Pizza Jerk

By Martin Cizmar

5028 NE 42nd Ave., 284-9333, pizzajerkpdx.com. Lunch and dinner daily.

The Jerk is Bunk Sandwiches king Tommy Habetz, who took over the old Magoo's bar on Northeast 42nd with a large and delightfully convoluted menu—you have your pies with smoked brisket, you have your mozzie sticks that employ premium cheese to unsettling effect, you have your wings in a sweet-hot sauce and sprinkled with sesame seeds. Slices go for around $3 apiece—meaning lunch can be a cheap affair—and pastas are intense, including a $12 dry dandan sopped with pink onion, fatty pulled pork and a ladle of chili oil. To share, get the special pies, especially the Han Dynasty ($25 whole) with chopped brisket, fried shallots, jalapeño barbecue sauce and goat cheese. The vegetarian and traditional pies were the only things that didn't get me excited: Pizza Jerk fails only when it doesn't push hard enough toward the loud and absurd.

Check out Willamette Week's 2016 Cheap Eats guide here.

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