Cabezon

This is my second time here, the first time my fish was raw in the middle. The manager sent me a gift certificate to return and I must say I will not ever go back. My fish was raw again and when I informed the waiter he said «that is how we cook our fish and if you want it cooked more you have to ask» ~ I never thought I would have to go to a restaurant and ask for my food to be cooked, if that were the case I would have sushi. Word to the wise, if you go here make sure your ESP is on point or you will be disappointed. I so want to like this place, however both visits I encountered were not great.
So disappointed …

This place is yet another Portland restaurant that has forgotten how to serve the customer. The food is good, not out of the park, but decent, well prepared and fresh. Prices are on the high end and the overall experience of this restaurant does not support the pricing level. Our party of four basically enjoyed the meal. The real issue is the arrogant and frankly rude service received. Our total bill exceeded 200.00. When we asked for a moment to decide on dessert, we were told we would have to move to bar seating. This is unacceptable and symptomatic of a restaurant that is not about the customer but rather about the concession made to allow us to be served. Three stars for the food. No stars for the service and no second chance for this restaurant.

Food and service still good. Came back for the Cioppino but was disappointed with both the distribution of seafood and the diminished quantity of it in our bowls. Where’s the seafood gone? Still tasty and not disappointed with the salads and desserts. Excellent Pot du Crème! Prices were actually higher than advertised online. Not sure of the value anymore.

Thanks Cabezon for providing a fantastic experience for my sister’s birthday … we tried many things on the menu and all were delightful and the service absolutely spot on (thanks to Jill and her coworkers!) … we had a later reservation and may have lingered a tiny bit too long after close without realizing since we were having such an outstanding time & no one ushered us out …
I have worked in the restaurant industry for many years and have a pretty high standard for what «service» means. Sadly in Portland, OR with all of the amazing culinary delights, all too often you find that service is redefined as «Let me decide how hip I think you are and then maybe I might serve you!» … It is always a pleasant surprise to receive unpretentious, stellar service and with a smile no less!
Again, thank you Cabezon for keeping it classy, casual, and real!

I expected to be wowed by Cabezon, and it was very good. In fact, it was excellent, but I think I was expecting a different experience. The décor is just so generically bland in a way that you’ve seen a million times in Portland and that wouldn’t survive in a lot of other places, and I was expecting something sleeker, I guess, for reasons I don’t understand.
But I won’t complain about the food. The trout caviar blini were excellent and we wish there had been more – our table of four had to share a single order of two blinis, and we would have ordered more if we had known. The olives were in a tasty marinade (and included Castelveltranos!) though the cheese plate was just ok – the Humboldt Fog seemed drier than it should have been. I enjoyed my cioppino very much (our server warned it would be a lot of food, but I wouldn’t say it was), and everyone at our table ordered and liked their dessert (lots of choices for different tastes). We were also very pleased with the variety of their cocktail offerings and wine list (both west coast and European selections).
Overall, excellent food with great variety (though not a lot of entrée choices) and just ok décor. I’d go back, but not before I try a few more new spots first.

We had a group of 5 eat family style. This is among the best meals I have ever eaten in my life. And i have eaten a lot.

I was actually kind of bummed this wasn’t as good as I thought it was going to be. From what I had heard it was a great seafood restaurant. Given that recommendation I had to get the seafood stew dish. I also ordered the Ahi special. Ironically my gma ordered the pork chop and it was unbelievably amazing.
The ahi special appetizer lacked flavor. The fish was good quality but the flavor was very bland for what I was expecting. The seafood stew tasted like pizza sauce broth. Not even worth keeping to dip my bread in… And I love dipping bread in sauce. The seafood was fresh but again there was something lacking with the flavor profile.
Our service was average. The restaurant décor and vibe is on point. Over all it wasn’t worth the hype and I probably wouldn’t go back. If I had to go back I would 100% order the pork chop! The in itself so deserves 5 stars. The cornbread that accompanies it is so yummy to dip in the left over sauce. So much flavor and so tender.

We really liked this place. My wife had the Sea Bass and I had the Cioppino.
The Sea Bass was very good and the Cioppino was even better! It was fragrant from a touch of saffron and the broth was flavorful, accented by a dollop of garlic aioli.

