Le Vieux

Amazing food!
This tiny place is a real hidden champion in portlands resto landscape.
Flavorful, fresh and delicious dishes!
Laid back atmosphere!
I will come again

This restaurant is up a flight of steps in a nicely redone house (which has seen several restaurants) on a corner of Vaughn Street. Parking is easy. It’s a quiet place, yay. Please do not wreck this if you like to shriek in restaurants! We had a good dinner here: cocktails (creative and tasty), several appetizers: a beet soup and a bright, original salad with bulgar and quinoa. We ordered the half-​chicken with a parsnip purée and grilled romaine. Dessert was fantastic — beignets. It was obvious that the chef really, really knows his stuff. No vegetarian main course option, though.

Summary: Poor service, not children friendly, good food. We went for family brunch and had a disappointing experience because of very poor service. We were 3 adults, our 2 year old boy and sleeping baby girl and it seemed the waiter didn’t care for children. I’ve never felt this unwelcome in any Portland restaurant. The waiter was spending lots of time at other tables but never asked our order (we had to instigate both for food and drink) and was very short with us throughout the visit. Even though Le Vieux is around the corner from us and the food was tasty we will never return.

There are many wonderful eating places in Portland and Le Vieux is more than wonderful. The food is delicious and not what one usually finds. The menu changes on a regular basis and each time it does, something new becomes one of my favorites. Lunch recently became an offering. Yesterday, I had a fried chicken sandwich which came with a cabbage salad. The salad dressings never disappoint. That goes for soups as well. Desserts are excellent. Yesterday’s was homemade ice cream with an orange caramel sauce. The service is always top drawer and the owners, Annette and Brian make the place very comfortable. Don’t just take my word for it. Eat there once and you’ll return often like I have.

This gorgeous place deserves five more stars. I’m so happy we got to dine here for New Year’s Eve. The owner is a chic and warm woman who accommodated my last minute change from a two to a four top table. The décor is on point. The service is excellent, even when slammed. And the food… simply done right. The seafood shines. The meat is pure comfort. We overstayed and were last to leave. So sorry to keep the staff waiting but it was hard to leave. Magical night. Xo

Great new spot for brunch! Fantastic food, excellent service, and no lines for brunch! Will definitely be back!

I had such a lovely Saturday brunch here with a girlfriend this weekend. I almost didn’t want to write a review because I wanted to keep this gem to myself! Menu is well-​cultivated; you will absolutely find something delicious to eat, but it’s not pages long. Annette is a wonderful server, knowledgeable about every plate that comes out of the kitchen as well as their equally limited but excellent wine list. We shared the ricotta pancakes, the soup, I had the Ling cod and my friend had the steak and eggs. We shared a dessert, drank too much (ask Annette about her limoncello), and had a generally lovely time. Go with friends, go on a date, bring your parents here! It’s open and airy and not at all pretentious. Enjoy!

Average. There are much better Mediterranean restaurants in PDX. We had the Chicken Tagine and it was on the dry side. The veggies were good, not great. Service was fine. Nothing to write home about overall. The MEC and Levant are much better mediterranean restaurants IMO.

After the unbelievable Madonna concert last night, this is where we ended up for brunch this morning since it was right by our hotel (Silver Cloud Inn) & had good reviews on Unilocal.Lemon Ricotta pancakes with huckleberries inside & topped with lemon curd… there should be a name other than «pancakes» for these little, fluffy, delicious things that melt in your mouth. We also tried the scone (yum) & each had an egg dish that was unique & tasty (omelet & the skillet dish which included white beans, kale & sausage). Also the Fig Mimosa and the Moroccan Mary (very interesting spin on a Bloody Mary) were amazing. HIGHLY recommend for brunch (10 – 2 Saturday/​Sunday) & we were seated immediately with no reservation! Go go go!!! P. S. We found Annette to be informative & very kind and we wish her all the best with her wonderful restaurant!

Incredible food! Everything dish is a gourmet experience along with unique internationally flared drinks.
Annette is delightful and the atmosphere is warm and inviting. Top choice for Sunday brunch.

Wonderful French-​Mediterranean place with very flavorful food.
We went to this place for dinner and liked the small dimly lit ambience of the place as soon as we entered. We ordered the octopus for the appetizer course and then ordered the pork osso buco and half chicken for the supper. The octopus had some greens and a tomato based sauce, which when had together was very good.
The Pork Osso Buco was very well cooked and tender. The white beans with the pork were very good and complemented it very well. The real star of the meal for me was the half chicken. It was very flavorful and the taste had percolated all the way inside. But, the skin was especially tasty. The garnishing with the corn was also very tasty. I would definitely recommend the chicken and pork both.
Tip: they seem to change there menu so if you are looking for sown thing specific checking might be a good option

We had long admired Le Vieux on our way home and decided to visit for breakfast. We used Open Table to make a reservation for noon on a Saturday. We walked in and but for two tables, the place was empty.
My wife greeted as we entered saying that we had a reservation. The woman who met us (Annette, the owner as we now realize) appeared to grimace, and curtly told us to follow her.
We sat down and examined the menu she had briskly handed out to us silently. She returned after a long while and asked us what we’d like to eat. I told her the three breakfast items we had settled on. She left without asking if we wanted anything to drink.
We love eating out in Portland and have some firm favorites. Nothing sinks a place in our book like unfriendly demeanors. Why is it so difficult to be nice to be people who are choosing to spend their money at an establishment and make them feel welcome?
I got up and found Annette and told her I wanted to cancel our order and that we were leaving. I could see she was bewildered so I explained that we’d prefer not to eat at a place that was not welcoming.
To her credit she wished me a nice day.
Bummer really since it is so local to where we live. We went for a scrumptious (and friendly) breakfast at the Daily Café where we return often.

