ConfluxCity Brewing Company — Restaurant in Portland

When we arrived, the entrance was a little confusing, but we figured it out and made our way inside. We were greeted and told to sit where we like. We sat down and was very happy to hear that they carry pepsi products. We ordered a spinach and artichoke dip appetizer, and were kinda shocked when it came in what appeared to be a carry out container. We dove in and the dip was really good, although I found it a bit on the salty side, but delicious none the less. The pita chips were fried perfectly to give it that crisp outside, and tender buttery soft inside. They paired very well with the dip. It also came with tortilla chips, which were a bit stale, but nothing to complain about. I ordered a smash burger with cheese curds, add fresh jalapeno, and the girlfriend ordered a smash burger, with the smoked mac and cheese. The mac and cheese was absolutely wonderful. The smoky gouda came through strong but not over powering and it was absolutely fantastic. The cheese curds were basic, nothing to write home about. Tasted like a generic sysco or Gordon product, with not much left to think about, other than the small portion. For a $4 upcharge, I would expect close to double the portion. As for the smash burgers. Let it be known that I've been on the hunt for a legit smash burger, for some time, and I still am. The patties were an easy 1/2" thick and no crispy edges at all. The toppings were delicious, although the diced Jalapeños on mine, were few and far between, I honestly didn't think they were there until I pulled the burger apart to look for them. Back to the patties though. It doesn't say it on the menu, but the patties were definitely cut with some sort of sausage. It left us with a rubbery type consistency of beef and a flavor that wasn't bad, but definitely not something I was looking for in a burger. Not to mention that both of our burgers, were cooked medium, which is concerning since I'm under the impression there was ground pork cut in with the beef. Overall the experience was decent, but certainly lost points due to the interesting cut of sausage with the beef, the thick patties on the "smash burgers", and the small portion on the chees curds. I think it's also worth mentioning that the "runner" leaves the building, and comes in with a "hot box" of sorts, with the orders in them, and serves it to customers. Kinda interested to know where exactly the food is being prepared. There are 2 other buildings that this establishment owns, so I'm guessing one of those, but definitely an...

I was sadly disappointed with my experience here. I had been here a couple of times in the past and I enjoyed it, food was good,, drinks were good,, service was great, but the most recent I had been here it was a let down. When you walk in you have to walk through the restaurant to get to the greeters stand and when you get there they tell you to sit where you want. Why not just have a sign that says sit where you want, then you are told that they have no menu's, just QR code readers. What if I were an older person that doesn't understand that kind of thing. That is alienating a certain group of customers. We were told we can order our own food on the code reader and it will be delivered to us, our drinks the same way. We then were told we can get our own water out of a water cooler from Culligan. Tacky. I understand the whole thing about not having enough employees these days, that is well known. But if I wanted to more or less wait on myself I would have stayed home. I go out to dinner for the experience and the atmosphere, this was not a great experience for me and this will be my last time going here. I did not stay, I did leave after I was told I could get my own drink. The personal interaction has been taken away from your patrons by doing this sort of business. I hope your business does well, but I will not...

Loved the food and of course the beer selection is always great. My husband likes to get a flight and then a pint of the beer he liked best. Yesterday he took a home a howler too. While the food was amazing, I wasn't a fan of eating out of cardboard boxes with flaps in the way all over the table. I'm sure that this wasn't the case the last time we were there a few months ago. Also, ordering from a phone was awkward because the only way to see the full menu was on the app while ordering as far as we could tell. My husband was doing the order and the rest of us looked at the menu on the website and there seemed to be options missing there so we didn't know side options and such. Maybe we just weren't doing it right but either way it was awkward and confusing. As a former server for many years I just wasn't a fan. Like I said, the food was amazing, especially the Fluxed up fries. We all liked our beers and ciders and despite my issues with ordering and presentation we will definitely keep going back.

*Thanks to the brewery for clarification on the ordering process. Using the boxes for the food does make sense given the situation. I'll try harder to fold all the flaps...