On weekends, I try to explore different areas of the city and, more importantly, cross to the east side of the Willamette River. One spring morning in 2007, I needed (or rather wanted) to find a way to convince my husband to go to the Rebuilding Center on N Mississippi. It is a wondrous place where recycled building supplies and house fixtures can be donated or, more importantly, found. He has a weakness for Mexican food and I had heard ¿Por Que No? Taqueria had the best fish tacos in the city as well as a weekend brunch. Using the fish taco as the proverbial lure, we headed over the river. We were a little early and met a group of six people who were in town for a funeral. They had come after services in order to pick up breakfast (and a few margaritas) before going to the airport. They assured me that the tacos were better than advertised and the margaritas were brilliant. It turned out that a contributor to Oprah Magazine during the fall of 2006 also felt the same way and reported it was the “Best Bargain” in the city. When a second location was opened on SE Hawthorne, I had to go.
¿Por Que No? knows that the secret to a successful restaurant with repeat business is a solid, but simple menu. The focus is primarily on corn tortilla tacos: carnitas (pork), verduras (vegetable), pollo (chicken), carne (chopped steak), pescado (snapper), calamari (squid), and camarones (shrimp). After trying several, the pescado is hands down the best fish taco in the city. Their guacamole is also exceptional and served with crisp chips with sea salt. The margaritas and sangria are good, however the aguas frescas (fresh fruit juices) can be hit or miss depending on what is in season and who made it. On this particular evening I tried the coconut guava, even though the juice had separated and it didn’t look like any other patrons had tried it that day. It was quite good with a perfect blend of coconut flavor and guava sweetness, and it was tempting to get a second glass. However, on a prior visit I had tried a berry based aguas fresca that was watered down and it wasn’t worth finishing the glass.
Prices as ¿Por Que No? are quite reasonable and family friendly, as exhibited by the numerous families with young children who frequent the restaurant in the evenings. A simple flour quesadilla is $2.00, tacos range from $2.75 - $4.00 each, and other platters an bowls ranging from $5.50 - $11.00. In addition, they have a “mid-day” menu (a.k.a. Happy Hour) from 3:00 – 6:00 p.m. and after 3:00 p.m. on Tuesdays. This translates into $0.50 off tacos, $1.00 off chips and guacamole or salsa, and $0.50 - $1.50 off various drinks.
The drawback of ¿Por Que No? is the wait. During prime hours, there is a line out the door (please order before taking a seat), and based on my observations, they have not determined the most efficient routine for their front-of-house staff. The evening I was there, there were approximately six parties ahead of us ranging from two to four individuals (including children). It took 20 minutes of standing in line and because it was 6:05 p.m. by the time we got to the register, we missed the “mid-day” menu prices which would have decreased our overall bill by over $5.00. Once we sat down, I watched the front-of-house staff for another 20 minutes while waiting for our food. There was one individual focused on taking drink orders of those who were reaching the register and he was typically able to fill the requests either prior to the register being available or shortly after they had ordered but before they stepped away from the register. There were two individuals whose job it was to deliver food from the kitchen to the customer and bus tables (for those who had ignored the signs saying please bus your own table), wipe down tables or other cleaning duties, or taking additional drink orders. The one individual who did not seem to be efficient in their duties was the person at the register. Upon further observation, I don’t believe it was necessarily the person who was currently in the position, rather the way the position functions. In addition to welcoming the customer, taking the order, entering the order into the computerized register, and taking payment, the person must also walk an itemized order generated by the register back to the kitchen and (occasionally) fulfill drink orders. Further, while there are two registers available, only one was used for customer orders and the second was used exclusively for customers picking up to go orders. The result is the average time it took for a customer’s order was three minutes, with anywhere from 15 – 30 seconds extra for each additional person in parties greater than two.
My suggestion to ¿Por Que No? owner Brian Steelman is the new, larger space can’t be run like the original location on N. Mississippi. (The original location is tiny, almost microscopic in size, and accommodates probably about a quarter of the customers of those at the SE Hawthorne location. Further, the register is one and a half steps from the kitchen, so the time it takes to hand delivery of itemized orders is negligible.) There are two possible solutions to assist with the customer’s waiting experience: invest in the backend of the point of sale (POS) system so that orders are automatically routed to the kitchen and when the line of customers starts snaking more than six feet out the door, put someone on the second register.
While the wait will not stop me from returning to ¿Por Que No?, it will make me second guess my choice if the line is out the door. And if I do see the line out the door, eight times out of ten, if I’m not trying to appease my husband’s craving for tacos or my craving for guacamole, I will probably decide to go elsewhere.
¿Por Que No? Taqeria
4635 SE Hawthorne Blvd
Portland, OR 97255
503 . 954. 3138
www.porquenotacos.com
September 27, 2008
3 x Pescado Taco $10.50
3 x Carnitas Taco $ 8.25
1 x Calamari Taco $ 3.50
1 x Carne Tamale $ 3.75
1 x Chips & Guacamole $ 4.50
1 x Aguas Frescas $ 3.00
1 x Pacifico Beer $ 3.00
Total $36.50
Updated February 1, 2009: I gave in to my guacamole craving today. (Sigh.)
Exterior Sign
Guacamole and Chips
Tacos
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