Besaw’s

Really? Breakfast joint IN PORTLAND OR and NO ESPRESSO? Inconceivable. Food was edible but I literally would never return for breakfast without a latte. Our server was great, however.

$ 13 for a two egg breakfast, I think I’ll take my business elsewhere… I miss the old Besaws :(

Amazing! Always fantastic service and food! One of my favorites. Brunch is the best but also have a wonderful dinner/​dessert menu!

Best brunch in Portland. Salmon scramble, farmer’s scramble, eggs benedict, liege waffles. All awesome, well prepared, and darn tasty. Maybe tastier than the Tasty restaurant brunches. Service has consistently spot on, with helpful recommendations from the servers. The place has the look/​feel of a French bistro, without the attitude or the insane prices. I can’t speak to the dinner served here, but brunch is the way to go at Besaw’s.

Wanted to love it. I had a serious hankering for some fried chicken and a friend recommended we go to Besaws.
The place is gorgeous. Especially the bar. We sat down and quickly realized there was nothing on the menu for our 11 year-​old. Our well-​intentioned waitress tried deconstructing existing dishes to prepare something for her, but it was impossible.
I looked longingly at the bar and asked the waitress to ask the well-​equipped bartender for something citrusy and fizzy. Again, impossible. Sigh.
They got our simple order wrong. Twice.
And the fried chicken? Meh.

My husband made a reservation for six. Rather than a confirmation they asked him to call back; when he did, they stated they didn’t have the reservation. It was a lot of tag calling, which he almost gave up after the third try.
But we made it. The new place is spacious, the hostess was full of energy, and the food was not bad. My husband indicated I may have ordered wrong — gravy and biscuits; along with a side of asparagus soup. He thoroughly enjoyed his omelette along with our friends.
I miss the old Besaw’s menu.

I was deciding between 2 and 3 stars and rounded up. Our family of 6 adults and 2 children went here for Mothers Day lunch. We had a reservation and got in on time. Our waitress was pleasant and our food arrived in a timely manner.
I ordered the Liege waffles and was a little disappointed. They were slightly undercooked and didn’t have the crisp waffle texture I expected. They were served on a tiny plate, maybe to disguise the fact that there was only one waffle. In my estimation not an $ 11.00 serving.
My wife’s chicken sandwich had an excellent bun but only a very small piece of chicken. Very small!
Our grandson got a Mickey Cake, i.e. a Mickey Mouse pancake. That’s all good until you see the ears are black because they are burned. Not a good answer.
Others in our party seemed to be happy with their food.
So in summary, a little overpriced for smaller portions.
Maybe if you are a tourist and want to say you got to go here as part of your Portland experience, it works.
If you live here and are looking for a place to put on your restaurant rotation, I’d consider another place.

The location is great. It’s a beautiful restaurant; it’s big and spacious.
The breakfast burger needs some adjustments. The pork patty was cooked to perfection, but seasoned by a newb. The egg was cooked perfectly, and leaked yolk like you’d expect in a breakfast burger, but it was also seasoned by a newb. The whole breakfast burger didn’t have the layers of seasoning that you need I to. It’s very disappointing because it has very good ingredients, and they’re layered very well, but without salt, all of that is pointless. It was a flavorless combination of meat, fat and bread. I really hope they fix it. Interurban has similar, but smaller breakfast burger/​sandwich. I think they should pay a visit and see how to properly make a breakfast sandwich.
We also had the pancake. It was one of the best pancakes I’ve had. The texture was the winner. It was spongy, soft and just perfect when you chew it.
I’d like to give them another chance; maybe in 6 months or so.

Went for brunch and had a great experience. I was solo, so I got seated fast but there was a pretty decent wait on a Saturday. I sat at the bar and really had lovely morning… mainly because they were playing gangsta rap haha! Service was awesome, as was the food and cocktails. The seasonal mimosa was delicious. I will for sure be back!

Food was great. Had the Reuben and was better than expected. They also accommodated for our 2 year old for getting her food out quick. Very friendly staff and cool atmosphere.
Tip: be prepared to wait 15 – 20 mins on a Saturday brunch outing for a table.