I love coming here for an early dinner and sitting at the bar. Friendly bartenders and chefs… you can see all the action and what dishes look like before ordering. Always a fresh and interesting menu.
Tonight I started off with a dirty martini on the rocks — yeah Friday! And bartender asked me if I wanted bleu cheese stuffed olives… whoa lady I think I love you!
The pâté reminded me of the liverwurst I used to hold dear as a delicacy as a kid. Yes my palate developed early :)
I ordered the lamb over polenta with fried cauliflower and charred radicchio — yum! Smokey and sweet saucy au jus. Medium rare meat. Yes they are known for their outstanding fresh fish but also usually have a couple locally sourced land animals on menu.
Husband had the Sea bass which was cooked perfectly. Side of dill potatoes and what’s not to like.
We ended it with a shot of spot on espresso and left with happy bellies and souls. Dessert menu looked amazing but we were too full.
They take reservations and walk ins. The bar is more interesting in my opinion… I love the stained glass lighting it is just a very pleasant place to go to for a casual meal or for something special.

The server successfully made this a bad experience for me and my friend tonight.
I was greeted by unfriendly gal to get our seat. Proceeded by slow service all the way throughout our time there.
We ordered two different fresh oysters but were brought all of the same kind of oysters. The server said they ran out of one of them. Now that would’ve been okay if she had let us know before going ahead with the decision and then just bring them to our table. She didn’t even feel the need to let us know of that if we didn’t ask. So we would’ve just ate those oysters assuming they are what we ordered.
Clearly lacking some manners and customer service there.
On top of that, she clearly paid us the Minimalist attention as possible.
I definitely felt that she thought we didn’t deserve good service because we looked like we’re not going to tip her well.
Jokes on her, I’m usually very generous. But absolutely not for servers who give me condescending attitudes.

I stopped by here last night with my wife for dinner. We were looking for a good seafood restaurant near where we were staying and this popped up. Whenever I saw that they were on opentable I immediately tried to get us reservations. However, since it was after 6 pm on the day I was looking for reservations I couldn’t use opentable. So I did it the old fashioned way and gave them a call. They were able to squeeze us in immediately and we quickly headed over. The inside of this restaurant was divided up into three separate spaces. Whenever you walk in there is a bar, off to the right is their main dining area and then off to left, where we were seated, was a giant dining room like table (for 8 or so) and a bunch of smaller ones. Our area also seemed to be where they stored the wine and they had some pretty cool lights that looked like jellyfish and rays.
For dinner my wife and I decided to order the truffle fries with aoili for our appetizer and then we each decided on the cioppino for our entrees. After less than a 10 minute wait all of food was on the table. Our cioppino consisted or clams, mussels, calamari, shrimp, dungeoness crab, crème fraîche and some toasted points all in a spicy broth. It was amazing! All of the seafood was really good but what really set this apart from other cioppino’s I have had was the spicy broth and flavored crème fraîche. Both were excellent on their own and combined with everything else. Our fries were also good but were made much better with the aoili. Last but not least we ordered the honey lavender crème brûlée to split for dessert. The flavor of it was great and you could really get the essence of lavender from it. What wasn’t so great was the actual brûlée on it. It seemed to be all one piece and would not crack when hit with a spoon or even when pressed against the bottom of the dish. With all of the rush in getting us our food in the beginning I was surprised that after our dessert was finished that we sat for a long time waiting for our check.
The bottom line for me is that I would head back here again in the future. This very well may have been the best cioppino I have ever had and I loved the flavors the chef got into both his crème fraîche and aioli.

BEST CIOPINNO EVER… SERIOULSY
Cioppino ($ 26.50)
Okay, where do I begin? If you get anything else, the Boogeyman will come get you tonight. This Cioppino has an awesome spiciness and TONS (and when I say tons, I really mean a lot) of seafood! Let’s just say that the Cioppino was SO good that one of my friends (who didn’t get the Cioppino) loved it so much, that she just drank my broth/​soup after I was done! Haha! Gross, but so good!!!
Fries with Aioli ($ 5)
You wouldn’t think they’d have good french fries, but OH BABY! The fries alone would’ve been rave-​worthy, but that aioli sauce is ON POINT. My goodness. And only $ 5?!
I’m from LA, so this is a plea to the owner (s) — BRING THIS TO LA. WE WILL MAKE YOU RICH!

We went here for dinner on a Sunday night and was pretty quiet. The place was dimly lit (and so was the bathroom) and had nice décor.
Food:
The menu was dated, which in turn I assume the menu changes with availability and season. The food here was decent — we ordered the two oysters they offered for the day, cioppino, and the lamb sirloin.
We only enjoyed one of the oysters (sea cow), however the other had an off taste to it. The cioppino had a pretty good tomato broth with a decent kick. It had mussels, clams, one crab claw, fish, and calamari. The downside to this dish was that there was not enough shellfish/​fish to make up for the price. As for the lamb sirloin, the cut of meat could have been better since there were tough areas. We also got very large chunks of cauliflower that seemed to overpower how much meat there is. The sauce, however, helped tie-​in the dish.
As for dessert, we ordered the honey lavender crème brûlée. The lavender subtly comes through the custard. Now if only they have served the crème brûlée warm, it would have been perfect.
Service:
It could have been better. Our waitress seemed she continuously forced a smile. But she did check in on us at the right moments during our dinner.
This place is okay — prices are a little too steep for what I got and other places I’m comparing to.

