St. Jack

This is hailed as one of the best restaurants in Portland, and that is a reputation that is indeed deserved, even among the foodie haven that is Portland. The atmosphere is romantic and intimate without being crowded; France meets PNW. Their cocktails are really good and innovative — their Scenic Route, which calls for Cynar, is something I had to go home and try to re-​create. Don’t kill me, but I can’t remember what I ordered for dinner, only that I walked away feeling so happy and like I had paid for a truly memorable dining experience that we will definitely be back the next time we’re in town looking for a special night out.

Came here on a business dinner with a mid sized group. The wait staff was great, drinks were awesome and the food was good. I had some sort of a seafood special with mussels, shrimp, snow crab legs, and clams. It was good and tasty but if I had paid for it out of my own pocket, I would have said it was an underwhelming portion for the price. The «crème de tomato en croute» aka cream of tomato soup baked in puff pastry to a non french speaking american was so bomb. I never had anything like it, I’d go back there just for the soup!
Portland doesn’t have too many French restaurants but this is definitely a place to try out.

Was really looking forward to this place. was starving and knew it was part of this huge property management/​restaurant consulting company. Super dissapointed :(was there for happy hour. boyfriend got clams, I got a burger w fries. My burger had no cheese, hardly any lettuce, and was covered in this extremely bad tasting sauce. the meat would have been fine, but the sauce ruined it. I asked for ketchup, something to at least cover it — they don’t carry ketchup. Little later asked for some ranch for my fries (since they’d had no ketchup! Lol) & sure enough. they dont carry ranch either. I asked my bf how his clams were (he LOVES all meat/​seafood!!) …he made a face and said fine. Won’t be going back here again :(Good thing it was at least happy hour so our bill was under $ 30.

I just had dinner at this restaurant and was very disappointed. Our first course was pomme frites and the pork rind. The frites tasted like McDonald’s, but there’s only so much you can do with fries so I can’t blame them too much. The crispy pork rind basically had no taste at all. It was like eating a rice cake and was truly terrible. The main course — duck — was quite good and no complaints there (hence 2 stars and not just one). The dessert was the madelines — fried dough with powdered sugar on top… I could have eaten that at a county fair (and would have tasted better). Our waitress was friendly and provided good service, but the space was so tight that she basically had to stick her butt over our table to address the adjacent table (I had to move our food out of harms way on at least one occasion).
So I’m sure I just don’t «get it,» but I wish I didn’t waste my time and money on rice cakes, McDonald’s fries, and funnel cake tonight.

Walking in to St. Jack brought me back to the streets of Villeurbanne, France. Lyon, the city next door which is located in the Alpes region reflects 2,000 years of history. I love how chef is taking classic staple foods and molding it into something that is personal.
To start, we had the Oysters and Butter Lettuce followed by Plats Principaux Steak Frites and the whole roasted trout topped off with fresh hot madeleines. The Steak was extremely tender and flavorful and was gone very very fast. The Whole Roasted Trout was unbelievable. Cooked to perfection, the meat fell off the bone, and the flavors were superb.
The whole experience from the time we walked in to the time we walked out, every step of the way we were extremely surprised of the finesse with this restaurant. Job well done.

First time here! Enjoyed everything about our visit. Our server, Athena, was fantastic and over the top with customer service. She made our dining experience fun and she provided great recommendations. All our food selections; especially the mussels were perfect. We will definitely be back again… soon.

Great atmosphere and service. Very busy, suggest making reservations ahead of time. The food was tasty

Stopped in for Happy Hour, after wanting to try this place for a while. Disappointing. Will never go back. Service was horrible… hard to get a drink, even though there was not that many people there. Bartender was more interested in talking to his boyfriend (when he came in), than serving the bar! Mussels were Meh. Frites were Meh. Salad was not balanced. Do yourself a favor… go try the Mussels at Cabezon!

