Le Bistro Montage

Go for dinner with a date, or stop by after a late night down town - even @ 3am in the morning! If you don't really care for macaroni & cheese, TRY the macaroni & cheese - and if you like, make it spicy. It's cheesey, gooey goodness. There's a large selection of wine, however remember what you like, because they won't have it or remember it when you return a month later. Try one of the Australian wines. The frog legs aren't to die for - skip those. Anything with sausage is typically good. Wait staff is nice and service is great. Don't be put off by the hard to find, SE alley way location. There's a variety of people - everything from preppy people to folks who look like Le Stat. Try it, be brave. You'll like it.

Pros: Ambiance, Wine selection, late night eats

Cons: , frog legs

Posted 01/12/05

Been goin there for years...at night, thought i'd try lunch. OHBOY POBOY, its hard to get a good po bo in portland, a few spots try, only two in town are on the money. montage is is one of them. Have not tried anything else on the lunch menu, but the po boys are awesome!!!

Pros: location,, PO BOYS, speed

Posted 12/08/04

The pleasure of dining at this bistro is over the top. The ambience and excellent food fare make it a dining event to remember. I'll be back!!!!!

Pros: inexpensive, elegant, ambience

Posted 12/06/04

We all go out to eat, sometimes because we're lazy, sometimes we don't have time and other times we want to get food that we just can't do at home. Even though montage has "down home food" I still have not managed to make the same incredible food at home. it's nice to come in, grab a beer and bowl of pasta with the change in my pocket. Iv'e been eating at montage for some time and have noticed that the service has mellowed with time, not as testy as in the past, We're all getting a little older and wiser.

Pros: food, location, parking

Posted 12/03/04

Never mind the food (even though it's fantastic)! The art is absouluty amazing. Montage must have the largest paintings in town. Some might consider the paintings NON PC, but who cares? Its an incredibel sight. There is a last supper with a space ship in the background and bottles of rainer on the table, one with employees in the painting and it's so different it's hard to describe. The food is as different as the paintings.

Pros: Food, parking, atmoshere

Cons: , hard to find

Posted 11/19/04

I've waited a while to try this Portland staple. The food was worth the wait, and so was the ambience. However, not accepting credit cards puts this place on the "not convenient" list for our out of town guests. The service was really slow too and it seemed that we had to keep vying for our waiter's attention.

Pros: jambalaya, late night coolness, cajun-o-rama

Cons: , slow service

Posted 10/10/04

My husband and I had our first date at the MONTAGE years ago. We visit Montage monthly and always on our anniversary. The last time i have to say was the best experience we have ever had. The food has always been good with few exceptions, but the last meal we had was terrific. I was told there was a new chef and his special was out of this world, it was. It was salmon with a Rainer beer sauce. What a combo. Sounds out of line but it was fantastic. Montage has always pushed the envelope, it's good to see it happening in thier kitchen as well.

Pros: unusual good food, lots of parking, fun talk with custome

Posted 10/08/04

if you're into a quiet, usual place and food, don't come here. being in the corporate world of the restaurant industry, i am always looking for a place that doesn't fit the run of the mill mall, one on every corner restaurant. This blows everything off the map!!! It's got long tables so you might have to or get to sit next to someone that you like or don't like. the menu is a mile long with everything form gator to macaroni. the waiters, well the waiters are a different story all together, you might get a 'good evening, what can i get for you' or ' I'm busy as can be, tell me what you want, '

in any case, the service was good (if not different) and the food was incredible.

it's nice to see a place that hasn't cowed down to the cookie cutter restaurant formula.

Pros: parking, fun, big menu

Cons: , no high chairs, no booze after 1:30

Posted 09/22/04

My kids have been trying to get me into Montage for some time. Not being part of the younger set, I was always ready for bed by the time they wanted me to go. We finally made it there on my time scheduale. At 6:30 pm. Why did we wait so long? I have the chicken dinner, it was fantastic. The crowd was varied and the food was great!

Pros: parking, good food

Posted 09/14/04

Whenever we here in Newberg want some decently priced GOOD food, we just hit the road and travel 20 miles north to the Montage. The cheesecake is better than sharies and the food is much to my tastes. Everyone needs to take an oyster shooter...its tradition!

Pros: Late Night Dining, Atmosphere, Mac & Cheese

Cons: , Not for Kids, NO BABIES!

Posted 08/29/04

Once we found the place, (buried under a bridge in SE) the hard part started.
Food: A huge menu with everything under the sun. We settled for the special and the Spicy macaroni chicken. Both the Salmon Cakes and macaroni were fantastic.
Service: Although a little hectic the servier was nice and things moved at an OK speed.
They only had one Salmon Cake order left, we ordered the mac, which was less $ and gave us variety.
Dessert: The Chocolate moouse POT DE CREAME? was to die for. with little room left it was just the right amount and talk about chocolate!