Always a favorite of mine and my husband. The Cioppino is by far the best I have ever had anywhere and will always be my go to.
We have also had their rib eye and the lamb and both are excellent! We have a 2 ½ month old baby and they were very accommodating this last visit and even complimented us on how well behaved he is and welcome back any time. :)
We will definitely continue to come here and bring new visitors along with us!

Wouldn’t you love to be a server in an eating establishment knowing that when you walk up to a table that every single thing on the menu is outstanding?
Our server, Jenner at Cabezon could confidently recommend any menu item an it would have been a winner. My wife and I opted for the Cioppino and the Basil wrapped jumbo white Gulf shrimp with glass noodles, red cabbage, carrots and spicy cashew sauce.
Jennifer doubled as our bartender and served me the perfect «Old Fashioned».
Please, please, please save room for the Callebaut Belgian chocolate pot de crème! It is chocolate heaven in your mouth.
This was my birthday dinner and our first dining experience at Cabezon. Here is the cool thing, Cabezon is only a few blocks from our house!
Cabezon kicks ass and balls!
1÷25÷2015 Review number 2.
If you are looking for mussels, look no further! The best mussels in the city. Sorry Bridgeport.
Yes, we were at Cabezon last week celebrating my birthday. This evening we were celebrating our 19^th anniversary. Cabezon has become our go to place.

You’re not going to find this place just driving by, unless you happen to take one of those streets off of NE Sandy and 52^nd, that kind of veer off diagonally because you missed your turn and are trying to double-​back. This in itself is a surprise to me, because to come here you have to know where you’re going — and many MANY people obviously know.
This place came recommended to us by the owners at Hogan’s Goat Pizza (another one of my favorites now in NE Portland), and then from other Unilocal reviews as well.
Cocktails were nicely done, decent wine-​by-​the-​glass selection, great food, great fish options, great ambiance. All good. For a place that was pretty darn packed, we did get right in (reservations recommended!) Service was great, prompt — and here’s the kicker, we were clearly there after closing — and they didn’t try to push us out. Yes it was obvious they were ready for us to leave, but they still hung back and did their thing while we finished up. Class act.

You know how they say location is everything? Location, location, location. Well, there’s a lot of truth in that but this one feels like the exception to the rule. Located in the East end of the Hollywood district and off on an obscure street that most probably miss when passing by. You have to know where it’s located because it’s rare that someone is ever going to just stumble onto it.
The atmosphere is fine but there are a couple things that stand out for me as not particularly appealing. So, let’s start with some of the positives. The lighting was all but perfect. Not too dark but just enough to set the tone. Overall the place is quiet so there is no need to yell at your table mates. The bench side of the booths was hard wood, no cushion and 2 of the guest are expected to look at the wall. Personally, I like to be able to see what’s going on around me and that one will drive me crazy.
Nice wine list. A little pricey but good. I had a Garnacha and I love Spanish wines. It paired well with my meal which was very complex with lots of flavors.
Service is good and we never left wanting for anything.
The online menu was a little out of date at the time of this review. The cod was prepared nicely, cooked well, and served atop a simple but flavorful mashed potatoes dish. Hold the pancetta please.
Cabezon is the kind of place you would take your out of town company and end up going back over and over again.

During our trip to the Pacific Northwest, I did a lot of research to figure out which restaurants we were going to try on our limited time in each city. Man, I’m glad we found Cabezon! The service was fantastic and the food was fabulous. I don’t think you can go wrong with fish, as it’s all super fresh, based on what they catch that day. Love that! I had the cioppino and it was divine. Super flavorful and hot, which is just how I like it. A crazy guy had a breakdown at a table nearby, and the staff handled it with grace and ease. We will definitely go back if we have the chance. Loved it.

Meh.
At those prices, it was okay (dinners were $ 25+).
For a limited menu, there were like 6 dinners, half of which were fish. Rest were meats and dishes with meat.
Kitchen was visable. You can smell the cleaners and fish they were preparing. I’m not mentioning it in the review because it was a good thing.
Martinis were good. Desert looked good… but since the apps and dinner was so disappointing, decided to skip it.

We tried two dishes.
The halibut was fresh and had lots of flavor
The Pork Chops had a nice smoky taste and the corn cake that it comes with is the bomb.
Service was attentive and did not rush you out.
All and all it was good and deserves a return visit.
Quality over quantity.