Out to Lunch}Blueplate Counter

As promised, today I am sharing one more great Portland grilled cheese sandwich location.

First we had the food cart, The Grilled Cheese Grill.

Then there was the more upscale grilled cheese sandwich at Paragon.

Today’s featured grilled cheese sandwich location falls in between the food cart and the upscale Pearl District restaurant – it’s a lunch counter!  A real life, old fashioned lunch counter and soda fountain – Blue Plate Lunch Counter and Soda Fountain located in downtown Portland at 308 SW Washington Street.

Blue Plate has been featured on Diners,  Drive-ins and Dives.  Blue Plate is only open for lunch from 11 – to 5, so go for lunch or an early dinner.  It is a popular lunchtime spot for the downtown working crowd.

Housed in a former department store there are lots of fun architectural details to give the place some character.

The menu is limited but when it’s all good you don’t need a lot of choices.  Of course our first choice was the grilled cheese and tomato soup.  You have the option of adding bacon and tomato but we kept it pure. The tomato soup was wonderful and we licked the bowl on that one.

We also ordered some Northwest Sliders which came with a yummy basil spread and Tillamook cheese.  They also come with a side of mashed potatoes but we opted for a side salad.  The sliders were juicy and yummy and just the right size!

Both the grilled cheese and the sliders are regulars on the menu.  There are two specials each day too so check out the menu on their website.

There is also a great selection of soda fountain treats including some not so typical choices – vanilla honey sodas and the PR  Nelson Milkshake which is made of  huckleberry ice cream blended with the house made purple haze hibiscus syrup.  Next time we will go just for dessert!

And if that wasn’t enough for you – there is always the penny (10 cent) candy!

Enjoy a fun lunchtime experience downtown at Blueplate Lunch Counter and Soda Fountain!

Out to Lunch:Hands on Cafe

This last week I did a little shoe intervention with one of my friends.  She hadn’t bought any new shoes in 7 years so we figured it was about time.  We had a great time at Nordstrom Rack and she walked out with 5 pairs of shoes!  We were quite famished from all that hard work so we headed over to the Hands on Cafe at the Oregon School of Arts & Craft.

Have you heard of it?

The cafe is located at 8215 SW Barnes Rd, Oregon College of Arts and Crafts, Portland, OR 97225 and is open Mon-Fri 11:30am-2pm, 5:30pm-7:30pm; Sun 9:30am-1:30pm.

Prices are incredibly reasonable and average about $6.00.  I have only enjoyed lunch there but am anxious to try it for dinner too!

It is a little hidden treasure over on the west side just down the road from St. Vincent’s Hospital.  It had been several years since I had been there and I forgot how much I like the place.

It is a cozy, student run restaurant and the daily specials are prepared right there in their small kitchen each day.  The menu is rather limited but it  is always hard to choose! The menu changes on a daily basis so it is always a fun surprise to see what they are offering.

Here is Jack – he is the one that took our order and he also made the delicious soup we ordered.  It was a tomato, roasted red pepper and blue cheese soup – so good!

My friend and I both had the soup/salad combo.  I had bread with mine, she was good and didn’t.

For lunch we split a piece of this amazing lemon cake with lemon curd and whipped cream.  After I took my first bite I was wishing we had each got our own – I wanted to lick the plate the lemon curd was so good.

After lunch be sure and visit the gift shop that is right next door that is full of beautiful creations made by the students at the school.

I wish a school I had gone to had had a cafeteria this amazing.

Just be prepared – they only take cash!