Bullard Reviews

We're really impressed with Bullard--the look, and atmosphere of the dining room and bar is terrific, the attentive service, and of course the food itself. We didn't have reservations each of the two times we've been but put our name on the list and then waited in their secondary, library bar where we had a drink and an appetizer and we were quickly text-notified that they were ready for us in main restaurant. The food is so impressive, from great salads to impressive pork and beef main courses. Wow.

What a fun dinner at Bullard. The entire staff is amazing but a special shout out to Kaitlyn and Allison. I enjoyed watching the flow of the kitchen which is in plain sight of the patrons. The food was very good!

My wife and I had been waiting for Doug Adam's first solo venture to open. We had enjoyed his creations when he was the head chef at Vitaly Paley's Imperial, so we had high expectations. March is Portland Dining Month, so we earmarked a visit to try Bullard and their dining month offering. We arrived a little early for our reservations but were seated immediatey. The restaurant is located in the new Woodlark hotel on the ground floor. The ambiance is cozy and warm but welcoming. We were seated near the open kitchen towards the back of the dining area. Our waiter asked us if we had dined there before, and we answered we had not--which was a good thing for us. He reviewed a few things about the menu including an important point: the main entrees are actually sized to serve two to four diners. We had eyed the beef ribs, but the online menu's pricing was rather intimidating--had the serving been for one. But split between the two of us, the beef ribs was much more reasonable. We also spotted a potato and a brussel sprout side dishes which would have made a nice balanced dinner. The sides are well sized on tapas plates to feed two or three, so we went with those three for our dinner. Everything was excellent. The ribs come with house-made tortillas, and sides including onions, peppers, and guacamole. The potatoes and brussel sprouts were also flavorful and well-seasoned. The ribs were exquisitely tender and moist with just the right level of smooth smoke flavor. While we were dining, my wife spotted the grill master prep'ing and starting to grill the T-bone steak entree. It was a huge cut and would easily feed two to four. It was thick enough that the grill master started by standing it on edge on the grill. To finish off dinner, we had the citrus chess pie. We've had chess pie before, but I recall it being really sweet. This spin on chess pie added just the right amount of citrus tang to balance out the chess pie so it was just sweet enough to be enjoyable. Service was excellent--gracious and friendly without being intrusive. We will have to come back to try the steak! Definitely worth trying if you're looking for a higher-end meal with quality ingredients and well-thought out creative entrees and sides.

The menu here is quite small, but has plenty on offer of great sharing size dishes that allows you to try out different things. We went for dinner mid week and the place was buzzing with a nice atmosphere. Stand out dishes were from the raw and barely cooked section. The scallop tostada and the day boat tuna were amazing. Tuna was nicely spiced, and he scallops were cooked perfectly. Dry rub wings have quite a powerful flavour, and the wings were a bit on the dry side. Service was as could be expected, quick, polite and attentive from our server who helped out when one of the cocktails wasn’t made very well. Also, lemon shouldn’t be added to an aperol spritz. This didn’t affect our evening too much, but when you’ve had the same cocktail next door but mixed better, then it’s something they should pay attention to. Will definitely return

This place is so good I often forgo traveling to my other favorites because I stay at the Woodlark. The food is excellent, staff great, the room is very nice. One of Portland’s finest!

As the restaurant website says, "Bullard is Where Texas Meats Oregon." This restaurant was so good! At this place you can get really good BBQ accompanied by freshly made tortillas and guacamole with good Oregon food! My mouth is watering just thinking of our meal! I Definitely want to go back and eat there again. The services was spectacular - they were all super attentive but not overly attentive where it becomes annoying. Their margaritas were on point!

The food is like high end Texas, with some Tex/Mex twists.The drinks are very tasty, and service is outstanding. This is a very busy part of downtown Portland and attracts a young crowd,...but very enjoyable for anyone that appreciates well prepared dishes, by a very fine chef.

Love the look of the Woodlark Hotel where Bullard is located so decided to give them a try for an early dinner a few weeks ago. What a great place! Nice bar with friendly mixologists who make a great Sazerac with cognac and a potent margarita! Had blistered Padron peppers as an appetizer which were delicious. For dinner I had the pork which was hands down the best pork I have ever eaten. What flavor! My husband had the vegetarian dish which was also delicious. For dessert we shared a piece of Texas “sheet” cake with ice cream which brought back memories for my husband as he’s a native Texan! His Mom made sheet cakes but not this good! All in all a great place worth trying. We are going back!

