Mamma Maria Got Old and Now Smokes, But her Pizza is Still F*&$ing Good

Small House Combination Pizza, $13.00, split.

Caution: If you’re a vegetarian you might be offended by what I’m about to suggest to you, so you should probably stop reading right about now.

For all of you that don’t mind layers and layers of succulent meat, you must try Mamma Maria’s Combo. This pizza is legit, but not everyone can handle the offerings, which consist of medium thick crusty crust, with of course sauce and thin slices of Molinari salami, spicy pepperoni, and chunks of Italian sausage. The De Marco’s then add olives and the pizza is topped with whole pepperoncinis. Delicious.


Now for the difficult part; Mamma Maria’s is on 52nd and Powell. If that’s not discouraging, it’s also a very stinky, dingy, middle aged bar/restaurant. I’m sure you’re wondering where I came about this mouth watering pizza, in a dirty little bar. Well I’ll tell you. Mamma Maria’s used to sit as a simple, but cute restaurant on SE 21st and Powell. It was at this time that the youthful Don and Linda De Marco used to come for date night; splitting a large Mamma Maria Combo and beers. As Don and Linda got older, they had three children and I was one of one them. The whole family would come to the restaurant and eat this fabulous pizza, the children sipping sodas and Don and Linda now sipping vodka on the rocks.

Ignore the pineapple; the person I was with only eats pizza with pepperoni and pineapple, weird, I know.

Disaster strikes—Mamma Maria’s is forced to move and the De Marco’s pizza joint is moved up to 52nd and Powell and now turned into a shady bar. That didn’t stop them though; Linda would and still does get an inkling and drives across town to deliver the family their Mamma Maria’s combo. “Mamma, why can’t we go to Mamma Maria’s like we used to?” my brother would ask.


On Friday night, I found out why we always bought the pizza to-go. As I walked into Mamma Maria’s to order a pizza, the bar smelt like a smoked in retirement home. The restaurant on one side sat empty and three middle aged men sat drinking in the bar area. Duck paraphernalia scattered around the room, a fish tank behind one table and a non working radio behind the bar. The bathroom stall doors hold six inch spaces between the sides—allowing for little privacy (but who’s to worry, since no one is here?).

Check out the overload of pink. Not so appetizing.

As soon as our pizza was ready, we rushed out and grabbed some to-go drinks at the connected 7/11. The counterman saw our pizza. “AAAAhhh, you got pizza from next door? That place if F*&$ing bomb. It’s sick inside but that pizza is F*&$ing good. You wouldn’t F*&$ing know, but F*&#ing is!” If the locals like it, it must be good.

Once home, with my pizza in front of me, all was resurrected with one bite. The spicy salami and juice from the pepperoncinis and the crust that’s unmistakable, is all too good to be true.

The moral of the story: if you want a sketchy night with incredible pizza, go to Mamma Maria’s and eat there. If you want crazy good pizza and don’t want to wince at odd smells and middle aged men, then take your pizza to go.



5234 SE Powell Blvd
Portland, OR 97206-2950
(503) 788-4698

A Night for Soup: Alameda Brewhouse

Cup of Whisky Crab Bisque, $3.95 and a Small Side Salad, $4.95. Total: $8.90

NE Fremont has a few staple restaurants that every family in the Neighborhood frequents: Amalfi’s, Staniches, McPeets, Alameda Café, Red Fig and then at the end of restaurant row sits Alameda Brew Pub. Growing up only blocks away from these little eateries, I have acquired a standard meal or two at each one. Today we will discuss the Whisky Crab Bisque at the Pub.



I don’t know a thing about beer. I like Sessions and Coors Light, but besides that, I’m pretty clueless. I do however know a thing or two about soup and Alameda Brew Pub has the most amazing bisque I’ve ever tried. Note: you will find it under, Homemade Soup of the Day, which is funny considering it’s the soup of the day everyday—stated on the menu as being available 350 days a year. Hmmm, interesting. The tomato based soup is strewn with plump crab meat and spiced with the perfect kick to keep you on your toes; finished off with a sprinkling of chives. The best part of the meal: soaking the warmed French bread into the soup.

