Crispy Gai — Restaurant in Portland

So I think this is my favorite restaurant in Portland right now. Over and over, when someone asks "Where should we go for great cocktails and food that isn't crazy expensive?", it's an easy answer...Crispy Gai. I've been four times this summer so far. Think of it this way...the cocktail program rivals the best in the Old Port (Arvid Brown is easily a top bar manager downtown), it's the best Thai-ish food next to Boda, the atmosphere is great, and you'll feast and be tipsy for $50. I can't rave enough...if you're looking for something different than the usual seafood options, this should be a top pick. From my experience...

-The pork skewers ($13) and the Pad See Ew ($18, and basically a pork Pad Thai that is my favorite in Portland) are mandatory orders. You'll be fairly full off just this. -The fried rice ($11) and Khao Soi Gai ($17) are also great choices. Supposedly the Crispy Waterfall ($15) is one of the best on the menu, which I need to try. -Surprisingly, the fried chicken and wings are my least favorite items on the menu. They're great. But to some extent, chicken is chicken, and the rest of the menu is so good that I find myself rarely ordering the wings. -There are about 15 cocktails on the menu ($12-$15), ranging from creative takes on classics to all new creations. It's nearly impossible to go wrong. Crispy Gai is as much a cocktail bar as a restaurant. But unlike other cocktail bars downtown, you'll find it impossible to not order food. -Much of the menu is gluten free and the restaurant is very conscious of dietary restrictions.

There's a time for Scales. But most other times, I find myself gravitating towards Crispy Gai. It already gets crowds and I hate to further give away the secret...but this should be near the top...

Overall very good dinner at Crispy Gai, but not a 5 star experience, even rated as a street food restaurant. We were a party of 4 and ordered fried rice, mushroom pad see ew, fried chicken, and crying tiger steak. We also had cocktails, all of which were great. Your tastebuds will not be disappointed here.

However, a couple of things I didn’t care for and would temper when/if I came back. First, the staff are friendly and efficient, but the place is frenetic and they are on a mission to turn tables, which I can respect. However, what that means is that food comes out as it’s ready, so as a party of 4, two of us ate while the others watched until their food caught up. I hate this, but if you don’t then shouldn’t be an issue. Like I said, they were nice about it and the food was great and came out quickly overall, but it’s awkward when dining as a small group.

Also be aware that there is a junk fee of 5% gratuity added for the kitchen staff. This is in the small print on the menu, and clearly printed as mandatory fee on the check, but it’s subtle, easy to miss (our fellow diners did), and not mentioned when the check is delivered. Note that they tell you the food comes out as it’s ready after you order, so they know that is something that might be an issue for folks if not told proactively, yet no mention of the 5% junk fee. Hmmm.

Please just pay your staff the appropriate wage and don’t nickel and dime your customers with junk fees… the airlines do that and we all know what we think of...

Solid wings and insane sauces.

Heard so many great things about this place from my friends, so I dropped by this weekend for a quick lunch. Even at 1:30 PM, the place was very busy. No tables open, so we squeezed into small counter seats to skip the wait.

I always order wings at Southeast Asian spots, so my standards run pretty high. By those standards, the wings here fell on the better end of the spectrum, but weren’t quite best-in-class. To be honest, I've had better wings elsewhere, but the sauces here changed the whole game. They were, quite literally, finger-lickin' good.

Wings – We tried all three varieties, and while the dry rubs on the Red Curry and Sichuan wings didn't fully impress (the Sichuan batch was even slightly overcooked), the accompanying sauces redeemed everything. These are sauces you could drizzle onto cardboard, and it would probably taste great.

Sauce Party – Five total, and worth ordering enough wings to try them all. My top picks were the NJS Ranch and the Nam Jim Gai. Both had a funky umami depth with a bit of extra acidity that took everything up a notch. The only one I found a bit underwhelming was the Thai chili sauce.

Pad See Ew – A straightforward but well-executed dish that rounded out the meal.

Mango Sticky Rice – The mango was slightly underripe, but I genuinely enjoyed the rice's congee-like consistency. That additional moisture provided the dish a comforting, hearty texture that worked particularly well...