Metrovino

Don’t use Apple Maps to find this place– It will send you to SW 11^th! Use Google instead to find this spot in the Pearl.
Never a bad meal or a bad time!

The ambiance was nice for a girls night out, but the food was so-​so. Apparently the Happy Hour Chacuterie Plate is different than the one that they give you for dinner service.
That would have been nice to know before I ordered it. I thought I was getting the standard meat plate, but instead was surprised with a salmon mousse that was okay, but not what I was expecting.
I would come back here for the drinks, but not the food.

Rumor has it that this place started the bone luge craze lol. My friend saw on youtube that people all over the world is doing this, but this all started in Portland and she lives in Portland! So we had to go to the place that started it all. We did feel left out when we found out people in Russia doing this and we had the ability to do it all this time right next door to the trend center.
Anyway we went in and hardly even looked at the menu. The waiter came over and we just said we are here to do the bone luge. He totally understood us and was informative about how to go about this and even told us what shot would go well with the bone marrow flavor. He recommended the sherry as the first choice and since this is our first time we did and it was great!
I know this post is a little too late, I went there about a year ago, but I won’t ever forget what it was like to go there. It was fun and very classy. As far as the prices went, since it’s been awhile, I want to say that the bone marrow and sherry shot came out to be $ 17 and then we spent more for some wings. Honestly we were not full, but it was a good idea we did the wings.
I’d definitely go back to share the bone luge experience with friends who have never done it, but it is on the pricier side and lots of my friends don’t have a diverse pallet for bone marrow anyway.
It’s worth the experience. It was my first time having bone marrow and it was actually much better than I expected, but they did a very good job at preparing it with the flavors they added.

I was excited to try this restaurant after reading about it in the Oregonian, but my experience wasn’t all that great. First of all, my husband always previews the wine menu of a restaurant before we arrive to see what’s available. He was quite disappointed to find that a restaurant named something VINO had a mediocre selection. «Mediocre», meaning that most of the wines were available at grocery stores, but with a pretty hefty mark up. We considered bringing our own wine, but resisted since the restaurant is called Metrovino.
The three of us had ordered the foie torchon and pork belly to share (appetizers). My husband and I also each ordered a salad to precede our entrée’s, however, the apps and the salads were brought out all at once. Strange. Then we waited more than 45 minutes later for the entrees to come. We sat for a while with empty appetizer plates in front of us before it was cleared. The waiter did apologize for the delay while he cleared our appetizer plates, but he also took our bread away without asking.
My daughter ordered the fresh fettuccine with poached egg and «truffle». Well, it was on the «entrees» section, but the serving was the size of her 11 year-​old fist. Now, I’m not into quantity over quality, but I thought perhaps they took the liberty of serving her a half portion since she was a child. We were charged $ 22, the full entrée price. Not only that, when a menu states «truffle» without the word «oil», you’d expect real shaved truffles (especially at $ 22). I ordered the grilled hanger steak (cooked to medium) and the first end piece and the accompaniments were all really tasty, but the middle slices were pretty much raw with a slight sear around the sides. If it were a filet, I probably would have finished it, because the rest of the plate was really good (and I had waited so long)! However, hanger steak, you can only chew so many times before you get tired.
I think I’ll wait to hear from more people with my taste in food and service before I try it again, if ever.

I almost feel bad giving them two stars, given it seems that they were having an off-​night. But how can you be so off your game on New Years Eve? I was so excited for this place too, being a wine lover.
Over 20 minutes in between courses. Seated 45 mintues after our reservation time. So much more that it’s not even worth listing because I don’t want to be an ass. The maitre’d was apologetic, comped us wine, and I’ll probably be back to give their happy hour a shot. That particular menu looks great, and I don’t want to judge the restaurant on one night of crap with a pre fixe menu.
What I was curious about, is that why you would be understaffed and having issues with the kitchen on one of the most important nights of the year? Someone call in sick? Call another employee. Testing out a new sous chef? Maybe on some other night, where people’s chief celebration plans rely on a nice dinner/​night out.
Oh, and I was aboslutey starved when we left, after our 2.5 hour ordeal. Like, «I need to stop at Taco Bell and I don’t even eat fast food» starved. $ 71, and still starving.
= — -Even for this girl, all the champagne in the world doesn’t equal a meal.

