Little Bird Bistro

Solid choice.
–Great ambiance; if you have a date night, do it here!
–Food feels ‘special;’ well-​thought out, innovative, beautifully plated, not too generous and not too stingy (just right in portion size)
–Interesting drink menu (hard A, I mean — I didn’t even look at the wine, although a lot of ppl around me were drinking it)
–I wish my waiter had come to my table more often; there were very long periods between visits; I would have had at least one more drink and maybe even an app…
–Consistent with another Unilocaler’s review, I got the salmon special; it tasted great, the salmon was cooked exactly as I ordered it (med rare), but the dish overall was kind of room temp; it was so good that I didn’t mind that much, but would be curious about what it might taste like if actually hot…
–The pace is pretty intimate between tables so I looked at everyone’s food (gawker!) and everything looked good; I don’t think there is a bad choice on the menu

I am so torn on this review – the bone marrow deserves nearly a million stars, it was sincerely one of the most delicious dishes I’ve ever had. But for how great that dish was, the charcuterie was so awful I’d give a negative number of stars. Perhaps others will love it, but it wasn’t for us. The chicken fried trout and the duck confit? They were solid choices.

I wish I had the option for a 3.5. There is a lot of things this place does right and would warrant 4 stars, but customer service is not one of them.
Dropping a buck fifty for 2 people with $ 17 in drink means we came for the food we had heard so much about. All in all it didn’t disappoint. Perfect ambiance, great host. Reasonable, knowledgeable and proficient-​ish waitstaff. Some dishes wowed (the duck was memorable for sure, mushrooms the same). Some were not as memorable. That is my fair review of the Resturant. Now the negative… which is not just my singular bad experience, but instead a comment on how they treat customers.
The waiter brought «the special» salmon I had ordered. Looked good, I dove in and it was somewhere between barley warm and just room temp. All of it. Salmon very rare… not even a question. I asked the server if this was what the chef intended, he wasn’t sure and took it to be re-​fired.
10 min later, after watching the rest of the table eat, it appeared. It was hot and it still had the bite I had taken out of the salmon. They couldn’t have been bothered just to re-​fire the order that had been sitting so long before it got to me it was plain cold. That’s not the end — the manager brought it to me making a pouty, sad face (wtf?) set it on the table and left. No words.
Let’s move on — at the bill I asked the waiter if he ever got to the bottom of how the chef intended that dish. He said it should have been hot and cooked a touch under medium. I then took a look at the bill… let me first say at the most I would expect the manger to buy my one scoop of sorbet, at the least a «sorry we didn’t deliver this time, please give us another try»…that would be the least I would expect. Nothing happened. I was the only person to apologize… for going.

Drove into Portland from Los Angeles with the fam and were pretty disappointed to realize most restaurants closed at ⁹⁄₁₀. It had been a long drive for us and we were not about to settle for some fast food.
Walked around downtown and found this place. Wouldn’t call it family oriented but definitely good vibes. I settled for a burger (so much for fast food) but it was the most appetizing item on the menu. Bun was great, meat cook to my request (medium) with so much flavor. Our waiter was kind and friendly. I loved the ambiance in the place. Definitely a place to relax and have a cocktail or beer. Excellent choice of music. Ride on!
Hopefully next time I’ll be there within a reasonable time and day. I forgot to mention it was Wednesday. Anyways, stay weird Portland.

