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2725 SE Ankeny, Portland, Oregon, 503.234.7909
Respondents to a Gourmet magazine survey weren't altogether off the mark when they recently picked Esparza's as the "most fun" Portland restaurant. With a population of ceiling-suspended marionettes growing faster than Metro's predictions for the entire region and a collection of mounted and stuffed Texas denizens that includes a ready-to-strike diamondback rattler and the elusive jackalope, it definitely qualifies as "fun." But Esparza's serves food that can't be found anywhere else in Portland, or maybe even north of the Pecos, because it's the only place where Joe Esparza runs the kitchen. Joe's culinary sensibilities are rooted in his mom's home cooking-as kids he and his brother would complain about too many beans, so they would get mashed potatoes with their chile verde pork, and that's what you'll get at the Tex Mex Cafe. But he also likes to experiment, and you can find things like smoked salmon enchiladas or an ostrich tostada that never saw Dallas. The newest menu item is the Hank Williams tamale, created in honor of the 75th anniversary of the singer's birth. A thin shell of fresh, house made masa encloses tender smoked beef brisket. A ladle of cowboy chile-ground sirloin, no beans-comes next, then a topping of jalapeno jack cheese. After dinner visit Esparza's Tequila Shrine (look for the neon sign behind the bar) and savor a smoky aged anejo from Sauza or Porfidio, a smooth shot of Dos reales Plata silver, or any of the nearly twenty premium tequilas on hand.