Muchas Gracias

Muchas Gracias

• Area: All over Portland/Vancouver area

• Price to fill up: Less than $5 

OK, it’s strip mall fare, it’s about like injecting cholesterol directly into a vein, but believe it or not the food at this 24-hour TexMex fast food place can be surprisingly tasty and fresh if you pick the right things. It’s a growing chain and a helluva lot better than (shudder) Taco Bell, so if you’re in need of a taco fix in Portland, especially in the burbs, there’s probably one nearby.

In my case, the right things are their carne asada tacos—two of them, a la carte, plus a bottle of water make a very filling meal for under $5. A colleague speaks especially well of the burritos. The beans-and-rice bit is pretty standard (and cholesterol on the hoof) so skip that part and go straight for the meat.

Andina

• Website
• Area: Pearl district
• Price to fill up two people: About $75 (minus booze)

This one’s getting on the high side of reasonable, but I like Andina for location, for ambience, and for the food (Andean/Peruvian). Plus, the waitstaff is so enthusiastic about the food you just gotta try it, which is nice. It sure ain’t Tex-Mex, anyway.

If you’re not familiar with South American mountain cuisine, you’ll need to take a certain amount of the menu on faith. In any case, Andina refers to this as “nuovo Andean,” which I think means “I really like this quinoa stuff, but why don’t we try it with a little basil and seared ahi tuna?”

Although I’ve enjoyed the seafood, I’d suggest starting with the beef. Both times I’ve tried it, it’s been superb.

Tip: You can save a bundle on the dinner menu by opting for a couple of appetizers (ask your waiter what he recommends) and one of the salads instead of a main course.

Pambiche

• Website

• Area: Northeast (around 28th)

• Price to fill up two people: $15-$25, depending 

Linda Ethier introduced me to this really cute and tasty little Cuban restaurant; on the first day of a week-long glass casting class she said “if you don’t mind I’d like to go to the Cuban restaurant across the street today, and after that we can go wherever you want.” After that lunch, none of us wanted to go anywhere else. Tiny, tiny, tiny, only a few tables…but inexpensive and absolutely delicious.

There were eight of us, and we pretty much ran through the whole menu that week, except for the desserts (this place is also a bakery, and if we hadn’t been so stuffed after lunch we’d have made serious inroads on the cakes, especially this foot-high banana thing that looked dreamy).

Word to the wise, though: Hit up Pambiche on a Friday night (or most of the weekend) and I can almost guarantee there will be a line. The last Friday night I was there, it went around the block. Much, MUCH better to try this at lunch.

Tip: order the special, or anything on the menu that sounds like it has citrus in it.