clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Willamette Week's Best New Restaurant: Beaker + Flask (?!)

Local free paper the Willamette Week's Restaurant Guide 2009 dropped today, with the startling announcement that 7th and Sandy brand-newbie Beaker & Flask had been named Best Restaurant. A runner-up for Portland Monthly's Best Restaurants issue and, inside word has it, a runner-up because it just opened and still has a whole lot of kinks to work out, service- and style-wise, Beaker & Flask is the brainchild of bartender Kevin Ludwig (formerly of Monthly winner Park Kitchen) and his band of merry Portland restaurant-world alumni. Don't get us wrong: former NW stronghold Paley's Place sous chef Ben Bettinger (right) has been working true Pacific Northwest magic in the kitchen--mac and cheese comes with a little square of blood sausage, and the pork rillette tater tots are a microcosm of everything that is good and trendy about this city--but, to be fair, it's only been open since July. It's a lot of pressure for a just-out-the gate place, so we'll be paying close attention to just how the cocktails are shaking out over on Sandy. In the meantime, stay tuned for a thorough parsing of the rest of the Guide.
· Restaurant of the Year: Beaker & Flask [Willamette Week]

Paley's Place

1204 NW 21st Avenue, Portland, OR 97209

720 SE Sandy Blvd, Portland, OR 97214

Sign up for the newsletter Sign up for the Eater Portland newsletter

The freshest news from the local food world