Very good food and very good service. Very good atmosphere. What else could you want? I had a club and the other three in our party had burgers. The carrot cake was very good. The toppings were perfect.

Bullard came highly recommended as one of the best new restaurants in Portland and it didn't disappoint. It is billed as Texas meets Oregon so it is sort of Southern food to an extent. Great menu and you must get the Texas Sheet Cake for dessert.

Visited here while on a trip to portland. Recommended by local culinary expert. Fantastic fare and professional staff. Great lunch offerings

Liked the place, good vibe, decor, etc. People were terrific! Service gets 5 stars... But the chicken and sides we tried were tasty, a little underdone and just too muc smoke. Worth a try... Make your own judgements.

We were in town for a meeting and met up with some local friends for dinner. They suggested Bullards. The ambiance and service were great. The food was even better. I highly recommend this restaurant.

Very nice spot with delicious food and exceptional service!! Notable shout out to Diego who worked the bar and was fun, professional and very knowledgeable. The atmosphere is perfect for a quick drink or a nice date night after a long drive. Attached to the Woodlark Hotel If you are lucky enough to come on a Sunday try their fried chicken which is spectacular and only served on Sunday’s.

Because the restaurant sits on a busy corner in Portland it makes for a very interesting people watching experience. But that’s not the main reason to dine here. We had the smoked beef rib after asking the waiter if it was a lean rib. He assured us it was marbled but the meat itself was devoid of any obvious chunks of fat. He was wrong. There was a tremendous amount of fat on the rib. If you do not like that you should not order this dish. It did have a Smokey bbq taste. The dish is supposed to serve two people and they serve it with homemade flour tortillas. The issue as I saw it is it came with only three tortillas! If you want side dishes those have to be ordered separately. We had the Brussel sprouts in mole and they were ok. A very different preparation for sprouts. The appetizers of tuna crudo was divine. Especially if you like citrus overtones. The radicchio salad was great but should be renamed a medley of lettuces with a touch of radicchio. Beer and wine prices were good. Atmosphere was lively with a full bar taking up most of the room. Overall, it was an interesting dining experience. If you like smoked meat you should try it.

So I see a dollar charge for “BFC “ on our bill when I get the check. My wife says I bet it is for the ice cube in my drink. I said there no way someone is going to charge you a dollar for an ice cube in a drink. Well I asked a bartender/waiter what the dollar charge is for and you got it …its the “BFC” (Big F… Cube. My wife had ordered a mixed drink and asked for it to be on the rocks. The waitress said they would put in a big cube. Neither of us realized it was going to be a “BFC”. So you understand my response to this guy for the dollar charge was “REALLY?” And I tried to inform him that I make those same size size ice cubes at home for next to nothing. Boy am I naive…these ice cubes are specially made by the Portland Ice Company. By this time I had figured out B stood for Big and C stood for Cube. I was afraid to ask what F stood for in fear that I would be required under safe service ordinances to contact the OREGON HEALTH DEPARTMENT. Who know how they are making those BFC’s. As for Bullard’s specialty…The fried chicken is cured or brined in lots of salt, then smoked , then deep fried. Tasty, but be prepared to drink a gallon of water two hours later (or maybe just suck on a “BFC”)….let me repeat ….lots of salt”. Would write more but gotta go and start my new “BFC” business . I’m going to be a millionaire.

Aside from the dinner my mom and I make, their Thanksgiving dinners is one of the best I have ever had. My oven went out and I didn’t know what to do. While searching for reservations, I found their take out dinner for the holiday. The turkey was also one of the best I’ve ever had for traditional Thanksgiving. The only one I remember being better was one smoked under a metal trash can. Will def try to make reservations for next year!

My family and I had a great time at Bullard for brunch! We received a recommendation from our server at a previous restaurant and it was spot on. We loved the decor, reminded of us of a great hotel we stayed at in New Orleans. But, the food. So dang good. We ordered the chicken sandwich, the breakfast burrito, and the loaded hash browns. All of them were delicious, but the loaded hash browns were too good to be true! We also had a yummy passionfruit, tequila (instead of mezcal) and beer cocktail. Our server, Joe, was incredibly sweet and took great care of us. We will definitely be back!