Never again. Over $ 850 for a table of seven when only four people were drinking wine (and not a single bottle was ordered) — never again.
I have had favorably meals at Metrovino. I like the burger. The wide variety of wine pours (where else can you get a great «taste» of top flight wine?) and the off-​the-​beaten track location in the Pearl have always appealed to me. That is until we went for New Years eve.
The evening started off bad when the table we reserved was a booth. I asked the server if we could have another table and he looked at me with a puzzled look, walked away and then came back to tell me that we could indeed «use» a table off the main dining room — but would «need to be done by 8 p.m.»
We decided to take the booth. Never a good idea with a party of seven. Basically, you spend the evening playing pass the plate.
I must admit I was a bit «off» when I noted we had a booth — but I wanted to really enjoy the evening with a great group of friends — so I decided to enjoy the intimacy of the booth and dig into a great meal. Well, it only went down hill from there. The service was inattentive, the food portions (fixed menu for NYE) were small (although very flavorful) and the general tone of the evening was not one of a high-​end restaurant. It felt more like we were eating in the «bar» section of the restaurant.
Look — I don’t mind spending top dollar on a top meal; but paying $ 850+ (with a 20% gratuity added for a party of 7) for the service and overall meal we received was just not worth it at all. We will not go back to Metrovino — there are far too many great places in Portland where $ 850+ gets you wonderful service and fantastic food.
With all of that said — why did I give the restaurant 2-​out-​of-​5 stars — well, on our way out I spoke to the manager. I expressed my displeasure. He indicated that the service staff was shorthanded and the restaurant had made some concessions for the busy evening. He said that they were not on their «top game.» He gave me his business card and requested I contact him. I think this is great management and I will connect with him — but that still does not negate the evening we had. .. unfortunately.

Uhm… YUM! The food and drinks here are totally top notch. I was super impressed with the charcuterie plate and various other dishes here. It’s also a really large space so it’s perfect for large groups or event quiet dates because you have so many different seating options.
The bar comes equipped with big cozy stools, a lovely wine and cocktail list and some of the most dashing bartenders in Portland.
Definitely a spot worth checking out! I came for a special event and it was so easy for the staff to manage our group of 15 or so.

What a pleasant meal! I tried the 3 course tasting meal. I started with a spicy good Bloody Mary and the waiter surprised me with a smooth amuse– bouche taste of creamy soup. The beet salad was nice, not the best I’ve ever eaten, but pleasant enough, with a slightly odd dressing my spouse liked a bit more than I did (was that peanuts in the dressing I tasted?). I loved the salmon in Miso, a bit more than did my spouse. For me the nice balance of salt and onion and sweetness in the plum sauce (?) and the textures of the soba noodles and Chinook salmon all came together perfectly. The bread pudding was fantastic, a lovely mix of textures – crunchy sugar, almonds, pudding, and a crème anglaise with enough vanilla to make me happy. Service was excellent and the linens and dishes very nice. My only regret was ordering a side of bread, which was delicious, but too much food with the other courses!
Metrovino is a bit on the expensive side but we enjoyed a lovely, relaxed meal and I’ll have to get over here more often.

Yesssss. Metrovino is definitely a must-​stop for wine lovers. Their wine selection is phenomenal. They will likely tell you about their fancy schmancy machine that keeps the wine fresh so they can open bottles of the good stuff and serve it by the glass. I wouldn’t be surprised if that machine could clean your house as well.
Thanks to Unilocal’s 30 day review challenge I am finally getting caught up on some reviews, such as this one when I was actually here in June for Portland Dining Month. At least we are still closer to the 2012 dining month than the 2013 edition so I figure it’s still relevant.
I started with their Clear for Departure drink containing gin, maraschino liqueur and crème de violette. It had many layers. It was sweet. It was tart. It was interesting enough that I wanted to curl up and spend all night talking to it. As for the food, they offered the Walla Walla sweet onion soup which was a great primer to the taste buds for the rest of the meal. The pork entrée was juicy and tender, basically everything I love in a hunk of meat. The dessert was a decadent fennel and rhubarb panna cotta.
I had a fantastic meal here that was really only enhanced by the classy, romantic vibe and superb service. I can’t wait to come back and really delve into the wine flights and tastes. 4.5 stars.

