Bar Carlo

The inside was clean, but there appeared to be no attempt at style or theme.
I came here because a group of us, half a dozen plus, had finished a little outing and wanted to sit and have a beer and a bit to eat. One of the group had been here and suggested this place.
Dispite there being only one other group and a few stragglers at the bar in another room, service was slow. After a while, our server picked up her game, but not before we’d been there at least an hour. I later heard that she had friends at the bar. Obviously her priority.
Food was slow to arrive. I ordered a beer, it came in the bottle with a glass, not in tap, and cost me $ 5. I think this was their idea of serving a «microbrew.»
Food: The nacho plate was described as, «so good.»
As for the Monte Cristo sandwich, it was said that Homer Simpson would’ve cried and ordered a second one to take home to bed.
There were some sort of fried potatoes and the person who ordered them, liked them. Crispy and salty. The ranch was a bit watery though.
Overall, slow service, beer too high priced and food good. I tasted no food myself so I’m taking other’s words for this. Unless a friend wanted to come here, the rumors of good food would not be enough for me to return on my own.

Great food, drink and atmosphere with a very friendly and helpful staff (shout out to Matthew) and a solid happy hour menu (4 to 6pm). Great quality food and delicious menu items prepared well. Locally sourced meats (Hi Colin the chicken!) and wonderful Latin flavored menu with great burgers, salads and starters. Full bar with great beer, upper shelf well, decent wines and fun desserts. Bring your people here.

AMAZING! Many delicious Gluten Free & Vegan options!
GF husband (legit Celiac) devoured a phenomenal chicken enchilada. Fried, crispy corn tortillas instead of standard rolled enchiladas. NOTE: Luckily my husband is not super sensitive to cross contamination, especially with fried foods.
He enjoyed an edited (as a cocktail instead of shots) Bandera drink.
I cheated & ate (flour tortilla) 1 of the BEST quesadillas (carnitas) I’ve ever had… and I’ve had many!
Vegan friends shared some of their breakfast/​home fries were UNREAL! I dreamt of those fries all night!
Our server/​bartender was very friendly & chill.
Atmosphere was cool PDX, although they could use some updates: tattered & bruised booth seats, carpet, & some fresh paint would help. But we came to try the food & that definitely won us over the mega-​taped up booth we sat on!
We shall return! Heard breakfast & brunch are divine.

VERY VEGAN FRIENDLY… Upon arriving at Bar Carlo, I was surprised to see all the kids… Everywhere. The host was very friendly and seated us in their most child free area per our request. The dining area was clean and comfortable.
We ordered the breakfast special… a vegan burrito. We asked that they substitute their veggie sausage for the soy and they did so happily.
The staff then proceeded to seat a group of eight right next to us… four of which were children. These weren’t the quiet, color at the table and behave kind of kids. These kids were up all over the place, bumping tables, spilling water and raising havoc kind of kids. The parents were oblivious.
Maybe it’s just me but when I go to a bar, I don’t expect to find kids EVERYWHERE. That’s why I go to bars for breakfast.
I was quite surprised when the bill came. I thought $ 32 was a little steep for 2 breakfast burritos and 2 cups of coffee.
The bottom line here is that the staff was friendly and the food was excellent but… There were misbehaving kids everywhere, you have to get up and go get each and every cup of coffee you want, and the food is overpriced.

Decent food, weird atmosphere. Went for lunch and got a Plato Mexicano Ranchero. I like the over medium egg and the Spanish rice. The beans not my favorite. I would definitely go again to Bar Carlo. Kind of a limited menu though.

This is my favorite brunch spot! Honestly, it’s delicious, cheap and there is never a wait :)

Great brunch and good drinks. If you’re looking for a some good food after sleeping in on the weekend, this is your spot.