Just went to their new location on 21^st and expected a shorter wait since they are in a new, larger space but was disappointed to still wait almost 45 min for a table for 3. I’m totes ok with waiting for a special experience but I’ve never understood the appeal for mediocre food and mediocre service… and I can report that I’m still quite perplexed. The food is okay, but just okay… I can think of 10 other places with better (and cheaper) food that I’d rather go. Everything we ordered was very sloppily prepared, the eggs weren’t cooked how we asked, the steamed veggies were extremely greasy. Prices do not measure up to the quality. I ended up spending almost $ 40 on breakfast. I won’t go here again unless I have to — in a city like portland it’s hard to understand how such an «ok» restaurant does so well …

I’ve been tracking grass fed burgers around PDX and Beesaw’s got it right in the old place on 23^rd. Good news, it is still right on, on Raleigh and 21^st! We loved the Panzanella salad with chanterelle mushrooms too.
The new place is more open and airy and very roomy and certainly accommodates more diners. We will come back for breakfast and brunch to see if it’s as good as it used to be. And looking forward to it. I would like to see Northwest beers on tap! I’ll vote for IPA!
Our server was very good and responsive. Always checking in on us. They gave a comprehensive description of the dinner specials. But not totally on top of the menu. For instance, I asked if the metal loaf was grass fed beef. They said, oh yea, everything is grass fed. I said, hold on, the brunch burger is black angus. They said oops! Then, they shrugged their shoulders when I asked if veggie’s were organic. Then, I only got the deer-​in-​the-​headlight stare when I wanted to know if the fries were hand-​cut. So it goes. I can not rate a restaurant solely on one server. But I will be back with my questions.
I want to know the sources of everything I eat. I always prefer local and regional farmers (not big industrial chain suppliers) and will not indulge in any CAFO (confined animal feeding operations) meats – better quality, better taste and better health with local farmers using practices that treat the soil well and give love to the animals – and using organic practices if not organic. I am giving my business to restaurants that think like I do! I am finished with my rant. I digress! I get off my soap box now!

With as public a closing and now re-​opening of a landmark dining spot, the expectations were high, I’ll grant you. But the new place just doesn’t match the hype and quality of the old.
Sure, it’s fine to «reinvent» and rework some recipes when moving to a new location. But the current menu is very limited, the food was mediocre, and presentation was bland. The scratch biscuit was delicious, but arrived to the table at room temperature. I like the butter to melt into the biscuit, which didn’t happen.
We visited about 4 weeks after their re-​opening. Hopefully things improve over the next few months. It’ll be a while before I consider returning.

Cool new digs, however in the midst of reopening the restaurant they forgot to revamp their menu/​kitchen and are still serving the same terrible food they served at the old locale. First things, I like the new décor. I’m not one for nostalgia and appreciate the new Art Deco design aesthetic. We also came here on a Monday, which is a fairly quiet day to dine, but found the service to be very good and there didn’t seem to be a problem with the food expedition.
The food, however, was just terrible. I had the huevos and found the messy plate served kind of embarrassing. The eggs were overcooked and served on cold corn tortillas, which tasted like they just came out of the fridge after being stored there for awhile. To add insult to injury a weird cold salsa was thrown on top. It was a hot mess (I suppose technically lukewarm). I also tried the French toast, which was just bizarre. It was the equivalent of a piece of zucchini bread dipped in egg and than cooked in a pan. The whole thing was confusing.
The food was awful, and although I liked the décor, I would never come back here again…

Came here for brunch and got a bloody mary and the two eggs any style (over easy, bacon, roasted veggies). The bloody mary was one of the best I’ve had in PDX, the eggs were cooked well, bacon cooked to crispy perfection, and the veggies were perfectly cooked as well. Very simple dish but each element was done properly. I wasn’t blown away by anything but my order was kind of boring. Get the bloody!

Apparently there was an old besaws. I never got the chance to go to that one. But this one is awesome! Nice atmosphere, staff is wonderful! We came for brunch — bloody Mary’s are bomb! (A little too much pepper). I got the heuvos rancheros! So so good! I recommend. Did I mention the staff rocks? It’s super busy here. Wait was 20 minutes. Worth it.

I was so excited to give the «new» Besaw’s a try, so I met a friend here on a Sunday morning for brunch. We knew there would be a wait, come on it’s Portland, right? But it was a beautiful day today, and we enjoyed waiting outside in the sunshine. We were told it would be about a 45 minute wait, but we were seated in about 30 minutes. *They have plenty of seating outside, and they also serve coffee (self serve) while you wait.
Hostess was really nice and asked if we were okay with two seats at the bar, but we said we’d prefer to wait a few more minutes for a table. We waited no more than 5 more minutes for a great table by the window. Service was also great — our waitress kindly answered my questions for recommendations and refilled our coffee on a regular basis.
I got the Farmer’s Hash and I liked it, but didn’t love it. Nothing was wrong at all with the hash, it was just a matter of personal taste. But the biscuit that came with it was really, really good. I cannot tell you how much I LOVE biscuits… and this was one of the best I have had in Portland. It was flatter than what I would have expected, but flaky, buttery and full of flavor. If you love biscuits, make sure you get one. So, so good.
My friend got the waffles and said they were really good, I would have gotten them too, but I wanted a savory dish for a change. She also got a great cocktail — I wish I could remember the name. It’s on their Brunch menu and it had a base of OJ and it was foamy on top. Delicious. If I hadn’t been driving I would have ordered one (or two). Next time I won’t be driving…
Anyway, I thought they did a great job and I can’t wait to go back for dinner. I used to love the original location, and even though I miss that great space (with the beautiful old bar), I’m so glad they reopened again!