Every dish my boyfriend and I experienced here was delicious. This was our date night choice in Portland for the evening and it went perfectly! He made reservations a couple of weeks in advance and they had our table ready for us as we checked in with the host. We ordered some wine (him with a bordeaux the waitress recommended and for me the sparkling rose) and starters; 4 oysters (they had two regions available in their daily selections and we got two from each) bread and butter, and the seared foie gras. That foie gras was AMAZING. We both devoured it pretty fast; he never had it before but he loved it! I had foie gras before in France in a form of pâté, but I liked how Little Bird did it. I totally recommend it if you haven’t had foie gras before!
Then our main courses came out; he got the hangar steak with fries & goat cheese, me the duck confit with snow peas, green garlic and radish vinaigrette & shared a side of the asparagus. Everything was on point and really good. I couldn’t have asked it for it to be any better. The duck meat was perfect, as well as how my boyfriend’s hangar steak was cooked. I ate a lot of his fries, too (the fries are HUGE!), and the asparagus was a perfect complement of vegetables to all the meat we were eating.
We were way too full for dessert, however the strawberry pavlova dessert looked really good. maybe hopefully next time if we ever make a stop in Portland. to come back here for that? *crosses fingers*
Instead, we ended our meal with complimentary mini (yes, very mini) PB&J macarons. They are so cute and tiny! Service was great here and we were able to sit by the window to enjoy people watching and the light rail pass by. Thank you Little Bird for being a part of date night!

Little Bird Bistro is cozy and fun little French restaurant in downtown Portland. Each table is covered with a sheet of brown butcher paper. The ambiance is warm and inviting. Wood floors, light green walls with darker accents, red banquets, the ceiling is a polished pressed tin, and lace curtains hang in the windows. Standards like soups and salads are served all the time, and I was particularly excited to try the coveted Double Brie Burger — Two St. Helens ground-​chuck patties are individually topped with melted Brie and served on a Ken’s Artisan Bakery roll with house-​made dijonnaise, spiced ketchup, onions makes this burger a winner in my book. It was delicious!
Other notable dishes:
Charcutrie Board — daily selections vary, when we had lunch plate had chicken liver mousse, blood sausage, smoked pork tenderloin, and foie gras brûlée a savory take on the dessert it was a fascinating dish
Smoked Rhubarb Foie Gras au Torchon — absolutely could not have had enough of Foie Gras — plated with rhubard jam, almonts and green strawberries
Grilled Lamb Ribs with poppy seed BBQ sauce
Roasted Marrow was served a very fluffy and mild horse radish
The chocolate Pistachio Mousse Cake was a treat!
The vibe: A fun, eclectic place with a brightly lit dining room with mirrors that carries a Parisian bistro vibe. The rustic animal paintings of owls and other birds gave it a Pacific Northwest feel. An enjoyable experience when dining in Portland!

Yes, yes, yes.
That is my summary of this place.
Everything from the bone marrow to the double brie burger here is perfection.
Not to mention the happy hour will completely blow you away.
Easily one of my new favorite restaurants.
Do yourself a favor, and get the marrow.

As I came here for the burger for my very serious burger quest, here’s my review. I know you all have been waiting w bated breath for the next #kkburgerquest stop so alas, here we are at @littlebirdpdx! The meat was delicious, great flavor, not too dry or juicy although the double patty made for a logistical challenge. Brie cheese, always a win. The burger had sweet pickles which unfortunately I’m not a sweet pickle type of girl. There was also a little spice, I couldn’t tell if it was part of the pickle or in a sauce but I also don’t really like spicy. The bread was tasty but a wee bit soggy… Great patty: bun ratio. Fries were. Another PDX burger down!

For me, it was just okay. Came here on a Saturday night without a reservation, and was seated right away, which was very nice! The tables are rather close together and I don’t care for that so much, but it was alright for a party of two.
My main gripe was just the food and the prices. They have a rather small menu, and it’s kinda like you have to choose between the $ 30 steak, the $ 30 salmon or the $ 30 chicken. The server described a tomato soup special and made it sound decadent, but when we got it, it literally tasted like pasta sauce. We also waited about 45 minutes for food and I went through two plates of bread in that time (oops).
Just felt like the whole place was a little bit full of themselves, while the food was underwhelming. This is just based on one experience though. It’s a cute place and fine for a lunch or dinner with a friend.

