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About
Culture is the only place on the west coast where you can order shawarma that is cooked and served to you right at your table!
Come try Portland's newest tableside dining experience!
Our bar features distinctive, delicious Middle Eastern-inspired craft cocktails, spirits, beer, and wine.
*Please make a reservation for our tableside shawarma, and please note that this is only available until 8:00pm.
Private Dining
Book your next event with us
They were not open! Please take this off!!!
Please do not let me book those restaurants temporary closed or No dine in,
This is 3rd time I didn't get any notification that they are closed!
Well it was very quiet. In fact it was closed. There really needs to be a mechanism for not giving a reservation to restaurant that’s closed
They were closed and it would have been nice it they updated their status everywhere. That’s they are closed. Even when you call them it doesn’t say sorry we are closed until further notice etc. it was frustrating driving all the way.
Great value and artistic presentation. Loved the variety and flavors. Fun place with friends and groups!
Our food took forever! We were there almost 3 hours. Our server was hardly around , we wanted more drinks but could never order more. 2.5 hours into the experience my friend asked about her burger and the hostess told her the burgers come out last. Wtf? The music was so loud we had to scream at each , we asked 4 times to turn it out. It measured over 100 decibels on the iPhone watch app. It was overpriced . It was a disaster. We went with a group of 7 , were all dressed up and excited for a great meal and a Sat evening out. Would never go back here, and would not recommend that you do either.
SUCH A FUN PLACE!! Went on a Saturday night and they had a DJ, absolutely love the food and the entire group that runs the place is so nice.
Very friendly staff and the food was excellent!
We enjoyed the chicken shawarma experience and it was an absolute delight! Come hungry, leave happy.
I loved the outside seating option and the big windows that open in the fresh air. The food was really good and the servers are awesome and helpful on menu selections.
Wonderful!
Staff were engaging, knowledgeable and genuinely interested in making our time there enjoyable.
What a fabulous place! The drinks were unique and phenomenal. Try the Beets Me if you are Beet fan. My 8-year-old was hilarious this day and ordered the dirty fries for all of us immediately and then asked for the recipe. They were a 9/10 in his book. Since the server couldn’t give him the recipe, they brought him a cookie that was also made in house and he rates it a 10/10. ;). We had the frog legs - which my son also loved, and the new Sage pasta and Lamb dishes and everything, including dessert was amazing and made in house! The staff were perfectly attentive and so kind. We are already planning on when we can go back for the Culture Experience!
Great value, fun experience. Strongly recommend trying them out.
Simply outstanding.
A MUST visit stop in Portland for those whom enjoy enriching and enticing Mediterranean cuisine.
Order the Shawarma, you won't forget it. It comes fresh to your table on a rotisserie so you can make several sandwiches and the quality of the food here is top notch beyond the typical "top notch" standard thrown around.
You'll see for yourself when you stop in. Say hi for me,
:chad.
We dined outside...very nice seating area with umbrellas
Cocktails: I had the Purple Derby and my Partner had the Vampire Slayer..both were excellent.
The Culture Experience (their signature Dinner for 2) is like nothing we had experience before. Shawarma, Lamb Kafta, mixed Veggies and Mezza. The Lamb is cooked on your very own rotisserie and cooked the way you like it.
the Service was friendly and efficient
Went here to experience the table side Shwarma. Food was absolutely incredible and Mohammed our server was awesome. If you go you should absolutely try the Culture signature drink. Best Mojito in Portland by a landslide, Will absolutely be going back.
Great ambiance for a friend gathering with indoor and outdoor seats for large groups! Food is good for the price but nothing spectacular. Cocktails were excellent! Would recommend for a casual get together.
Feels like authentic Mediterranean cuisine. A wide variety of cocktails available with distinctly Mediterranean twists to popular american drinks. Several tasty courses served at a perfectly relaxed pace. Definitely a lovely experience.
We were very excited to be able to go out to dinner somewhere new to celebrate a recent achievement. We sat outside on the cute patio, and I had to switch seats with my husband because the wooden bench was WAY higher than the table and it was hurting my back. We had a few cocktails that weren’t anything special. We ordered the Kafta experience, which is a multi-course dinner complete with a tabletop kafta heating machine! Every single course was extremely plain. Maybe they were out of salt and lemon? For both of us, it was the most “blah” dinner we’ve had in a really long time. Tabbouli wasn’t bright and flavorful, the baba ganoush was boring and we couldn’t detect a hint of smokey eggplant, and the falafel was super dry and flavorless. I was also bummed that they didn’t have a rice option. Instead, we were presented with a ridiculous mountain of improperly prepared fries (dark brown with that bitter burnt taste - they did not soak the starch off) and no seasoning to speak of. The machine was fun. It slowly spins the meat and keeps it warm. We took almost everything home and had it for lunch the next day after rescuing the food with some seasoning.
Great!! Server and service. Good good and LOTS of it. Great drinks. Good value for the money. Will return.
Brunch on the weekends is awesome!!!
