PoMo Declares Hop Dog in Identity Crisis and Applauds 20 Years of King Burrito

HOP DOG — According to Portland Monthly's Benjamin Tepler, Micah Camden and Kate Poppe's Hop Dog, the gourmet hot dog restaurant opened Downtown in August, is in need of "serious R&D." Tepler writes "the Sabrett weiner can’t stand up to the boiled-in-beer premise," and the Sabrett dog and pretzel brioche bun "combination feels incongruous." The Harvey "is a bland, mealy dog, lacking snap," and ultimately, Camden and Poppe will "have to decide whether they want to serve haute dogs or dirty water franks, and if their beer-boiled gimmick is worth the mess."

KING BURRITO — In honor of King Burrito turning 20 in November, PoMo names it "North Portland's greatest burrito joint" for the following five reasons: 1) being open a lot; 2) being family-run by the Canales family; 3) for feeding armies "fast on burgers or burritos"; 4) for remaining "a rock in a swirling sea" of restaurant openings and closings; and 5) for "inspiring devotion." This last point comes from a 2013 Portland State University urban planning survey in which eight percent of locals named "burritos" as providing "a positive or useful benefit to you and your family" on North Lombard. Though PoMo doesn't mention it, most of King Burrito's burritos clock in at around $4, too.

NODOGURO — Shortly after Portland Monthly named Nodoguro its restaurant of the year, the Mercury's Andrea Damewood announces Nodoguro's sushi the best in Portland (she points out that PoMo's ROY award came after her meal at Nodoguro but before she had posted her review). Damewood writes that the "Hardcore Omakase sushi dinner," which is "guaranteed to be 20-ish courses," "brings a level of perfection Portland had yet to see," and at "$120, not including drinks or tip," it's "one of the most expensive meals in town." Of the many "art-gallery-worthy courses," Damewood focuses on the "monkfish liver tofu (the aquatic answer to foie gras) with yuzu puree and the tiniest water pepper buds" and "the nigiri, a procession of fish flown in from Tokyo's famed Tsukiji market and other select spots."