Fancy dinner place. Don’t overdo it on the appetizers, because then you won’t be able to fully appreciate the entrees! HA!
For appetizers, we ordered:
— Roasted Marrow Bones, served with roast beef, horseradish crème fraîche, pickled onion and cornichons or tiny gherkins. This was really great. Most of us had never had marrow bones before, but we were sold after this. We could’ve really used some more bread with it though! LOL! Very tasty.
— Seared Foie Gras with housemade scrapple, basil, apricot poppy seed chutney. Also very tasty!
I ordered a La Vie en Rose cocktail (pisco, Lillet rose, pamplemousse liqueur, lemon) — tasty, and light. Fizzy grapefruit flavor.
We had these entrees:
— Duck Confit — tasty, but seemed a bit tough
— Hanger Steak au Poivre
— Moo Shu Pork a la Parisienne
— Double Brie Burger
— Salmon special (?)
All tasty entrees, but perhaps we were a bit full after bread and appetizers, so the entrees didn’t stun us as much as they probably could’ve.
Would come back, and skip appetizers next time to concentrate on entrees!

We walked in a Friday night at 5 without a reservation and were seated with no problem. We ordered the chicken fried trout, a gnocchi appetizer and a gratin for our daughter. The fish came out whole fish which was interesting. It was fresh and flavorful. The gnocchi and the gratin were large and tasty but not particularly exciting. I will say the root vegetables in the gnocchi appetizer were prepared in an unexpected way that gave the appetizer a sort of sweet and sour twist. Portions are large and wait staff is friendly and attentive. Solid meal and would return.

We came here to get a light meal on our last night in Portland. We wanted just a few appetizers and that’s it. I was surprised to see that their appetizers were as large as their meal portions. Being a French restaurant I thought everything would be smaller portions.
I got the foie gras and the bone marrow appetizers. The foie gras is seared and I thought I would get that with the squash, but it ended up coming with trotters which later I found out is pig feet, it was tasty. The foie gras was also really good and melted in your mouth. The marrow ended up coming with roast beef and horseradish crème fraîche. The marrow was a bit salty but very good.
To top it off they gave a tiny Arnold Palmer macaron.
It ended up being a lot of food but very tasty.

I was only in Portland for two days but managed to sneak in a bite at Little Bird Bistro. We stopped by for happy hour oysters which were $ 1.50 each (thank you to a waitress at Pepe Le Moko for the recommendation) we got there just in time before HH ended at 6pm. We ordered 15 fresh oysters to share between the three of us which was the perfect afternoon snack. We also splurged a little and tried the Steak Tartare Board served with onions and a green sauce which was absolutely delicious. If we weren’t on such a tight schedule we would have just planned on staying for dinner, but I’m just happy I got to try this little gem!

When I found out I would be in Portland for the day, I immediately went online to see where to eat. Little Bird was mentioned as one of the top 10 restaurants to visit.
I stared with a bowl of the soup du jour, an incredibly creamy Green Garlic with goat cheese croûton and red pepper relish soup. Well balanced and delicious, the red pepper relish provided a little pow to the dish. For my main course I ordered the Baguette (Jambon de Paris, gruyère, dijon, and greens). The baguette was fresh, toasted to perfection, and melted in my mouth. The dijon had a nice spice to it and the greens added a bitterness that balanced the whole dish. I could live on this dish!
My friend had the Crispy Shrimp Soft Roll (remoulade, avocado, shrimp aioli) with Old Bay fries. She was expecting an egg roll type dish but it was served more like a po’boy. She loved the dish, but the crispy shrimp to bread proportion was poor and she ended up with way more bread than ingredients (why I knocked off a star). Fortunately the fries helped make up for the poor serving size.
The originality of the menu is fantastic and inventive. I felt like I was in NY (which is good thing!). Service was quick and professional.
It’s a tiny place and the tables are pretty close to one another so don’t expect any privacy. I easily heard the conversations all around me.
It’s a nice place and if you’re visiting Portland, I’d give it a go.

