doug fir

a visual treat, with food to match. ended up here after walkingbackfrom the saturday market and i must say; this isnt the type of place i usually dine or drink at. that being said i was really impressed with doug fir. the look and design of the place is stunning, from the quality of the materials used to the obvious skill of the architects and contractors involved, i doubt they pinched many pennies putting this gem together. unlike previous reviewers, we had no trouble with our waitstaff, service was nothing special but certainly adequate. as far as the food goes, i had the monte cristo and my wife had the pesto chicken sandwich. the high quality of the ingredients was obvious from the first bite and if i had anything bad to say it would only be that my rosemary potatoes were a little too crispy. otherwise it was a great meal (especially at $15 for two people). like i said before, its not the type of place i would usually go, i like things a little dingier, but i would certainly bring friends visiting from out of town here for breakfast or lunch.
b+

car window smashed while visiting doug fir. if you go to doug fir be ready for your car window to be smashed if you park within a block area. we went had a great time, when we parked we noticed glass around the areas where we parked (within a block) but parked anyway only to find our car window smashed. wentbackto let them know and the staff literally laughed in our face. is it worth going there ...i think not...take responsibility for your neighborhood and make it safe by patrolling the area and give it a presence.

good concert!. lousy food.
a group of us came up to portland sunday night for the parlotones concert and decided to dine here out of convenience. i had read some of the reviews and had my reservations. that being said the doug fir is an amazing building/venue! they have done a great job making the presentation unique & exciting.
nowbackto the food. i ordered crab cakes right away and these were sub par. i even had a piece of shell in mine. i ordered the sausage & grits which was ok. i guess i like my grits a bit runnier but the flavor was good. the best dish was the flat iron steak but it certainly wasn't $20 good. to top it off the crispy cheese fritters (after the first batch was dropped on the floor!) was overcooked and rather bland.
not all is lost though! the drinks served from the bar upstairs were very good. i was feeling adventurous and order the "dark & stormy" which only i enjoyed. the blackberry cosmo was also spot on!
downstairs is another matter. the staff here was a bit more haughty it seemed and the drinks seem watered down. there was a world of difference between rum & coke upstairs vs. downstairs!
all and all the venue was aesthetically pleasing and cozy. the concert hall was small and made for a personal show. all three bands rocked by the way. i have not written off the doug fir but i'm guessing we won't be here for food again anytime soon. we'll come for the ambiance and concert line up!

horrible! worst experience ever!. i went in and it seemed nice enough... got the happy hour wine for $3 and some appetizers for $3 as well. went out walked around and camebackto have a beer. then went to buy my ticket for the show... the legendary pink dots were playing and i even saw them eating there but when they check my id to get in they tell me that i can't see the show cuz they'll lose their liquor license if i watch a band playing downstairs. nevermind that they just served me 2 different alcoholic beverages... so i tell them i just moved here and haven't gotten a new id yet and that even though the one i have is expired it still reflects my age. they don't care, they just tell me too bad and to comebacknext time. i didn't come to their stupid bar to drink but i did; i came there to see a concert so the fact that they will let me in later when i get a new id doesn't really matter to me. this is the last show on the lpd tour too... so who knows when they'll bebackand who knows if i'll ever get to see them again. they were mean and unyielding even though it wouldn't have hurt them any to let me in to see the show. i was clearly old enough to serve alcohol to. i plan on taking it up with the oregon liquor control commission.

a surly waitress and a pound of salt. lindsey got our orders in and the drinks came out quickly. the appetizers arrived quickly - very salty and so so. the entrees came out before we had made a dent in our appetizers. my entree (meatloaf) was pretty sub par but everything on my plate had a visible layer of salt on top of it. lindsey had them make me another dish (cod) and i asked for no salt on anything and the dressing on the side. this plate was very tasty and i let her know - though she really didn't seem all that interested. we decided to try a dessert - and she recommended a blackberry cobbler (how can they f that up?) it was horrid. we waved herbackto our table and she said "you dont even have to tell me how bad it sucks" and swiftly carried it away. when she returned with our check she informed us how much she and the others loved it and that they were in thebackeating the remains right now. i wish i could say that i had some incurable communicable disease or something. it's sad because the venue is funky/cool and would be a fun place to return to otherwise. won't be back.

never again! doug fir, i once loved you so.... so i want to preface this negative review by saying that once upon a time, the doug fir was one of my favorite happy hour joints in the whole city.
but....
the last time we went, we couldn't get any sort of service. it was happy hour, so we seated ourselves. after ten minutes, it became apparent that no one was coming to our table, so we went to the bar to order drinks. the bartender asked for our ids (rudely), and once he had checked them, he wentbackto whatever project he was working on when we approached. we asked if we should sit and wait for service or order then, but got no reply. so we sat down..... for another fifteen minutes. finally, someone went to the bar to try and order food, at which point he was rudely told that he was to order from a server (none of which were anywhere to be seen). so, in the interest of not making a scene, we waited a few more minutes, all to no avail.
the best part?
as we were walking out the door, the bartender chuckled at us and said: "yeah. have a nice day there, guys.".
totally unnecessary. they are rude beyond belief, and all without any sort of provocation. i get the impression that we just weren't the target demographic, and that the best way (or the only way) to get service there anymore is to know the staff.