This place is a little more swank than i normally frequent, but it was definitely a pleaser. A tad bit on the pricy side, but the food was definitely enjoyed.
Servings are small-​ish, but to me this is seen as a good opportunity to try many different things. I’m not sure what items are normal staples on their menu, but as far as the night we visited, we ordered the Triple Crème with fig, the carpaccio, the bone marrow with crustini, the paella, and the salmon, and this was split between 2 people. If i remember correctly our bill came out to around ~80.
Everything we ordered was delicious, although the salmon was just good bordering on OK. It wasn’t my favorite. We didn’t try any cocktails or anything, but it looks like the type of place to have good ones (shrugs)
The restaurant itself is nice. We ended up in a humongous booth which was a little excessive for 2 people, but it was near the window which was cool as the light in the late afternoon was nice.
Would i go again? Sure. Would it be somewhere that i have to go to again? eh, maybe not.

This was an excellent dining experience! We arrived with a large group for Portland Dining Month and we were seated in a semi-​private room at the back of the restaurant. The décor was elegant and clean. The service was perfect and attentive.
The food was all delicious! I especially enjoyed the creamy sweet onion soup. It was amazing! My boyfriends was jealous that I got a larger piece of pork shoulder! Score! We also did the wine pairing which was very reasonably priced.
This is a great spot for a date night or to grab a relaxed drink at the bar.

From five stars to two. This place has plummeted! Went there with the same group of friends I went with the first time. We had the same table which was tucked off the main dining room.
The evening started great when we arrived as we were brought bread and water. The problems came when we started ordering drinks and our meals. Upon opening the menu I noticed that their food menu was severely limited from the last time we visited and their wine menu had increased two fold. What also increased was their prices for wine! Looking at the prices for the wine made me gasp at the audacity to charge what they were.
As the server took our orders, it only got worse as we were told they were out of many of the things we wanted to order. With limited menu choices we were left to only three choices for our dinners. One of the things that four of our group wanted was their Chef Burger. Which they were out.
Drinks were brought and we enjoyed the company of our friends. After about 40 minutes our meals were brought to the table. The serving staff didn’t remember who ordered what and we were each presented with a plate regardless of our order. We had to play musical dinners at that point.
The actual food was decent, but already I was put off by the experience that I couldn’t enjoy the meal. I asked the server for some iced tea and was told they were out. How can you be out of iced tea? Did they forget the recipe? Do they not have tea, water, and ice? What she should have said was, «we are currently making some more and it will be ready in a few minutes, will that be okay?» not just, «We’re out.»
When dessert was offered we decided to order, and guess what? They had four dessert choices but they were out of two of them.
After registering a complaint with the server we were graced with the presence of the ‘holier than thou’ manager or head waiter or whatever he was. He explained in a condescending tone that they were very busy that evening and that they just hadn’t expected that many people. We stated that four of us wanted the burger and he replied that the ‘Hamburger Policy’ limited them to 10 burgers a night. «Hamburger Policy»?!? Really?! This simply oozes of poor management more than anything else. He left us with a simple statement that they were just too busy to accommodate everyone. After he left I thought I will NEVER come here again.
Our bills arrived and I expected there to be some discount for our experience, but there was not. As we settled our bills the manager/​head guy brought us a tray of champagne as an ‘apology’ for the evening.
Metrovino has progressed to a Snooty Wine Bar. They have to serve some food to retain their OLCC license, so the limited menu is what you get. If you are looking for a good meal, look elsewhere. If you are looking for a place to have an astronomically overpriced glass or bottle of wine, this is the place for you.
I will not be going back by my own choice, but if I find myself having to go there due to group choice, I will eat before I go and have a glass of water when I get there. Unless, of course, they are out of that too.