Overhyped and disappointing. Restaurant was cold. Food was insanely salty, duck was overcooked, escargot were lost in an overpowering tomato sauce. Bread was cold. I think they would benefit from simplifying their flavor pairings. The «chestnut stuffed pear» was filled with a purée that I guess might have been made with chestnuts but it did nothing for the dish especially as the pear was not so much roasted as mushy. Between that and the pureed butternut squash I felt like I was eating a dish made for the elderly. My husband’s steak was cooked exactly as he likes it so there’s something, I suppose, although there are no shortage of steak places in Portland that get it right, and the dish other than that was nothing to write home about.
Service was good but not memorable. I was a bit surprised the server didn’t notice I left half my entrée on the plate and barely touched the saucy goop the escargot were in. Madeleines were good but really, any pastry fresh out of the oven and not burned is probably going to be tasty. Once they cooled off they were forgettable. My husband was leaving for Kuwait the next day so this was our farewell dinner and I’m regretting trying somewhere new for such a poignant moment. Lesson learned.

Get the mussels.
The End.
;-)

Had our annual family holiday dinner here. We had to wait 20 – 30 minutes after our reservation time to get seated, but I didn’t mind having a nice cocktail while waiting over in the bar area. Everything tasted very delicious– the duck was a particular standout. That reduction sauce had kind of a plumy/​cherry/​figgish kind of quality that I really enjoyed. Some of the timing on drinks with courses would be my only critique but aside from that, awesome experience. I’ll be back again for sure! While the salads could have had some more pizzaz, the scallops were SO tasty. We shared an array of things and I could have easily gone for an order of scallops to myself. Thanks guys for a great experience :)

I absolutely love this place. I have been here a few times and each time the experience has been great. For starters the ambiance is great. They have a bar section and a restaurant section, but since I have only been on the bar side my review will be limited to that. I like the dimmer lighting that St. Jack has to offer. Their signature tower of melted candles is always a welcome. The bar is made of some marble and feels very classy. I always feel like I am in different world when I am there.
Next, the service was really good from the bartender to the various waiters. All were extremely nice, friendly, and attentive. I have noticed some poor reviews for St. Jack mainly came from supposed poor service. I cannot speak for those people but I can say that people at St. Jack are top notch. Side note, it is fun to watch the bartenders make the drinks. Almost an art form. Drink recommendation would be the French Pearl.
Lastly, the food is just great. They have a wide variety of choices in terms of flavor and prices so everyone can get something that they want. My wife is a vegetarian and she has had no problem making choices. Although I would say getting vegan choices would be extremely difficult given that French cuisine uses a lot of dairy. But I digress. Menu changes seasonally so last time I was here 6 months ago had a different selection that it does during the winter. I had the Mac n cheese and it was delicious and the butter lettuce was amazing as had already been mentioned many times on Unilocal already.
In summary, great ambiance, great service, great food, and great drinks.

The creative cocktails bring me in the door and the superb, friendly service keep me coming back. I can’t confidently comment on the fare as I generally drop in for a drink (Bichon frise, french pearl, and the house wines are among my favorites), though I have had a few salads and small plates, stand-​outs being the mixed greens and the pomme frites (it may be a sin to order fries in a french restaurant but seriously they do them right, straight from the mouth of a french fry connoisseur).
I prefer to swing by during the 9pm — close, late night happy hour. Discounted booze and tapas paired with the ambiance of the a dimly (candle) lit restaurant is the closest I’ve come to a night in paris in the NW.

Stopped by for happy hour so we didn’t get to try that much food.
The wines and small dishes were only $ 5. The fried tripe was chewy though. The liver mousse was ok, but a tad on the sweet side. I would come back to try some other food though.

We had dinner here Tuesday evening because one of my friend works here and she recommended this place. Everything we ordered here was amazing… didn’t realize a good French restaurant is around in my home state! We ordered:
Steak Tartare: Nice flavor and texture. Crostini was a nice side with it.
Bone Marrow/​Salmon Roe: Also nice flavor and texture.
Whole Roasted Trout: I could eat this everyday.
Well seasoned and well cooked wasn’t dry.
Steak Frites: Amazing steak I’ve had in a long time at a nice restaurant.
Chicken Liver Mousse: I could eat this all day. Wasn’t gamy, had a nice clean flavor.
Autumn Salad: well balanced salad dressing and again nice mix of textures.
Mussels Nantua: this was lovely if you like Mussels!
Madeleines: This was our dessert. Simple and delicious. Had it for the first time. Freshly made to order too!
We also had champagne, white and red wine along with these. I am planning to repeat this dinner evening! Keep up the good work everyone. Cheers!