If Bar Carlo were located just a little bit closer to the center of the city, all we would hear about this place is how miserable it is to have to wait outside for an hour to get a table. Thankfully, they’re a bit further out (and thus a bit under the radar), which means instead people can focus just how damn delicious everything is that comes out of their kitchen. This, gentle readers, is some top-​notch brunching!
I’ve been here twice now. On my first visit I got down on a salmon scramble. The sockeye salmon is brown-​sugar cured, and thrown into the mix is both chevre and spinach. For my side I opted for their fantastic kale hash, and my plate of food was not only delicious but gorgeous. I’m sure the butter and cheese didn’t exactly make it health food, but it still felt relatively healthy compared to some of the other things I’ll eat.
On my second trip I didn’t stray too far and ordered the smoked salmon eggs benedict. Served with red onion, arugula and a heavy hand of garlic, it’s a hearty and rich meal. Again, I did a side of the kale hash, which at this point I’ve decided is one of my favorite sides in town. Good stuff. Unfortunately, my eggs were ridiculously overdone and I had to send back my plate, but they fixed the problem quickly and were super cool about it.
Only one thing has bugged me about Bar Carlo, and that’s their coffee program. This is one of those places where you can self-​serve coffee while you wait for a table, which is great. I love this. But my love turns to hate once I’ve sat and I learn that any time I want a refill, I have to get up and do it myself. It’s no secret that from ordering to bussing and many things in between, Portland restaurants love to pawn off a servers’ job onto the customers, while still expecting a tip. It just baffles me that what is in all other regards a full service restaurant won’t have their servers bring around a pot of coffee!
So I may have to get my own coffee (RIDICULOUS!), but beyond that I have nothing but good words for Bar Carlo. They’ll be seeing me plenty.

Wanted to go to screen door but the line was around the block so someone in our party suggested bar carlo.
We arrived and there was a short wait but they had coffee at the ready and a full bar at which I ordered a double screwdriver at a cheap price. Ended up getting a second one later :)
I ordered the monte cristo and it was well executed. I had some bites from other plates and everything seemed like it was done properly. Nothing AMAZING about the place but seems like a good consistent place to get brunch.
Only complaint was that it took a little longer than expected between ordering and getting our food, about 45 minutes.

Omg! First things first. I love the staff here. Everyone was so friendly and welcoming. The host dude. So awesome! Our adorable lady waitress. Such a sweetie pie!
Underground hip hop for brunch?! (Listening to Gangstarr as I type this)
Bomb ass food! I got the pesto scramble added smoked salmon w/​fruit on the side.
(No melons) All and all, I will be back!

Absolutely horrible. My husband and I stopped for breakfast. We are simple eaters. My husband ordered oatmeal and a bagel I got a bagel and peanut butter. 45 minutes later our food arrives. They obviously forgot about us. Something as simple as two bagels and a oatmeal and even that was thrown together. The bagels were tiny, barely toasted and the oatmeal looked like a train wreck. Watching everyone around us get thier plates filled with all sorts of things before us when they arrived well after U.S. Was frustrating. The worst part is the waitress caylee didn’t apologize or anything of the sorts. She’s said I know it’s been 40 minutes but they are almost done. Which now we know meant we forgot and are throwing your plates together now. Awful food, awful service. Thumbs down.

Hey there, Bar Carlo! How you doin’? Nice to finally get acquainted after all these years of online flirtation. See, I’ve been stalking you on Unilocal for quite some time. I can get past the fact that you live in Felony Flats (well, at least at one time it was a rough hood), but the legend of you making people wait for your affections had me on pause. That, and, well, I have been caught up in a few fairly-​serious, semi-​monogamous brunch relationships. I just wasn’t feeling free to eat around on my stable of honey muffins.
You know a lot of people say that looks are never as good in person as they are online, but I don’t think you were frontin’ at all. Your shabby-​chic get-​up is pretty much on par with what I came in expecting. Your service interactions? Friendly. But what really matters is the proverbial meat, and after one taste I can say I’m pretty smitten. One glance under the covers, at your menu, has me at a gustatory half-​staff, and your carnitas omelet with hash greens went down so well… let’s just say I finished strong.
I don’t know if I should admit to my other breakfast lovers that I had a quick fling with you, but I don’t honestly think it’s going to be a one-​morning stand. We’re not quite to bae-​level yet, but I could see myself sliding back in for more and more, especially on weekdays, when your schedule seems wide open.