Pros: good parking, good variety, unique

Cons: , hard to find

Posted 08/18/04

Its sad that one of the few cajan restaurants, with really good food, and the only place I know of town to get frog legs and alligator daily has the rudest, non caring staff we've ever encountered. They are grouchy, they make you feel like ordering food is a bother, we've gotten food to go and we've picked it up with the sauces running all over the place, leaking, upside down, nasty. Come on, who owns this place?

Posted 08/16/04

Cheap, Great food, easygoing restaurant. Wait staff helpful, even if you have to stay on them every once in a while to get a refill!! Best Cheesecake in town, really!!!!! It may take a while to be seated; it is worth the wait.

Posted 05/23/04

Cajun? No.
I'd classify the menu as funky comfort food, perfect for topping off a night of drinking. The late hours and quirky interior are the best part of this restaurant. Diverse clientele makes the place interesting, waitstaff is too aloof.
The 2 cheap beer choices are unacceptable, I don't find anything charming about having only two rotgut brews to choose from!

Pros: open LATE, hip crowd, fun menu

Cons: , surly waiters, scary parking

Posted 04/28/04

I too was followed out by the waiter who complained about the tip. At 10%, it was generous for the slow and snooty service. Now I wish I hadn't left anything. One thing's for sure. I'll NEVER return.

Posted 04/28/04

My husband raved about the Montage, having been there once before. He dragged my there on our anniversary and I was very disappointed in the food and the service. Our waiter was unattentive, and nonchalant...he looked like he hated working there. I ordered the Portobello Polenta for an appetizer and it was sour and tasteless. The vegetable linguini I ordered for a main course had corn and celery in it...that stuff doesnt belong in good pasta dishes. Suffice it to say I thought the food was gross. I begged my husband to leave and I ended up getting Taco Bell for dinner...which tasted gourmet compared to the Montage!

Posted 04/16/04

What a great fun place! Fabulous mac-n-cheese... great service, eclectic crowd. Gets crowded at times, but a great spot... nothing like it around!

Pros: good food, good prices, great service

Posted 03/10/04

the montage rules. i dont remember much about my visit there except the extremely aesthetically pleasing waitstaff who served us with the perfect mix of flirtatiousness, sarcasm, and innuendo. they also fashion your leftovers into hideously beautiful tinfoil monstrosities. who doesnt love that?

Posted 10/13/03

I vistied the restaurant Septermber 20th 2003. The wait staffs are slow and and very rude. If you expect to be treat as a customer, don't go there because you will not. The staffs don't know customer service if hit them in the heads. My advice, go hungry you'll feel better.

Cons: Rude wait staffs, Slow service

Posted 09/21/03

It just keeps getting better and better, Some times the wait is a hassle but the time goes fast when your watching the scene. Been going to Montage for years and never been dissapointed with the food or service, (although the host can be curt). The best part is not the restaurant but the customers, we just love being sat next to someone we don't know. By the end of the meal, we do.

Pros: The scene, good price good food, fresh cocktails

Cons: can be loud, no reservations

Posted 09/18/03

I'm a Luoisiana native, and I never had food like this back home...The suaces are bland, and the meat is nover cooked properly, and usually way underseasoned. If there ever is any flavor or heat in a dish, it is usually just because they added a lot of Tabasco. And as for the atmosphere...who wants to sit at the same table with a bunch of drunk, smelly freaks?? And how can you have a decent converstion with the RUDE waiters yelling evertime someone orders an oyster shooter???

Cons: still open, not closed, hasn't been condemned

Posted 08/11/03

Rude servers, below par food--what more can you ask for from a psuedo-trendy not quite cajun pacific northwest restaurant? The answer? Not much. The best part of the restaurant is that it closes at 4am on weekends. They sure did a good job of taking the "spice" out of spicy. I never salt my food, but I sure was glad they had full shakers handy! If you're not sure what time the bar closes, don't expect to get an answer from the bartenders if it's past that time! The best part is that you're sure to meet some cool and interesting folk around 2am.

Pros: Open Late

Cons: Occasionally Crowded, Rude Staff

Posted 08/04/03

After the show, my boyfriend took me "under the bridge". Never been there, didn't know what I was in for. But I was pleasantly surprised by the interior of this 100 year+ bricker that looks like it is ready to fall any second. We weren't very hungry but wanted to kill some time over some wine and tapas. First we were told that "we don't have tapas, we have appetizers", then we got the wine list. There must have been 60 different wines from everywhere but the US. We settled on Portabello mushrooms with polenta, an order of frog legs and a bottle of MUGA. It was all fantastic!. the mushroom/polenta plate was huge and the frog legs were awsome. As for the wine, we ended up buying the bottle and finished off the evening watching all the diners, what a mix of people.

