The mood:
Exposed brick, gas lamps, cozy alcoves, dark but not gloomy lighting and antique glassware from the bar equate to Echo encompassing the spirit of classy, old Portland chic.
The food:
Echo’s dinner menu is a reasonably priced adventure into comfort foods. With selections such as rabbit pot pie and pumpkin gnocchi, expect your favorite classics with a few nice twists. The green peppercorn-crusted steak is the most expensive item on the menu at $21 for the full entrée, and very well portioned.
Even the standard house salad doesn’t escape playful tweaking at Echo. You will not find one shred of iceberg lettuce or one crumb of salty crouton here. Instead, Echo serves up a plate of red lettuce, almonds and small wedges of blood oranges tossed with a tangy vinaigrette.
The booze:
Arguably the best part of the Echo experience. For those of you who have never had the pleasure of an Echo-style Pimm’s Cup, picture this: an absolutely crisp, clean cocktail with a tangy citrusy flavor and an aftertaste of cucumber. Divine.
Echo’s vintage cocktail list brings out the boozehound in me, and for good reason. With choices like the spicy and warm hot apple toddy, the champagne-topped sparkling French 75 or the incredibly sexy I-just-stepped-out-of-a-1940s-cinema-masterpiece, rum-based Dark and Stormy, it’s nearly impossible to pick just one.
The service:
In a word: impeccable. If there were a template for waiterly perfection, our waiter would have been it. He was friendly, warm and knowledgeable (not to mention slightly dashing in a black hat and vest with a white shirt underneath) without coming off as pretentious or fake.
Just one example of the night: When he brought out the bottle of wine we ordered with dinner, he gave us the story behind the vineyard that had created it (the owner had fallen in love with the region and had nursed old vines back to deliciousness), and seemed genuinely thrilled that we had ordered it.
Overall:
The only low point of a Friday night spent at Echo was that the sautéed greens that came with my steak were a little too salty. Everything else—the atmosphere, the service, the drinks, the food—could not have been better.