Shalom Y'all — Restaurant in Portland

On Aug 11, 2021 at around 7:15pm I took my family (wife and 7 months old son) from my hotel @DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Portland to the Shalom Ya’ll restaurant after two days of planning and thorough search, we have decide to celebrate an important family event, first we call to make reservation but no one answered, so we decided to take Uber and go to the restaurant as we were so eager to try the amazing menu, upon arrival we noticed that the restaurant had only one couple seated outside and less than half full inside, so were had our hopes up to be seated without waiting. We went inside using the well design entrance allowing great access for families and were greeted by the host, and were told that the wait time for our (2 and 1/4 person) family will be around an hour and we were absolutely OK with that, and were put on the wait list. About 5 min waiting on the side , and as she finished seating the nice couple that came after, the host approached us explaining that the restaurants requires that all guests should be vaccinated if they wish to sit inside and we immediately replyed that we are fully vaccinated and even joked about having proof of our laminated vaccine document, yet the host wanted us to show proof that our 7 months baby has been vaccinated as well, at the beginning we though it was a joke, and the I though in my mind was that “since when did the FDA recommend the use of any vaccine for children under the age of 1 year?” , with the fact that I have the regulatory knowledge to confirm that. Then the host went inside and walked back with her manager explaining that HR send out a memo asking to enforce it and even went inside the office area in the back and showed an email to support it per my request when she returned, in addition the host showed that the restaurant requires it per website that per update on Aug. 10th “see my attachment of screenshot presented by the host” , after a long day of hard work and a two day plan , my trip to Shalom Y’all was a failure :(

This is my worst experience I...

First timer! Went in for "Happy Hour" They take a 1-2$ off main menu price.. not much of a deal but I've heard good things about it so let's go! The green salad with hazelnuts, pickeled rhubarb, onions, turnips, sumac dressing was ok, mostly tasted like oil and salt, other ingredients boosted the flavors for sure, but not a salad to write home about for 11$. The eggplant with labna and pita was ok, a litte under seasoned, I didn't ask for salt prolly should have, pita was fluffy and good, 12$. The warm castelvetrano olives, my fav olives, with olive oil were my fav olives in olive oil. 6$ I asked about the Chicken Shawarma cause the other parts sounded yummy. Cabbage, peppers etc. The server suggested the Kabob instead, said it was more bang for the buck. I didn't care about that but she also insisted it was her favorite. So i decided to go for it. In my opinion it was over charred and dry. The flavors were decent ish minus the overcooked meat. There was very little tahina or crispy onions. On my way out I mentioned it to the hostess, because my server was already gone from her shift. The hostess's response was "well it's made on a grill...and did you say something to your server." To which I said, yes I know it's grilled but much of it was inedible as it was very burnt. No didn't mention it to the server.... her response, "sorry about that...." I get it, not much she could do... I suppose. My bad for not speaking up. It's not a good feeling having to send food back but I suppose sometimes necessary. Good reminder, if you're not satisfied say something if you want a better experience. I'd hope a restaurant that was charging 19$ for 3 or 4 oz of meat and 3/4 cup of rice and lentils would get it damn near perfect. I'm sure some people like their meat burnt, just not me. I've made and enjoyed a good amount of grilled meat in my life but oh well, sometimes it's a swing and a miss. Undecided if I'd give it a second try. And you know what they say hope in one hand and s**t in the other see which one...

So here is the nitty gritty about this ultra popular restaurant...it is really tasty food! The quality and the flavor is super good. Here is my issue with the restaurant. 1st: the food is really expensive for the small sizes! They say it is share style of food. But man, how does 4 people share a $20 cabbage kabob that is 1 leaf cut up and grilled. Yes, very delicious but not the size to the share price. The $25 lamb chops was like 1.5 oz of meat. Yup...you can share 2 chops with your whole party! The meal comes with no sides just delicous broth no side to dip your $3 pita. The steak was 4 oz at a whopping price and no sides and be prepared to pay almost $20 for HUMMUS. That is processed beans. 2nd: the wait time was long. Why does it take 25 minutes to bring hummus to my table? And the size...aprox 4 oz to share...yup and 1 piece of pita. But if you want to add cucumber, $2 for 4 slices! AS YOU CAN SEE...HARD TO SHARE with a party of 4. So just order order more???

3rd: $250 later to meat up with friends for a weak night dinner. We ordered 3 hummus and paid $60.

4th; in ISRAEL, the salads are amazing and never ending and automatically a part of the meal. The bringbout like 20 different salads to your table before your $10 gyro. If you go to a gyro restaurant, you have 29 salads to select to add to your gyro. Really generous culture. This place is Portland/New Seasons salad style of vegetables not ISRAELI style. Not ISRAELI generosity!

After reading this...you still want to go??? Order the chicken Slovaki $18. It is a meal that is delicious with a salad on top of it with the pita bread. Skip the drinks and dessert and go afterwards and go to your favorite place.

Was this restaurant worth the $250 for a party of 4 for a weak night dinner, close to the "old Montage" location next to the homesless community of Portland, no parking lot,...NOPE....