Elephants in the Park

So… I’m here again on a hot day after work and I’m impressed that one of the ciders was switched out to an IPA! Thank you for listening to my input. I now gladly rate this place 5 stars. Thank you again!
Love this place on a hot day for a beer after work. However, for the past few weeks, of their three draft beers two have been ciders and one a red ale. How about an IPA or even a good old local Hefe like they used to? Will give them 5 stars then gladly.

Had a good burger and fries at Elephant in the Park on a Sunday. We arrived around 1:30 or so and walked right up. There is a lot of outdoor seating and only 2 or 3 tables indoors. We were able to get one of the indoor tables.
I ordered the Bistro Burger with garlic fries, my son had the child’s burger and sweet potato tots, and I also tried one of my brother’s chicken strips. The food took less than 10 minutes and was delivered to our table. The fries were VERY HOT, but were good. They are crispy, albeit a little greasy as they were right out of the fryer. I would have liked them to rest a little more before service so some of the grease could drip off. The garlic fries have a ton of garlic flavor, I loved them. There is actually diced garlic on them, not just garlic salt.
The burger comes with a bacon/​onion compote, sauce, arugula, and blue cheese. The bun stood up well to the toppings and the burger stayed together throughout the lunch. The patty was juicy and wasn’t overcooked, but had a slight crispiness to the edge. There is a load of blue cheese, which I love. But, it’s definitely the dominant flavor. I didn’t get any bacon flavor from the compote, but I got a hint of onion. Basically, this tasted like a good blue cheese burger to me.
My son got a ¼ pound burger for $ 4.50. It was a nice deal given the quality of the products and the size of the burger. The sweet potato tots were good, but nothing to write home about. They needed salt and pepper but were appropriately crispy. I really liked the chipotle dip served with the tots. I also used it on the fries.
The chicken strip was solid. Breast meat in a crispy yet thin breading. It was seasoned very well, nothing additional needed.
In addition to the snacks and meals, Elephants served Ruby Jewel ice cream, but only a few flavors. On our visit, they had chocolate, vanilla, and espresso.
Great little spot to get a meal while you are out or relaxing in the park. We had a good time and would return.

With this week’s return of great weather, it would be practically breaking Portland law to not stop by and grab a burger to eat outside, perhaps by the fountain on Director’s Park and perhaps on the way to a movie at the Fox 10.
The point of coming here is the food. What you will get here are excellent burgers, sandwiches, and salads and the like made of very high-​quality ingredients which becomes immediately apparent once you start eating. The hamburgers/​cheeseburgers are juicy and well seasoned and amongst some of the best I’ve eaten in Portland.
This is an extremely casual place to eat, as it should be in relation to its location, but that doesn’t mean it has to be disorganized, which it is. The counter staff seem a little distant at times, especially when it gets busy. They seem to get distracted easily and lose track of things and thus lose control of traffic flow. I’m sure this also adds to staff members seeming to be distant and not as personable as they could be.
The restaurant on the inside is clean, but gets a little crowded and cluttered I think due to disorganization and traffic flow problems. It seems they need to develop a new organization plan. It’s probably better to eat outside than inside when the weather is good.
My final score is three stars spread out over excellent food and clean and attractive restaurant. I’ve deleted two stars for customer service that could be better and lack of organization in an environment that demands it. I’ll still come back for the great food, but not as often as I would were there better customer service and organization.

Ate lunch here yesterday. We enjoyed what we ate (fish sandwich and the pig lebowski)
My fiancé ended up not feeling well about 20 minutes after we ate.
So while the food tastes good, the rest of our evening was screwed up because of this place.

I ordered a milkshake and as I drank it I noticed that there was something beside milk and ice cream within my straw, I found some sort of blue gunk with hair in it! WTF!!! I suspected that this place might have been slightly unhygienic when I saw one of the cooks preparing food without gloves on but I never would have expected something like this! I’ll never go back to this place again!

Sweet potato tater tots with the dipping sauce… Oh my heavens. Great spot for a quick lunch or an afternoon in the park playing giant chess!

Was just wandering by on a warm day, looking for a place to hang out, and decided to stop in for a beer. It just happened to be happy hour — $ 3.50 pints!
I didn’t try the food and they only had three beers on tap, but the locale can’t be beat! Covered outdoor seating that overlooks a pretty awesome park; a really cool fountain and a giant chess board. It was so relaxing. I loved it.

It’s Burger Week 2015!
I’ve only been here a couple of times before. Each prior visit was quite forgettable. But today is different. Perhaps because of the special burger, I don’t know. But service was friendly and the food was really good. The only gripe I have is, I ordered a marionberry + chocolate chunk shake. It was tasty but the straw kept clogging with seeds and chocolate pieces. You might want to keep some fat straws handy for chunky shales like this Elephant’s Deli. #burgerweek
** Quick update: I get to the bottom of my shake to find huge chocolate chunks and hazelnut halves. Either they forgot to tell me to eat it with a spoon or their blender sucks. **

The location makes this place! Right downtown in a concrete park with lots of outdoor seating. Makes for a fantastic summer lunch. I personally liked that they had vegetarian options and draft beer. The sweet potato tots are AWESOME. The rest of our food was good, but not outstanding. And the giant chess set was great. My hubby and I played a game after lunch and had a grand time!

