Pal's Shanty Tavern
Copyright Donna Macdonald


Pal's Shanty calls itself a tavern and for the moment it takes your eyes to adjust to the dark interior, scanning the row of video poker machines in the corner and the posters and party photographs decorating the walls you would agree. And if you squint your eyes you can almost see the curtain of cigarette smoke that once hung in the air from their more tavernesque days gone bye. Now a non-smoking establishment Pal's Shanty is more of a diner with a hint of Cheers thrown in. For their regular clientele, who seems to be most of the people in the place, Pal's is a family hangout. The waitresses watch over the dining room like a group of caring relatives.

The menu is wide and varied with a selection of deli sandwiches, a couple of burgers with some rather unusual sounding specials and if you are into that sort of meal Pal's Shanty does what they are supposed to do. They offer honest, simple, well presented fare with enough variety to keep the regulars coming back and non-seafood eaters something to enjoy. It is doubtful anyone should make an effort to drive across town for the Pal's Rueben or one of the other deli sandwiches.

What is worth the trip is the fact that this tavern also serves seafood. Pal's has been known over the years for their steamed clams. This is the type of tavern that should be at the Oregon coast not NE Sandy & 46th. Yet here they are in the middle of a busy street in the middle of NE Portland, a working man's tavern serving seafood since the 1920's. Owned by the Hanson family since 1965 and is now run by brother and sister Jim and Sharon Hanson.

When deciding what to order from the various options of menus left at your table, on the blackboard and slips of paper taped to the wall. One is left with the impression that if a customer asks for something not on the menu, they will simply write it down on a piece of paper, put a price on it and tape it to the wall! No biggie! The service is friendly and efficient and unless you specify ahead of time, all of the food can arrive at the same time.

Seafood is served fresh when in season locally and frozen other times. The fact that their steamers are their signature dish, they have connections with producers throughout the Pacific Northwest and Canada.

When ordering, try to keep in mind that simple is better, and for my money, no pastrami with pepper jack cheese will be ordered when there is a crab cake in the house! Ask what is fresh and take a pass on any of the more complex preparations, even if the staff seems enthusiastic about them. The steamers come out of the kitchen on a regular basis throughout lunch and dinner and are served in small and large buckets with drawn butter and the option of "clam nectar", the rich salty liquid used to steam the clams, as dipping liquid. The Parmesan Garlic Bread is better than the Garlic Bread but neither is great.

Their seafood sandwiches are served on a sesame seed bun with good potato chips. Nothing is deep fried although many of the sandwich preparations are breaded or battered and grilled on a flat grill. The oysters in the oyster sandwich are lightly breaded, grilled and served with homemade tarter sauce that has the right amount of pickles but doesn't hide the salty brine flavor of the oyster.

Dungeness Crab is touted heavily on the menu and prices are quoted not printed. Remember that the winter months are crab season in Oregon, so don't wait for June to try their crab cakes, cocktail or salad. They recently served crab cakes as an appetizer for $5.90 for a single crab cake and $9.50 for two. The presentation is simple with enough fresh lettuce underneath to call a salad and a tasty piece of crab leg meat draped over the top. The strength of their crab cake is its simplicity, although a bit more crab would have been preferable, at the price they are charging it is hard to complain. Neither the red pepper sauce nor the tzatziki served with the crab cake really brought much to the table so be sure to try their tartar and cocktail sauces both are made on premises.

Salads are mostly seafood variations with a green salad and Chef Salad option and are generous with their toppings. Vegans will not have an easy time here, but are accommodated with the Veggie Deluxe, which is the "same as the Turkey Deluxe without the fowl".

Desserts are presented on one of the handwritten menus, which means they change regularly, but did not offer anything worthy of caloric investment. Unless apple strudel cheesecake or white chocolate raspberry cheesecake is your idea of desert bliss, save yourself for the oysters, clams and crabs while they are still in season.


Copyright Donna Macdonald


FACT BAR:
WHERE: 4630 NE Sandy
(503) 288-9732
HOURS: 11:00-10:00 Monday - Thursday
11:00-12:00 Friday - Saturday
PRICES: Appetizers $3.00 - $7.00
Entrees $6.00 - $15.00
Sandwiches $5.50 - $7.50
Wine List - Affordable but limited
BEST BETS: Steamers & Crab Cakes & Oyster sandwich