I have yet to try Le Pigeon, but I can confidently say that their sister restaurant Little Bird Bistro is fantastic.
Michael, my server/​bartender, was awesome. Kat, the host, was great too. The cocktail, the Old Fashioned Fumée, was well balanced. Their lamb ribs were generous in portion and their flavor divine. Their fried chicken, simply put, was awesomeness. I highly recommend all of the above (if it’s still on the menu that is).
This place rocks. Keep in mind they get packed quickly. I’d suggest making reservations or trying to vie for a spot at the bar. Either way, when in Portland, it’s a must stop.

Meet Le Pigeon’s sister restaurant!
My husband and I came here for Portland Dining Month and loved it! For their dining month menu, they offered the option of two dishes for each course, so we went splitzies on everything.
Their Radicchio salad was incredibly refreshing and the perfect start to the meal. For our entrée, we especially adored the melt-​in-​your-​mouth pork cognac plum stew. For dessert, we were pleasantly surprised by the lemon olive oil cake, but the homemade ice creams and sorbet stole the show, especially with the dulce de leche shortbread cookie to accompany it all.
The wait staff was friendly (although nothing to write home about) and the bartender helped us pick out great cocktails and wines to compliment our meals. You can make reservations, but walk-​ins are also accepted (we only waited 15 minutes for a table) — If it’s just two people, I would also recommend eating at their bar!

I have heard from numerous friends that this is one of their favorite restaurants for some time now. We decided to try it out for Portland Dining Month because their menu looked pretty amazing. Since they are open late we opted to go after a show at 10pm. We were running late and they were kind enough to still offer us their regular menu even though service for that technically stops at 10pm.
The place was very full and I can appreciate why — amazing food priced beyond well. We wanted to try things beyond the set dinner we were having. We tried the Macaroni Gratin and the Chicken Liver Mousse which were both so good.
The dinner was amazing. To start my husband got the Radicchio salad with orange-​poppy seed dressing, pistachios and aged gouda while I had the grilled pork belly and chickpea blini with lentil hummus, mint and carrot salad. Both were incredible. For the main course I had cedar-​planked cod with balsamic-​roasted fennel, smoked chili fondue and white bean salad. It was on a bed of onions which seemed a touch epic but the fish was very good. My husband got the pork cognac plum stew with lentils, charred scallion and Dijon vinaigrette which was also amazing. For desert they were out of their lemon cake so they were sweet enough to comp my husband’s coffee as an apology. We both very much enjoyed the other desert option though which was chamomile ice cream, peach sorbet and shortbread cookies with caramel. It was amazing.

The last meal I had in Portland was amazing as well. We made reservations for Little Bird as early as we could because we knew how packed it would be and reservations spots get taken up just as quickly.
We arrived on time and was seated by the side of the restaurant where we got a good view of the upstairs seating area where you can overlook the bottom of the restaurant as well as a good view of all the decorations the are on the walls of the restaurant as well. The décor is meant to be cozy and it certainly does give off that ambience!
We placed our order for a seafood order of clams and mussels (which was a huge portion size) as well as another dish and even though we arrived with no real appetite, we slowly built it back up by the time the food arrived to when we started eating our food just from the wonderful smell to the delicious food we were having.
Overall, a very relaxing and cozy last meal in Portland and just a good experience to try again!

Came over for a very late dinner… no wait if bar seating. Yep– bartender and I chatted about Japan and why we enjoyed it so much (he lived, I was lost in heaven around the large cities).
Good service, great satisfying burger with crispy fries. My Lillet cocktail was gorgeous as well. Too bad I couldn’t save room for dessert, that darned burger possessed me.