Hey Besaw’s, I hate to rate our experience as ONE Star, but you deserve it — wish I could rate it a ZERO.
A group of three arrived at 11:30 and was informed by the hostess that the wait was 45 minutes. We knew they had recently re-​opened and expected a wait. What the hostess failed to say was that after being seated and placing our order with the most rude waitress, we would wait one HOUR to receive luke warm Farmer’s Hash. Three menu items were sold out including biscuits — which seemed to be a standard on most breakfast items. Instead the hash was served with an English muffin that was so hard none of us could even break it in half. The surrounding tables had the same experience — waiting, waiting, waiting — no food. Not so much as an apology or explanation.
The unfortunate result is that none of us will return, but far worse, we will be telling all of our friends not to dine at Besaw’s.

They have a long ways to go to reinvent themselves and be the great restaurant it once was. I will update my review when I try it again.
Pros
— hash and biscuit were delicious
— honorable customer service where they comp’ed my meal because they lost my order and it took 50 mins to get my food.
Cons
— it took me 50 mins to get my food. This was after lunch at 2pm. It’s disappointing it took so long that they realized they lost a ticket.
— menu is 50% shorter than the old menu. I’ve seen happy hour menus longer.
— it’s a bit pricey for the area. It’s not the Pearl.
— portion is too little for the prices and for an entrée. The portion should be 30−50% more for value. There is a great breakfast place that is 5 blocks away that blows them out of the water
— had to ask for beverage refills
— a table near me had the same issue where the kitchen lost their ticket
— another table near me was waiting for so long, he started turning down coffee refills
— they took away some great dishes from their old menu, such as their forest omelette.
— Ambience is blah. Place had no character.

Infused flavor mimosa is amazing. The décor is beautiful this is defiantly a place I want to take people to. I ordered the burger and substituted for the garlic roasted potatoes. The roasted potatoes look like fries, the garlic flavor is delicious. The service was a bit slow because it was packed, Thursday at 11:30. Our waiter, Lisa was very helpful and informed us before we thought to ask about the wait. She was helpful throughout our entire experience.

Welcome back Besaw’s, how we missed you. Food was great, service was great. Definitely miss the old place but happy to see them back.
Had the Farmer’s Hash and the waffles. Tasty. As I remembered, the scratch biscuit was delicious.

I’ll never understand people who leave extremely negative reviews for businesses within a few days of their grand opening (or reopening, in this case). Are you oblivious, or just being spiteful?
Besaws has been through a lot, and they’ve fought to be here. Any lag with kitchen speed or service in the first couple of weeks is surely not going to be intentional or a sign of complacency. Calm yourself, preferably with a cocktail, before you write a review of your first impressions while they’re just getting up and running again.
I watched the Besaws turf war very closely last spring/​summer and was SO thrilled to see the underdog win this one, to the dismay of the petulant real estate developers who are currently bulldozing the old spot, their original megalomaniacal plans foiled. A few blocks over, the spirit of Besaws is living on, and thriving more than ever.
We stopped in for breakfast this morning, which is now about 5 – 6 days after opening. The new space is just beautiful. Yes, it does have a Pearl-​y air to it, but also a lot of charm. It’s warm and cozy, but bright. The staff are as kind and welcoming as they always were at the original spot. We never felt rushed as we drank strong coffee from familiar mugs and ate breakfast burritos from the same old utensils. The menu has most of the same comfort food plus myriad new (mainly meat-​centric) options. The cocktail list also looked intriguing — can’t wait to come back when it’s not 10am on a Monday.
Welcome back, Besaws! You’ve been so missed.
PS: I have but one request: bring back those incredible oatmeal pancakes or gimme a vegetarian option for that delicious reuben? Pretty, pretty please? *bats eyelashes*