I have to keep a middling degree of trepidation in check to darken the doorways of places like St Jack’s— Understand, this is a handicap of perception that frequently has little basis in reality. For whatever reason, I was expecting an overpowering «foof» factor at St Jack’s, even more so on NW 23^rd than when it used to rock out baby twist over in SE Clinton.
The atmosphere was actually quite light, breezy even, and downright convivial my inaugural sitting at St Jack’s. The staff was attentive and managed to convey a fairly convincing display of collective good cheer— or in the very least, one of «Alright, alrtight, we’ll humor the idiot— maybe he’ll at least leave a decent tip.»
Jack’s Manhattan was on point and a nice way to get this little amuse bouche fête started. For reasons that are still unclear to me, I segued immediately after the Manhattan to the cool hand Highball. I have no idea if they cracked 50 eggs in the making of this adult beverage, let alone got anything like Paul Newman’s ringing endorsement of el stinko, but I was thoroughly non-​plussed. The faint fruity boquet was the most prominent quality of this ethereal critter — - which is why, I thought to myself as I gave it 2^nd and 3^rd and 4^th chances, ad nauseum– why they are called «spirits»…
Being a huge fan of sea food, I was quite excited to see a fairly wide and diverse array of clams und mussels und pulpo etc etc and being the relentless glutton that I am, I pretty much ordered ‘em ALL, over the course of a few outings. The portions were quite small for the prices involved, and that inevitably does violence to their overall value. Even the squid, which i was pleased to see came unbreaded, was tossed in a sort of pico-​de-​gallo dressing that was quite pungent w/​vinegar.
The steak tartare @ St Jack’s was a meaty, pulpy little stunner. I was absolutely enchanted by their choice of quail egg atop that portly hamburger mound. Nearly too precious to disturb… but fortunately, yet another revolting display of gluttony would not be stayed…
By far the best thing I’ve had at St Jack’s was the foie de gras. the supremely rich, creamy liver was complemented nicely by a sort of apple butter shhhmear on toast. VERY nicely done, mes petits choux. Merci beaucoup…

Delicious meal at St Jack, we probably ordered ¾ of the menu and I was ¾ of the way satisfied. Each dish was unique, but it felt like they were each missing one component to take them to the next level. For instance, the steak tartare was the perfect texture, but it lacked seasoning. The bone marrow and roe sounded better than it tasted because there wasn’t enough of either on the plate. The chicken liver mousse was tasty, but tasted more like cream sherry than chicken liver. We had wonderful wine and cocktails and overall the experience was unforgettable. It just felt like dishes weren’t being tasted before they went out from the kitchen because each dish was missing something a little extra (like salt).

Everybody was very nice, and the service was very attentive. The food was pretty good, however one thing that was tough to deal with was the copious amount of salt in the food. I ordered the fisherman’s soup to share with my dad and it was so hard to eat because it was so so salty. Steak frites were good but could have been way more amazing had there not been as much salt on the fries. Good atmosphere and music but please put less salt! Other than that I’d like to return to sample the bar menu at happy hour which is more affordable.

Amazing amazing! I can’t rave enough about this French restaurant! I passed by here looking for a place to eat to celebrate a good occasion. It was kinda late on a Saturday night and many restaurants had up to 2 hour waits. But thank god we were seated right away!
We each ordered a glass of wine while we wait for our dinner! The ambiance and the lighting was all perfect. We started with the braised escargot! It was delicious in a cheese sauce! Absolutely melt in your mouth cheese and bread dip!
For our entrees we ordered the duck on polenta and the lamb shank! We waited quite awhile for our food, but it was well worth it. The size of the lamb shank was more than enough for my hungry bf and the duck was perfectly seasoned, a bit dry on the side but overall perfect flavor with every bite. The red grapes added a nice sweet touch to the polenta!
For dessert we ordered the swan profites! Absolutely adorable! We got a plate of three swans on a delicious red berry sauce! Overall meal was pricey but well worth it, if you are celebrating!

