Podnah’s Pit
503.281.3700
1625 NE Killingsworth St.
Portland, 97211

Second best biscuits I’ve had

So my friend Erika was in town for a friends wedding and happened to be staying just down the street at the Kennedy McMenamins hotel which turned out to be less than a mile from Podnah’s our planned destination for this weekends outing. Also seeing as it was my birthday weekend Carly had made loose plans for the something that afternoon so brunch became breakfast and we planned to meet Erika in the lobby around 9 am. We arrived a few minutes early which gave me time to oogle around at the cool interior of the place and even visit the gift shop. Erika arrived a few minutes later and we piled into the Ford to head just down Killingsworth to Podnah’s Barbecue. Seeing as a week prior we were just down the street and saw a rather long line when driving past Podnah’s I was surprised to see only about 6 tables inside with patrons but that would change by the time we finished eating. The interior is filled with benches each of which has a cardboard 6 pack holding a variety of opaque bottles with unidentified sauces. The menu has a rather large selection of choices and contained both breakfast and lunch options to pick from as well as a “specials” list the waitress rattled off when she came over to get our drink orders. Oddly enough my favorite Chicken Fried steak was a special and not listed on the menu, so I ordered that along with a trio of biscuits and a bloody mary. I tried to get a latte but they have a “get your own damn coffee” policy so all that is offered is drip in an urn up front. A little basket of biscuits arrived a few minutes later and each one was the size of a closed fist and warm and cripsy. They were not what I would call “flaky” but they had such a fluffy interior that I wanted to curl up inside with a pat of butter for a long nap. Our meals all arrived maybe 5 minutes later and each one smelled better than the last. My chicken fried steak was not bad but I have definitely developed a taste for the cheaper cafe style fried steak over a decent piece of meat (this was a decent piece of meat). My potatoes were awesome and crispy and I made it halfway through before remembering I also had the two poached eggs to mix in as well. Carly got brisket with poached eggs and potatoes and it was a tasty cut but I think we were both expecting a meal more like what “The Original” has when it comes to brisket which is by far some of the best meat I have ever had. Erika chose breakfast tacos that smelled quite good but I was too stuffed by my meal to steal any. I regret not trying some of the sauces on the table and also not even thinking to get some ribs or pulled pork or something more befitting a BBQ joint but there is also time for a return during lunch.

GALLERY