Re-​opening a restaurant seems super duper hard.
Our beloved Besaw’s (been going there 15 years) is off to a rough second act.
First the good:
* They informed us when we arrived that they were running a little behind for reservations. No big deal
* The bar tender we had was great and the drinks were good. She seemed like she knew her stuff.
Now the bad:
* What happened to the menu?
* Our white bottle of wine was delivered warm
* My salad had like 12 leaves of lettuce
* My wife asked what she could eat that was dairy free and the waitress looked at her like she had 2 heads and said, «chef would like butter to be a separate course if he could — you should provide this feedback». Is it 2016? Are we in Portland? The old Besaw’s was super accommodating for stuff like this
* Our food was cold
* The menu is overpriced — particularly given the portions
* The staff seems inexperienced and overwhelmed — guessing most of them are new.
* The atmosphere is off — if you gave me a blind test and asked me after if I was at the new Besaw’s, I’d be very surprised
* The whole bathroom is down a random hall thing in restaurants is a real let down. It takes you completely out of the experience and your mind wanders
We’ll be back in a few months — we love Besaw’s too much to not give them another shot. Here’s to hoping they figure it out.
Besaw’s forever!

I’m writing this review in the hopes that management reads Unilocal and gives some credence to what the customers have to say. The old Besaw’s was the first restaurant I ate at in Portland, and where we went for every special occasion – birthdays, anniversaries, promotions, whatever. Like everyone else, I was devastated to learn it was closing and thrilled to learn it was re-​opening just down the street. My familiarity with the way the restaurant used to be has undoubtedly colored my opinions of the new location. If this were any other random restaurant, I would probably shrug, not return, and not bother to write a review. But given that this is Besaw’s, here goes–
Food (4.5÷5): I’m happy to report the food was excellent. We ordered the roasted beets, chanterelle mushrooms, seared cod, and duck confit. The chanterelle mushrooms were by far my favorite, meaty and rich. The cod was perfectly cooked, but a bit salty.
Service (3.5÷5): What I love about Besaw’s is how genuinely friendly the servers feel, completely unlike the fake-​niceness of a lot of other places. We received our food quickly and weren’t ignored, but the table next to us (who had arrived first) didn’t get their food until we were nearly done. Also, even with a reservation there was a wait, which was irritating.
Ambiance (²⁄₅): It’s decorated well, I guess, but the feel is much more «upscale hotel bar» and much less «favorite neighborhood spot.» My main complaint is how cramped the seating is and how loud the dining room got. The tables at the back of the restaurant, facing Raleigh St, can’t be more than a foot or so apart. I felt like a part of the neighboring table’s conversation and not in a good way.
Pricing (⁰⁄₅): When our first dish, the roasted beets, arrived, we literally laughed out loud. $ 5 for a few chunks of beets at the bottom of a comically oversized bowl. $ 8 for a saucer of thinly sliced mushrooms. $ 27 for a small piece of cod and a handful of tiny potatoes? I’m not here to pig out, but the price: portion ratio felt like a slap in the face. Setting this new place up couldn’t have been cheap, and it looks like it’s being covered by tiny, expensive portions. Hand painted wallpaper and crystal chandeliers are great and all, but I wish they’d skimped on that and not the food. I am VERY disappointed. I’d expect pricing to be a good 25% lower given the serving sizes.
I don’t want to give up on Besaw’s, and I hope that these are just growing pains. I’ll return in the summer… hopefully they’ll have smoothed out the service and adjusted their pricing.

5 days in and the place is doing just fine! *Accommodating
*elegant
*tasty eats
*quick service
*not the same but still great
*dinner service
*more room!
All you Unilocalers get out and support this 100+ year restaurant. If I was gonna ask for anything it would be MORE beers, especially on tap.

The two stars for this review are earned by the waiter. He was kind and courteous and obviously frustrated by the kitchen. We expected to wait and had a walk around the neighborhood (waited ~1.5 hours). At first, it was exciting to see Besaw’s open again, however, after sitting down we noticed the menu was quite different with higher prices and I saw neighboring tables receive very small portions with lackluster presentation. Once we had waited 45 minutes for our food, it was served cold. My burger was completely raw in the center and the roasted potatoes had seen better days. My wife’s plate was equally cold, albeit edible. If I were to come back, I would like the old Besaw’s menu to be reinstated instead of suddenly switching everything into much lower value food with below average performance from the kitchen. If switching the menu is the desire, at least adjust portions and work out the bugs. Past experience tells me they can do better and I won’t come back anytime soon.

