50 Plates

Divine!

CLOSED.
Thank. God.
You were more of a miss, like flat face miss or point blank missed shot, than a hit.
It’s not the place itself. It’s the service and crew with a little of your boring menu.
Good riddance. NEXT!

I have to say I’m not surprised to see that 50 Plates has closed. I used to love it, but in the past few months the service and value – two former strong suits – really went downhill. So long, 50. You had a good run.

I’ve become somewhat of a regular here due to the happy hour offerings and the great service. Being in the service industry myself, it is often difficult to find places open after I get off my shift that offer more than tater tots and chicken strips. Granted, they do have chicken strips on the menu at 50, which I find a little odd considering the otherwise inventive menu, but I guess that’s what some people are looking for.
The lobster roll is a favorite of mine, paired with their house salad and a glass of Albarino. It’s the perfect size for dinner at 11pm when I don’t want too much to eat. But if I were being honest, it’s the service that keeps me coming back. Elijah is absolutely fabulous, a true professional, and Justin is probably the most unassuming, understated bartender around. Try to catch either of them behind the bar and let them fix whatever strikes your (or their) fancy.
My biggest complaint about the place is that it’s so often a ghost town. I would love to see this place doing more business, but I think that it’s one of those places that people don’t think of when they’re in the Pearl. Maybe it’s just that I frequent it late nights, but I sure would like to see it hoppin’ all the time.

I have to say I really like this place. I do like the lunch menu and happy hour menu better than the dinner menu, but I like this place.
Favorite item on the menu is the Ahi Tuna wrap. Excellent.

«I’m going to bring you something special. I’m going to bring you… The Roscoe.»
And so began my love affair with chicken & waffles. Not to mention 50 Plates. And our 50 Plates waiter.
Waiter, if you’re reading this, your gift of The Roscoe set off a desire to bring you to Chicago and marry you. I’m just sayin.’ And to think, it all started because I asked for a little something to complement half a meatloaf sandwich. You with your Roscoe, you know me better than I know myself. And for that, I thank you.
We also loved the Devils on Horseback (cheddar & bacon stuffed dates, mmm), the Parker House rolls and the Knuckle Sandwich. Really, this place is so cool and casual and comfortable, and the menu is so fun, 50 Plates became an instant favorite. It’s my kinda joint.

Decided to check out this restaurant tonight and so glad I did! I ordered the seafood chowder after the waiter described all the variety that was included. Probably the best chowder I have had in Portland.
The atmosphere is pretty hip with artsy over sized pictures and a casual yet professional attitude of the employees.
With the ambience, I was surprised to hear Whitney Houston from the 90s pumping throughout. Made a comment to the waiter and he laughed. Minutes later the music was changed to a much for modern playlist. Now that’s what I call customer service!

I went to 50 Plates back in June for the Portland Dining month, 3 courses for $ 25. I really enjoyed the meal. The portions were plentiful, and I ended up taking some of my meal home for lunch the next day.
The first course was an iceberg lettuce wedge salad with bacon bits and blue cheese dressing. The second course was woodstone oven roasted Draper Valley chicken, white cheddar grits, and mustard greens. The grits were not like anything I’ve had in the south, but it complimented the chicken nicely. Dessert was a devil’s food chocolate cake with brown sugar ice cream. Can’t go wrong with chocolate in my book!
The service was fast and friendly. It was my first time there, and I will definitely go back again!

Loved this place. Was drawn to it because of my groupon and have to say — a winner!
Went with a friend and we were able to make reservations easily through OpenTable. A good start.
Service was a little slow but aside from that I have absolutely nothing bad to say. Plus the GM, James, was very friendly and welcoming.
We shared the fries — which we were able to get vegetarian (OMG — amazing! crispy, tasty), the cold oysters on half shell — which were small, but well prepared with tequila and a splash of tapatio. The the radicchio salad, which when it came looked sketchy but OMG — I would go back there just for that! I had the skirt steak fajita small plate which was fabulous — chimichurri and done perfectly. My friend had the chicken tenders. All small plates and more than enough food. Their wine list is impressive and their Happy Hour looks fabulous. They have Happy Hour all day Sunday and ½ price bottle wines on Mondays.
I will definitely be hitting up this place again and again.