Loved this place. Tried alot of plates and smoked meats were truly delish. Will come again. Friendly staff that knew what they were doing.

Good food and service were obliterated by Creedence Clearwater Revival music played so loud that we could not hear the individual one person over at the table. Even affected our ability to actually taste the food. Why do restaurant owners, that have invested heart and soul in a venture, choose to shoot themselves in the foot to appear cool to 20 year olds? Baffling...Never again...

Stopped in twice during a 3 night stay down the street. James and Shannon were our top tier servers. Excellent food, especially those shortribs!! 😋😋 & seasonal pie. Cocktails and atmosphere was comfortable and casual. Our new favorite spot to dine whe in Portland!

Heard there was a Seattle chef in town and street vibe was it was good. So…. Adam I Garbel Prosecco (It.) was best I’ve tasted state-side. bursts and strawberries was a great starter, especially with the pro. And pistachio bits was a surprise touch. Dinner partner said burger was very good. The 1/2 Oregon lamb ribs might have been good, but they were so smoky they easily broke into shards. I wasn’t sure if I was eating or puncturing. In addition, while tasty, the floor manager agreed with me that the mess they left on the plate when done was the least appetizing sight in the restaurant! A purple smear on a white cloud of something. Desserts were good, I left a $30 tip on a $130 bill, despite loosing our waitress 1/3 through dinner and having to wave the manager over to clear our plate. I guess it is a tavern, despite the prices. Who knew?

The first thing you notice about Bullard is the amazing ambiance. The curved leather seats are gorgeous and comfortable, the denim blue walls and accents are modern and fun and the place buzzes with positive energy. We went on a Sunday so we could try the friend chicken and were not disappointed. The service is exceptional and we felt very well taken care of. The beef carpaccio and radicchio salad were delicious starters-very shareable for the whole table.We ordered the fried chicken (comes with homemade pickles, cornbread, jalapeno jam and some screaming red hot sauce) and also ordered the pickled radishes with kimchi, and the asparagus with poblano and trout roe. Every dish was a hit with layers and layers of flavors. The citrus chess pie was so impressive with caramel and toasted marshmallow...what can I say? We were really impressed with every aspect. Really well done and inventive.

We were staying at Woodlark and enjoyed a delicious lunch at Bullard. The contemporary, yet Texas styled restaurant, was a wonderful surprise. Not something we were expecting in downtown Portland. The décor, the staff, and most importantly the food, exceeded our expectations. We would most definitely dine here again.

Visiting Portland. Mistakenly thought this was a traditional bar type restaurant. It's far more pretentious than that. Wildly over priced menu. Charging $24 for a very average burger doesn't make it foodie. It just makes it expensive. My advice. Go to McDonald's and spend your money on something more worthwhile. This is not it!

Have been a big fan of Doug Adams since he ran the kitchen at imperial. This is a nice modern comfortable bright restaurant. Friendly helpful servers. Really interesting sommelier Great wine list – just a bit pricey. Had a dynamite gal back from the Loire Valley. Loved the San Antonio chicken and the elk meat loaf.

This is an incredible addition to the Portland dining scene, a destination meal. My son and I were here for my birthday. We worked our way though a fair portion of the small but brilliantly conceived menu. We started with the Mishima Ranch Beef Carpaccio and the Shrimp and Grits. The Shrimp arrived first, which was unfortunate because they are filled with bold and bright flavors, a sort of barbecue sauce with tang and none of the sugar commercial BBQ sauce is ruined with, and served on a grilled polenta cake whereas the carpaccio is a much more subtle dish. I'd say the carpaccio was the only dish that did not totally sing to us, but it's still an A- dish in a class of valedictorians. The potato sticks and cotija cheese on it were creative and added to teh smooth texture of the very high quality beef. The shrimp were outstnading; they should have a main plate size available. We also started with (me) a glass of wine some a seriously curated wine list and aquavit and pickle juice -- known as a pickleback (son). Not only does this odd combo work, it works very well as a chaser after the shrimp sauce. We then switched to a pitch of margaritas and, folks, these of not the limeade sugar bombs of your average Mexican spot, but more subtle and work with the food rather than against it. Bullard has supper plates for one and a "From The Smoker" section that looks expensive, but are intended for two people. I thought about the trout but we went for the smoked pork belly, served with sorta Asian, sorta Texans wrap materials: basil, cilantro, calabrian chile sauce, lettuce for the wraps, pickled onions and sliced jalapenos. We also got a side of sunchokes and a side of kim chi radishes. The starch in the sunchokes helped counted the heat of the main dish, and were a perfect pairing. The folks at the next table raved about the chicken main too. For dessert we shared a grilled pound cake with cherry caramel (I didn't know there was such a thing) and, my favorite, the grapefruit sorbet baked Alaska with "honeycomb." The tang of the sorbet paired well with the Italian meringue. This is a moderate+ priced restaurant, but perfect for an event. We spent about $50 each for food and another fifty for the alcohol. But with sizable portions, impeccable service and flavors you are not going to find elsewhere, the restaurant is off to a hot start with few if any signs of growing pains. It is a 'must eat' destination even in the ultra-competitive Portland food scene.