It’s like being on a horrible portlandia skit with privileged, attitude driven staff. If you feel like waiting 45 minutes for bar food, being avoided, and talked down to, this is the place to go. You almost feel like it’s a joke it’s so bad. Don’t spend a dime here. You will be frustrated guaranteed.

We stopped in for hh to check out the restaurant. Half of the restaurant was closed so we sat at the bar. I ordered a margarita and was not very impressed. It tasted pretty watered down and I think they may have used one of the premade margarita mix. My sister had a sangria which was pretty good. We ordered tacos and they were okay, nothing I would order again. The bartender was nice but my first impression of this place was not that great.

I saw this place on Unilocal.The pictures of the food look great so I thought I would try it out. Order a few burgers and drinks for their Sunday brunch happy hour. I wasn’t impress, the burgers had no sauce didn’t taste very good. waste of money.

Mathew was the bartender and made me a super yummy Bloody Mary, even asked what extra fixings I like! I ate the portobello burger special and my silly ads didn’t even realize that means no meat… Guess what– it was still awesome. I was so full from the drink And food I felt bad I couldn’t finish it.
Very nice, well groomed, and friendly.
Coming back again!

The Ab Roller Breakfast Burrito (scrambled egg, bean, cheddar & potato burrito w/​salsa verde, sour cream, guacamole & queso fresco) makes life worth living on an otherwise ho-​hum Sunday when you’re stuck dreading Monday and the three-​ring shit show of your life. Bury all your problems in this burrito on the just-​enough-​shade patio.

I really want to like this place — it’s close, it’s a great space, and the food is good. But the service… f’ing ridiculous!
2 of us went for dinner at about 6pm. The place was empty except for a 2 top that was seated and a guy at the bar. The 2 top got their food shortly after we sat down, the guy at the bar seemed to just be having drinks.
I ordered pancakes with ham and over-​easy eggs, she ordered a quesadilla. The server, who was pretty friendly, came back with our drinks… and a family size bottle of french’s yellow mustard? Still haven’t figured that one out. While we were waiting for our food, another person came in, who was waiting for someone, so hadn’t ordered food yet. Our pancakes and quesadilla should have been the only food order, yet it took over 30 minutes! Pancakes and a quesadilla! We were just about to walk out when she came out with our food. Offered no apology or reason that it took so long. My iced tea and water were both practically empty when she dropped off our food. Another 2 top walked in at this point.
One of my eggs was completely overcooked, the other 2 were way under. I would’ve requested to have them re-​cooked, but we didn’t see our server again until after our meal. Like, no sign of her at all. We ate our food (the rest of which was good) and were twiddling our thumbs for a bit before I finally waved her down to ask for the check and a refill on my beverage (which was empty my entire meal). She instead stopped at the other 2 tables to take their food orders. After another 5 – 7 minutes of waiting we finally got up and paid at the counter. For the first time ever, I left NO TIP… and I’ve worked in the service industry for over 20 years, so I don’t take that lightly.
This was my 4^th or 5^th time here. My other experiences weren’t that bad, but there is definitely a sense of entitlement amongst the wait staff.

Decent food. Burritos good. Bacon good. It is clear that the ingredients are high-​quality, and someone put heart and thought into the food. Service has become a lot slower over the years; special requests are no longer joyfully accommodated.
I regret not providing a positive review when BC was in better swing. They used to be great.

My husband and I live in the neighborhood and have brunch at Bar Carlo every few months… Once the memories of oddly slow service escapes our minds. The food is great, which is why we keep coming back, but there is something off with the management/​execution.
We waited for about an hour for a table when there were only two names ahead of us, and plenty of empty tables in the joint… Which made it seem that we could have been sat promptly, and yet???
Once sat, ordering and food arrival takes a bit longer than what you might usually expect. Not enough servers? Kitchen can’t keep up? What gives? The four of us were finally sat at a small round table between two booth seats that saw better days decades ago. There was literally a hole in the seat that no amount of ducktape could solve (believe me, they tried.)
4-​star food with 1-​star service/​ambiance. You do the math.