Eem - Thai BBQ & Cocktails — Restaurant in Portland

Holy hell this place is fire. First of all the outdoor seating is absolutely adorable. They have these little heated huts so you can sit outside in any weather. Which I very much appreciate as someone who can get overwhelmed by rooms full of people and lots of smells. The way they assign tasks to staff is in my opinion great, I appreciate when multiple people have specific tasks so everything can happen easily and quickly without anyone having too many things to think about. Every staff member we interacted with was awesome. The drink menu is so good. I always love when a lot of thought goes into flavor profiles with drinks, and they were definitely having fun with unconventional mixes when they developed this drink menu. I don't drink alcohol these days, so I very much appreciated that there were several options of fancy NA drinks. The Change of Address was probably the best mocktail I've ever had. Such a wild ingredient combo, whoever invented that drink is a freaky genius. My partner wasn't a huge fan of his cocktail because he said it tasted medicinal but tbh that was on him for ordering a fruity whiskey drink. It seems they don't shy away from flavors that challenge the average pallete, so be aware of your preferences but do maybe try something different than your norm bc these bartenders have skills. The food though. Oh my God, the food. I've genuinely been thinking about how good it was since dinner yesterday. We had the smoked chicken wing special to start, and they were crispy, juicy, tender, succulent, and served with a delightful little array of fancy veggies and homemade ranch. The massaman curry with lamb was deeply flavorful, perfectly spiced and the lamb was delectable. A slightly larger scoop of rice would have been good, the ratio was just barely off. We also got the barbecue fried rice which was very good as well. Really yummy brisket and shishito peppers, I mean you really can't go wrong with fried rice but the flavors were definitely elevated. The portions were pretty good, for the price I wasn't mad that we only had a little bit of leftovers. I don't know normally splurge on eating out, I'm super cheap and just cook at home mostly so this was a special occasion. But even though we felt like we were balling out by not keeping track of prices and getting drinks/apps the bill was actually less than we thought it would be in the end. It's not a cheap spot but for the quality it's all priced very reasonably.

TLDR: go there...

I'm going to start this review by stating very clearly, Eem serves amazing food. It is perfect, I love telling people to go here, I literally told someone how wonderful it was while I waited for my drink by saying, "This is one of my favorite restaurants of all time." With that being said, I was incredibly disappointed with my experience here today. I had invited my family to drive 3 hours from the coast to come here, and they had a puppy with them but I knew Eem had outdoor seating so I didn't believe this would be an issue, but we knew we'd have to sit outside. When I got there I ordered a drink, they asked where I was going to sit and I pointed out the outdoor seating on the west side of the building. I wait inside for my drink because they said to, then I sit at the table I pointed out. I wait about 3 minutes for the rest of my group. About 15 minutes of waiting later and I had the server ask me "Did you want full table service?" I didn't really know what this meant so I was like, "No, I can go in and order if that's easier." She explained that, no, I CANNOT order food at these tables because they are for drinks only. A table right next to us was eating at one of these same tables, but she explained it was actually extenuating circumstances that permitted that. So, I ask, can I order take out? She says no, because I might eat it at the table, but only if I promise to leave without eating any of it at the drink table that's fine and I'm allowed to order. So after this weird interaction I ask, "Can we order food at the table on the north side of the building?" She says I can, but only after letting me sit outside for 10 minutes without any information about not being allowed to eat there I can now be put on a wait list for a seat in the appropriate section. So, I paid for my drink and left. Was there any signage on any tables saying "no food service" or "drinks only"? No. Did anyone tell me that when I told them I planned to sit there? No. Did someone come out quickly enough that waiting an additional 20 minutes for a table wouldn't be necessary? No. I was incredibly disappointed with this experience, I wasted my families time going there, and I feel really disillusioned by this experience. I feel bad for even writing this review, but...

Denied service at Eem in Portland. Without any evidence, just bias.

I want to be clear: I have so much respect for people in the service industry and the work it takes to keep restaurants running. I know how hard the job can be. But what happened last night at Eem was so wrong, so unfair, and so deeply humiliating that I can’t stay silent.

My friend and I walked into Eem, excited for a simple night out. We weren’t drunk, we weren’t causing a scene. We just wanted two seats at the bar to enjoy a meal together.

At first, the hostess said bar seats would be ready in ten minutes, so we waited. A couple nearby was watching the interaction the whole time.

Then suddenly, things shifted. The hostess told us we could sit, but we would only be offered the non-alcoholic menu. When we asked why, she said it was because of “OLCC rules” against “people like us.” We asked her to explain what that meant, and she gave no clear answer, just insisted it applied to us.

After we calmly asked for clarification multiple times, the manager came over. Instead of explaining, he accused us of being “aggressive.” No reason. No explanation. No evidence. Just an ultimatum: eat without grabbing a cocktail, or leave.

After exhaustively asking for a reasoning, we walked out. And the couple behind us, who witnessed the entire exchange, left too in solidarity.

This wasn’t about OLCC rules. This was about discrimination. To deny service without evidence, to call BIPOC customers “aggressive” for asking questions, and to dismiss us without accountability is unacceptable.

It is humiliating. It is infuriating. And it is wrong.

Eem may be a popular Portland spot, but no popularity excuses treating paying customers with bias and disrespect. In 2025, people should not have to walk into a restaurant and fight for their basic dignity.

We left not because we wanted to, but because we refused to sit silently while being treated as “less than.”

Everyone deserves to feel welcome when they dine out. Everyone deserves fair and equal treatment. What happened to us at Eem was injustice,...