Nutshell Restaurant

I live in the neighborhood and have passed by Nutshell many times and thought ""what an interesting looking place."" I'm a congenital carnivore, so I was pretty disappointed to learn it was a vegan restaurant. A friend invited me out to try it and I reluctantly accepted. OH. MY. GOD. It was incredible. Every course was leisurely, well-presented and (most importantly) absolutely delicious. The vichyssoise and lasagna were the best. I'm a believer! My new favorite restaurant mos def. Pros: Food so delicious you'll forget it's good for you Cons: They don't offer all-you-can-eat ;-) more

I am vegan and have been so for nearly 10 years. I always thought it was so strange that San Francisco had Millennium, Seattle had Cafe Flora, and Portland had nothing in the way of high end vegan dining (I would like to make one small exception for Khun Thai which is wonderful and vegan friendly but not explicitly vegan cuisine). And here comes the change. Nutshell is in the newly renovated/gentrified NE Portland with fantastic food, a fun atmosphere, and (from my experience) a lovely wait staff. I had the raw lasagna which was truly a feat in raw cooking - very flavorful and actually left me full. The dessert empanada was wonderfully flavored. My only regret is that I went there for lunch which did not have the Jamaican BBQ or the Maple Chocolate tart on the pared down menu. I also had a deliciously icy Vermont Maple Smoothie. Not only was the wait staff very sweet and helpful but the cook even poked his head out while we were eating to ask for the thumbs up/thumbs down review. Needless to say, it was two thumbs up. Pros: Amazing Food, Lovely people Cons: Tiny olive oil servings more

One word: Amazing. Pros: Different food served in a very tasty fashion/great service/reasonable prices Cons: nothing! more

In a nutshell, Nutshell rocked. I went there recently on a Saturday night for a friends birthday. There were 8 of us, and we were all having dessert. The wait was about 25 minutes. While we waited, we wandered freely about the back of the restaurant where some very cool art work is displayed. The chef had come out to show some customers some 155 grain flour, he invited us to see and smell the mixture aswell, and he was very eager to share information about menu items throughout our service. When we were seated, one of the managers, Jason, apologized for the wait and said he needed to get a count of the desserts they had left because they were running low on some things, and he knew we were there for a birthday. About 5 minutes later he came back with the chef, Sean, and some free dessert wine for the birthday girl. Both Jason and Sean were very apologetic again for the wait, and Sean said, 'Don't worry we'll take care of you, you'll get all the cookies we have left!' , he then gave us a rundown of each dessert. About 5 minutes later Jason came back and took our order. When he brought the desserts out, he brought out the 2 cookies he had left plus our orders. I had some of the Maple Chocolate Tart, which had a very smooth and delicious ganache(most likely dairy-less) and tasty crust. It was so rich I couldn't believe it. Chef Sean checked on us one last time and brought out the last two desserts they had left, a Jamaican Pone, which looked and smelled awesome, and he thanked us for coming in. When we got our check they'd comp'd a number of items, apparently because our wait was longer than they would have liked and because they ran out of cookies, these guys know customer service! Nutshell is definitely a place worth recommending and returning to. This place serves a vegan menu, not everyone in our party was vegetarian let alone vegan, and there were no complaints. Great menu, great space, great staff. Pros: Everything, Food, Customer Service, Fun Space Cons: Nothing more

A vegetarian friend of mine brought me to Nutshell. They offer not only vegan food, but raw food as well, and all without the use of tofu or other meat substitutes. The food was fantastic. Everything we tried have amazing and innovative flavor combinations. The potato pancakes were very good. The raw lasagna was absolutely amazing: ever since having it, I crave it on occasion. I highly recommend the salad of grilled romaine. You?ll never want romaine that isn?t grilled ever again! You could imagine all the dishes being the vegetarian option at a trendy, up-scale restaurant. Pros: Amazing food Cons: service, prices more

I really wanted to like this place because I had heard about the menu and the chef and wanted to try it out. We came in for dinner around 6:30pm on a Wednesday and waited some time before the server even acknowledged us. He didn't seem to have any sense of urgency about him even though the place was starting to fill up and he didn't even come by to say something like, ""I'll be with you in just a moment "" which would have been great. When he finally took our order, he seemed annoyed at us and was not very friendly at all and sort of abrupt. Also, he had on a dirty looking t-shirt and apron and it seemed that the rest of the staff also took to this way of dressing, which really turns me off. He also never checked on us once to ask how we were doing and our dirty plates stayed on the table for much too long. The food was very good for the most part, and I really liked the Jamaican BBQ, but I just wish the service was up to the standards of the food, which seems very thoughtful and unique. Just because it's a casual restaurant does not mean that the service can't be professional. It also doesn't mean that the servers can't wear clean clothes either. The space has that industrial chic thing going on which I love and it would be interesting to see the space when it's more finished, but unfortunately we won't be going back. Pros: Great Jamaican BBQ, cool space Cons: Terrible Service more

My family went here last night. All of our entrees were either burnt or bland and all of it was way over-priced, not to mention over-hyped. This was truly one of the worst dining experiences I have ever had. The flavors are mismatched as if some post-modern hippie chef is exacting vengeance on accepting omnivores. The atmosphere is loud, the food is lousy; however, the server was very nice and gave us free deserts (which were also underwhelming) and a bottle of wine for our troubles. Don't go here--Paradox is far superior and they don't fear tofu! Pros: They Have Beer Cons: Over Priced and Tasteless more

It was obvious when we walked into Nutshell, that they are still working on the furnishings (in need of a waiting area, other than the stoop). However, I loved the open-aired/industrial/urban/organic feel of this place. The wait staff (which happened to be a delicious array of attractive men), where very friendly and attentive. The menu (vegan) is eclectic, but delish and adventurous. I really enjoyed the cheap price for a glass of wine! Anybody looking for a yummy and cool vegan place, this is it. Be prepared for some.....errr...many items being 86'd. Growing pains has left them with a lack of some plates towards the end of the night. I was unable to try any of their special micro greens, because they sold out. I will definately go back!!! But in a month or two. Let them work out some of the kinks and allow the overpowered saffron burdock root time to mellow. Try the 100 grain bread!! Pros: Yummy flavors, portion size was big! cheap price, funky atmosphere and attractive staff Cons: Didn't enjoy the lack of certain items and having to wait for my table on the stoop. more

This place has some unique ideas like the olive/salt/bread bar, but what really does it for us is the flavors.I am not vegan but I love the excellent combination of the flavors and the way they play in my mouth. First rate food in my opinion. Pros: Flavor, Unique, Healthy Cons: Slower Service more

Nutshell has a great variety of vegan foods, very different from your run-of-the-mill vegetarian/vegan options. It took us awhile to decide on just one dish! Micro salad was very tasty (sample of 5 with the lemon olive oil), grilled pineapple sandwich was delicious, and the raw lasagna (which looked like a pretty pile of vegetables) was SO flavorful! To top it all off we tried the porter chocolate cake... so dense and delicious. The food was fantastic, the atmosphere is cute (carniverous plants decorate the place while the humans all munch on vegan food...), service was friendly. The kitchen is right in the open, too, so you can watch all of the other pretty, yummy food come flying out. My only complaint is that the service was very slow and a bit less attentive than I would have liked, but I can cut them a break there for being new, hopefully that will improve with time. Definitely worth trying this new little N. Portland restaurant! Pros: Great food, good value, friendly service Cons: Slow service more