This past week we revisited Bluto’s Greek Restaurant. It was opened by the same great minds as Lardo. Seeing as we love Lardo as much as we do (best sandwich in portland) we knew to expect good things from Bluto’s.
Bluto’s is a wood fired greek inspired restaurant, so don’t expect authentic, but do expect char. The restaurant is casual but elevated. The chef calls it “fast casual plus”. He sees it as the way portland is headed, Fine dining food in a casual atmosphere. Time will tell if he is correct.
The have a small but creative cocktail menu. I had the ‘Greek it to me’ which was tequila and cucumber and very refreshing. There are lots of other fun cocktails that I am excited to go back and try. If cocktails aren’t your thing, they also have greek wine and local beers to choose from.
The food
As for the food, it was truly delicious. We tried many of the things on the menu and there was only one thing that we didn’t love. The cauliflower with lentils just didn’t work for me. The dish had lots of potential, but it was too much char for me.
The rest of the things we loved. The biggest standout was absolutely the hummus. It’s silky smooth, super flavorful, and is divine with the house made flatbread. We also loved the beet salad with quinoa, it came with a black tahini sauce that was heavenly. We also tried the chicken, shrimp, and lamb skewers. The chicken was the best for me, tender, flavorful, juicy, I could go on. The lamb was a close second, especially considering lamb is a hard protein to find in Portland.
For dessert we had chocolate soft serve, which takes just like the nostalgic soft serve you are thinking of now, and baklava, which should not be skipped!
I can definitely say that I will be coming back to Bluto’s. Its expensive for counter service, but maybe the chef is onto something with his upscale fast casual theme. Have you been? Let us know what you think!