I came here for dinner last Friday night, hoping to get a taste of Portland’s food scene. I left a bit disappointed.
Metrovino is more wine bar first, and restaurant second. The wine menu was three times larger than the food menu. I can understand small menus when you meticulously locally source, but the menu was very small.
Several in my party ordered the three course sampler, which allowed me to sample a taste of a creamy onion soup (delicious), some main course that wasn’t memorable, and a fennel panna cotta which was a bit overpowering.
My starter was the marrow bone. It wasn’t seasoned well, and there wasn’t a lot of marrow on the bone. It left me unsatisfied.
I myself ordered the fresh pasta, accompanied with a poached egg, caviar, and truffle oil. The dish had a lot of textures, but a touch salty from the caviar. It was a perfect dish… until I got to the bottom and there was a unedible clump of pasta that fused into a mound.
This was a decent start to my Portland vacation and culinary trip, but not the best place I went to by any means.

Metrovino is an upscale resto located in the Pearl District that can be quite hidden!
Noted for their «METROVINO BURGER» — I just had to try the double patty collosal burger (FYI: you can only order this at the bar, it’s not available in the fine-​dining area). Their burger was noted for being one of the best burgers from a Yahoo article I read up on! So I had to find out myself and see what the commotion is all what it lives up to be!
Metrovino’s burger impresses with bold flavors and massive size. I had to split the thing in two because I was only able to eat half. It’s good enough to share, but if you’re a hungry guy, then you’d probably scarf the thing down in one sitting. So yes it comes with a double patty, melted Fontina cheese, onion, iceberg lettuce, with their «fancy sauce» and a side of pickle. This is served with a side of fresh salad greens, which pretty much balances the meal since the burger is already heavy as a meal itself. I must warn you due to the size of the burger, there is a slight chance it can get quite messy, especially with the «fancy sauce» dripping down the palm of your hand. (FYI: the burger was still delicious the next day I left my left overs).
I wanna thank the chef for that night for giving my group of buddies and I an amuse bouche of MUSHROOM SOUP. It was served in a cute little cup and spoon. The soup was quite delicious and rich. It did do its purpose because it made me want to have more!!!
My group of foodies ordered the SMOKED CHARCUTERIE PLATE which comes with a couple different types of meats such as the maple beef chorizo, cold smoked salmon, bacon and smoked sablefish, toasted crostini, mustard, pickled red onions and cucumbers, I think you get the point of the charcuterie, but the meats were quite delightful. It also came with some goat cheese on one of the smoked fishes, which all paired well in the end. This charcuterie plate was not disappointing at all!
We also ordered an appetizer: ROASTED BONE MARROW ($ 12 for two long pieces of bone marrow) which was quite a MOUTHGASM by itself. You can totally see the glistening pieces of bone marrow fat just oozing out of the bone. When you spread it over your toasted bread and eat it, I must warn you that there is a spill factor since the juices will be running down your chin. So grab a napkin, savor the flavors, you won’t be disappointed with this appetizer at all!
Service was phenomenal. They were able to accommodate my group of buddies. We were spoiled throughout the night. Our water glasses were frequently filled. We were checked to see if we were doing okay at appropriate eating times (meaning they didn’t interrupt me while I was eating). Parking wasn’t that bad either! There was a bunch of ample parking along the streets. If you don’t have a car, the MAX line runs through this area as well.
Would I come back for the burger? I probably would for burger lovers out there. I would also come back for a find dining experience as well. They also have that bone marrow at the bar if you don’t plan on dining there as well. My table of grubbers were so delightfully FULL from their meal. Hands down one a great place if you wanna spend $$$ on good food and good wine. Highly recommended!

Felt off.
Although all the pieces of the puzzle were in place for a nice experience, something felt forced. Whether it was the Portlandia-​esque explanation of how all the items on the charcuterie plate came from ultra-​local providers, whether it was the overly attentive service. or whether it was the eerie sense of vampire-​like calm as we ate… I can’t put my finger on it.
Felt like we were the subject of a documentary.
Nothing was wrong per se, but definitely left feeling underwhelmed.

