Goose Hollow Inn

Goose Hollow is one of those quiet little places tucked away in a part of Portland in which I rarely find myself, but that will likely change forever after this week's lunch at the Goose Hollow Inn. I'd wandered up from the courthouse (yay jury duty!) during our break, stumbled across this quaint little tavern, and quickly fell victim to their marketing strategy/slogan. Best Reuben on the planet? Challenge accepted. Not having a terribly long amount of time before I had to be back at the courthouse, I wasn't about to waffle around with my order. Gimme the Classic Reuben, on sourdough (I've never been a fan of rye bread), and a Manhattan, pronto! In a flash, they arrived at the table, and I quickly tucked in. So, did the Reuben live up to expectations? I'll say this: whether or not it's the "world's best", it's the best Reuben *I've* had, and that's good enough for me. The fantastic dressing was the star of the show, which is high praise, since the corned beef was lean, tender and juicy, and the sauerkraut tart, but not overly so. And the potato salad that accompanied it is incredible as well; my only gripe is that one scoop is simply not enough! I'm already pining for another Reuben, and I'm dying to bring my wife to come and try one as well. It's so good, it's detrimental to the rest of the menu, because it's going to be nearly impossible for me to give anything else a fair shake; I'm always going to be tempted to order it in lieu of another, potentially disappointing entrée. C'est la vie! As for everything else, the service was friendly, prompt and attentive, my cocktail was stiff and tasty, and took the edge off the remainder of my seemingly interminable wait in the juror's room. I'm actually sad that my jury service has concluded; I was looking forward to sneaking in for a bite at least once more this week. At least now I have a compelling reason to be in Goose Hollow, and I guarantee I will be back (accompanied by my wife, this time) sooner than later.

They claim to be the best Reuben and they do a pretty good job delivering. I'm not a huge fan of Reubens but I figured I better try it and it was pretty good. Potato salad that came with it was decent. Decent selection of drinks. Made for a really good lunch visit with friends out on the patio. I could tell there were a lot of regulars.