We stumbled onto Le Vieux one late afternoon and discovered a hidden gem. The owner, Annette ran a business in my hometown (San Francisco) and immediate made a connection.
We made a reservation for a few days later and brought our 10 & 11 year old daughters.
Annette greeted us with a warm smile and seated us. Our waiter John was a pleasure, warm, nice, gentle man who made us feel at home as we had been guest for years.
The quality of the food was very good, as was the service. Too bad we had to go back home the next day or we would have gone back. So next time we are in town, we will surely visit again.
Frank Melis
Golden Gate Wine Cellars
San Francisco

Great little brunch spot in the NW 23^rd district. I had the lemon ricotta pancakes with a maple-​honey syrup which was outstanding. 5 stars for that. For the main brunch dish I got the lamb meatballs skillet… taste wise it was excellent, but for 15 $ they could have given more than 2 measly meatballs… so in terms of value for money I was a bit disappointed.

OMG, this is a real French bakery Patisserie. The quiche was fabulous. The croque mon sur was amazing. You must try this place.

We stayed at the Silver Cloud Inn just next door and didn’t want to walk too far for dinner. We stumbled upon Le Vieux and we couldn’t have been happier. It was on a Wednesday night, so it wasn’t busy at all. The service was prompt and attentive and we order the Pot Au Feu and Saffron/​Ginger chicken. I worry a bit with French style cooking in that it can often be heavy, but no at Le Vieux. The food was light, yet so filling, and flavors very well thought out. Another concern that we had was portion sizes being too small. No such concern here. The Pot Au Feu was so filling and the half chicken, was, well… half a chicken.
Cocktails were great and so enjoyable. Try the Ciao Bella. It doesn’t look like a lot and is on the sweet side, but it was oh so good. We could have had that as a dessert.

Wow! It’s tough to get 5 stars outta my tightly sealed star container… Yet Le Vieux deserves it. Two of us had brunch. The menu was so inviting, we had to order lots and share them all. Everything from the warm vanilla and orange whole wheat scone with rhubarb jam, through the 4 or 5 other dishes we ate, was wonderful. A pairing of ingredients and balance of flavors only achieved by great professionals.
I have to mention the best brunch dish I’ve eaten in a very long time… Poached eggs atop (cloudlike) polenta and chard all blanketed with a white wine braised rabbit sauce. Phenomenal.
If I had a criticism it would be that the cocktail was so chock full of ice that it ended up being a pretty small drink for the price. But there’s always 1 thing you can find, no matter what restaurant you’re in.
One of the top new restaurants in town. In a traditionally tough location. Let’s get the word out people…

I had a great dining experience here with my two girlfriends, one of whom brought her baby. Annette, I believe, greeted us warmly and welcomed my friend’s little one with open arms. I started with a cocktail, a vespa, and easily one of my favorite drinks in the city. I followed it with a cassoulet, perfectly cooked and perhaps a little salty if I were to offer any criticisms, but I would certainly order it again. Can’t wait to try out their brunch!

Fantastic new French-​Mediterranean place in Alphabet District. Go now before the Portland crowds get there. Started with the lemon ricotta pancakes. Three small, delicious pancakes filled with blueberry compote. Perfect start. Main course was spicy lamb sausage with clams and harissa. The sausage was perfectly done and there were a few dozen clams in there. Also tried the cauliflower puttanesca which was really tasty. Had their orange scone for dessert. The scone was crispy and the right amount of sweet, but the accompanying rhubarb sauce was absolutely knockout. And of course it’s made in house.

Love the idea of the restaurant. They have just opened for business as of 4 days ago and are still working out the kinks. The restaurant has been started by a couple with history of restaurant in San Francisco. They have a great idea of themed menus and rotating menus with the season in mind.
They have started with a Moraccan menu. The service was wonderful and very knowledgeable about the menu. We started with the fried feta which was dry and the feta was cold — expected a more flavor and was hard to believe that it was under seasoned. The flat bread was good, but needed some seasoning too. We then moved onto the morgues sausage and Kumamoto oysters. The oysters were a little gritty– needed a little better cleaning. The sausage had me completely baffled — did not feel that the saltiness of the sausage added anything to this dish. Seemed very disjointed.
The savior of this meal was the entrees. The short rib confit was very nice and prepared well. The lamb Tagine with couscous was very aromatic and had a definite wonderful winter hardiness. It would have been nice to have a little more lamb, but with the favors this is forgivable.
Wonderful French press coffee service and don’t miss the Orange honey donuts.
Overall, we will give it another try — they are working out the bumps. Loved the new space.