Gustav’s Surprises

Lemon Squeeze (Summary)

Name: Gustav’s

Location: 12605 Southeast 97^th Ave, Clackamas, Oregon 97015 

Phone Number: (503) 653-1391

Type: German

Reservations required? Recommended for large groups

Site: gustavs.net

Overall Rating: Three Lemon Twists (See rating scale at the end of the blog)

Summary: A fun, relaxing, and filling way to spend an evening

Starting Off

We did this review a little different. So far, with other reviews, we’ve evaluated a restaurants with a small couple, a child, a lunch venue, and this evening we chose to do a “group” evaluation. SB and I made it down to Gustav’s where we met JL and DL. There are several locations throughout the Portland area for Gustav’s but we chose the Clackamas one due to its proximity to work and home. I was surprised even though it was the weekend, to have such a large crowd. We drove up and the parking lot was all but full. There happened to be one spot just vacated and we snatched it. Keep this in mind when heading to any well-known eatery.

Thankfully, even though there were a lot of people, the staff moved quickly in the lobby to ensure we felt comfortable and get customers seated as soon as possible; even offering free cider. In fact without a reservation our group of four was seated in less than fifteen minutes. This was a pleasant surprise to SB and myself.

Food

What worked out well for this review is that everyone at the table got something different. This allowed me to sample some of several dishes. They have something for EVERYONE here. They have meats, pastas, salads, child menu, a bar—you name it! When I think of any “non-American” food I think: “okay something different.” This is true to a certain degree, as always. That said though German food, as I am part German, fits very well with my pallet.

I ordered the Pork cordon bleu. Oh my gosh. If this wasn’t the most heavenly plate o’ pork I don’t know what is. It was a very large portion of pork stuffed with ham and cheese. Yeah, two of my most favorite things---ham and cheese on my plate made for a tasty treat. It was flanked by mashed potatoes and sautéed veggies. Not too bad for the first time ever having cordon bleu.

SB, DL, and JL had Lentil soup, Prime Rib, and Mushroom schnitzel. The food was all served at a good temperature and the server, who really knew his stuff, made great recommendations to us.  I was very pleased with the portions. We got dessert too and devoured it. All in all it was a great meal for all with personal ratings from my guests with an average of “9.0” on a 10 point scale.

Since we were pleased and full Gustav’s has earned the one allotted lemon twist for this section.

Service

Am I the only one who goes into an eatery with a certain expectation? I’m hoping not. I was expecting a nice or normal experience with outstanding food. We got the food part down but when it came to service I was actually surprised once again. I was everything but blown away. Our server, Berkley, was outstanding. He was the most polite server I’ve ever had. He was sincere and not just giving face. Comments like “my pleasure,” and “would you like to try a sample of that first?” even “absolutely” made him come across as confident and professional. This isn’t as common these days and one of the main reasons why I created this blog.

When it came to one of my largest “Nickisms” --- drink refills he took the cake too. These should ALWAYS be offered or completed without a client asking. This was also the case with Gustav’s. Berkley completed that and in some cases already replaced my drink before I was done; which is perfectly fine as most customers will finish a soda pretty quickly.

Additionally, Berkley was proactive, wasn’t pushy, was concretely engaged in our experience, and got the food to our table within a timely fashion. I was pleased with how he treated us and frankly wish I had my own restaurant so I could hire him myself. The only delay or hiccup in the evening was an oversight on silver-wear in which steak knives were not brought out with the meal, taking a while to get to the table.

Since we had really one of the best experiences one could have we gladly give Gustav’s (and Berkley in particular) our shining two lemon twists for the service section.

Heading out

With our stomachs full and a smile about our face we waddled our way to the parking lot past the warm glow of the rotisserie and outside the cherry-decorated interior to the parking lot. We enjoyed our time at Gustav’s and look forward to a return in the future since they did earn the full three lemon twists. What fun!

Your Customer Service Expert,

Nick

Do you have questions or comments? Feel free to leave a comment below or email me at the address in the profile section of the site.

Evaluation Scale/Rating:

0 Lemon Twists: Avoid the location
1 Lemon Twists: Go whilst drunk as you won’t want to remember your visit there
2 Lemon Twists: The location would be great to visit overall.
3 Lemon Twists: AMAZING location; highly recommended.

Picture via Gustav's.net