Based on Unilocal reviews, I decided to take my wife here for her birthday, with our two adult kids. What an outstanding find!
The place is comfortable and casual; lovely for a special evening out. The host, busboy, waiter and sommelier were all friendly, attentive and very knowledgeable about the food and wine.
We started with various wine flights; three glasses of different wines across a single variety — the Biodyanamic Smackdown and the Pinot Noir Smackdown were our favorites. Once we got to the entrees, we ordered a bottle of our 2^nd favorite wine (our 1^st favorite actually just sold out — must have been a favorite of many other patrons as well).
We were surprised with an amuse-​bouche that delighted everyone at the table — a creamy, rich soup with bright flavors to get us going. We shared the Roasted Marrow Bones and Salmon Gravlox Carpaccio to start. WOW… the rich marrow on a crusty, grilled bread was wonderful and the light, freshness of the salmon and orange was a great companion dish.
I like pork, but rarely get it because it’s often cooked well-​done, resulting in a dried out chewy piece of meat. When I read this on their menu: Grilled Maple-​brined Pork Chop with gorgonzola creamed kale, pecans, roasted carrots, apples & mustard seed — I had no choice — I had to try this and was so glad I did. Cooked medium-​well, this meat, with the creamed kale, and roasted carrots and apples was perfect. Seriously the best port chop I have ever had.
My wife and son-​in-​law had the Grilled Carman Ranch Grass-​fed Beef Bavette Steak (which included a crispy poached egg — huh? If you’ve never had a crispy poached egg — surprise!). The steak was tender and flavorful. (My wife had to shoo me away and told me to «keep my fork to myself»). Our daughter’s Sweet Potato and Goat Cheese Ravioli with walnut-​basil pesto broth, kale, beans, garlic confit and roasted cauliflower was almost comfort food, yet brought an exciting twist of all these warm flavors.
We finished with the Coconut Milk Bread Pudding and TO-​DIE-​FOR Chocolate Espresso Cake (with rum mascarpone mouse and warm ganache); I was already so full, but could not stop eating that cake — rich and chocolaty but NOT thick and heavy. It was topped with these little round crunchy chocolate cookie pieces that reminded me of a more delicate Cocoa Puff.
I booked through Open Table, and made a request online, asking if they’d be able to surprise my wife with a small cupcake or something topped with a birthday candle. They did it, and brought out a small coffee sorbet with a lit candle, and wrote Happy Birthday on the white plate with piped chocolate. My wife was delighted at the surprise.
Metrovino was the TOTAL AMAZING experience for us, from the greeting at the door, all the way to the chocolaty end.

Ving! Ving! Gas up the chainsaw of FAIL! This place could be on fire with 1000 naked ladies inside who are all begging to sleep with me and I’d still hide every fire extinguisher I could see.
Cavalia (Cirque du Soleil), 8pm. Metrovino reservation, 6:15pm. 2 blocks from each other. This is a very, very doable scenario, especially if you tell your waiter beforehand. But… no.
We start with the (duh) charcuterie plate. Decent. To be fair, I am to charcuterie plates as Jughead is to burgers. If you want the real deal, go to Beast. But I digress. After we pound our meat, we nibble on some bread – which we come to find out costs $ 3. Yep, you pay for bread here. This is bad, but not quite as bad as our sneaky-​ass waiter asking us in passing, «would you care for some bread?» Well shit dude, we have to ask? Yes, bring us some damn bread, for the love of God. Wait, you’re charging me for it?! Suddenly I start looking suspiciously at my fork, water, napkin, salt. What the fuck else did he sneak in here that we’re getting charged for?
So we’ve got well over an hour to get served and start walking, so we sip our drinks and lose ourselves in conversation. Then comes the wait. You know that moment when you’ve waited so long that there is absolutely no higher priority than to get your waiters attention and ask him what the fuck is going on? This period lasted 40 minutes. I shit you not. We were flagging down bussers and randoms. Begging. Pleading. If I had a flare gun I’m confident that this guy would’ve missed it. We’d been there over an hour and a half.
At 7:50pm we get our food. In boxes. I start shoveling my shrimp and risotto in my mouth as I walk. Terrible. The shrimp are mealy. The risotto is under cooked and tastes like ammonia. Whatever else was in there blended all together to form a white paste that made me think I’d interrupted some kind of shrimp circle jerk. I pitched it. Wife’s steak was meh. Shared with her to keep from starving.
Sorry Metrovino, but you fail.

