Urban Steel Kitchen + Bar — Restaurant in Portland

Where to even begin. That’s what was said on my parties way back to the car after our experience at Urban Steel Kitchen. The initial visual impression was one of confusion. The restaurant has no exterior signs or entry. Entry is through a car port and then hotel concierge desk. The photos online do an excellent job with making the 6-table space seem larger. The lone front-of-house staff finally saw us after pulling themselves out of what appeared to be some sort of opiate-induced stupor. We were sat and received waters. It was several minutes (7-10) before we saw the front-of-house staff again. I hesitate to say bartender as this person really possessed none of the traits I’ve experienced in my interactions with experienced bartenders and waitstaff. After the wait and receiving the menus, a small but admittedly decent selection of 5 craft beer taps and 5 or 6 house cocktails, I quickly scanned and attempted to place an order. Being that there were only 5 choices and I felt like something specific I knew right away what I wanted and again, in my experience this is typically an acceptable way to order. The staff quickly cut me off to let me know they would be right with me. At this point I had my doubts. I looked through the food menu and decided what dish I wanted. My party did the same and we waited. Fortunately, the television behind the bar was playing the Seattle Kraken playoff game and we had arrived about a minute in. With about 6 minutes remaining in the first period, we finally were able to place our entire order, drinks and all the food. Staffperson then returned behind the bar to enter our order. 3 drinks, 4 mains. The drinks were 3 different beers and for mains we ordered the burger (medium), braised short-ribs, half-chicken, kale salad with parmesan. After entering the drinks, surprisingly, the staffperson took their phone out and started walking towards some mysterious back area, away from both the restaurant guests and bar. We found this strange but also understand there can be outside emergencies and needs so we tried to be understanding. It was the second period of the hockey game and I realized the staffperson was again behind the bar, maybe she was now going to pour our drinks. I quickly realized they were putting dishes away, and our drinks were definitely forgotten. I got up and went to remind the staffperson that we were still waiting on our drinks, and they slowly came to the realization of what I was saying. Through their daze they said they would get them right away and to their credit we received the drinks not too many minutes later. Oh no, the food. The burger was the first item ordered so let’s start there. Medium: 140-145F. This burger: Still grazing. My friend had 2 bites and realized they had received a seared beef tartare rather than the burger they wanted. The kale salad with parmesan was more of a plate of parmesan garnished with some kale. A half chicken with brussels sprouts? Try two small drum-sticks, the brussels sprouts? I’m no botanist, but those were definitely microgreens. The short-ribs? Now I’m a big fan of short-ribs, I have them at home probably once a week during the grilling months. This appeared to be more of a pot-roast which was then thrown on top of the garlic fries. Along with between ½ and ¾ a cup of liquid which quickly turned the fries into a type of garlic potato noodle, not terrible but not as described. The best part of our food arriving was the lack of silverware. Staffperson didn’t realize, and after a few minutes one of my party-members, at the point of frustration where things begin being comical began eating their dish, the pot roast and potato noodle, with their fingers before asking the staffperson when they were next seen if we could get some silverware. We did get the silverware, from another table as apparently there wasn’t any other sets. I wish only the best of luck to the party that got sat at the now barren table only a couple minutes later. Best of luck for so many reasons. It seemed uncouth to suggest they go somewhere else on...

Brought my fiancé, her mom and her sister(as well as our 11 month old daughter) here for mothers day (May 12 2024) and it was great.

The restaurant is located below a hotel, but it didn't feel like it was part of a hotel. It felt like it's own little place which is nice.

The menu was simple and although small, gave a nice range of choices or choose from. I chose the hamburger and fries, my fiancé ordered a salmon sandwich which was like a lobster roll but with salmon and really delicious. My fiancé mother ordered the lobster sandwich, and that was cooked perfectly too. I asked for my burger to be well done, but I think that's was a mistake as it was a bit on the burnt tasting side. Everything comes with a choice of fries or salad as a side.

Be warned, the appetizers and sharables were small compared to most other restaurants. We ordered a thing of garlic fries and there wasn't enough for us, as we finished the fries well before the food came.

Like I said we came here on mothers day at 3:30pm and despite that, there was only 1 other person in the restaurant.

The food was decently priced although I wouldn't recommend the hamburger for $18. The salmon roll and lobster sandwich were alot better and only a few dollars more. The total for 4 people was $110 including a tip.

All in all I would definitely...

This restaurant is located inside the lobby of the Silver Cloud Hotel on Vaughn St., which is accessible from the entrance of the hotel's parking garage. It's rather small and intimate, around 10 tables. The times we were there only one person was working the front, both bartending and serving, so the service was predictably slow. The menu was both interesting and eclectic (e.g. pork belly, kim chi, katsu chicken) which the owner says features "peak-of-the-season ingredients from the Pacific northwest." On one occasion, I had a house green salad and the braised short rib. On another, I had the hamburger. The red meat was very good. The short rib was plentiful, flavorful, moist, and tender. The hamburger was cooked well (not dry and overdone). The salad was a disappointment. It was small and the menu's description of "garden vegetables" amounted to a few thin strips of carrot and watermelon radish. My wife had the risotto on both occasions because she enjoyed it so much. The bartender made an excellent Manhattan cocktail and on draft was a variety of local beers. We would definitely go back there, but would certainly...