McMenamins Market Street Pub — Restaurant in Portland

My wife and I don't get out much. So the day we visited was her birthday. We have a 3 month old and a 9 year old. We walked around Portland to get to know the city, because we both just moved here. When we decided on this place, out of the 100 other possible choices, we immediately noticed how our waitress was extremely unpleasant. She greeted us, "what do you want", with a very short bad attitude. Considering my wife and I don't drink, and we bought into the ketogenic diet craze, we decided on waters and two salads. Cheeseburger for my 9 year old. We thought, maybe she just had a rough day, and is ready to go home. That's until a party sat next to us, and she was COMPLETELY different to them. Friendly, helpful, getting them beers and vodkas. After about 2 hours of waiting on 2 salads, we were hoping for a refill on the 8 oz waters she gave us with no ice mind you. My son needed a to-go box, and during dinner we decided to splurge and get dessert. I was going to opt for a milk shake, my son a bowl of chocolate icecream, and my wife a coconut tart. However, according to the waitress, they were out of ice cream. Every single flavor... so I offered my card, and asked for the to go box. After 20 minutes, and my now screaming 3 month old, I walked in side to get my card back and try to get out of there to go feed the baby. She was inside chatting with the bar tender! She gave me my wife's dessert, then looked at me and asked me what my big problem was. So I told her. Then she proceeded to argue with me that I was just being a jerk, and she has done nothing wrong, and never got a complaint. Having been a waiter for many years myself, I NEVER complain about service, because I know what they deal with. The manager, I assume, apologized and gave me a gift card. Which I didn't ask for, or even want, but it was a nice gesture. Later, we called and asked if they had ice cream, and some girl said yes. So she just didn't even want us to have it! On my wife's birthday of all days! I imagine it's because she was just done altogether, and she wanted us gone. But either way, I hope that gift card works at other locations, cause I won't be...

This forgettable McMenamins destination is (like many of their basic neighborhood pubs) warmly lit and fairly cozy, finished with lots of hardwood and hand-painted signs, and offers the usual list of burgers and sandwiches, passable beer and bad wine. The carpet is unspeakably filthy, and never seems to get cleaned.

It often fills to capacity in the later evening, mostly with college students unwinding after classes. It's rarely rowdy, but service can be slow and the wait staff frequently seem like they're one bad night away from quitting.

The food is hit-or-miss. Most regulars have figured out what they want before they sit down, because much of the menu isn't worth paying for a second time. The tater tots are reliably good, the fries not so much. The burgers are usually tasty, but be extremely cautious about ordering anything with fried fish. The cream-forward cheese-almost-absent Mac & Cheese appeals to a select few, but most find it essentially inedible.

Overall, I nearly always leave feeling like I've overpaid for my meal by about 15%. For quieter and more sophisticated students the convenience of location and the relatively mellow atmosphere (compared to other campus bars) make this place worth the price, but anyone without a reason to dine near PSU may be better off at a bar further into downtown proper. Try Huber's, The Rookery, or...

Here's the comment I left with the corporate office:

I'm unhappy with the level of service I got today at the Market Street Pub.

Upon arrival I followed the signage to check in inside for patio seating. Inside, I stood by the host's lectern for about five minutes before anyone acknowledged me. I was then told that I had to order at the bar and self-seat if I wanted to sit outside. I then waited at the bar for another five minutes uses before anyone took my order. When my food arrived, there was no silverware setup that came with it, and I had to go inside to search for any. I found none, and wound up using several paper towels from the restroom as napkins. The busboy promised to get me a stamp in my passport, took it inside, and then failed to bring it back at all. No one was rude, and the quality of the food and drink met my expectations.

But my general impression was that the staff considered servicing the outside tables at all to be someone else's job. It made me decide to not get a second beer because clearly I was an inconvenience to these only moderately-busy-seeming folks. Perhaps they were short-staffed but the problem really seemed to be one of inattention to detail and a lack of ability or interest in attending to the patio seating.

I know McMenamins can do...