Hale Pele — Restaurant in Portland

I was really hoping to have a great experience here for our 11th anniversary. My wife introduced me to Trader Vics in the bay area just a year ago and when we read about this place in Portland as being one of the "best" tiki bars in the nation. We were excited. But then reality set in. A lot of it is Hale Pele, but some is just the environment when it is located. First off, if you aren't being responsible by walking or biking, you will be stressed out by the time you arrive, there is very little street parking and the neighborhood streets are all dead ends, no parking zones, and no U-turn streets, it is completely insane! It opens at rush hour, so if you aren't walking or biking, add one hour to your trip. Okay. Now we have arrived! You walk in and immediately you feel like this is a cool place, it totally looks and feels Polynesian. They have a smoke machine going, incense, great decorations, and an inviting design. A sign at the door says to wait to be seated. (No reservations accepted for parties less than 8) And wait we did... Minutes and not a single welcome or hello or even a notice that we existed. Two bartenders within 10 feet of the entryway... Nothing. No host. There were four small booths to our left, one had a couple in it, three were empty. Eventually one bartender interacted with us and said we could sit at the crowded bar. We said we wanted a booth as it was our anniversary and we wanted to really take in the experience. The bartender replied that they are for large groups only, mind you, each booth could not seat more than three people. This was highly disappointing. We never got the chance to try their food or their drinks or enjoy the experience; we have never felt so unwelcome in our lives in a restaurant... So we left. We then found another tiki bar, back up in Vancouver, and drove another hour through insane rush hour traffic. The tiki bar in Vancouver was awesome and thankfully our night was ultimately saved by the welcoming...

I spent 15 years in the service industry first as a server then as a bartender and after the most recent experience I'll never come back. I'm telling my friends and family the same. My wife and I came in for our anniversary on a Wednesday and unfortunately we sat at the bar. The long haired male bartender made our experience horrible. He very clearly made it a point to ignore us and treat the other six customers well and we have no idea why. When our first round of drinks sat empty, he would check with the two customers to our left and the two customers to our right and avoid making eye contact with us. After awhile a girl came behind the bar so we asked if we could make a drink order with her - she said that we would have to go through him. He finally gave us a dirty look and asked what we wanted for a second round. When the food runner came by and delivered the food he never checked on us. When the place emptied and we were the only customers of his left, he stood at the kitchen and played on his phone while we waited with empty plates and drinks just to get our tab. After ten or so minutes the hostess came over and saw everything was empty and offered to clear them for us. We waited another few minutes before he reluctantly walked back over and asked if we wanted the check. The service industry person in me could never leave a bad tip especially because I'm guessing tips are probably pooled in the place and it's no one else's fault the bartender was treating us differently, so the lowest I left was 15%. My wife and I are very polite people and we spent part of the ride home discussing what exactly we could have done to have the bartender go out of his way to give us bad service and the only thing that made any sense is that my wife (who is 3 months pregnant) asked for a mocktail that didn't have any alcohol. Experiences like this make me wonder how people even get their jobs. ...

We wanted to like this place more than we did. The atmosphere is fabulous, and they have an incredible drink menu. We tried two different cocktails and loved both of them. One of them came on fire! Definitely fantastic place for drinks.

Where it fell short was in service and food. We came to have an early dinner. Walking in at 4:00 p.m. on a Monday, the place was almost empty yet we were not allowed to take a corner booth which they said were reserved for larger groups. There were five open booths when we arrived. When we left, one was taken by a larger group. Three had remained completely open the entire time. And one was given to a different couple so only two people!! Seems really bad service to make someone sit on an uncomfortable chair at 4:00 p.m. on a Monday when you know those booths are never going to fill with groups at that hour.

Then the delivery of the food also left something to be desired. My food came out about 10 or 15 minutes after my partner's food, which meant that he was done eating by the time my food arrived. The place had only just opened when we arrived, so I'm not sure how the kitchen's timing could be that bad at the start of the day when there are no other orders yet...

The food itself was also not that great, except the pork sandwich which was excellent. The mac salad was a little bland yet sour which was weird. The Rangoon dip seemed a little bland as well. Seems like it needed some sweetness or spice, since you normally dip a rangoon in something else. The slaw was bland and forgettable. Perhaps needed a touch of salt.

If you're just looking for cocktails, this is the perfect place to go, but if you're also looking to eat, I would skip this place and go somewhere else. Lot of potential though, if they would make some staff/kitchen...