Michael Eats Oregon - Jo Restaurant and Bar

Located on 23^rd St. of Portland, Oregon, Jo Restaurant and Bar offers a welcome distraction from the touristy streets and shopping of the city in the summer. Jo features both outside and inside seating, a full gourmet menu, and full bar. The inside of the restaurant is quite nice, if not that intimate, sporting more of an open feel. We were sat by the hostess at a booth with a nice window and set ourselves to perusing the menus. I had had a hankering for a Bloody Mary all day long and so decided to order their special roasted ancho chili El Diablo Bloody Mary. The only problem was that we had no server. We waited for 10 minutes before our server got to the table. This was quickly explained away, as the server had just arrived for her shift, but really people, the hostess could have taken a drink order. I’m happy to sit around for 20 minutes if I have a drink in my hand.

When the server did show up she explained to us that we were still in Happy Hour and so we could either order off the dinner menu or off the Happy Hour menu. It so happens that the Happy Hour menu is the same as the dinner menu except that each entrée is about ½ the size and everything is ½ the price. This sealed the deal for me, as I had been debating with myself over whether to go with just the crab cake salad and have both the crab cake salad and the French onion soup. This was especially fortuitous as I do not like to let a French onion soup go untried.

Later than sooner our drinks arrive, yet another strike against the place. My El Diablo Bloody Mary was out of this world! It was, hands down, the best Bloody Mary I have ever had; it was spicy, smoky, full of alcohol, NOT full of tomato guck, and the rim was coated in coarse tasty grains of rock salt. This was definitely a drink worth waiting for, but in a perfect world, or a Connoisseur’s world, one would not have had to wait.

The food showed up presently and I was very impressed with the French onion soup. It came in a small decorative crock (as this was the Happy Hour version) whose top was coated in perfectly browned cheese. Taking a spoonful of the broth I was rewarded with the condensed flavors of caramelized onions, thyme, pepper, a beef stock; just what one is looking for in French onion soup. Stirring up my soup from the bottom I let service a mass of onion which had soaked thoroughly in the broth. All in all, one of the better versions of this classic dish I’ve had. My crab cake salad was quite good, though I have had better. The crab cake, which was medium sized as crab cakes go, sat atop a pile of lightly tossed field greens and was topped with avocado. The crab cake was light and delicious, but in my opinion lacked the large lumps of crab meat and flavorful spices I’ve found in cakes on the east coast.

Everything said and done, Jo Restaurant and Bar was a good choice. The food and drinks (especially the drinks) were superior, but I do wonder about the quality of their service. It is possible I arrived on a fluke day and that usually their wait staff is top notch, but this is not what I experienced. If I were you, I would stop in during Happy Hour, get yourself an appetizer and entrée and enjoy the most heavenly Bloody Mary on earth.