Headwaters

The scallops were great. Salmon was ok- somewhat bland.
But the service was unbeatable- thanks for a great evening guys!

Good, but not great. Not the Heathman Hotel restaurant of old. Menu is not as extensive or as diverse. Food is well prepared but not exceptionally imaginative.

A lot of hype. Small portions. Crowded tables. Loud.

Love the portion size not too large

They were out of the first two fish choices we made, steelhead and salmon. Then the halibut we had was overcooked, very dry.
Waiter was confused about the price of the wine, woudl up being $75, not $60.
Overall, a very disappointing experience.

Excellent restaurant with excellent food. It was a little on the pricy side given the moderate portion size.

I had high hopes for this restaurant as it had been recommended to us by a friend for our first
visit to Portland. The restaurant has a wonderful energy and bistro feel. Our waiter Aaron was
wonderful and knowledgeable about the menu. Unfortunately, this night the food quality was
sub par. It was as if the cooks had their feet on the accelerator; everything we ordered came out overdone. The baked oysters were burned, the crab cakes were charred and black on the outside.
Finally, the king salmon I ordered was overcooked and dry. Properly cooked salmon should be moist
and flake off on your fork. Fortunately, our waiter agreed with me and refused to charge for the
entree. Meanwhile the fish my wife ordered was fine though she did feel that is was smaller than
indicated on the menu.
The wine list was interesting in that the wines by the glass were significantly lacking in Oregon pinots
and chardonnays. All in all, this appears to be a fine restaurant that was just having a bad night.

Appetizers were better than the main courses. Scallops were good, but Paella was just too salty. Probably will not return.

Some dishes were really good such as the striped bass with salsa verde, but my husband's tuna tartare was grossly over salted. When we mentioned it to the waiter they did nothing. My tomato burrata salad with dates and toasted hazlenuts was very flavorful and just outstanding. I had albacore, topped with foie gras. The foie gras was cut so small you couldn't have tasted it and the fish was served in an oily brown mess of a sauce without any accompaniment to soak up some of the grease. The dessert, a raspberry crisp was very gummy in texture. The menu said the ice cream was vanilla but it came with some non descript nut ice cream that I didn't want or order. All in all i think the cooks could do a better job for the prices they are charging and pay more attention to detail. The waiter was really great though.

We love the new decor (in the restaurant; the new hotel lobby is horrible).
Overall, we had a very nice time at Headwaters. Luckily, we got there early we had to ask "where are they?" for both rounds of drinks more than once.
The food is creative; here are some comments: (1) wedge salad needs some life; very fresh ditch the fried seaweed, it is unattractive I was tempted to order 2 more ( (3) my husband loved the soba noodle dish, AFTER adding copious amounts of S and -- 5 stars for those lovely prawns! Wow. (4) mushrooms a la plancha is the best thing on the menu; great collection of wilds, lovely romesco sauce; (5) patatas frites are addictive, even though the pimenton salt is a bit much (salt them a bit less (6) please have salt your staff were so busy (7) I understand the 3% wellness fee (and support it) -- but what is the $10 "service charge" for?
One more thing -- My husband uses a walker and doesn't navigate easily. All of your staff (and several of the guests) were very accommodating and kind to him. I can't tell you how much it means to us to still be able to go out and enjoy some of the finest things in our beloved Portland, just as we used to do.

Always a great experience here. Came back for breakfast today. Delicious!

It has gone down severely—there were not enough servers and it was not as premium as the prices on the menu would suggest.

This dinner was fantastic. The halibut delicious and the crab cakes totally crabby! The cocktails were wonderful too!

We have had great experiences at headwater in the past we ate there and liked the food and also like the bar during the happy hour. But this was the second time I have noticed how the scent of fish hits you as soon as you walk in to a point that's too overwhelming. I had a friend with me visiting from San Fransisco so I was kind of disappointed in that and in the dishes we ordered that were too oily. We didn't say anything because the lovely lady who served us was wonderful. Hope there is something that can be done about odor control.

Service excellent, food all excellently prepared. Lovely space inside the classic Heathman Hotel.

We like to go to Headwaters before going to an event at The Schnitzer or Newmark Theaters because it is very convenient. Parking is also convenient. However, this time the food and service fell short of the mark. I ordered clam chowder and King Salmon. The chowder was thick, relatively tasteless, and the clams were rubbery and tough. The salmon ($36 ala carte) was cooked with maple syrup which dominated this expensive entree. It took over an hour to get our meal and the restaurant was not full by any means. I will have to think twice before going back.