Metrovino has almost everything going for it — prime location, comfy upscale bar ambiance, amazing enomatic system (the Italian-​made wine «vending machine» that keeps all the wines perfectly fresh, so they can offer tons of wine by the glass), gourmet food menu ranging from small bites to fancy entrees. BUT… we got stuck with some seriously lame service. I’m sorry, but just because we’re 20-​something girls doesn’t mean we don’t appreciate wine or want to be treated like «big girl» customers.
Each time we ordered new wines, our server would merely slide the glasses in front of us without a word of explanation and move on. When my friend ordered the oysters with 3 different sauces, she gave us the same slide-​and-​go delivery and my friend sat there for 10 minutes trying to get our server’s attention to find out which oysters had which sauce. Eventually, she gave up and dug into her mystery dish. I know not everyone loves their job, but you’ve got to learn to fake it in the restaurant biz. Tips are not automatic.
I would totally go back for the wine selection, which is fantastic and fun to taste through. Great for a girls night, or some weekday post-​work boozing. The food menu is great for any hunger-​level and the happy hour is definitely the time to maxmize your buck. Be sure to try the Parmesan Pound Cake!!! If you aren’t a super-​sweet dessert person, this buttery loaf will hit the spot.

We had a fantastic dinner last night at Metrovino and it really blew me away. I hadn’t had dinner there for about a year and several dishes were over the top wonderful. If you’re a true open-​minded foodie this restaurant should be on your list of top 10 restaurants in Portland. You can look at a bunch of pictures I uploaded to see what we ate. BTW, the pictures didn’t do any of the food justice!
Thank you Metrovino for a glorious evening!

Here’s a tip for when you go to Metrovino: sit in the bar area, order the charcuterie plate and go with folks who are not afraid to drop a few dollars on a nice dinner.
Technically that was three tips for you, so if you go to Metrovino and still don’t have a good time, well that’s your own damn fault. I for one had a fantastic experience here last night, another entry in my weekend-​long quest to ruin my cholesterol.
My cousin ordered a bottle of the Domaine de Reuilly and we had the good fortune to learn that they didn’t have a bottle chilled and on the ready, because owner Todd came out and helped us figure out a more suitable option. And what an excellent job he did! He offered tastes of several others — the Dog Point and the Durin Pigato, and based on our feedback, he was like, «actually, let me go get something I think you’ll really like.» He came back with a Marcel Deiss Pinot Blanc. I’d never had Pinot Blanc before, and I felt like Goldilocks: the Dog Point was too dry, the Pigato too vinegary and the Pinot Blanc? … just right.
Our interaction with Todd set the tone for the entire evening. Metrovino, it seemed, was a place where attention to detail and execution of such was important and widely practiced. And the food that followed did not disappoint.
Once our booze needs were met, we started with the charcuterie plate and went on from there. I can’t even tell you everything that was on that small board, but each of the dozen-​or-​so entries was presented beautifully and tasted exquisite — rich and intense and seasoned just right; the truffled pistachios were perfect.
And side note: they have amuse bouche! I love amuse bouche!
Moving forward, we ordered everything from the blue cheese plate to the clam chowder to the bacon-​wrapped fig salad, the lamb entrée, sea scallops and two orders of the cauliflower mac and cheese (and we definitely could have ordered one and been fine).
People, I just had to take a deep breath while writing this review, for I am still full.
Everything we ate was rich and warm and flavorful without being greasy or overpowering. My brother’s chowder was packed with clams, even the humble beans nestled beneath the lamb were perfectly cooked — not too firm, not too mushy. The mac and cheese? Well, do I really need to tell you how awesome mac and cheese is? Even the supernaturally orange boxed variety is pretty decent, so you figure it out.
Anyway … I realize that under normal circumstances (i.e., if I had to pay), a full-​contact, no-​holds-​bar visit to Metrovino would be economically impossible, so in that respect, it made my experience here last night that much more special. But I would totally recommend Metrovino specifically for that kind of special night out, be it a family gathering or a date or something of that ilk.