This place is in the middle of a concrete park. It is very clean and there is a diverse menu that includes many entrees that are less than $ 10. Both my husband and I ordered the grownup Mac and cheese with a small order of sweet potato tots to go with the meal. The Mac and cheese was only $ 6.75 each and the tots $ 2.25. There are large chunks of bacon in a creamy cheese sauce. I always add hot sauce to Mac and cheese. This is one of the best Mac and cheese I have had in quite awhile. The sweet potato tots were crunchy and were salted with sea salt and served with s chipotle sauce, yum

As much as I would love to love this place, it simply fails to stand out among the crowd of food options in the immediate downtown area. While the location, seating, and giant chess set outside make it charming, the food does not justify more than 3 stars.
I ate a burger and fries here, and it was the most forgettable culinary product I have consumed in Portland to date. I’m a firm believer in judging restaurants by their basic foods, so I ordered the Park Burger, a traditional meat-​sauce-​veggies-​bun affair. While the meat was moist and cooked well, it lacked any particular zest or flavor. I additionally found the bun to be generic and, if anything, a bit dominating – too much bread with each bite. The fries were similarly underwhelming, inoffensive but lacking excitement. This venue would benefit from embracing its adventurous side. Until then, you are better off searching elsewhere for your lunch needs.

I love this place. There aren’t that many casual but good places in this part of town, and I love all the seating in the square. Brought my cat, Henry with me today, as we were coming back from a day in the park. The staff was super sweet in their response to him. Nice people. Good food. Good spot.

Really good place. The burger I had was juicy and not greasy (which is almost unheard of these days). I also ordered a milkshake and it was ok, it wasn’t sweet, but it was thick and creamy. Will go back when visiting.

Although the selection is still here this Elephants lacks the vibe and charm of the others. Even at the airport location they have better attitudes. My latte was pretty good but my frittata was bland and the gal who served it to me looked like she maybe hadn’t smiled in 4 years. All in all it just wasn’t the fun charming vibe I’m used to from the other locations

Really enjoyed this place. The all glass building makes the appearance of this restaurant modern. The menu is interesting. From sushi to burgers and its just pictures so the real challenge is putting your trust in the cooks because being my first time there I really had no idea what to expect. I kept it simple and ordered a Park Burger. It was delicious! Next time around I’m gonna try their sushi rolls.

730 pm. Of course I needed a cup of coffee. Went across the street from our hotel and had a delicious cup of joe thanks to this place. It was closing time but they still came through with a good cup. Was able to enjoy it while sitting outside on a perfect night. Staff were courteous and cool.

This is my favorite restaurant in Portland. There is a dark elf. I swoon every time I pass through the large glass doors and they are there. When they describe the chili soup I nearly die.
I come for the park burger and stay for the dancing.

I’ve always stopped by for some coffee or a quick salad to go but I wanted to try something off the grill for lunch today. I got the Portlandia burger and it was fantastic! The quinoa patty with beets was really yummy and something I hadn’t tried before.
The service was quick and friendly and they were very attentive. I will definitely be back.

This was my first experience at any «Elephants» location. The person I was eating with had the fish tacos which was well made and a good value for the money. I tried the barbecue pulled pork sandwich, Overall it was good, bread was quality and meat was quality but could have used a bit more of the sauce.
Worth a try if you are in the neighborhood and has great open air seating for beautiful Northwest days.

Not all Elephants are created equal! Two Elephants locations are less than a block from each other — this location and the one inside Fox Tower, and while the Fox location has the best mac, when push comes to shove, you’ll find me here.
Their options that are «hot off the grill» (which are not found inside the Fox location) are fantastic, and I must admit, they are giving my favorite PDX burger & fries (Kenny & Zuke’s) a run for their money. The burger is juicy, and has lots of flavor. The bun is wonderful as well, moist, and squishy, but not too squishy that you end up with no bun at all midway through. Just right! Also, the fries are just to die for. I absolutely love how skinny they are — I’m not a steak fries girl at all. Give me lean french fries any day.
Staff is often very pleasant. And orders come up quick, however, from order-​up window to you, may be a different story. You are given a table number upon ordering, and since you are given the ability to sit where you please in the park, an employee may spend another few minutes trying to locate you.
As for the atmosphere, inside is small, and can get a bit squished when a big line happens. But if you sit outside, you get the joys of eating outdoors, watching children play in the fountain, or observe a game of giant chess, it’s all very pleasant, but we may see that change if that giant skyscraper goes up across the street, as the sounds of construction may create a rather unpleasant soundtrack to your meal, not to mention changes the lovely view of older buildings a block away.
I would give this place a 5, but twice they have forgotten my mouth watering fries upon delivering my other food, and I have had to request them.
Other downsides are feeling like an animal in a zoo almost. Once while eating a Portland tour group came by. We were far enough away that I couldn’t hear anything, but it was a little awkward to have a group of people looking in your general direction as you ate.
Overall, I’ll be back again and again!