Oba Restaurante

Nice resturant in the Pearl. Lots of seating (including outside seating) and nice atmosphere. Gretting setting for Lunch and happy hour. Cocktails ... more

The Happy Hour is the best! Ask for bread because...YUM!! The coconut prawns have the perfect sweet mango dip and the queso fundito is sinful in a good way. Oh yeah. If you want to bump elbows go on first Thurs or a weekrnd, but I prefer mellow Sundays. Cheers! The service is always pretty good and the bartenders are some of the best around! :) Pros: happy hour Cons: sometimes they close more

I read some negative reviews, so when I was going to go with work friends, I was prepared to be disppointed. Honestly, we had a terrific time, the coconut shrimp with the sweet and sour sauce was amazing and the happy hour food was fairly priced and really good. When I was there the first time, we found out that they served Happy Hour all day Sunday, and have been regulars ever since. I love the blackberry margarita and enjoy the staff, and have always had outstanding service there. more

I really think this place had gone downhill. What used to be good food and great drinks has descended into a trendy spot to been seen, without any care to the food or service. For the quality of the food, I can think of a dozen other places I would rather go. more

Went to Oba for the first time - I was really looking forward to this place. Since so many people commented 'how great' this place is. I was VERY DISAPPOINTED with my experience: 1) Our waiter was rude, not friendly and had no sense of humor or personality. He was slow at getting us drinks or anything else we wanted. 2) The food is WAY over priced. I had ordered the shrimp and scallop tamale dish - they skimped on the seafood but made sure you had enough tamale and rice to fill you up. Pros: Great atmosphere and location in the Pearl District. Cons: Service needs improvement! more

I was not blown out of the water, but I really hoped that I would be. We sat in the first come first serve bar area of the restaurant (full menu) and it was quite loud compared ot the restaurant area. We made a mistake and didn't order entrees, but instead had a trio of tapas style apps. The ceviche combo was really good, but the tiny little piles of fish were dwarfed by the tortilla chips they were served with. I think they added the chips just to mask the fact that they were skimping on the $14 ceviche plate. We also had the quesadillas, which were delicioso but rather small. We loved loved the house salad and pondered the entire time how we could recreate its freshness and tastiness at home. Pros: Yummy margarita, great location Cons: Tiny plates, a little too muc bar-scene for me more

Going on a sunday you generally don't think the happy hour will be as good as your friends tell you it will be...I was amazed. This place had the candle sconces all lit up, really fun looking bathrooms and the whole layout was just tip top. Get a reservation though! I'm glad our friends decided to do that. THe bar area is where its happening though. The passionfruit margarita is amazing! and only 3.75?!! The coconut prawns with a spicey sweet sauce were delicious! Oba is a great place to end the weekend right. Pros: ambiance, happy hour, attentive waitstaff, great food Cons: parking (c'mon its the pearl!) more

It's always easy to write a bad review so I try to take the time to give kudos to those that deserve it. The food here is great. My favorite is the macadamia encrusted swordfish and the seared ahi with a mango salsa. The drinks aren't very strong and you can pound down four or five of them and not worry about driving home and you certainly pay for them so that needs some work. The service has always been good, friendly, accomodating and timely. Great happy hour spot and the 30-something seen. Enjoy! Pros: great food Cons: ok drinks more

I went to Oba's yesterday for my 21st birthday. It was the surprise place my boyfriend took me. I was really pleased with the atmosphere when we walked in and excited to be there. It didn't take long for my birthday to be ruined. I had my Washington driver's license renewed 2 days before and had a paper copy because they mail your hard copy to you. I brought along my expired hard copy just in case. With two forms of legal id, they still wouldn't accept it and refused to serve me. I had only wanted one drink to celebrate my rite of passage. To try to smooth things over they offered a complimentary appetizer which I didn't have any when I saw the puddle of grease in the center of tortilla chips. I ordered the mahi mahi, which I enjoyed but it did seem slightly overpriced. My boyfriend ordered the pulled pork shoulder and was brought the chicken instead. He told the waitress it was ok and he would just stick with it. He also enjoyed his. The waitress was nice enough to remove his entree from the bill and she was very apologetic about the id situation. I can understand their precautions but it seemed a little over vigilant with two forms of id. They did say they would look into the Washington license policy though. Overall, the entrees were well prepared and nicely presented, slightly overpriced but it's a nice restaurant, you're paying for the ambience and experience. Also, the waitress was sincere in her efforts to try and make it up to me; which I appreciated. Oba will be given a second chance but not until I receive my hard copy license in the mail. Pros: Ambience, Service, Taste Quality Cons: Not getting served on your 21st birthday more

