The Groaning Board

Nice chill laid back atmosphere but still classy and not divey at all. Really nice bar staff and a great original cheese burger. Oh and try the cheese puffs ball things! I can have one order by myself w a burger hands down awesome!

I’m confused at the 1 star ratings. I would have given them 5 stars except the location is a bit tricky to get to. Our server, Matthew was a delight and the food was fantastic. The yak sliders were a hit and everyone enjoyed their food. We were a group of 10 and were seated comfortably. I would recommend going.

We gave it another try thinking our first time at the pub was poor due to it having just opened. Nope. A year has not helped in service, food preparation, or taste. Portland has so many excellent choices won’t waste another meal here. We order onion rings, a burger, and neither were edible. Table server disappeared after placing the food in front of us. After twenty minutes we actually had to go search for the waitress who was annoyed by our request for the bill. We told her why we couldn’t eat the food and were told that was our choice. So much for friendly Portland.

On the board!
This place had good food and service. I got the happy hour burger and it was delicious. The fries were crazy salty so I would stick to the slightly burnt chips instead. Everyone who was eating with me enjoyed their food.

I took my boyfriend here for his birthday and we will not return. I had reservations, the restaurant was not full and we still had to wait. Once seated we waited a good ten minutes before a server came. We ordered cocktails and it took almost fifteen minutes to get them, but they were good. Our food came in a more timely manner. I had polenta and he had pot pie. My dish was not very good, however my boyfriend did enjoy the pot pie. We seldom saw our server, so despite our drinks not even being half gone we decided it was best to order the second round in advance, which was a good choice given it took a very long time once again. Perhaps things have improved since our visit, but we will not be returning to find out.

Stopped in the other night with my sister after a fabulous walk — Tilikum Crossing/​Eastside Esplanade. We had amazing service, great food, and super comfortable surroundings. Our server was knowledgable about her wines and the drink list. When we were trying to decide on a wine, she brought us 4 tasters! The cheesie poofs are ridiculous! so yummy. Pulled pork ‘dillas? fantastic! And the beet salad was done beautifully. Many other things on the menu I want to try.
I don’t know where some of these reviews about service or bad food came from. Maybe the owner read the reviews and made huge changes. I don’t know what happened, but what I do know is, in my opinion, a great restaurant needs three things — Good service, good food, good ambience. The Groaning Board has them all and I look forward to many more experiences there!

I was in Portland recently visiting my best friend and out of all the great food places we went to this was one of my favorites! We had a great experience here. The atmosphere was sophisticated yet laid back and i enjoyed the unique menu. Great food & great service!

Went here over the weekend. Strange menu to start with.
Had the Chicken pot pie which had a biscuit on it that was uncooked inside. :(We also had the burger that had a soggy bun drenched with grease. Onion rings were burnt and more batter than onion.
Yuck, Yuck and Yuck!

I had such a great experience at this lovely restaurant. The staff was warm and welcoming. The décor was well designed. I love coming in for appetizers and a great craft cocktail. Martina was the highlight of my day. Definitely coming back here and I recommend it to everyone who enjoys a
Classy time.

It really takes some serious effort to compel me to write a review of this caliber, but I was thouroughly shocked at the quality of service I received at my visit here. To say I was treated rudely does not do it service, complete and total disdain by the bartender is more like it. I can’t speak of the quality of the food, but you really don’t need to waste your time trying to find the place. I’ll say this much, it’s appropriately named (groan)

Working hard to give this place a 3 star. My soup was ok, but my cauliflower was limp and flavorless. The sauce was equally flavorless. It was described as a fondue, but had no body. Light sauce; not a fondue. It would be a 2, but the other dishes were better. The sliders were good; the faux quesadilla was also good; both had pulled pork. The chips had lots of pepper, but a bit too much oil.
They did apologize for the slow service. Rack dish was very easy. Must be an inefficient kitchen. Hopefully they will get better.

The restaurant was fortunate enough to hire Dolce Debbie out of Tampa. Amazing they were able to get her as she is a well trained chef with impeccable credentials.
Her signature Gnocchi was a hit in Tampa and it is here. The Pork Belly is done as one should — with the perfect bit of savory and sweet.
Shrimp and Polenta ground pork stuffed shrimp wrapped in bacon on a bed of creamy herbed polenta. This is a dish that would be southern but it is too delicious to be ignored.
House made Cesar dressing is tangy and upscale but traditional.
True to local — daily specials from the Farmers Market — today a local brandy for a cream sauce.
For those who want to come here for Nachos and BBQ sauce — well — the restaurant has changed.
Service was pleasant. Décor is cute. Food is amazing.
I suspect in two years we will be back with the James Beard Award.
Good move to get this Chef. She is turning it around

