Chicken Literalism at Hillbilly Bento; Trysting at Nel Centro

Portland Monthly managing editor Rachel Ritchie takes a spin around the writing block with this review--accompanied by a Lauren Coleman photograph--of downtown's Hillbilly Bento. Points for rocking the literalism re: Pepsi chicken--"[Jay] Irvin marinates his trademark Pepsi Chicken in a mix of molasses and, yes, real Pepsi,"--as well as use of the word "sorghum." [Portland Monthly]

Less oversharey than Patrick Alan Coleman's take on the same space and therefore a little less heart-fluttering, the Willamette Week's Ben Waterhouse's review of Nel Centro cuts right down the middle. Housemade pastas are "excellent" (they should be with a full-time noodle dude), and brunch was "the most well-rounded meal we've had at the restaurant." Points for the word "tryst" appearing in the first sentence, as well as the conceptual introduction of childbearing as restaurant-opening metaphor. [Willamette Week]