3 solid (solid) stars for the service and partly for the ambiance. When I arrived on a Friday night the place was relatively empty (2 other tables had people), by the time I left (12:30ish) there were about 5 – 6 tables of people.
So 1) It’s definitely intimate and quiet, if that’s what you’re looking for.
The server came quickly to take our orders, and the chef worked quickly for us to get our food. The drinks were… fine… and the food was also… fine…
But I was expecting more from an upscale restaurant in the Pearl. I will definitely be back again, because I genuinely enjoyed my intimate dining experience with my friends (and because it’s so conveniently located). But realistically, I’ll probably eat beforehand, and only have one drink.

Bottom Line — This is a new favourite happy hour place of mine after just one visit. Both the value and quality of the food were good, and I’d recommend checking this place out, especially the Shrimp & Grits plate.
I came with 2 friends on Thursday, 23 December 2010 for happy hour at 9pm and we ordered the following:
Shrimp & Grits (bacon, chorizo, peppers, white cheddar, $ 5×2) — My friend and I ordered this. I only love grits with cheese, so the added stuff in it made me want to try it. It came with 2 shrimps and was bursting with flavour. I would have preferred a little more grits to mellow it out a bit, but I still inhaled the whole thing.
Artichoke Rolls (california chevre, roasted garlic, avocado ranch on the side, $ 4) — This roll came egg-​roll style. It was alright. I probably would opt to order something else next time.
Venison Chicken-​fried Steak (buttermilk mashed potatoes, spinach, bacon gravy, $ 13) — The venison was pretty good! I liked the breading but my friend did not. You really needed the potatoes and spinach to go along with the flavour of the steak and breading + gravy. I’d order this again.
Old School Iceberg (bacon, scallions, cherry tomatoes, blue cheese, $ 4) — My friend ordered this to try to be a little healthy. She said the salad was normal and nothing spectacular, which is how it looked.
Dirty Rice Beignets (andouille sausage, trinity vegetables, creole tartar sauce, $ 3) — These were okay. The rice on the inside reminded me of chinese sticky rice. It was too oily and too heavy so I would not order this again.
Kern Dog (andouille sausage, cornmeal batter, honey mustard, $ 4) — This was a little tasty. Three came with this dish and at first, I wasn’t a fan of the cornmeal batter, but it grew on me. I’d order this again because it was inexpensive and fun to eat.
Along with two glasses of the happy hour house white wine ($ 5/​each), and a pilsner ($ 5), our total came to $ 53 + 12.00 tip = $ 65.00 total.

Thanks to the Groupon Site– 50 Plates had a $ 25 for $ 50 worth of food…
We very much enjoyed this restaurant. What a cute place it is. The server was very nice and helpful.
The restaurant is very nice and up to date with their atmosphere. It clashes a bit with the intent to their menu though, which is down home cooking. Retro vs. Homey… kinda clashes.
I had the ribs, potatoe salad, and Baked Beans dish and it was awesome! Great BBQ sauce! Nice portion on this one as well.

When I think of my experience at 50 Plates the first word that comes to mind is boring. The interior space is nice but not memorable, service is decent but not exceptional, food is good but not distinct. Before I wrote this I had to think about what I and others at the table had to eat last night.
They make a decent if somewhat skimpy martini, they have a limited selection of wines by the glass and a somewhat uninspiring menu. The one thing the table loved was the spoon full of frosting that the waiter brought after dinner. That was a huge hit.
Prices are fair. Certainly not my first choice in a city loaded with good restaurants.

Best things come in threes? How about TWOS? I’ve been to Portland TWICE in my entire life. This weekend, I am turning thirty-​TWO. Been to 50 Plates TWO times and had the same, to die for, perfect and amazing server BOTH times. Last evening I had TWO margaritas for only $ 5.00 during their late night happy hour, which kicks off at 10 pm. Now, we didn’t have two, but instead three small plates that where some of the most perfect plates in the whole wide world. Fresh, fresh, FRESH oysters at $ 2.00 each. TWO jumbo shrimps soaked in light and savory grits with cheese. Homemade corn dog bites served with a spicy and original honey mustard sauce.
I’ve been to 50 Plates TWO times and BOTH times were some of my favorite dining experiences of all time. I look forward to making my third trip, then my fourth, followed by my fifth, and I have to make a sixth trip… I’ll come to 50 Plates every time I am in Portland for the rest of my life.