This place is a train wreck waiting to happen if things don’t turn around fast.
At first when they opened, they tried to be trendy/​upscale, and there is a bit too much of that kind of food in the neighborhood. It didn’t work, customers dwindled and since then they change their menus every couple weeks but don’t update the website to match what’s actually being served.
Look at the neighborhood, they are the ones that are going to be frequenting your restaurant and becoming your regulars. Their are a lot of people living here that are going to college at OHSU or work there. You need to start offering regular staple items such as big healthy salads, sandwiches, pastas, no one else in the neighborhood serves those.
We went here for HH yesterday and it was awful. The pulled pork sliders and nachos had some nasty sauce on them that they tried to present as BBQ sauce. It smelled awful and it tasted awful and in no way was it BBQ sauce. The whole restaurant reeked the smell of it and we left with our clothes smelling that way. Yuck!
Why does the chef feel they need to ruin something as easy as BBQ sauce? You are not good at inventing your own recipes so if all else fails go to Sysco or Costco and open a bottle decent barbecue sauce!
I have listened to so many people in this neighborhood talk about the bad food here and betting this place will close it’s doors within a year if they do not start listening to customers.
You also need to have a staff. On 8 – 22 you knew that Zidell yards was having a big event with fireworks and so on and there were a lot of people wanting to go to your restaurant and standing outside and you closed your doors early because you said you didn’t have enough staff. A good manager would’ve planned for that evening. Unbelievable!
2015-​102

Great concept but dishes taste gross. Even after menu revamp the dishes are hard to stomach. We really tried to like this place since its local. Wrote to the owners: no response. Contacted owners via website: no response.
My guess is that the crappy chef must be blackmailing the owner in exchange for working there because the food recipes and ingredients are terrible. Or, chef has head injury and is on the lease. You figure it out.

Me: «Why are there white spots floating in my water?»
Waitress: «That’s the sanitizer. Don’t worry, it won’t hurt you.»
No offer to replace the water. I now look at my soda with a very cautious eye.

Came here with 20 others for a fun dinner. Had really high hopes — the msnu is delicious sounding, but ultimately disappoints.
It took about 2 hours to get through dinner; I had to order a soda twice before getting one at all, and it never saw a refill yet everyone was asked repeatedly if they wanted more water.
Hush puppies looked good but not in the same quantity nor plating as in photos here — fewer, and they ran out so we didn’t get enough anyway. Turns out, they were the only thing that people really seemed excited about. Cheese balls were like miniature popovers that just lacked flavor.
Risotto was okay, but spent far too much time under the heat lamp or the warmer. Could tell based on the streak made by wiping residue after plating; it had become solid and skinned over. While it tasted alright, it was way too salty. Others who ordered the same didn’t finish it or did so out of hunger and later commented it was overwhelmingly salty. There wasn’t a lot of flavor, other than salt.
Salt was the common element in dissatisfaction: even the burger was panned as being liberally bitch-​smacked by the ubiquitous mineral.
The meatloaf got good reviews, though did not look anywhere nearly as good as the photos here, which is a shame.
Mac and cheese is pretty good. Would definitely like to eat more of that.
Fish entrées were similarly appreciated by several, the grilled cheese looked disappointing, and judging from the amount left on the plate, tasted the part as well.
The restaurant didn’t seem terribly busy, and the table was booked well in advance, so I’m not sure how you run out of popular items (ran out of hush puppies, ingredients to make a ‘signature’ drink) and deliver them so haphazardly: auctioning off dishes as they come out 5 to 10 minutes apart is really cringeworthy.
Also, the one cocktail with campari? It was passed down the line and it took 6 people passing on it to find someone who could actually drink it without making stinkface. I know cocktails are hit-​or-​miss, but campari is like a mother’s soothing hug: it makes everything better.
I wish the restaurant the best of luck — it’s a cool space and has some good concepts. The execution just needs a bit of work.

Super awesome space, great décor!
Our waiter Matthew was so awesome, super outgoing and had great recommendations.
Donny, I believe is one of the chefs and brought us out watermelon sorbet, which may have been the best thing I’ve ever put in my mouth.
The food was good. Mac n cheese was delish.
Onion rings and side salad were a bit bland but not bad.
Service gets a 10! Food gets a 4.
Will def be back.

We finally made it out to try the food at The Groaning Board and let me just say WOW, we loved the food! We shared the poutine fries that are topped with pork green chili and yellow tillamook cheese curds and I will be dreaming of them until we eat again (see what I did there)?! For the main event I had pork and beef meatloaf accompanied with potatoes, brussel sprouts, black trumpet mushrooms dijon, bacon and cream and crispy shallot! It was so good! My sidekick had the hanger steak with chard and onion rings, also a great dish! We had a gift certificate to use and forgot to bring it along with us and I was secretly glad we forgot so we can go again really soon! The service was excellent too!

I just moved to the area and I’m glad to have discovered this place. It has a nice ambience and the happy hour is fantastic. Lots of great small dish options.
I do wish the main menu food selection was a little bigger, and that it offered some more options that aren’t fried, but maybe I only say that because the food they have is great, so I wish there was more to choose from! With that being said, I’ve never had anything I DIDN’T like.

Although the menu is pretty short, the fish & fries were really good. The fish was perfectly cooked and the tarter sauce was very tangy. Even the cole slaw was good, and I don’t really like cole slaw.
Good service, too.