Carlo - Portland

I only have had breakfast/brunch here. Bar Carlo is big, open, bright and beautiful to hang out in, good for meeting up with a medium-sized group. Parking is decent, on-street. When I've been there, there was only one server but she was awesome, friendly and attentive. The menu has lots of interesting Mexican-style brunch options but you can also get basic American eggs/pancakes-type stuff. Everything is hot, high-quality and very well-prepared in general. Your plate comes out looking very appetizing and the portions are perfect for me (medium/large appetite). One interesting thing is the menu is low-key very veg/vegan/gf friendly. They have some meat stuff that looked great but the menu is not meat-centric. Most dishes are default without meat and you can add it if you want. I have no eating restrictions (I eat anything) but it just so happened that what I ordered was meatless and gluten free and was still amazing. I didn't get any alcohol when I was there, but the coffee was excellent and bottomless (self-serve). Also, if you are a fan of interesting hot sauce, make sure and ask for some of the house-made hot sauce on the side of whatever you get. It is INCREDIBLE and unique and goes great on potatoes or tortillas or whatever. Finally a shout-out to their rice (which seemed exceptional) and, weirdly, the eggs. I order eggs over hard, which many kitchens seem to not understand but this kitchen does them perfect!

The pozoli was really good, as were the enchiladas and tacos. Really excellent food.

My go-to brunch spot. Always great. And self-serve coffee as soon as you walk in!

Eating dinner here was an unexpected delight. The food was fantastic, our waitress Allison was wonderful, and we all had a tremendous time. I can't understand why the place isn't packed every night!

It’s honestly never busy enough for the service to be as bad as it always is, I love the food and the place overall but the service is always lacking. Blarg.