It took a long time for the The Front Room to get back to normal after Covid-era dining upheavals. It’s not yet open 7 days per week but enough of the days (Wednesday to Saturday, dinner only) to make it a steady neighborhood hot spot for dining. The food is well prepared, peppered with plenty of home-grown ingredients to deem it locally sourced.
The room, however, is not much different. Tables are not as close together as before but still packed into the room. I’m not aware that when the restaurant was “closed for renovation” that it included one of those new air filtration systems. I’d have liked to see tables spaced farther apart, and until Portland requires vaccination (x3) cards for entry in all restaurants (and public spaces) as in New York City, I’ll still remain wary of dining-in at places that I’d love to return to. But any regulations regarding masks, vax cards or otherwise are met by the inane political divide that shrouds our pandemic ideology. Ultimately the mask rule here and elsewhere is useless without more stringent controls like proof of vaccination in your back pocket. Today the City Council voted to repeal the mask mandate, another misstep by an out-of-step council.
The bar, the dining room and starter mixed green salad
