When you walk into some restaurants, everything changes. Whether the dim lighting or incongruous lines, the design tells you you've entered another world. This next Eater Awards category is dedicated to exceptionally beautiful restaurants. Which restaurant is this year's Stone Cold Stunner? Decide in the poll below, and on Monday, November 16, Eater will present the 2015 Eater Awards, our sixth annual celebration of all that's made the restaurant world run — and run wild — in the past 12 months. Winners will be selected on both the local and national levels in five major categories, and the polls are now closed for restaurant of the year, chef of the year, bartender of the year, and so hot right now.
The nominees for the most stunning restaurant of the year are: Hamlet, La Moule, Kung Pow!, The Green Room, and Victoria Bar. With leather booths, a copper bar, and tiles by Ann Sacks, Hamlet turned a tiny space in the Pearl into a mix of classy Portland and Southern charm. La Moule opened up its dark-blue mussel shell theme with Continental swagger but retained the old-school diner booths and Lou Reed to keep things homey. Kung Pow!'s 20-foot by 14-foot painting by Dom Cardoso (with assists from five additional artists) took us to a bustling Chinese street bolstered by neon lights, a hanging dragon, and a giant fortune cookie that has its fortune updated daily. Perfectly named, Multnomah Whiskey Library's The Green Room developed a vibrant, emerald-green space filled with throwback features worthy of the aged whiskeys behind the bar. And Victoria Bar created its take on what a Northwest bar should be: huge slabs of unfinished wood and edgy local artworks offset by historic touches and towering white shelves of fine booze.
Here's how the voting works: Eater editors have named nominees in Portland for each of five major categories. Eater readers will vote, narrowing the nominees to three finalists. From those three finalists, the Eater editorial team will select a winner. Ready to play your part? This poll will be open for 24 hours; voting irregularities will be strictly policed.