I like to pair the bisque with their small side salad, which technically is a large salad, since its served on a large dinner plate. Their homemade blue cheese dressing is a few notches down from Amalfi’s garlicky blue cheese dressing down the street, but still a competitor.

Oh, I hear they make their own beer here too—I’ve just been too busy with my soup to care.

Skip the Corn Maze—Eat a Caramel Apple Instead: Kruger’s Farm

Carmel Apple, $3.00

Apples picked from trees only yards away. Carefully placed in wooden buckets and brought into the farm. One by one they are washed and dried. Then the farmer, wearing jean overalls and a straw hat takes a wooden spike and sticks it into the bottom of the apple. He then dips the glowing red apple into a near boiling pot of homemade caramel sauce. It’s turned multiple times to make sure the caramel dries evenly and smooth. Small children wait patiently.



In a mere 20 minutes, you too can be out of the city and enjoying one fall’s greatest pleasures: the caramel apple. Kruger’s farm knows just how to make these, with giant apples and soft, creamy caramel. These aren’t the caramel apples mom used to buy at Halloween that just about ripped your baby teeth out. I would say skip the creepy corn maze and come to Kruger’s to enjoy a nice fall afternoon.


On the weekends Kruger’s bar-b-que’s excellent Zenner hotdogs, Polish dogs, pulled pork sandwich, burgers and an incredible veggie burger. Step inside the farm to find your caramel apples, pumpkin pie and other goodies. Don’t leave without saying hello to the frightening cow sized pig in back.

Kruger's Farm
17100 NW Sauvie Island Road
Portland, Oregon 97231
(503) 621-3489

Open Hours:

Sunday - Thursday: 9 a.m. - 7 p.m.

Friday + Saturday: 9 a.m - 10 p.m.

Its the Real Deal, It's the Whole Bowl

Small Whole Bowl, $5.00

Ok, I get it, we are in an economic crisis. Apparently that means all of Portland is cutting costs as both business owners and consumers and only eating out of these things called, “carts;” which are these fake little restaurants that sit in random places around town and somehow the little people inside of these “carts” are able to make all this really good food. I don’t know how it’s done and kind of don’t believe that these places aren’t illegally preparing food in their homes and selling from these two wheeler cars. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not at all against food carts, I’m just a little apprehensive to know what’s really going on in there.


I’ve been hearing all about this place called the Whole Bowl. When I hear the word “whole” I think of Whole Foods, which also makes me think of whole wheat, which makes me think of really bland food and then I start thinking about those really healthy crackers that taste like cardboard. So you can imagine why I put off trying this place. Then I heard it was in a “cart” and I really felt hesitant about trying cardboard that someone cooked at home and brought into a motorless vehicle.


Long story short, I decided to try it and found out they had a small cartless version of the restaurant up on Hawthorne, past all the people and places that make Hawthorne so annoying. In a quaint little alcove on 44th and Hawthorne sits a very small shop. The bowl was whole alright and wonderfully flavorful with layer after layer of fresh brown rice in a special secret sauce, red and black beans, melted cheddar cheese, olives, avocado, salsa and a dollop of sour cream and sprinkling of cilantro. This crammed pack bowl of protein was healthy and yet flavorful enough to eat on a regular basis. I also love the simplicity of their concept: one thing to order, no big decisions. Big bowl or small bowl. I was shocked to see yellow colored rice—however, it didn’t taste at all like curry.


I can see why workers around Portland are flocking to this place and why waiting in a long line is ever so worth it when you get to go back to work with such a happy stomach. Plus, for $5, you can’t get a better deal. If only I could figure out what their secret “Tali” sauce is made of . . . any ideas?