We came here for dinner on a Saturday night and the restaurant was pretty busy. We made reservations days ahead but there were not that many options available for early dinner. I would recommend to make reservations ahead of time if planning on coming on a weekend.
The restaurant has a pretty fresh and unique feel to it. The menu consists of very unique items. Pretty much every single item we tried was very good. I got the Chicken Trout which was delicious. I could not compare the flavors with anything else, but it was a pretty refreshing dish. The fish was nicely cooked and the lettuce wraps were a nice addition to it. The dish comes with some tarter sauce and lots of dill. We also tried the crepes. It was a very good and tasty dish, however, I would probably recommend another of their more complex dishes.
We got the Chocolate Crème Brûlée. This dish was perfect for sharing. The dessert was good, but nothing memorable.
The service was just average. I read someone else’s review and they mentioned how their server did not smile or try to connect with them. I started wondering if I got the same server because I felt the same way. I felt she was not a warm server and had an attitude as well. Overall, the food was excellent, it did not seem like there was a bad dish.

This was the last dinner we had in Portland and it was delicious and best of all it was Happy Hour since it was a Tuesday night!
We ordered:
Butternut squash soup — very delicious and topped with some crumbles of foie gras — fancy!
I had half dozen of their daily selection of oysters by myself — tasty and fresh and only $ 1.50 each!
Roasted Marrow Bones — I really love the cheese toast and caramelized onions served with the marrow but I also wish there would be more bone marrow.
Field Green Salad — we needed some greens and this was simple and the dressing was light and tangy.
Frites with Bearnaise aioli — fries were super crispy just the way I like it and the aioli was creamy and tasty.
We didn’t order a whole lot but it was really good portions so we were pretty full with just these 5 dishes.
The service was the best out of all the restaurants I’ve been to on this trip. Our waitress was so energetic, talkative and friendly. I definitely recommend this place for a great meal and service.
The restaurant is cute and cozy as well — and if given the chance I would have liked to sit on the second floor balcony that overlooked the bottom floor of the restaurant. it didn’t have a super hipster trendy vibe — as a matter of fact I thought the restaurant was simple but intimate.

Always hard to snag reservations here for a decent time during the weekend. Luckily, my bf flew in on a Thursday night so I knew Thursday night would have a lot of open slots. And I was right.
We were seated right away with 9PM reservations and ordered the Roasted Pork Shoulder as our main entrée and just ordered a bunch of sides to share. The mac&cheese and mussels and frites were gone in seconds. The pork shoulder easily fell apart when our fork touched it, so tender and juicy. No need for a knife. The bone marrow is shareable as it came with two large pieces and bread. The cutest part of the dinner was when we were handed with the check at the end, we were also handed two mini macarons. SO CUTE. Overall, I’m glad we finally tried this place and looking forward to trying their sister restaurant, Le Pigeon next.

DELICIOUS!!!
— Foie gras: one of the best I’ve ever had. It literally melts in your mouth.
— Coq Au Vin: aaaamaaaaazing. yummy chicken. everything on the plate was great (such as the soft mashed potatoes). I would’ve licked it clean if I had more room in my stomach
— chicken fried trout: you get butter lettuce to use as wraps. the fish was really tasty, and the sauce on the fish was greaaaaaat.

Mais bien sur, Le Petit Oiseau est delicieu (pardon my french). An excellent, excellent choice. I started with the beet salad, which had great eye appeal, and enough beets (it is a pet peeve of mine that many beet salads do not have enough beets. They’re less than $ 1 per pound for crying out loud!). I then had the pork shoulder, which was really yummy. We had the macaroni gratin, which was delicious, went well with the food, and had a nice granular texture. For dessert I had the selection of ice creams and sorbet in the mini-​egg carton. I can say without a doubt that it was the best rhubarb sorbet that I’ve ever tasted.
The prices were very reasonable for the quality of the food. The only thing that wasn’t perfect was the wine — we saw that another table had a bottle of chilled orange wine which looked really good. It also smelled good, but the taste was so-​so. Can’t remember what it’s called
And it’s a very short walk to Powell’s. The next time I’m in Portland, this place is a must-​go