We reviewed Francis Restaurant for their gluten-free brunches back in January of this year. Recently, they emailed us to let us know that they were open for dinner and that they had a lot of gluten-free items on their menu. We decided to check it out. (Note that we dropped in unannounced and anonymously for this review.)

First off, it should be noted that in January we didn’t think the line-up at Francis was perfect, but we did admire them for being adventurous and (of course) also liked that they had some gluten-free brunch items. We came away feeling about the same this time, but feeling less enthusiastic about their offerings.

There are a lot of adventurous items on the new dinner menu. For example, Buffalo-style Frog Legs, Pan Fried Chicken Livers, Breaded Pan Fried Oysters, and Buttermilk Crusted Rainbow Trout are among the items that are also available in gluten-free versions. Along with that theme, they are also going with “comfort food” and enormous servings. We ordered the Caesar Salad. Sienna got the gluten-free breaded Pan Fried Rainbow Trout with arugula, and I got the Braised Lamb in Marsala with potatoes. I also tried out their gluten-free blueberry pie.

Our server was friendly and answered questions about their gluten-free items. It sounded like they use the same surfaces to cook the gluten-free items, but they scrape them before switching to cook gluten-free items. As always, you should ask questions and not eat somewhere if you don’t feel comfortable. See our restaurant rating system.

One thing that I could really get used to was that they brought us a small loaf of cornbread when we sat down. Yes, that is almost a half stick of butter on top of that. They actually had to do this twice. They brought us out a loaf and when they discovered that I was gluten-intolerant they brought us a gluten-free one. This was really nice, because I usually get to sit and watch everyone else enjoy the bread and butter before meals. We both felt that the cornbread could use some work. It had a characteristic gluten-free density to it that your regular cornbread doesn’t have. As for flavor, it was not sweet. Instead it was more savory and had pieces of vegetable and corn kernels baked in.

Next came the Caesar Salad, which, with its blue cheese, pears, and tomatoes, didn’t strike us as much like a traditional one. It did taste good, however. The tomatoes and lettuce were fresh and the flavors were nice.

So far so good, but unfortunately, our entrees left a lot to be desired. I got the Braised Lamb. I didn’t think that it would be like a lamb shank but it was. The lamb was seriously overcooked. Half of the lamb was dry and leathery. The other half was cooked to the point where it seemed like it had been stewed. My main problem, though, was that the marinade took over the dish and it tasted kind of unpleasant. I tend to like the flavor of lamb so I don’t see the need to cover it. Sienna had a taste and agreed that it was kind of strange and unpleasant. In the end, however, I do have to admit that I don’t normally like this sort of dish, so you might take it with a grain of salt. If you love lamb shank you might like this.

Sienna got the trout. They take a whole trout, split it in half, bread it, fry it, and serve it up, head and all. The flavor was very nice, but since it was breaded, it was a little difficult to see what was what. Sienna ended up with a mouthful of bones when she put a piece in her mouth and started chewing. We’re thinking maybe she accidentally put a fin in her mouth? She bravely kept at it but kept running into bones, which ended up ruining the dish for her. I think that maybe, besides being more careful de-boning the trout, they should decide to either bread the fish or, alternatively, serve the fish whole, but not both.

At the end of the meal we decided to look at the dessert menu. They have a lot of gluten-free items there, too. Among them is gluten-free blueberry pie. The “pie” is actually more like a lemon coffee cake with a lot of blueberries served with whipped cream. I thought it was a really good idea, but felt like it should have been a little more sweet. On the plus side, I’ve never really had anything like it, and it was really perfectly prepared so that parts of it were crunchy and other parts fluffy.

This is the second time we’ve been to Francis restaurant and our second experience sort of solidifies our feeling about it. It’s adventurous and interesting, but maybe needs some fine-tuning. When I rate restaurants I try to keep in mind that good restaurants have bad nights, and I’m hoping that our experience (the overcooked lamb and bones in the trout) is the result of that.

We want to know: Have you eaten at Francis? Have a great experience or did yours sound a lot like ours? We want to know! Have you had any of the other gluten-free dishes? Let us know!

Gluten-Free Safety Rating: Gluten-Free Friendly But Be Careful.
Times we have visited: 2 (So your experience may vary.)
Overall rating: 2 out of 5 stars
Price compared to “regular”: Same

Francis Restaurant
www.francisrestaurant.com
2338 NE Alberta St., Portland, Oregon 97212 / 503.288.8299