by Jaime Vázquez for pdxguide.com
June 2007

Amerigo’s New Foods Grill 4200 SW Mercantile Dr. Lake Oswego, OR 97035 Website

It’s remarkably difficult to find quality fine dining in the suburbs. Aside from the national chains, scattered across the highways like pimples, one’s choices are often limited to the haughty establishments overrun with attitude and tiny servings, like Ricardo’s, or Gubanc’s. Part of that is a harsh geographic reality: It’s hard to be fancy in a strip mall.

Which is why the originators of Hillsboro’s Pasta Pronto have created such a gem with Amerigo’s. Amerigo’s, located just off the Kruse Way exit on I-5, takes the traditional strip-mall restaurant and turns it on its ear with relaxed family dining, rich desserts, and an outdoor patio that rivals the best of the city’s sidewalk cafés. While one could easily see the same space being used for a bank or a nail salon, the magic of the ambiance and food have made it date-worthy, and frankly, have created a reason to visit Lake Oswego. Amerigo’s describes their own cuisine as International, although it would be easy to make a case that they’re a half-Mediterranean, half-Pacific Northwestern restaurant, with all of the flavor and flexibility that that implies. In the end, categorizing Amerigo’s beyond “mixed grill” feels like splitting hairs—if you’re up for a Margherita pizza, they have you covered, but if you’re more the wild salmon type, you won’t be disappointed.

Walking in, one can’t help but notice that Amerigo’s takes its wine seriously, as a large metal wine rack dominates the far right side of the room, and strategically blocks the kitchen from view. Directly to the right of that is a large, well lit dessert display case, which houses a bevy of rich, delectable desserts (the tiramisu being the most appealing, practically begging to be eaten). The outside patio, however, is far more pleasant, and is recessed enough from the parking lot that it actually feels like a small European café. The best part: Amerigo’s doesn’t often reach capacity, so whenever you go, you have a good shot at getting an outdoor seat.

The service is attentive and polite, and is as easy to find outside as it is indoors—a rarity for many restaurants. Significantly, each of the servers seemed adept at handling large parties with babies, and despite sitting in the same section as a party of seven (including an infant), I never reached the “where on Earth is our server?” state that I find myself in so very often.

Amerigo’s only falters on some of the smaller details. The spinach salad, while obviously made with fresh ingredients, was slathered with dressing to the point that it was inedible (a moist salad is one thing; having to wait for each forkful to drain back into the bowl tends to ruin the experience). Similarly, my companion’s burger arrived well done—to the point of all grey and no pink—which is a tough thing to face if you’re into juicy burgers, or not expecting well-done meat.

As a nightlife writer, I try and avoid chalking up poor experiences like these to a venue just having a bad night, but in this case, it felt like the truth; Amerigo’s is on its game when it comes to their menu, delivery, and presentation, but newcomers are well advised to specify the details down to the sauces on the side. Each dish seems more than worthy of its $10-20 price tag, and when it comes down to it, who can put a price on a good restaurant in the suburbs?

The opinions expressed within are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of pdxguide.com or The Columbian Publishing Co.