Pizzetta from Decarli, and other pizzas too…

A Happy Hour at Decarli with a pizzetta with prosciutto, taleggio, arugula, shaved grana padano, olive oil. I have never gone wrong with any pizza that had arugula.

DeCarli, Beaverton, happy hour pizza, pizzetta, pizzetta with prosciutto, taleggio, arugula, shaved grana padano, olive oil

As a side note, boy is happy hour at Decarli popular! You have to be there, standing in line, before they open for happy hour at 4:30 or good luck finding a seat. Fortunately the bar service is very fast and friendly, the drinks are good, the food is good… so I can see why the crowd that fills up the bar area right away. Price-wise it’s not as competitive as what you could find downtown… but since we are talking about Beaverton here for the location, but with the atmosphere and offerings like it’s a chic downtown place, not having to go through the logistics of going all the way downtown is worth those extra few dollars if you live or live/work in the area. Actually compared to any other major city, the HH is more than fair price anyway, we’re a bit Portland spoiled.

If you do stop by Decarli’s, I recommend sitting at the bar for the best service and so you can watch the drink making action, and besides the pizzetta I also really like their polenta fries, as I wrote and photographed about in this previous visit. The burger I saw a coworker ate also looked tempting, though I was not as impressed with the panini I had that visit.

In other food porn, I decided to share a few photos of other awesome food memories of pizzas in my past eatings…

  • Tarte Flambee Pear, Bleu Cheese, Walnut, and Garlic Chip (“classic Alsace style pizza”) from Brasserie Jo in Chicago (restaurant closed).
  • A Mano restaurant (since closed) in Chicago’s $5 wood oven pizza of Wild Mushroom & Caramelized Onion, White Truffle Oil, Taleggio Cheese, Hazelnuts and Oregano.
  • Chicago’s Scoozi: the restaurant is famous for their white pizza, the shot is their asparagus with roasted garlic, aged parmesan, and truffle oil pizza.
  • Chicago Pizza and Oven Grinder‘s half pounder pizza pot pie… I can’t believe I don’t have any photos of any deep dish pizza from Chicago. Must be corrected next time.
  • And, all the way from Boston, Bertucci’s pizza “Carmine” I was recommended, with Fresh mozzarella balls, Romano cheese and caramelized onions with roasted tomato sauce.

Tarte Flambee Pear, Bleu Cheese, Walnut, and Garlic Chip, Brasserie Jo, Chicago A Mano restaurant, Chicago, Wild Mushroom, Caramelized Onion, White Truffle Oil, Taleggio Cheese, Hazelnuts and OreganoChicago, Scoozi, pizza, white pizza, pizza with asparagus with roasted garlic, aged parmesan, and truffle oil pizza Chicago Pizza and Oven Grinder, pizza pie Boston, Bertucci, Carmine pizza, pizza with Fresh mozzarella balls, Romano cheese and caramelized onions with roasted tomato sauce

All in Portland….

  • Pyro Pizza‘s (located in Cartopia)Italian style wood oven fired (but from a food cart!) White Truffle pizza that has white truffle oil brushed on the dough and then is topped with romano cheese and a dash of black pepper. If you go, remember to ask to add as an additional topping basil or sundried tomatoes!
  • And, Nostrana’s Funghi Verde pizza with shiitake mushrooms, house mozzarella, garlic, arugula, pecorino sardo, lemon oil…. served with shears to cut your slices.
  • Gruner appetizer of tarte flambee “bonne anee”- alsatian pizza with sweet onions, maine lobster, smoky bacon, fromage blanc & chives
  • Finally, Deschutes’ Brewery Portland Pub‘s grilled washington pear and goat cheese pizza:Spent Grain Dough topped with Pears, Goat Cheese, Mozzarella and Hazelnuts. Topped with Fresh Arugula tossed in White Balsamic Dressing.

Pyro Pizza, Italian style wood oven fired pizza, food cart, White Truffle pizza that has white truffle oil ,Portland Nostrana, Cathy Whims, Funghi Verde pizza with shiitake mushrooms, house mozzarella, garlic, arugula, pecorino sardo, lemon oil, Portland Gruner appetizer of tarte flambee bonne anee, alsatian pizza with sweet onions, maine lobster, smoky bacon, fromage blanc, Portland Deschutes Brewery Portland Pub, grilled washington pear and goat cheese pizza with Spent Grain Dough topped with Pears, Goat Cheese, Mozzarella and Hazelnuts. Topped with Fresh Arugula tossed in White Balsamic Dressing, Portland

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Decarli Happy Hour

In Beaverton, co-workers have been telling me what a great happy hour Decarli has. It wasn’t until yesterday though that I finally got to experience it. Since I knew Saturday I was going out for cocktails, I became one of the ladies who drink wine by the glass, which apparently is a popular choice here and I can see why- they offer more then a dozen wines to choose from. We got there right on the dot when it opened, and within 10-15 minutes the bar area filled up on this Friday evening and it was buzzing, a fun vibe filling the large lofty feel of this place that would fit right in with other restaurants I’ve seen spring up in Chicago’s meat packing district. Well, except since this is in Beaverton, the crowd is a little older- but that doesn’t mean they aren’t entitled to go relax with friends at a happy hour.

The waitstaff was efficient, and another peer joining us (doing several event-hopping that evening so pressed for time) easily) slid up to the bar, was recognized by the bartender, who then poured his regular Fred’s Red into a glass for him. It wasn’t on the board so when we asked for it at the table she was taken aback, but she took it in stride and walked away to check on it instead of rejecting our request yet admitted it in a friendly way when she returned later with it and explained her surprise.

They have small fancy bites (like the fancy version of bar peanuts) on the menu, as well as appetizers and burgers, but also a few paninis and intriguing personal sized thin crust pizzettas (basically the size of the pizzas you commonly see at California Pizza Kitchen). When I saw the portobello mushrooms, sweet onions, gorgonzola, sage-walnut pesto pizzetta when it arrived at the table (not pictured), I was very jealous and tried not to stare. Next time, pizzetta.

The paninis come with a salad that I ignored because the amount of bitterness in the mixed greens with vinaigrette was too much counterpoint against the sandwich, which already had oil cured olives and sopressetta inside the crunchy doughy bread. In the end I was just picking out those olives because they were overwhelming the poor sopressetta. I also wished they had included a hardy cheese with it, like asiago or pecorino. The melted mozzarella offered ooze but no flavor- maybe if it had been cold.

 

My friend’s burger looked evilly rich and delicious though the fries looked a poor comparison to my polenta fries with gorgonzola butter (which I even dipped ripped bite size pieces of panini in, super yum). My polenta fries were perfectly fried to a crisp shape and texture perfectly echoing a crisp fry (but on a gigantic scale up- these were longer then my hand and as thick as a finger), but with that rich polenta denseness inside instead of the emptiness you would find in a potato fry. I didn’t really need the gorgonzola butter with it- which is why it helped my panini out instead, and I was scraping for that gorgonzola. Who wants potato fries compared to this? Ok, the presentation is bizarre (ran out of dishes?), but as something to eat it definitely delivered.

Decarli Happy Hour

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