Waffles for Everyone: Flavour Spot

Waffle Sundae, $5.00
Needing something sweet to hit the spot? Why not try fresh baked waffles, drizzled with chocolate syrup and filled with chocolate and vanilla swirled soft serve ice cream? Or, how about marshmallow fluff and Nutella in-between a crisp, hot waffle—tasting just like a giant S’more? Still not enough? What about something more savory—like sausage and maple syrup wrapped within a waffle. All delicious, simple and spectacularly down home, when bought off a cart on Mississippi or better yet, N. Lombard.


With two locations, Flavour Spot has begun what Portland will soon know as the waffle fix, serving something called "dutch taco's." Who doesn’t like waffles? Think about it. Name one person that doesn’t like a waffle. You can’t. How perfect a niche they have found! With a full menu of waffle options, ranging from sweet to savory, the Spot can feed just about anyone. Feeling weird about sitting on their fold up lawn chairs, on top of a gravel parking lot, adjacent to a torn down lumbar thing? You shouldn’t, because you’re eating a waffle filled with ice cream.


Now about that waffle sandwich . . . I really didn’t know what to expect. I ate it with a fork and each bite was better than the first. The waffle was crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside—thin enough to be wrapped around the soft serve, which, just to be aware of, is real ice cream and not non-fat yogurt. Don’t be fooled by its consistency; this is the real deal. What really just made this dessert was the chocolate syrup that soaked into the warm waffle. I also won’t lie and must tell you that this dessert isn’t meant for one person. The person I was “sharing” with didn’t really understand the importance of actually taking half, because with that much lactose, you are bound to have a pretty hefty stomachache after consumption. But once that went away, I was just left with the memory of the Friday afternoon I ate a waffle sundae for dinner.

Next Weekend: Greek Festival Oct. 2-4th 2009

Every year when it suddenly starts to feel like fall, Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral puts on their Greek Festival. Apparently the festival came to be in the mid 50's when church officials realized they needed help paying off the mortgage in their new cathedral on 32nd and Glisan.

To this day, you can count on the first weekend of October being dedicated to this festival and people from all over Portland stop by to eat, drink and pretend their Greek.

Food:
You can buy a tradition Greek meal for 13 tokens, which includes, dolmathes, pastitsio, keflethes, green beans yiahni, salad, bread, beverage, and dessert. However, I like to go the a la cart way and buy a Gyro and Spanikopita, 7 tokens and a lot of food.

Taverna Prices
Feta Dip, Hummus, and Vegetables	5 talents
Cheese and Olive Sampler	4 talents
Greek Pasta Salad and Bread	5 talents
Village Salad and Bread	5 talents
Gyro	4 talents
Sausage	3 talents
Souvlaki	4 talents
Spanakopita	3 talents
Tiropita	3 talents
Beer Micro Brew	5 talents
Domestic Beer	4 talents
Wine	4 talents
O'Douls non-alcoholic beer	2 talents
Soda and Water	1 talent
Lamb	7 talents
Feta Dip and Vegetables	4 talents
Cheese and Olive Sampler	4 talents

Drink: They have a beer and wine garden open until 10:00 pm on Friday and Saturday.

Save room for dessert: Probably the very best part of the Greek Festival is their dessert, which they will so kindly box up for you to bring home. These pastries are incredible and you can't leave without buying at least a slice of baklava. My absolute favorite are the Diples, which are like little doughnut holes, drizzled in honey and cinnamon. My Italian grandma used to make a version of these and they are perfect for dessert or kept overnight for breakfast in the morning.



Guide to Greek Pastries: Take note that the Greek really love honey . . .

Baklava
Delicately thin pastry leaves (filo) spread with butter and filled with a walnut/spice mixture and topped with syrup.
Bougatsa
A custard type filling in filo. Topped with honey, cinnamon and powdered sugar.
Diples
A delicate butter and egg pastry deep-fried and dipped in honey. Sprinkled with spices and nuts.
Kadaifi
Kadaifi dough with butter, chopped walnuts, cinnamon and cloves, topped with a honey syrup.
Karithopita
Spiced walnut honey cake.
Koulourakia
An all butter and egg braided cookie. Not overly sweet and good with coffee.
Spiced Orange Koulourakia
A braided cookie make with pure vegetable shortening and spices.
Kourabiethes
An all-butter and egg yolk shortbread-type cookie flavored with brandy and dusted heavily with powdered sugar.
Melomakarona
An orange-flavored cookie spiced with cinnamon. Dipped in honey and sprinkled with nuts.
Pasta Flora
An all-butter cookie with an apricot filling.
Paximadia
Choose one of the five flavors of this Greek biscuit: lemon, orange, amaretto, anise, or chocolate.
Rolla
Rolled filo with walnuts and spice mixture, topped with honey syrup and chocolate.
Tsoureki
Braided sweet bread, make with eggs, milk, sugar, and butter.