I went to 50 Plates last summer when I visited Portland. I loved the area where this restaurant is — the Pearl District. There were tons of restaurants around so it was tough to choose one and I don’t really remember how we ended up picking this place but I really liked it! The service was good and the food choices were good as well. I remember the sliders being pretty good. I had a good time at the restaurant, I liked the décor and way it was setup and we got a window seat so I could people watch a little too. Go Portland!

They pack you in like sardines! Which is fine at a dive bar but if I’m paying 9 $ for a drink I think that should include some elbow room thank you very much. And where the hell is my server? Do I have one, because she didn’t seem to think that we did… until it was check time of course!
Color me unimpressed.

Looks better than it tasted.
Could be a review of the Pearl in general, but in this case it’s in reference to 50 Plates.
Despite the myriad of meh reviews from trusted yeep sources I found the cheap prices too low to pass up (especially since I had nothing better to do while waiting for better half and her friend to finish their bargain hair appointments at Aveda, by this point I had already spent an hour wandering aimlessly through the Pearl, including 30 minutes in Cargo).
For about $ 8 I had wine, an oyster and two bar burgers. It was a weird time so I pretty much had the place to myself, the bartender was cool, the wine and oyster decent, but the burgers were crap.
The buns were tasteless, heavy, and chewy. They might have made better rubber training baseballs. The burger and, I think fried green tomato, were no more flavorful, made me wonder how such a seemingly creative restaurant could put out food bad enough to make me feel like I wasted what little money I spent there (Though my sampling was limited I wouldn’t say I was inspired to pay money to try more).
Oh well the service was good, wish I could say the same for the food.

We’ve been silently enjoying 50 Plate’s alfresco seating until now. I’ve been meaning to share with you that 50 Plates has a really nice Happy Hour menu that changes seasonally.
Throughout our stops, we munched on their «Roscoe’s» which consisted of fried chicken on a mini waffle drizzled with maple syrup and «Not A Cobb Salad» that had Boston lettuce topped with shrimp, egg, avocado, cherry tomatoes, bacon and green goddess. And who could forget their Oven Roasted Mussels and New York Style Hot Dog.
Service was be hit of miss. Once our server was really attentive, but another time our server was missing when we needed her most. Once we received amuse bouche with our drinks and another time we didn’t.
Even if you’re sitting outside, peek into the dining room and check out their delectable desserts and pop into their fancy bathrooms. This place reminds me ol’ Americana, but just done up and a little more chic (that’s pronounced «sheek for y’all).

Curious juxtaposition of décor and server attire. The smoothly modern décor with the dark chocolates (think Original Dinerant) is in stark contrast to waitresses in blue jeans and pigtails. Katie S’s description of 50 plates as «swanky kitsch» is quite apt.
It wasn’t very crowded at lunchtime today.
The menu is rather sparse. You know how you flip a menu over hoping to find more things on the back, but see nothing but wines and desserts?
I ordered the daily «chowda» and a Kobe Beef slider. The New England chowder had robust flavors and a just right, not-​too-​thick, texture Comes with plump mussels! It may have been a bit salty. The burger slider was very good, served with Tillamook cheese, pickle and ketchup (or what they call tomato relish here). I ordered my slider without cheese.
JP ordered the tuna wrap, which our waitress told us was their most popular menu item. JP enjoyed his wrap immensely and offered a bite. But when I saw slices of raw fish peeking out, I demurred.

What a fun, unpretentious, delicious, affordable new restaurant!
…shhh, nobody tell ‘em they’re in the Pearl!
The menu itself was amazing — and I’m talking about about the actual menu, not the just the food that comes with it. It was exceptionally amusing, to the point of rudely ignoring one another to enjoy the company of the menu’s witty banter.
You’ll quickly learn that 50 Plates isn’t just a catchy name, there are actually 50 different Americana themed items, from smaller plates like the «snap crackle squid,» (crispy rice cereal crusted calamari), to the silver dollar sammies like the Roscoe’s (crispy fried chicken on a waffle with coffee maple syrup drizzle). Take a walk on the «larger plates» side, and you can have a full-​on clam bake if’n ya dare. You’ve also got your «sides and miscellany,» a dessert menu that could stop crime, and a daily rotating happy hour to boot.
But here’s the kicker. Remember when Mom used to bake and let you lick the bowl? When your meal is over, they bring a mini spatula for each guest with a dab of chocolate ganache. (And I’ll be honest, mama’s batter never tasted quite this good. Love ya Maaaam…)