The Local Beet

[August 22nd, 2007]

So, Karen Harding, owner of the Cup and Saucer chain and Portland’s unofficial cafe queen, has opened a friendly neighborhood joint on Northeast Alberta Street, in the Quonset building next to the soon-to-be former Alberta Clown House.

It’s a pleasant enough space: warm orange walls with rotating local art; tasteful wood paneling in the current fashion; a curious jumble of light fixtures, as if Harding had scooped up the entire clearance table at Rejuvenation; and a mismatched assortment of comfortable stools and benches. It all makes for an inviting, if somewhat slick, neighborhood-hangout atmosphere. Between the enormous covered patio and the free wireless, the Local Beet seems designed for telecommuting “creatives” and hungry Last Thursday tourists. With its six taps and dozen fruity house cocktails, it would make a great smoke-free bar.

Unfortunately, it’s a mediocre restaurant so far. Loud music and a constant draft make it tough to enjoy your food. The menu is mostly brewpub fare: hummus, salads, sandwiches, burgers and tacos. The huge “anti pasto” plate of cured meat and marinated vegetables is excellent, and a decent value at $8. Paired with the hummus plate ($6), it could make a fine light dinner.

Entrees are more problematic. Although the sandwiches are pretty damn tasty, they are ridiculously oversized—the prosciutto-cotto ($9) is 16 inches long and stacked so high with ham, Gorgonzola and watercress that you can barely wrap your mouth around it—but come paired only with salad or potato chips. No fries, no slaw…just chips (which, honestly, are just a sorry excuse for fries) or a limp bag-salad doused with sickly sweet dressing.

My wife passed on the “Misty Isle Farms Free Range Hand Packed Hamburger” ($9) for the vegetarian black-bean burger (also $9). It was tasty enough, dressed with mild, tangy tomato-mango salsa, and filling. But nine bucks for a bean patty? Beans cost 20 cents a pound. Why on earth would you charge the same for beans as for beef?

The Local Beet is a restaurant in need of a real identity; it seems unsure whether to embrace the weirdness of Last Thursday (the first art on the walls was by Clown House honcho Dingo Dismal) or aspire to the slick gentri-cool of Francis, across the street. Is this an artsy 21+ bar or a drafty cafe? It’s time to choose. The Local Beet may end up becoming a popular neighborhood hangout, but, at this price point, it’s not worth a trip just yet.