Marrakesh! Oasis of Moroccan Delight!

I have been hearing about this restaurant for a few years now, and eventually found that I HAD to check it out due to all of the rumblings about how unique, cool or different it is. Well, this was my first time eating Moroccan food, and I have to say it was delightful.

Marrakesh is a quaint little eat on the corner of:

1201 NW 21st Ave Portland, OR 97209-1608 - (503) 248-9442

This is a Moroccan establishment, so if you are new to that type of food you are in for a treat! The servers bring five courses and the presentation is great. Prior to each course, the servers bring a hand washing station so that you may clean your hands, which is also pretty unique and fun for a first date.

The server was very attentive and made sure that our needs were cared for at all points during the meal. I believe the most interesting thing about how this place is setup is the fact that you actually sit on pillows. This may be rather odd to some, but I found it very cool and rather fun. I know that some patrons may have issues sitting on a pillow which offers similar support to say a fitness body ball; however, they do have traditional seating as well for the faint at heart.

I would say that the food is great, the service is great, and the atmosphere is a total romantic getaway to take any lady friend or even to bring a large group for a new experience.

I did go on a Tuesday evening during the 'dinner rush' and I no problems whatsoever getting a seat almost immediately. This is a huge bonus when checking out a new hip place to go.

Food quality: Good

Price: Spendier than some NW 21st spots, but worth the difference

Service: AMAZING! Very ATTENTIVE

Attitude: Thank you for giving us the chance to serve you tonight!

Final Conclusion: This place ROCKS! Go back and bring friends.

Apizza Scholls... PIZZA FASCISM Alive in the Portland!

Tonight i tried a new place that i had heard some rave yet odd reviews of called Apizza Scholls.

4741 Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard
Portland, OR 97215-3249
(503) 233-1286

I have heard the following things about this place in recent months. Good food, odd practices. 'Similar to the Soup Nazi' Now as I live and breathe I love good food, so when I hear there is good food in town my ears perk up. However I was a bit puzzled by the second quip, 'odd practices?' Indeed.

First off they are open from 5 pm to 9:30 pm or whenever they are 'out of dough'.. this is also puzzling as well as angering as they appear to have a 'no to go' order policy as it 'may make them run out of dough'. Now whats the point of running a restaurant with such restrictive practices that your customers feel like they are at the DMV waiting for Pizza? I made the mistake of not being there patiently waiting at 4:45 pm when they allow the golden lucky in for their seats. Myself and my friend and his father wandered in at 7:30. We were out about 9:30. I wouldn't have a problem with this if we had been seated say... within the first 60 minutes... but alas that was not the case.

When we finally were seated I ordered a salad for the table as my stomache was eating itself after the wait. Despite their capable server bringing the wrong pizza to us I was relieved to notice so quickly rather than eat the wrong pizza after waiting for so long. It obviously had Jalapeños on it a topping I had vehemently vetoed while selecting a half Meatball and half Margaretta pizza... so after our pie was delivered I got to try it. Well... I can not deny that it was good pizza, however I could easily say that I have had better pizza at three other Portland Pie shops... more on that later.

Food quality- Good.

Price- High

Service- Adequate

Attitude Less than helpful with a hint of 'We sniff our own farts here'

Final Conclusion Apizza Scholls has good pizza, there is better pizza to be had for much less strain in Portland, and if you want a cheap eat hit up Roventes for a 7.99 XL Cheese that will melt your mouth... Roventes is on 32nd and SE Hawthorne for the curious.