This has always been a favorite of mine and my family's -- a place we tend to go for special occasions. But something has happened to the management here. A bevy of young women who seem a bit confused and who always try to seat us beside the kitchen where it's hot, crowded and noisy. But this time, I insisted on a different table and after much confusion and conversation among the hostesses, we finally got away from the kitchen. Then, cocktails were forever coming, although waitress was sweet and friendly.
But the food? Heaven help us. Terrible. Almost inedible. Green salad mushy and gooey and tasteless. Fried fish could have been from Denny's. Parker House rolls were not really Parker House. More like that Hawaiian sweet bread available at Safeway. Dinner was a very expensive disappointment.
Regrettably, Headwaters is off my list of favorites. What a loss to Portland's dining scene.

Headwater is usually the choice for a pre opera meal whenever the Newmark has a performance. The atmosphere has always been elegant the food excellent

My fiancé and I had an amazing time at Headwaters! I had the king salmon and he ordered the scallops. We ordered focaccia bread for an appetizer and we couldn’t get enough. Our server was very knowledgeable and attentive. We attended the opera next door right after. It was a perfect evening!

Wonderful food and service as usual!

Great service and food

I love going to Headwaters. It's one of my favorite restaurants to go to with my beloved, and so it's a frequent stop for our nights out on the town. I especially like their fish board and spreads. Amazing!

The food is excellent, especially the crab cakes! This restaurant is probably a little more expensive than represented on Openable.

I took my husband there for his birthday. The hostess staff was very friendly when we arrived, the waiter was less so. The crab cakes appetizer was excellent, we both had salmon which was cooked perfectly but lacked flavor to me, the snow peas side dish was excellent and the cherry upside down cake was delicious. They did comp us dessert and two glasses of champagne for his birthday. We've eaten at Headwaters several times and really love it, I was just a little disappointed in the entree this time and the service from our waiter.

We were vacationing in Portland and chose Headwaters for our last night dining option. Nice choice. Relaxing atmosphere...excellent service...and fabulous food. Started with their smoked fish appetizer. Unique and fantastic. Our entree choices were their Branzino and Halibut. Halibut was overly salted, but still pretty good. Branzino will come out with the head unless you specify otherwise. We chose to have it prepared in the kitchen versus table side. We paired our meal with a local bottle of Pinot. Overall a wonderful experience.

Overpriced. Seriously, a "wellness" tax ?! Slow service on a non busy night.

Great server and great food. Wonderful surprise in Portland. Had tried to get in several other more well-known places but could not have been happier with our choice. Oyster sampler was outstanding as was salmon belly tartare. Ahi poke and salmon entree also fantastic. Nice wine list too.

Beautifully prepared seafood
The dining experience at Headwaters was excellent. The seafood was very fresh and the preparation quite delicate. For example, my husband had the halibut which was complemented by some french lentils seasoned with red pepper slices. Great textural contrast to light seared halibut. Excellent. I had the crab cakes which were sitting on top of curried carrot sauce. Very complementary. Only minor disappointment was the lack of anchovies on my ceasar salad. Otherwise a very enjoyable dinner.

Have enjoyed all of the “Paley” restaurants...not so much this one.
Our server was extremely inattentive...we ran out of the warm water (the place obviously doesn’t believe in ice water) that they serve and we weren’t asked if we wanted second cocktails until we had finished our meals.
We had the scallops, paella (which was highly recommended by staff), and the cauliflower. The cauliflower was the highlight of the meal. The paella was flavored rice with seafood in a paella pan....not authentic. The scallops were bland...we make better ones at home.
Apparently the place is known for a good happy hour that serves very inexpensive oysters if that interests you.
We won’t be heading back anytime soon.

Overpriced and too noisy to have a good conversation. Side dishes and even the bread was an extra charge. It is a good place for happy hour but we won’t eat dinner there again.

The perfect place for a business lunch. Fast service and quiet enough to talk.

I really wanted bread with the meal, and it should have been included at those high prices.

Our server had very limited knowledge on the 4 types of oysters for the day, when we asked how the other three compares to fanny bay.

I told them there's a piece of hair on my plate when the server cleared the plates for us. just saying "I am sorry" without eye contact, i don't think that's a sincere apology.

I was recommended by my local friends to try this restaurant but it was quite disappointed.

I am a fan of Paley since the days of Paley's Place on NW 21st. Headwaters continues the "mouth-punch" flavor experience that I look forward to. Scallops and halibut dishes were exceptional.

Most of the dishes we ordered were very tasty, but the side vegetables we ordered were forgotten and came after we were almost finished eating, which was disappointing and only one of the three were anything to write home about.

Great service and our breakfast was delicious! Will definitely return!

Dinner before the Ballet. Good service, great food. Not very busy and it should be.

Everyone really enjoyed their breakfasts. Prices are a bit on the high end, but the service and ambiance makes it worthwhile.

Excellent food and very good service. It is so convenient to performing arts centers, a great place for brunch.

The birthday celebration was A+, beautiful cake, fantastic food, and service!