V.Q. (Veritable Quandary)
1220 SW 1st Ave Portland, OR 97204Phone: (503) 227.7342
Located in: Downtown Portland - Visit Website
BarFly's Review of V.Q. (Veritable Quandary)
While the Vertiable Quandary’s name suggests some shambling campus alehouse(since neighboring PSU has still nothing resembling the same), it’s really more of a restaurant - a casually refined restaurant featuring seasonal NW cuisine with a glass-walled dining room and much-flowered patio; the sort of place forever dotting suburbs of privilege but somehow transplanted this disused stretch of downtown.
A lovely setting with rustic brick and high ceilings and a vintage atmosphere seemingly predating its 35 years, and the young professionals flipping through the sizable wine list those few days one could appreciate the garden certainly seem happy, there’s always a few aging businessmen propping up the long bar, but wouldn’t the grad-student pub have made more sense.
BarFly Bus, Carafe, Champion's, Hidden East, Lotus Cardroom, Morton's Steakhouse, Open Bar, Ron Jeremy's Club Sesso, Up Front
Been twice, both times the staff was exceptionally rude. They really get uppity if the number in your party varies by even a single person from your reservation (like 11 vs 12 is a big difference). They took forever, then asked us if we were ready to leave because they had people waiting for our table - and we were going to order dessert, but they blew that big time. $12 for a burger, everything else is pricier, all for average food. Avoid at all costs.
Food: Superb. Ambiance: excellent. Service: Slow. Prices: OK for NY, but probably a bit high for Portland, although not dramatically so. Overall: Very good.
Great place on a warm summer day to have a drink. Skip the meal and go someplace else as the food is marginal and the prices are a bit much. Guess the added cost if for the location.
I nearly always like what I order here. The only problem is that the ever changing menu can sometimes have a poor selsction depending on the day. Small complaint though because otherwise this is a great place.
this place is a waste of time and money. went there for brunch; overpriced entrees, virtually nonexistent server. whomever was bussing the table next to us was very kind and attentive. as for our actual server...to be honest, i don't even remember who he was, as he couldn't be arsed to help us.
Huh? That is my biggest gripe. We went today at 4:30 pm, and paid $6 for a drink? They don't even have food specials. Yes, it's a nice bar. Sure, the service is okay (although the frost on the waitress only abated when it was time for us to fill in the tip line on our credit card slip). And the food is alright -- a little busy, but I guess people want to see at least 10 ingredients listed when they're paying over $25 for an entree (here's a tip: not everything needs gremolata).
I'd give it a resounding C-.
