Every year we get the pleasure of reading about all of the ‘best’ restaurants in town.  The Oregonian and Willamette Week bless us with their ideas of which restaurants really stand out for one reason or another.  I am not here to judge their results, or the qualifications of those doing the judging (sounds like I just did), but rather to point out a glaring omission.

Best burger

They like to put things in these articles like, “which restaurant has the best burger,” or “which place has the best breakfast,” or ‘”best bar.”  Those things are great, everyone is looking for a new burger to try, and Portland has always, for whatever reason, had a shortage of good breakfast joints.  And who doesn’t want to know about good bars?

What about the service?

Excuse me, again, for being the restaurant service tattletale, but c’mon!  Why do we continue to ignore this ultra-important element?  Yes, the food at these mentioned places is often very good, but I have also been disappointed with some of the service.  Even at the ‘restaurant of the year’. (This is in no way a reaction to any recent choices).

I would like to propose to The Oregonian, Willamette Week, (even the Mercury or the Southeast Examiner if I thought it would make a difference), that they set aside a section in their restauarant guides paying a little attention to service.

I’d eat there

I would be willing to bet that I am not the only one who feels this way.  There are a number of customers out there who would chose a restaurant based on this criteria over a ‘cooler’ restaurant.  This is not L.A.  People don’t just go to restaurants so they can be seen, or so they can say that they ate at the newest, ‘hot’ place.  Some of them actually go to have a good time.

What do you say Oregonian?  Willamette Week?  Is it possible that we could see this service section in future restaurant guides?  I won’t hold my breath.