meal. Caesar salad was quite good. Parmesan risotto was delicious. My partner said she loved the housemade ricotta cavatelli bolognese. We shared the tiramisu for dessert.

For drinks we each had a cocktail, mine being an old fashioned. After the drinks, we shared a nice bottle of wine, suggested by our waiter - a solid Italian blend. During our dessert course it was espresso for her, and a tawney port for myself.

Really nice meal all around - would...

An immaculately well run, unaffectedly hospitable, jewel of a restaurant; if you love seriously well crafted classic Italian cuisine, with a few novel twists, made with genuine, heartfelt care and passion - then please do frequent this wonderful place - you will find nothing on the menu, mercifully short, that disappoints.

Ingredients are of the first order of quality and every bite of every course elicits a long forgotten feeling of being cared for - you will savor every mouthful in an environ that is welcoming, unpretentious yet elegantly set, while their superb team of authentically attentive staff (no rehearsed BS here) sprinkle their attention on you at just the right time, with minimum intrusion or annoying frequency.

This restaurant genuinely feels like an embedded facet of the neighborhood, and while arriving as late evening chancers, we were welcomed without any sniffy circumspection - we were made to feel immediately welcome.

While the dishes were consistently glorious, again simple, elegant and deliriously delicious, I must give top marks to the quality of the bread - something where most restaurants take a shortcut, and something, I feel, that often detracts from a good meal.

You simply must eat here at least once - we were visiting Portland for just four days and came here twice - gladly - even though there are a myriad of choices within a mile of this place, I'll always make this my first choice when I return.

Do not change a f**king thing, Jeff! 5 stars -...