A whole gaggle of good folks from the west side decided to descend upon Oba's for a night of drinks, conversation and relaxing atmosphere. Instead, we got corn holed. more

I went to oba a few nights ago and was very impressed with how great the service was. The food was also amazing, and very different from other spanish places I have visited around Portland. more

Check out Oba's website for their happy hour deals (food and margarita specials). Our waitress however was very rude to me: it was my first bar on my 21st birthday, and when she looked at my ID, she asked if that was today and then didn't wish me a happy birthday, or even fake a smile. Pros: Good margaritas, decent food, good happy hour menu, nice atmosphere Cons: Poor service, made us move tables 3 times more

This place is very trendy and is in a good location and that is my theroy for the high prices. I went to dinner with some girlfriends and the prices were very high for a place like this. The dinners were 20 to 30 and the drinks around 10 each. I would have rather ate at a cheaper place because I got Salmon and it wasn't as good as it should have been for 25 bucks. Overrated. Pros: Trendy Cons: Prices too high. more

My boyfriend and I absolutely loved this restaurant!!! The style is ultra modern with bright colors and intimate lighting... add this to the fabulous cuisine and great service, this place is an A all the way! more

What can I say, my girlfriend and I can't stay away. Probably the best ceviche in town..YUMMY!!!! Also try the Chef's Margarita...WOW talk about good!!! I have never had a bad experience in this place. The prime rib is also outstanding. The best part is that every month they pick a different hispanic country to debut as the food specials. So there are always new treats and suprises to taste. Pros: Every changing menu, service, ambience Cons: parking more

I had dinner on a Saturday night with a group of 7 people. We were seated fairly quickly in spite of being a busy night. The food was very good, I had a steak that was excellent. Service was a little uneven. The waitress recommended some wines that turned out to be good, but it seemed to take forever to get the bottles to the table; we ordered the first two together, and that took over 15 minutes for them to arrive, and then one more to go with the meal that arrived almost when we were done eating. That said, the overall experience of the meal was very good, although I would warn you that it is a NOISY place. As a previous reviewer noted, I too find it very annoying when servers are constantly topping off your wine glass. Once the initial pour has been made, it's my bottle of wine, I'll thank you to not touch it further. If you like happening scenes with good food, you'll like this place, and, in spite of the uneven service, I would be glad to go back. Pros: Friendly, good food, happening scene Cons: Noisy, unpolished service more

My boyfriend and I thought that having a free Sunday was reason enough to go out for dinner and champagne. Our server seemed very keen for us to continue our drinking. Because although we never had to pour our own sparkling wine, she never let it get to even the normal 3/4 a glass pour that champagne usually is, she had the liquid to the brim and continually re-poured, showing that she really just wanted to finish the bottle and start another one. Pros: ambience, big booths Cons: value, service more

Love the food, always! Great atmosphere and always a good time! The specials are always to die for delicious! more

After hearing all the buzz, I finally made reservations (well in advance). We arrived 10 minutes early, only to be completely ignored by the hostess. After standing in front of her for about 5 minutes without acknowledgement (that magazine she was reading sure must have been good), she finally raised her head, told us it would be ""awhile"" and we should take a seat. While waiting, I witnessed her grab a waitress, point to my mom, and whisper something in her ear that caused them both to snicker. We were seated 25 minutes after our reservation time even though the dining room was less than 3/4 full. Our waiter acted like it was a complete inconvienence when we asked a few questions regarding menu selections and he forgot our bottle of wine, even after we reminded him about it. When we were leaving, I asked to speak to the manager and I was told that the manager didn't address customers during their ""peak hours"". What a load of BS! We will never be back. The food was above average, but customer service was deploarable. Pros: above-average food Cons: rude staff, 'absent' manager more

My wife and I always have a great experience here. Get the macadamia nut crusted swordfish if they have it. Make reservations and ask to have Andrew as your waiter. more