Could Chef Doug Adams' San Antonio chicken be the most delicious poultry to find its way to a plate? Try it and see if you agree-- flavorful, moist, smoky with just the right amount of heat, the chicken comes with chunky guacamole and bread and butter jalapeños that could become a serious addiction. Wrap it all up in homemade flour tortillas and be prepared to swoon. We shared the whole chicken among four of us and still had leftovers. That could be because we also had to try the tasty elk meatloaf from the Portland Dining Month menu along with the terrific radicchio salad. The dining month menu also included a light butter lettuce salad and a lemon bread pudding for desert. That would have been more than enough, but we were intrigued by the Texas Sheet Cake, so we ordered that, too. Yum! The restaurant feels cozy and warm and every seat in the house was full when we were there on a Friday night. Service was attentive, helpful and seamless.The wine list has some wonderful interesting selections and a few good values. We've added Bullard to our "must go" list for Portland!

Amazing food and service @ Bullard! Portland is back, show our wonderful local businesses some love, they deserve it! Highly recommended !!

Southern fare with a twist. Bold and bright flavors. Amazing service. Perfect for a late night snack post Timbers game.

Dinner for six in downtown Portland at one of our favorite and most reliable restaurants, Bullard Tavern. We always enjoy their well-selected oysters on the half shell and indulged in a dozen from Washington State. The creamy poblano Romaine salad - so good! - was easily shared among the six of us, as it was quite large. We also shared the carpaccio. All of us enjoyed our entrées which included lamb birria, halibut, t-bone lamb, bavette and mushroom risotto. The only disappointment of the evening was the side of summer squash - while good, it was too simple and skimpy for the price ($15). The Holloran Tempranillo went well with everything, a nice Oregon wine. Desserts - peach cobbler and a baked Alaska with guava sorbet - yum! Almost forgot to mention that a singer with a beautiful voice entertained us early on. Think she was there for happy hour, a great addition.

Came with friends from Texas, Maryland, New Jersey, and Boston. Absolutely delicious. Don’t miss!!!!!!

I was very lucky, as I probably tried every dish on the menu, and I was not disappointed! Each dish is unique and has a great blend of flavor. The atmosphere is lively, and the location is perfect. They have some fun craft cocktails to wash everything down! It certainly supports that Portland is a foodie paradise!

We had seen and followed Bullard on Instagram and knew the next time we were in Portland we had to stop in! We stopped in to have drinks and had the Tail Dragger and the Iced Irish Coffee with Butterscotch Irish whiskey. We also tried The Pickleback pair ups!!! Henry McKenna bourbon and spicy turmeric pickle juice. Everything was spectacular! The staff was incredible! Jamie came and talked to us shared great information about the restaurant and Abigail’s the bar also in the Hotel. We also got to meet Doug Adams the amazing Chef of Bullard!! He is so friendly and nice! We decided to also have the fried chicken skin appetizer and tried a local bourbon by Free Spirits in Portland! As Top Chef lovers it was a truly epic day!! Thank you Everyone at Bullard!!

The surprise travel agency I was traveling with made a reservation for me here. Not sure I would have found it on my own. Very much enjoyed my dinner and evening here. I chose a small plate for my dinner because I wasn't very hungry; the Summer Squash Fritters… with feta ranch, mint and aleppo were tasty and filled me up. Best part of dinner, though, was the recommendation to check out Abigail Hall, inside the same hotel.