My GF’s and I were supposed to eat at Ataula but they were closed. They kindly posted a not on their door recommending to alternatively dine at St. Jack or Le Vieux. We chose St. Jack — and how fortuitous! The staff provided warm, friendly, and such prompt service. Manager Kate, was amazing and gracious.
Now the food. DELICIOUS!
We ordered appetizers: Cervelle de Canut, Poutine, and Oreilles de Crisses. Cervelle de Canut was the creamiest herbed goat cheese w/​garlic and shallots. Oreilles de Crisses was my first taste of crispy pork rind and St. Jack set the bar very high. So crispy with a tangy red pepper espelette seasoning complemented with a warm maple syrup.
Our dinner entrees: Braised Escargots and Marinated Baby Octopus. AMAZING FLAVORS in both dishes. Escargots were richly flavored and Baby Octopus was perfectly seasoned and unexpectedly tender.
The perfect ending to this meal was an order of the petite Madeleines, served warm in a porcelain bowl.
We LOVED this dining experience so much that we made reservations for Oct and Dec!

One of my favorite restaurants we tried on our visit here. It’s located in the «Alphabet» district which was walking distance from our hotel in the pearl district. The food was fantastic. Unfortunately one of the dishes was «off» or else this would have been a perfect rating.
Started off with the butter lettuce salad. Simple but executed well. It had croutons, avocado, radishes dressed with a Dijon vinaigrette. Next was my favorite, the roasted bone marrow. I’m kind of a bone marrow freak so maybe my opinion is biased but it was delicious. Bones were substantial size too. Last, for our entrées, my girlfriend had the mussels and I had the sweetbreads. The mussels was the «off» dish. The mussels had way too much ginger in it –too the point where it was almost unpalatable. It’s too bad because the rest of the dishes were perfect. My entrée was unbelievable. The sweetbreads were cooked perfectly. They were pan roasted to perfection, moist and tender. It also came with a pommes purée and almost a gravy like au jus sauce.
Lastly, make sure you get one of their craft cocktails. Pick any of them. You can’t go wrong.

Not the biggest space. It was 100 degrees on the day we decided to have dinner here. Broken A/​C. They had a fan going. I was almost close by the windows, in which it slides open. I was still DYING from the heat. It was extremely uncomfortable. I hope that the A/​C thing was only an issue that day and not a normal thing for them.
Food: Overall was good. We had a half a dozen oysters ($ 15). They were yummy. King Salmon Tartare ($ 9). It wasn’t bad, but just not particularly special. It didn’t come with anything to eat it with. So we just had chopped up pieces of salmon that was tossed in some sauce/​other not so memorable ingredients. Maybe some taro chips would’ve been a nice accompaniment. Lamb (~$ 25). It was good. Not too gamey. Though had a lot of fat in it. Thus, not a lot of edible parts. Mussels (~$ 25). I love mussels, so these were good. The broth it came in had a bit of a kick, which was ok for me too (for not eating very spicy normally). I also got the «Scenic Route» — which was good! I don’t remember what’s in it besides grapefruit, but it was very delicious. Lots of ice though.
Price: Pretty normal/​reasonable. Our bill before tip was $ 100. Crazy how things add up, but I guess it was like two appetizers, two entrees, and two drinks.

My friend and I stumbled into this place on a 100 degree day just hoping to cool off and have a few drinks with light, classy hors d’oeuvres. I expected yet another overrated attempt at French cuisine, and I couldn’t have been more wrong. The next day we are still fawning over this place, and drooling over photos of menu items we want to try next time.
I ordered the beef tartare, which was freshened up with a plentiful kick of capers and Dijon, a quail egg oozing its rich yolk over all the boldness. My crustini were over toasted so I ended up using the chewy baguette served at every table to place my meat on, not the best texture combination. The elk tartare I enjoyed at the Multnomah Whiskey Library did upstage this one in terms of tenderness, however the seasoning and presentation of the St. Jack’s tartare makes picking a winner difficult.
I recommend pairing the beef tartare with the Deshler, a red-​blooded yet refined rye whiskey and dubonnet cocktail. I’m new to this drink and it, too, I can’t stop talking about. Drinks are served fast and strong. Our waiter could not have been more on point. Studying photos of other dishes, I am struck with how balanced and beautiful the plates are, such a faithful offering of French bistro food. I’m just blown away that this gem is in Portland.