Screen Door (restaurant)

Screen Door is a popular Southern and soul food restaurant with two locations in Portland, Oregon, in the United States.

See also: Screen door (disambiguation)
Screen Door
The original restaurant's front exterior in 2010
Restaurant information
Owner(s)David Mouton (co-owner)[1]
Food type
Street address2337 East Burnside Street
CityPortland
CountyMultnomah
StateOregon
Postal/ZIP Code97214
CountryUnited States
Coordinates45.52310°N 122.64171°W / 45.52310; -122.64171
Websitescreendoorrestaurant.com

Description
Huevos rancheros, 2017

Screen door is a popular Southern and soul food restaurant with two locations in Portland, Oregon. The original restaurant is located at 2337 East Burnside Street in the Kerns neighborhood.[2][3] In 2021, a second location opened in northwest Portland's Pearl District.

Screen Door's specialty is crispy buttermilk-battered fried chicken, sometimes accompanied with sweet potato waffles.[4][5][6] The menu also includes biscuits, fried green tomatoes, grits, macaroni and cheese, po' boy, pulled pork, and brisket; weekend brunch features Bananas Foster French toast and biscuits and gravy (sausage or vegetarian).[3][7] The restaurant's hushpuppy recipe has been published by The Washington Post, and subsequently other outlets.[1][8]

Screen Door often has a queue line. According to co-owner David Mouton, the restaurant can host as many as 500 customers per weekend. Wait times are sometimes shared via voicemail.[1] Screen Door warns guests, "Good fried chicken takes time. Please consider this when ordering."[5]

History

In 2013, the restaurant's head chef Rick Widmayer left after serving for six years, citing "creative differences". He said, "We'd had some creative clashes over the years and it finally got to the point where I wanted more freedom to experiment and to grow. Screen Door has such a rigid concept and criteria: over-the-top Southern…there's no room for change."[2] Screen Door opened a second location in the Pearl District in 2021.[9]

Reception

Screen Door has been associated with Portland's reputation as a food destination.[6][10]

In 2012, ABC News named Screen Door as one of the "Top Ten Restaurants in the Nation".[11]

The Cooking Channel has recommended the restaurant for the "best Southern breakfast on the West Coast".[12] Glamour recommended the fried chicken and sweet potato waffles on their "must-try list for "serious foodies'" (2013).[4] The Portland Mercury has described the restaurant as "spacious yet cozy", with a varied menu.[7]

Exterior of the restaurant in northwest Portland's Pearl District, 2022

In 2012, Portland Monthly reviewed and contrasted the restaurant's fried chicken and waffles with Simpatica's recipe in the magazine's "Battle for the Best Fried Chicken and Waffles" in the city.[13] The magazine also included Screen Door's "Spicy Creole Bloody" recipe in its list of Portland's best Bloody Marys.[14] The restaurant's mashed potatoes and tasso gravy recipe was a contender in Portland Monthly's 2016 "Spud Bracket", which recognized the city's best potato "creations".[15] The magazine also included the chicken and sweet potato waffle in a 2022 list of "The 12 Best Breakfasts in Portland".[16]

Tom Sietsema of The Washington Post wrote, "If you have time for only one breakfast, make it this convivial Southern charmer, easy to spot due to the inevitable line out the door".[1]

See also

References
  1. Sietsema, Tom (July 22, 2015). "No city does breakfast quite like Portland". The Herald. Everett, Washington. Archived from the original on February 16, 2016. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  2. Tepler, Benjamin (March 1, 2013). "Chef Rick Widmayer Out at Screen Door". Portland Monthly. ISSN 1546-2765. Archived from the original on September 12, 2015. Retrieved January 30, 2016.
  3. "Screen Door". Travel + Leisure. Time Inc. ISSN 0041-2007. Retrieved January 30, 2016.
  4. Raymond, Julia (June 14, 2013). "Portland Food in the News". Portland Monthly. Archived from the original on February 14, 2017. Retrieved January 30, 2016.
  5. "Screen Door". Food Network. Archived from the original on March 12, 2016. Retrieved January 30, 2016.
  6. Sietsema, Tom (December 21, 2015). "The 10 best food cities in America, ranked". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on January 29, 2016. Retrieved January 30, 2016.
  7. "Screen Door". The Portland Mercury. Index Publishing. Archived from the original on October 10, 2015. Retrieved January 30, 2016.
  8. "Screen Door Breakfast Hush Puppies". The Washington Post. July 1, 2015. Archived from the original on February 13, 2016. Retrieved January 30, 2016.
  9. "After a Yearlong Delay, Portland Brunch Destination Screen Door's Pearl Location is Opening Next Week".
  10. "The Washington Post Names Portland America's Best Food City". Portland Monthly. December 21, 2015. Archived from the original on February 3, 2016. Retrieved January 30, 2016.
  11. "The Nation's 10 Best Restaurants". ABC News. Archived from the original on 2017-09-08. Retrieved 2017-06-22.
  12. "Screen Door". Cooking Channel. Archived from the original on November 5, 2015. Retrieved January 30, 2016.
  13. Dundas, Zach; Ritchie, Rachel; Patail, Martin; Brooks, Karen; Gay, Dan (February 23, 2012). "Portland's Battle for the Best Fried Chicken and Waffles". Portland Monthly. Archived from the original on January 29, 2016. Retrieved January 30, 2016.
  14. Ritchie, Rachel; Brooks, Karen; Jones, Allison (February 23, 2012). "Portland's Best Bloody Marys". Portland Monthly. Archived from the original on January 31, 2016. Retrieved January 30, 2016.
  15. Clarke, Kelly (January 15, 2016). "The Spud Bracket". Portland Monthly. Archived from the original on January 17, 2016. Retrieved January 30, 2016.
  16. "The 12 Best Breakfasts in Portland". Portland Monthly. Retrieved 2022-06-01.
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