Skip to main contentMaybe the fact that I can walk out my front door and be at a table two minutes later isn't the greatest thing about Daddy Mojo's. It's what got me there the first time and, together with a better-than-average bowl of clam chowder ($3.95), made a nice first impression. But every time I go back, I find something I like better. So far the list includes hamburgers on homemade buns, $5 lunch specials, the Friday-night shrimp boil, meatloaf and hush puppies.
The old storefront on the corner of Northeast 15th Avenue and Fremont Street has little curb appeal compared to the rest of the rapidly gentrifying neighborhood. The exterior hasn't changed much in the 20 years I've lived nearby, and the former mini-market space was refitted as a restaurant by a previous tenant with questionable taste. Daddy Mojo's inherited furniture and lighting won't win any awards for interior design. The building retains a few original features, including a row of windows with a wood sash that fill the high-ceilinged room with light, and the 1920s-era hexagonal tile in one doorway that spells out "Fremont Pharmacy." Small aesthetic improvements, like a coat of paint or new carpet, appear every couple of weeks. The space is comfortable and straightforward, but there's no mistaking that you're here for the food, not the ambience.
The market reality for a moderately priced cafe like this means the raw materials are more likely to come from a refrigerated semi just off I-5 than from an organic farmer on Sauvie Island. Still, Daddy Mojo's earns props for making everyday ingredients into food you'll come back for. This place doesn't pretend to be anything but what it is, a decent restaurant that offers honest food. Sometimes that's just what you want.
Those homemade buns are sturdy enough to hold a thick, half-pound burger ($5.95, another 75 cents gets you cheese) but soft and yielding so the patty doesn't squeeze out the back side. I stopped by midweek for lunch and got a big mound of shredded barbecued pork, Cajun-style dirty rice and coleslaw for $4.95. Order the Friday-night shrimp-boil dinner special ($9.95), and the server spreads newspaper on the table, then empties a wire colander full of pink boiled shrimp onto it.
Catfish nuggets ($6.95) are bite-sized pieces of fish, rolled in cornmeal and fried crispy. Not too complicated, but so good you wonder why more places don't make them. I can't decide if I like Daddy Mojo's meatloaf more on a plate in a pool of gravy or as a sandwich tucked into that same homemade bun ($6.95).
Hush puppies supposedly got their name when a good ol' boy tossed his hounds a scrap of fried cornmeal catfish breading to keep them quiet. I can't vouch for their effect on dogs, but the hot, perfectly fried little spheres of cornmeal--crunchy on the outside, soft inside, and without a trace of grease--will keep me from making a sound. Mojo's hush puppies ($3.95) come with ketchup, but they cry out for a few splashes of Crystal hot sauce, the low-rent alternative to Tabasco that you find in juke joints and fish shacks from Memphis to Mobile.
There's definitely a Gulf Coast tilt to Daddy Mojo's offerings, but the place is less bayou bistro and more neighborhood cafe with Southern influences. Breakfast choices include Dixie specials such as biscuits covered with a sausage-rich country gravy ($5.95), buttermilk pancakes studded with pecans ($5.95), grits flavored with bacon and topped with cheese ($3.95), and chicken-fried steak ($9.95), that roadhouse classic. But you'll also find eggs Benedict ($7.25), an artichoke heart-mushroom-Swiss omelette ($7.25), and pancakes made with Oregon blueberries ($6.50).
More Delta flavors show up later in the day in the blackened steak ($13.95), Thursday-night jambalaya ($7.95), and okra-thickened gumbo ($11.95). The menu expands its geographic reach with Caesar salad ($7.95), fish and chips ($10.95), and fettuccine alfredo ($7.95).
The garlic pepper steak, an 8-ounce top sirloin with a thick coat of crushed peppercorns and rich garlic cream sauce, is well marbled and tender. Served with a massive baked potato, simple steamed vegetables, an ordinary but fresh green salad and the fried bread called Texas toast, it's as good a $14.95 steak dinner as you'll find anywhere. Finish up with a slice of the wickedly rich chocolate caramel cheesecake ($4.25), and you'll leave fat and happy.
Recently the restaurant expanded, adding a small bar. Oregon's liquor laws prevent the cocktails to go that make New Orleans such a party town, but it's nice to have the option of a drink with dinner.
In a more perfect world, my little neighborhood cafe would make a few changes. It would offer an alternative to the Texas toast, a no-brainer in this bread-crazy town (in the meantime, ask for one of the homemade buns instead). The hot seafood salad ($11.95) might have a little more seafood. And taking that Southern theme a step further with an oyster po'boy or New Orleans-style muffaletta would be great. But for now, I'll be happy with another order of hush puppies, maybe a slab of that meatloaf, and a short walk home.
1501 NE Fremont St., 282-0956.
10 am-9 pm, Tuesday-Friday,
8 am-9 pm, Saturday-Sunday. Closed Monday.
Credit cards accepted.
$-$$ Inexpensive-Moderate.
WWeek 2015