Word to the wise:

-Over 15,000 people stop by over the course of the weekend, so don't be alarmed that it will be crowded and you may not have somewhere to sit right away. Make sure to get a table before you buy food and aim for non-peak times like 12-1 for lunch and 6-7 for dinner.

-Tokens are $1.00 a piece and are the only way to buy anything at the festival. Pick them up at the tables sitting closest to the entries. Also, if you don't spend all your tokens, they will kindly give you cash back.

-They have a cooking demonstration that often goes very unnoticed. I've heard its amazing and they teach you to make all the traditional dishes and then let you taste everything afterward! Saturday and Sunday only, 1:00. Admission: three talents.

-Go inside the Cathedral; it's beautiful and you can light a candle for your prayers.

-Stay late on Friday and Saturday night for the Greek party!

Hope to see you there!

58th Annual Greek Festival
Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral
SE 32nd and Glisan
October 2, 3, 4 2009
10am to 10pm Friday and Saturday
Noon to 8pm on Sunday

Seriously, Try This Sandwich

East Side Italian, $5.50
Walking into East Side Deli reminded me of my days at Bower’s Bakery. The deceased bakery and deli was my first employer at age 15 (I know I was involved in child labor) and it also taught me the art of sandwiches and pastries. To this day I judge sandwiches with a keen eye. This art includes fresh meats and cheeses cut daily, homemade bread, loads of vegetables and of course the instinct and knowledge of sandwich order, amounts and placement. Many people think that making a sandwich is as simple as placing some turkey in-between two slices of sourdough, but this isn’t a sandwich at all.


East Side Deli understands this art and takes it very seriously. I could tell from the second I walked in and noticed that they serve Boar’s Head deli meats. Boar’s Head is the finest of deli cold cuts, raised without antibiotics or hormones, no nitrate or MSG, fed on grains, and prepared with no artificial ingredients. If this doesn’t get you excited about the sandwiches at East Side, then their Asiago Cheese Roll (hoagie style) will. Their six inch sandwiches made with this choice of bread are clearly over six inches. The bread is soft with a layer of crusty cheese on top.

The awning is a sandwich . . . get it?

I walked in and asked for their best sandwich—the women behind the counter stated without hesitation, “East Side Italian.” I grabbed a laminated menu and dry erase pen and printed my name and checked off half sandwich, East Side Sub, toasted, Asiago Cheese Roll. I asked the women how long they had been open and she said about a year and a half. I wondered how I had missed such a venue. I waited outside for my sandwich and when I heard my name, I rushed inside to pay. The cashier was really pleasant and as I know from my past career as a sandwich artist, people can be very annoying and finicky about their sandwiches and yet she and the other employee were incredibly friendly—even aside from their hawthorn hipster vibe.

A "make your own" sandwich with Mesquite turkey and Pepper Jack

I brought my sandwich outside, noticing the pristine wrapping job—one piece of tap holding it all in place. Without even a bite, I could tell from their wrap skills that this sandwich would go down in history. I unwrapped my sandwich slowly and there it sat, beautiful and scrumptious: black forest ham, layered on mesquite turkey and Genoa salami. Topped with melted provolone and covered in pickles, onions, pepperoncinis, thin slices of tomatoes and lastly leaf lettuce. The bread was toasted and lightly slathered with mayo, deli mustard, olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette, and a sprinkling of Italian spices.

