Tulip Shop Tavern — Restaurant in Portland

Their food was OK. The hot wings are well-brined but tossed in mediocre sauce I can pick up at the grocery store. Their hoagie was pretty good, their fries and onion rings are acceptable but nothing to write home about.

What bothers me about Tulip is the dark atmosphere and loud music combined with the lackluster service. We saw our server when we were seated, and then again to take our drinks order, and once more when our drinks were brought to us when we were asked for our food order. After that, it was easily half an hour after we had finished our drinks that our server came back to check on us and refill them. Instead, I saw her "busy" on her cell phone, "busy" chatting it up with a specific patron at the bar, "busy" walking around carrying nothing, and occasionally clearing tables or checking in on other tables when it wasn't an inconvenience to her. While I appreciate a server that doesn't interrupt my meal or conversation every few minutes, letting my drink go empty for more then half an hour is the other end of the extreme and even worse than an annoyingly attentive one. The dark atmosphere seems to encourage that behaviour or maybe discourage noticing it?

Either way, I'm not sure I'll come back here. Not sure what I'll...

Any pork tenderloin sandwich is damned near impossible to find in Portland, OR, but I thought a good one was absolutely a fantasy. I am at the Tulip Shop Tavern in Portland, Oregon. There have been various iterations of the BPT around here over the years, but they were all but obliterated by the pandemic. But, the cream has risen to the top. This place has a not huge, but reliably 1/4 inch pounded pork loin. I didn't know what seasonings are in the dredge, but I assume they are hoarding that secret with the same enthusiasm as the Colonel does guarding his eleven secret herbs and spices. It fries up, retaining its juicy, porky goodness, super crispy and flavorful without any greasy detractors. It's just freaking good. Shredded lettuce, pickles, and shaved white onions are about perfect. It's served with what they call, "Coleman's, mustard sauce." They can call or whatever they want, but it should be mandatory on any BPT. The onion rings are another thing unto themselves. Huge. Thick. Molten on the inside, insanely crispy on the outside, yet somehow, not greasy. I got the curry ketchup to drag them through. I've eaten these things from one side of the country to the next. They have nothing to...

The reviews for the smash burger looked amazing and so we decided that it was worth the drive to try them out . The restaurant has a very local dive bar feel and was very full for a random Monday late night .There is a back patio but it was just an extremely cold and rainy evening to try that out. Drinks - They have a selection of cocktails and NA beverages . The Beer and wine selection is limited though . We got a Penicillin and a lager . Both me and my husband agreed that the Penicillin was top notch . Food -We got the Patty Melt and an order of fries as well as a salad with Fried Chicken Thigh . I found it a tad bit weird that they replaced the bun with a piece of bread ... but the lure of two patties was just too good to let go ! Nevertheless , it tasted fantastic and hit all the right spots . The salad was a nice compliment to the greasy burger . Our server was nice, but she was extremely busy and so it was a challenge to get her attention for ordering or even for the cheque . I would have to acknowledge that there were a lot of customers and just two servers so not really a complaint on service but more like a warning that the wait times...