Wilder — Restaurant in Portland

Best experience at a bar-restaurant I've had in a very long time! Friendly neighborhood atmosphere that you can immediately feel whether it is your first or umpteenth time as guest there. Usually at such bar-restaurants, the drinks are good but the food is mediocre bar-fare: NOT so at Wilder's! Both the cocktails as well as the food we had were the tastiest!! Started out with amazing cocktails (tamarind fuego where you can taste the actual fresh tamarind that went into the drink & pisco sour that is made with the extra effort required to prepare the drink from scratch using fresh ingredients, NOT sweet and sour mix out of a bottle). The fried asparagus were truly scrumptious! The batter in which the asparagus had been fried was so perfectly crisp, non-greasy & so yummily spiced (without being too hot) that I just wanted to eat them as they were without distracting from their wonderful tastiness by dipping them into the remoulade that was served on the side. Just to taste, I dipped my last stalk of asparagus into the remoulade; and it was so fabulous that we were inspired to go all out and, so, requested another order just so that we would have something with which to consume what was left of the remoulade. Also, the bartender BEN is awesome!! He makes you feel welcome and at home immediately with his great manner: delightful and affable but not overly so the way a lot of servers and bartenders try to be. He is super efficient and super professional: has to be in order to be the one-man show that he seems to be in dealing with the public. He doubles as bartender and server who comes out to serve the guests at the sidewalk tables as well as attending to everyone's needs inside the bar. He is genuinely charming with the guests (witty yet not wiseguy, very energetic and animated, attentive yet not coming around and asking stupid questions like "how is everything tasting?" every few minutes the way servers do all too often these days. He is friendly yet not obnoxiously chatty with the guests the way so many servers seem to think it is acceptable to be. His is an all too rare professional style of excellence. I have more praise to give, but I'll stop here because this is supposed to be a brief (?!)...

This place is a true Concordia gem. I've visited sporadically over the years, even after moving from Concordia to Woodlawn, but tended to go to nearby bars like Tough Luck or Breakside more regularly. As my old regulars have changed more and more post lockdown, however, I've started to visit Wilder more often and I think its safe to say that it'll be my new regular Sunday night spot for chilling out with a book and some good food/drinks.

The cocktails are a fantastic mix of house concoctions and classics, and you pretty much can't go wrong with any of them unless you're a fan of the classic negroni (theirs is a bit sweet, so be warned). The food menu is small but focused, and everything on it deserves its place. I'm not usually a "salad as a meal" kind of person, but their bistro salad is delicious and filling, especially if you add the harissa grilled chicken (or, hell, the fried chicken, which is gluten free by default???). In an era where smash burgers are over-represented, I also appreciate their commitment to the indulgently thick (and ACTUALLY medium rare) bistro burger. The steak frites are always good, the fried broccoli is a great shareable plate, and they've started getting a good variety of fresh oysters. Everything is well seasoned and well crafted.

The people and general ambiance are also perfect IMO. Good music is audible but doesn't hurt your ears or prevent conversation. The lights are tastefully dimmed at night but not so much that you can't see. The staff all seem to enjoy each others' company and the clientele seems similarly, generally warm. The bartender who works Sunday nights is great at what she does and always seems down to mix up random drinks on the spot. Overall, the vibes are just as good as the food and drinks.

As times continue to change, I just hope Wilder continues to navigate as...

The hostess came off rude to me in the beginning. She told us that the wait was 30 minutes to an hour. We gave her our phone number and then she told us we would be skipped if we didn’t show up with in 5 minutes. It came across to me like she was trying to scare us off. We were seated around 8pm. It took a while to get our drinks, but they were busy. The Waitress came off as nicer than the hostess. We were a two top and the table next to us which was a 4 top were seated before us. Now I am cancer survivor and I have difficulty swallowing. My wife ate fast and I still had 1/4 of my meal left. The table next to us was still in the middle of their meal and there was an open 2 top two tables over.

The waitress came over and cleared my wife’s food and then asked if I wanted a box. Then she asked to take my plate. I told her no I was still eating. I had wanted to order dessert, but she never asked us. Then she gave us the check quickly after that without a word. Then the hostess came right over after check was given and asked if I wanted a box. I got angry and told her “I am eating my dinner, go away.” What the heck? I got the $26 pork, the Japanese Lager, and no respect. It seems to me they were trying to turn our table. The table next to us, that was there before us and after us, was never pressured to leave. And I really wanted the berry crisp. But after rude and ruder, I don’t think so. We found an ice cream place instead. Why...