The Love Shack — Restaurant in Portland

*edited 8/30/25 I was contacted by the owner immediately after posting the original review, to which he offered a very generous credit if I decided to come back. We went back last night and I was honestly blown away at how wonderful everything was. Our hostess was so kind and sweet and she ended up being our server as well. The bar cart came by and we had the tastiest mini cocktails, which made us later splurge on the table side martinis (we couldn’t get enough of the bar tender- he was so great). Their menu has changed quite a bit, without fully relying on the carts to have a full meal. I think this change complements the entire dinner service well, as you have the things you ordered and get to have a little surprise every time the cart comes by. The food was and always has been top notch. My favorite bite had to be the caviar cream puff- it’s worth every penny. I’m so glad whatever was going on with the service was resolved and I’m happy to say I will absolutely be back, many many more times. Thank you Garrett for offering fantastic customer service.

Original review: This was our fourth time dining here as it used to be our very favorite restaurant. This was our first time trying the new menu, and we were a little sad to see the cart selection scaled down but were assured we could order our favorite small bites. We ordered two of everything in the snacks section, all delicious- including the new “American dream”. We ordered plenty from each cart that came by and were having a great time, until our server came by an hour and ten minutes after we had been there to tell us he had a reservation at 9 so we needed to close out soon. We were surprised, as we hadn’t ever been rushed out before. There were a few cart items that had not come by yet, so I asked if that cart would be coming by as I was bummed to not get the full cart service before leaving. He told me to just order the items. I saw a new cart turning the corner so I said I’d wait for the cart and he waited until that cart left to come by and grab the card that they stamp. He printed out check and left it for us to pay. At this point we were feeling insanely rushed, and keep in mind there’s still 15 minutes until the 9pm reservation. He came by to pay the bill and we asked if we could add two mini espresso martinis before leaving. He replied with “um you know I do have this table at 9…” so we said “well I don’t see anyone waiting and it’s not 9pm yet.” So he quickly rushed off and brought back the two minis and said “okay NOW can I close you out???” We said yes and paid. There were two empty tables next to us and other tables that were there before us that were still seated, looking like they were having a great time. Another cart came by as we were paying and had all the items I really wanted on it. I told the lady pushing it that I wish I could order from her cart, but our server was pretty adamant about us leaving. I was really bummed to not be able to order anything from it. I personally have never felt such rudeness from any server at any restaurant, and was so sad it came from our favorite restaurant. I am deeply saddened to say I...

Save your money!!! My friend and I decided to try out Love Shack for my birthday. It was a 2 hour wait for 2 people but we waited because we were excited to try it. When we got to our seat it was 10pm on a Saturday night. Our server got to the table and asked us if we were there for drinks or food as well, we said food and drinks because we hadn’t had dinner. Our server also stated “I’m not going to go over the whole spiel, so just order from the menu”. The bar cart came around saying “last call for the night” so we grabbed a mini champagne. We weren’t expecting the bar cart to end at 10pm as that’s highly advertised on their Instagram. They also advertise as a “bingo card” menu, and that is also not the case. There is no prize if you get a “bingo” or fill the whole card with stamps.

We ordered a drink & a mini app on the menu, thinking our server would come back. We got our mini onion rings and 3 oysters at 10:18 and our mini martinis at 10:38. That was the last time we saw our server. By 11:15pm our server still had not come back to check on us, although we saw him talking to some girls at the bar top. At this point it had been over 45 minutes, our mini food had been gone since we got our martinis and our martinis were empty. We were hungry and at this point annoyed. We were finally able to get our servers attention at 11:30pm and decided to leave rather than try and order more food and drinks there in fear of it being another 45+ min of not seeing our server.

I would not recommend. Such a HUGE disappointment. It’s advertised in such a fun way but my experience was...

Absolutely gorgeous space. Oysters are excellent, I like the Greek twist on the mignonette. The scallop kinilaw is SO delicious and a must try. The scallops are delicate, fresh, and flavorful. The coconut sauce is so yummy and robust and complements the scallops very well.

I got the Champagne Problems cocktail and it was genuinely one of the best cocktails I’ve ever had. The champagne sidecar is so cute and indicative of an incredibly thoughtful and whimsical bar program, just like the Banana Stand cocktail (shoutout to the Arrested Development fans on their team).

The stacked salad has some really great ideas, but misses them. The shallot, lap cheong, and herbs (spearmint?) are very reminiscent of a Vietnamese palate, particularly a savory sticky rice dish called xôi mặn. The little gem was too fragile for the “stacked” concept and relative to the other ingredients of the salad. I could imagine the salad doing better if the little gem was kept whole and charred. The lap cheong was cut too thin. The bite was tough. I’m curious if the sausage was cut and then fried, or fried whole and then cut. It was lacking in the sweetness and umami of the sausage that I love so much. I imagine a julienne on the lap cheong working better for the salad. The vinaigrette was very underwhelming for such an otherwise creative and ambitious salad. Overall a very whatever salad with great ingredients that don’t end up becoming anything together. Not worth trying but I was so impressed with the...