I sat for a moment; paying respect to what lay in front of me. I thought about the angles and how I would get my mouth around the first bite and then I finally just went for it, tasting the spicy mustard and combination of turkey and ham and then the melted provolone and then the olives with the pepperoncinis. I didn’t want it to end, but suddenly I realized one more bite and I would explode.


I am very happy to say that Hawthorne has brought back one of its missing links: the sub sandwich. I had a good day today. I found my new favorite sub sandwich spot in Portland. I will go back and bring everyone I know. Come to East Side Deli. Try this sandwich, one of their specials or make your own. Eat the whole six inch and buy a Coke in a glass bottle.

Back to Basics: Daily Cafe

Two Eggs, Home Fries, 8 Grain Toast, $6.95 with Chicken Apple Sausage or Applewood Smoked Bacon; $8.50



I normally never go to breakfast and order basic eggs and potatoes, but for some reason over at Daily Café, they know how to make the most essential breakfast flare. This may be due to their seasonal menu and farm fresh eggs. If you haven’t been to Daily Café, you must add it to your list of breakfast staples. Not only is the food delicious and they serve Café Umbria coffee, but I’ve never had to wait more than a few minutes for a table to clear—got to love breakfast joints that utilize counter service.


Their blackboard menu holds a few basics including oatmeal, yogurt with granola and a breakfast Panini (which looks really good, but is bland; don’t get it, I’ve been tricked twice now). The other half of their menu includes four specials: one meal with eggs and toast, one unique scramble, one savory omelet and something sweet as well. The specials are always fresh, using a combination of veggies and herbs. My friend ordered the Green Eggs and Ham: Scrambled eggs with spinach pesto, black forest ham and Parmesan cheese. The pesto made the eggs and ham pop and the Parmesan gave it a rich sharpness.


I ordered the two eggs and asked for them scrambled with white cheddar, home fries, 8 grain toast with homemade marionberry jam (this jam is incredible!) and added applewood smoked bacon. The eggs were perfectly scrambled with the cheese melted through. Their 8 grain toast, from Gabriel’s, is unlike any other I’ve had and almost tastes like French toast. The potatoes are well seasoned with a bit of a zing and the apple wood bacon is, well bacon, so obviously delicious.




The feel in Daily Café is simple, with an industrial ceiling and windows, a scattering of wooden tables, including a large community table and bright red plastic chairs. With the menu’s written on chalkboards, this place could be mistaken for an adult’s kindergarten classroom!



Word to the wise . . . on Sundays Daily Cafe only serves their 3 course Prix Fix brunch menu. I've yet to try it, but have heard its wonderful.

More Prosciutto Please

Margarita Pizza with prosciutto, $15, Split $7.50 or $5 during happy hour (9:00 pm-close nightly)

I come from a long line of people who love meat cutters. This is an Italian thing. My great grandpa, Eugenio, came to America and so typically he opened an Italian restaurant. The first thing he bought: a metal meat cutter, to slice soppresatta and prosciutto. The meat cutter was somehow lost when the restaurant closed and so my father bought my Grandma and Uncle Ike a meat cutter of their own. Years later Uncle Ike, found and restored the meat cutter. Aside from the fact that it weighed just about 100 lbs and wouldn’t fit in the kitchen, it worked magic and sat in the basement for all our industrial cutting needs. And so you see, meat cutters are very important appliances to Italian people and if you’re lucky, you have a meat cutter in your home.

Tonight, a small piece of my childhood was brought back when the chef at Nostrana’s took my pizza out of the wood oven and brought it over to a bright red meat cutter, where he sliced see through thin pieces of prosciutto which fell effortlessly on top of the melted cheese; each piece layering over each other.

A few years ago, Nostrana’s was cut from my families visiting rights when they charged us for extra bread on what ended up being an expensive and ostentatious birthday dinner. We despise pretentious Italian restaurants, which completely negate the feel and purpose of what eating Italian food is about: simple, casual, delicious and loud. The experience should be fun, not stuffy. Everyone knows that Italians eat tons of bread and my Nonno needs a loaf of bread to himself; the wait staff did not seem to understand this, nor were they happy when he wanted to argue with them about the charge (oh we are cheap too, hence the whole idea of the affordable blog).