Here’s how it went down: we expected a long wait since it was the re-​opening weekend. We were told that the wait would be one hour and it was two before we were eventually seated. We ordered right away and waited 45 minutes for our food. The French toast was great but my potatoes were cold. My husband’s burrito was decent but overall really tiny portions. The wait staff was nice, but they misled us the entire time in saying that our wait would be shorter than it was. Also we were surprised that they didn’t acknowledge the long wait for our food, nor offer to comp us even the smallest thing-​that would have gone a long way. The thing is, we live in Portland where we are surrounded with incredible options and some of the best restaurants in the country. That’s why next time we’ll be going somewhere else. It’s not worth it, sorry Besaws. Very disappointing.

My son and I went to have breakfast and will not be returning.
First the good… the waiter remembered my name, even as we left.
Now the not so good… Very few breakfast choices.
At least 50% more like 75% over priced (six inch pancakes at $ 4/​ea, two eggs, two slices of bacon, about ½ cup potatoes and no toast, $ 14)
Had to ask each time we wanted a coffee refill. Is it their way to say, «You have overstayed your welcome.»?
Though waffles are on the menu could not get a «Plain Waffle.
As my son commented on the new location… «In 100 years this location will not have any ambiance near what the old Besaw’s had.» Welcome to Yuppy, Pearl District PDX.

The chandeliers, the wallpaper, the glistening old school vibe… Our friendly, kind, personable waitress who was entirely unperturbed by the dense business of this afternoon brunch time… kind smiles and attention from the owner, Cana, who is clearly giving this place her every bit of attention to make it the best it can possibly be (and succeeding). I just enjoyed by far the best roasted potatoes and scrambled eggs I’ve had since these guys shuttered to move to this extraordinary new location. You can tell a lot about a place by how they craft the simple things. Portion sizes were great. We were very well tended to by our waitress and her support staff. My momma had the farmers hash, which came with a big fluffy biscuit she slathered with their homemade marionberry jam. I really missed that jam while it was gone.
I’m particularly excited to go back for the chard and goat cheese frittata, waffles with caramel and lemon curd, cider braised oatmeal, and to see my husband experience chicken fried beef cheek or a meatloaf sandwich (on a biscuit. Yum.) which I will do while sipping bubbles with some sort of delectable seasonal reduction (especially, when that means raspberries) and pretending I’m a little fancier than I am. Not that you need to be fancy, here… that’s one of the best parts. This is a beautiful yet comfortable place with excellent food in which you could have a fancy dinner or a cozy brunch, however you like.
Perhaps even more than brunch, somehow, I’m excited to drift back for a seat at the bar in the late evening hours to sample their menu of carefully crafted adult beverages. I hope their butterscotch pudding is still on the menu.
It’s wonderful to see this institution revived as a version of itself far greater than it was before. Besaws, I am so glad you’re home.

Good farmers style earthy fare, very yum. Move décor. Farmer’s hash is great and can be made without bacon. Have patio for summer

Besaw’s is back in NW PDX, in a new fabulous location at the corner of NW 21^st and NW Raleigh St, close to the New Season’s grocery store.
I went to a preview dinner last night in the new location, a more urbane and glamorous 2.0 version which accommodates larger numbers of dining clientele, yet still exudes the old Besaw’s warm, cozy vibe with cushy booths, interior wood touches, beautiful hand designed wallpaper and their signature heart felt service. And a large patio will offer al fresco dining this Spring and Summer.
We shared the Chanterelle Stuffed Quail with quince and caramelized parsnips. Melt in your mouth goodness. I highly recommend getting this dish as an appetizer or stand alone «small plate» entrée.
My friend ordered the Seared Black Cod with smoked potatoes, again another delicious choice. The skin on the cod was crispy, the interior perfectly cooked, and the smoked potatoes gave it just a hint of an elegant outdoor cookout.
I couldn’t decide between the Porchetta or the boneless Fried Chicken with cheddar bacon waffle, sausage gravy and wilted greens. I chose the Fried Chicken and will have to return for the Porchetta another time.
The Fried Chicken was moist and flavorful as was the crisp waffle (the way I like ‘em). The gravy complemented the chix and waffle w/​o overwhelming them, and the greens had just the right amount of vinegar to offset the richness of the dish.
We ended with a piece of the legendary chocolate cake and a slice of the carrot cake. Both fab.
Cocktails and wine are well curated.
Kitchen staff are rock solid, so I imagine anything on the menu would be delightful.
We waddled home completely satisfied. The Besaw’s redo has hit it out of the ballpark. Make a reservation to get in ASAP for brunch or dinner.