Wonder Cafe (128 NE Russell)

I have been wanting to eat at Toro Bravo ever since they got Restaurant of the Year in Willamette Week and Chef of the Year in Portland Monthly. So when I realized it was right next door to the Wonder Ballroom where I was attending a concert last Wednesday, it was perfect. Except it was Halloween and they were closed. Boo.

Instead, I wandered over to the Wonder Cafe. I sat in a little cubby, read my Willamette Week, ate a thick, juicy hamburger, drank several Cokes and watched the musicians from that night's show walk in. I watched a guy dressed up like Darth Vader try to order a drink from the bar. "Dude, I cannot understand a word you are saying," said the bartender. Amy Winehouse was sitting at the bar, too. Seriously great people watching.

The Wonder Cafe has great food (I had the best fried chicken there once, with greens, but it's no longer on the menu), excellent service and lots of good little cubbies perfect for one or two people. It's nice to eat somewhere alone where it seems like it's built for people to eat alone. Makes it a little less awkward.