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Review content:
I always drove by this little place on Watson and reminded myself and husband that we should go in sometime. It looked like a neat place and somewhat unique to downtown Beaverton. After all, it's surrounded by suburban sprawl and, well, it's in Beaverton. Nothing cool ever really is in Beaverton. Or so I thought.
Last night, after having a night out in downtown. Dropping by Ron Tom's, Le Pigeon, Doug Fir, Farm and Uptown Billiards, we found nothing that we knew would be worth the $75 we would spend on dinner. Then I thought of the little place near home and we sprinted back to Beaverton, at 10:45.
We walked in and immediately I was blown away by the space, the exposed brick walls and thirty foot high ceilings. You could actually see the line from the entrance (always a good sign because everything that's done in the kitchen can be seen) and the brick oven is out in front. The dining room is a diner's dream. Tons of space between tables, huge windows in the front and again, those ceilings.
We sat up at the bar, not knowing if they were about to close (it was Beaverton after all) and I was greeted by my old co- worker Paul DeCarli. He had been the head chef at Tuscany Grill when I worked there. He is the best chef that I have known in 18 years of the business.
The last time that I had spoken to him a few years ago, he was just opening Balvo on 23rd and looking at opening a restaurant out here. Well, he did it.
My husband had a glass of the chianti (among the 14 other types of wine available by the glass). We ordered the Truffled Almonds, Olives, Meatballs, Pizzata and Mussels.
Paul took me on a tour of the place and told me about all of the remodeling they had done. After working in those hipster places in the Pearl and Northwest, Paul knew what a good eatery should look like. He also knows his food. I knew that our meal was going to be incredible before we even had it.
Everything was beyond our expectations and was everything that we had been looking for all night. It was just 1/3 the price and not downtown. The bartender, Robert, was gracious and attentive. We had actually arrived at closing (which as a former server was sometimes just annoying). I insisted on paying our tab immediately so he could get his closing done and he acted as if he had all of the time in the world for us. We didn't leave until 12:30, way beyond their closing time. Not once did we feel like we were keeping anyone there.
So, in short, if you want an incredible meal like you would find in those hip areas of downtown but you don't want to deal with the attitude or the insane prices, DeCarli's is where you want to go. I know that we'll be going there for brunch on Sunday.
Finally, there's a great pearl in the middle of suburbia.
Pros: Owned and operated by the best chef in Portland
Cons: No one knows about this secret in Beaverton
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