I booked what I thought would be an amazing dinner at Culture, for Valentine’s Day. At first, the ambiance and entertainment were on point. The seating, however, was very awkward and was put together very cheap and with poor tastes. I would of thought paying a minimum of $120 plus the added wine (Dinner was $200 with exceptional tip for poor service) would have filled our bellies and at least been able to hear my date talk/be worth the money that I worked hard for. The food was sub-par, which also took more than 30-45 mins between courses. Not only did the wait time for each course take entirely too long, each course I could have made myself for 1/16th of the cost and probably would of taste better. Not to mention the servings were enough for one person, if that. It took us so long to get our entree meal, that the kitchen had to (without my date and I even asking) send out an order of Sashimi/Sushi (which was also sub-par). Being that this establishment was one of the highest rated of its type on google, I would have thought that this experience would have been different. I am not asking for any hand-outs or give-Me’s however I do think that this establishment should reimburse/fix this issue because I guarantee that I am not the only one that has made this complaint. I took this time to write this review because we were so displeased and still hungry after dinner that my date and I went to MOD pizza right after and spent $40 bucks (fraction of the entire rip-off dinner) because we were still hungry. I am more than willing to provide receipts if necessary.
We did not know there was a Valentine’s Day menu. 60$ for a salad, 3 scallops and a shared desert. Outrageous price for the meal. The food was good, not outstanding. Went because of their menu online. Special menu was not that interesting. The musician was pretty bad. They did turn down the volume when we asked.
Terrible food and service! We went there for Valentine’s Day and it was a Prix Fixe menu they were offering so nine came with a burrata salad, risotto and a SHARED dessert for $60!!! The salad lacked flavor and the risotto was not even edible! I took one bite and I couldn’t eat anymore! It was overcooked and dry and they didn’t bring me out anything else but a small cup of soup and still charged me the full $60!!! I was shocked and asked why they would still charge me if the food was not edible and they didn’t even bring me out a different entree. The server then had her manager give us a 20% discount on my meal! Never again will I ever go back! They tried to squeeze as many tables as possible where we were literally elbow to elbow with other guests. So disappointed with my valentines dinner experience here!
Enjoyed a nice Valentines Day dinner there. Great live music! Portions were quite small for the price however. Would go back when it’s not a special occasion in hopes of not paying $120 (a salad, entree - I had scallops as my main and got three medium sized scallops with nothing else on the plate but sauce, and shared cheese & fruit with only one kind of cheese and four strawberries, not including drinks) for two.
The food was really tasty, but not worth the price and portion. Again it was Valentine’s Day so I know most places up charge a bunch...but this was a bit steep.
How disappointing! We went to Culture to celebrate Valentine's Day. There was a prix fixe dinner - one appetizer, one entree and a shared dessert for $60 each, pricey but could have been OK. Unfortunately, although well prepared, all three courses were very small leaving us hungry and feeling ripped off. In addition, the food wasn't their usual Mediterranean fare.
Amazing attention to detail and magical Valentines event. Singer was great. Staff was amazing and food was creative and well done
The food,the service was Amazing. Definitely recommend and will be returning
Other middle eastern restaurants around town that are better and less expensive.
Very nice bar, starter courses are great, entrees are a great deal!
The only negative I have was that due to the high ceilings, the noise level can be a bit much. However, the staff was more than kind to move us to an area away from a noisy group. The food and service are excellent. Pricing is very reasonable (a pleasant surprise). Will definitely be back! Thanks so much!
Good selection of tasty dishes from around the Mediterranean (did not try the tableside shawarma). Servers recommendations were spot on. Portion sizes large enough to share. Background music (ethnic) was moderately loud. I imagine that later in the evening with a full house and live music it could become quite noisy.
We live in the neighborhood and had been wanting to go to Culture. We finally did it and are really pleased we did! The food and service were very good. Tasty and attractive Mediterranean dishes...a real variety from every corner of the region (North African, Middle Eastern, Southern French, Spanish...!). We will return soon to try the Shawarma meal. The only reason for the lower star on "ambiance" was the t.v. in the bar. It's just not something we care for. But, the place is otherwise very cozy.
The team at the restaurant works well together. Our server did a great job with recommendations. The octopus appetizer was just right.
I really hope Culture catches on. I've been there three times and I've been very happy with everything every time. They all seem to work hard at making it a welcoming, warm environment and the food has been great every time. I love the variety of the menu. I do wish the happy hour lasted till 6, though, and they'd continue to play the middle eastern music longer into the evening. Small things. Overall, it's great. And there is always parking!! A real plus in Portland these days. Division restaurants are impossible to find parking for. So, c'mon over to Hawthorne!
The food was excellent! My hat off to the chef. The staff was attentive, checking each others tables. I was surprised that the noise was low. We could hear each other talk. We will be back
Thank you all for making my birthday brunch party amazing! Everything was perfect from the food to the service. I will definitely be coming back!!
Absolutely delicious food!! Everything we ordered was amazing, and we ordered a lot. Service was great and we can’t wait to return. They also have very good cocktails.
We had such a wonderful time at Culture! The wait staff were friendly and helpful without being intrusive. The ambiance was beautiful and charming. But most importantly, the food was outstanding!! My husband and I each got something we'd never tried before and the food was flavorful, exciting, and perfectly prepared. The only reason I didn't give 5 stars across the board is because the music was a little louder than we prefer, but that's a matter of opinion that not everyone will share, and was certainly not a deal-breaker. We will absolutely be back!
FAQs
Culture does offer delivery in partnership with Postmates. Culture also offers takeout which you can order by calling the restaurant at (503) 477-8365.
Culture is rated 4.2 stars by 76 OpenTable diners.