However, their incredibly authentic pizza that my brother ordered burned a vivid memory in my mind and ultimately brought me back for a second try. I sat up at the bar overlooking the wood oven, in hopes that the vibe would be more casual. I was engulfed by the flames of the hot oven and couldn’t help admiring the charm of the restaurant: enormously high ceilings, raw wood, roosters, ceramic vases filled with real lemons and of course a hanging picture of the new aged “Last Supper.” The man making the pizza took our order and brought us three slices of fresh grape focaccia bread (in which we were not charged!). The bread was perfectly soft and sweet from the baby green grapes and I couldn’t help but think, I would pay extra for this exquisitely unique bread and could also probably finish off the entire cake pan. Good thing they didn’t bring extra.


We ordered a Margarita pizza with prosciutto on half (the person I was dining with “doesn’t really eat meat” and can I just say this is offensive to me). The chef tossed the dough up into the air a few times, creating a perfect sheet and then slathered it with their homemade tomato sauce and threw on about five large slices of fresh mozzarella. It sat in the oven for a matter of minutes, just as it does in Italy, and was carried out piping hot with the mozzarella melting its way across the entirety of the pan. He then drizzled olive oil on top and scattered torn leaves of basil and lastly layered my half with salty prosciutto, which warmed quickly from the heat of the pie. After eating pizza all over Italy—Nostrana’s is the absolute closest I’ve ever come to true Italian pizza in Portland. The crust is thin and still soft in the middle, with crispy edges, that are almost burnt from the wood in the fire. Every ingredient is tasted, even the sweetness of the tomato sauce. Clearly Nostrana’s is doing something very, very right here—if they could just ease off their high horse, this would be a go to restaurant for the masses.



The pizza was a perfect meal to split, but for those who want their own, come for their late night happy hour, which serves pizzas for $5.00 each, plus the cost of prosciutto. Well worth it and much less uppity later in the evening. Sitting at the bar is a good idea too. Their cooks are calm and brilliant to watch, as they bring out tubs of fresh vegetables and melt butter over their stainless steel cookware.



I will certainly be back for more Za.

Hot Damn, I want a Hoyt Dog

8 inch All Beef Hot Dog, Spicy Dog or Kielbasa $4.00

You’re out on a Friday night and suddenly hunger strikes. You scroll through the list of options: McChicken from McDonald’s, Double Decker with nacho cheese sauce from Taco Bell . . . but these are too obvious; too familiar from last weekend. Then you stumble (literally) into Hoyt Dog.


In front of a tattered house on the corner of NW 21st and Hoyt, sits a typical home grill and a plastic picnic table, covered with blue and white checkers and large variety of condiments. Two women, a mother and her daughter, stand grillin’ up three kinds of delicious Zenners dogs: 8 inch All Beef, Kielbasa and Spicy Dog.


Drunkards stand around, some waiting for a hot dog, some confused and others stuffing their faces. The mom and daughter tell us they are taking over for the owner for the weekend—their good friend who one night decided to bring out her BBQ as a joke. “She made a bunch of hot dogs and at the end of the night everyone was like, see you next weekend!” the mom told me. She said they’ve been setting up every weekend since. I didn’t have a chance to ask her when the plastic Hoyt Dogs sign was put up, but I’m guessing after they hit it big.


This place is equipped with all the condiments you could ever think of: ketchup (covered with duct tape to add to the ever so rugged ambiance), regular mustard, spicy mustard, grilled onions, raw onions, sauerkraut, relish, shredded cheddar cheese, cream cheese and Sriracha.




So we bought an 8 inch All Beef and loaded it up with ketchup, spicy mustard, onions, sauerkraut and cream cheese and walked home handing off the hot dog with each bite.


I don’t have much more information on the place, I think they are open just on Friday and Saturday nights—maybe till about 3:00 am. If anyone has more information, please email me: mangiapdx@gmail.com