Pros: great price, fancy not stuffy

Cons: hard to find, wait for bathroom

Posted 05/05/03

Go anywhere in the country and you can get the exact same food, at any one of a 100 chain restaurants. Sometimes this is what I want. I was whining about getting the same old "Steak and Potatoe" dinner and a friend of mine took me to Montage. She hit home plate. I was amazed at the location (old industrial part of Portland), the building (an old place that really is old not just made to look old), and the "feel". I felt I actually took step out of time. No TV in the bar, nothing typical about it, I wasn't at a chain. Dinner was somthing else. Chicken legs with a pile of real mased potatoes, and pop out of a bottle. Dinner was less than 10 bucks. I'll try the gator lator.

Pros: parking, fun, inexpensive

Cons: small bar, busy, wait 15 min on Tues

Posted 04/29/03

The Bobo, a.k.a biscuits, sausage 'n gravy, is a wonderful dish. The potatoes and cajun gravy that come with the meal are a great accompaniment, all this for $7.75. I wish they would give less of the main dish (enough for 3-4 people) and more of the potatoes. The spicy Mac is more like pasta shells in hot sauce, I was looking for that traditional Mac n' Cheese taste. The linguini with rock shrimp and any blackened dishes are the one's to get. The grand winner is the pesto spam omelet, wow! Some drink called the Monkey...something was excellent. Food overall is not great, but good.

Pros: bobo, rock shrimp, spam pesto omelet

Cons: mac and cheese

Posted 04/28/03

I have friends who rave over Montage, especially the Mac & Cheese. I found it to be pretty average, as good as what we make at home. The service was average, nothing special. Didn't really find anything to rave about here myself.

Posted 04/19/03

Expect slow, sometimes rude, service and keep a sense of humor about it. The food is so-so and cheap, but it's open late. The draw of Montage, the only real reason to go, used to be the random, mixed crowd: business people in suits, next to street kids, next to a Blazer, next to a junkie - really random. Since those days, it seems much cleaner and more sterile - everyone wearing something from Banana Republic. Without the strange crowd, it's not such a draw anymore...

Pros: Open Late, Good Desserts, Fun w/Foil

Cons: Bland Crowd

Posted 03/25/03

The decor is nice, kind of classy with white table cloths. Great way to meet new people. The food was over rated there were 5 of us, each having a different dish. Heard so much about the mac and cheese, no flavor could have done better out of a box. The waiter was friendly, but the poor busgirl, was doing her work AND his.

Pros: good decor, service ok

Cons: food over rated

Posted 03/01/03

Yes, the food is average. Yes, the waiters are a little odd. Yes, the seating is strange. But this is the funnest place in town! The food is very reasonable and a great value! The waiters are sometimes silly, sometimes oddly quiet, sometimes sweet.. but they are as fun to watch as the customers. You never know who you will be seated next too.. thats half the fun.. unless they hit your arm every time they take a bite of food.. hahah - I love this place.. then go to Rimsky's for dessert!

Pros: Peaple Watching, Good Cheep Food, Foil Animals

Cons: Don't take plastic

Posted 01/31/03

seriously. I've got friends these day that afford themselves the best of everything. I've also got friends that can babrely afford the $1 menu at McDonalds. Montage is the only place I can go out with all my friends. And, man is it a cool place too! Funky Bohemian digs under the the Morrison bridge. Reminds me of Europe...or the States if corporate chains didn't dominate our every experience!

Pros: food, service

Cons: none that I know of

Posted 01/20/03

When my girlfriends come in from SanFran..this is where I always take them. Very hip..the perfect blend of bourgeoisie and bohemian. Great food..even better ambiance...and best of all..I love that I can take all my friends here and the corporate go-getter can drop $50 and my social-worker friend can get mac-n-cheese...this is the only place ALL of my firneds can go together!!!

Pros: Menu, Ambiance, location

Cons: none

Posted 01/20/03

My little well-behaved son was treated with the same formal yet comfortable respect as the rolex-wearing guy at the next table. Our food was presented well, and it tasted great.
Maybe the service is bad late at night, but maybe drunk and obnoxious customers aren't so much fun either.

Posted 01/16/03

The only reason to go here is to get food when most of Portlands other resturants are closed. The service is horrible the food is so-so and other then the oysters I wouldn't call it cheep

Pros: people watching, open late

Cons: service, service, service

Posted 01/02/03

I've been to this under the bridge local more times than I can remeber (mostly because there still open when the bars are closed.), and each time its like the first. The simple french seating and the near sarcastic greating, give you that liberating feeling you always wanted when dining on aligator pate. If your wise you'll get there a 1/2 hour before last call and order a large round of pounders and shooters while being entertained by the over-the-top wait staff and timmid first timers.
if your luck you'll get Ducky for your server and have a bottle of Shiraz to go with that gumbo (catfish of course).

Pros: the shooters, the togo packages, $1.75 beers

Cons: noise (if it matters)

Posted 12/19/02