Saturday, September 17, 2011

Beautiful Beaverton


A few years back, a developer got the notion that there should be a big multi-use construct in the middle of Beaverton.


Those of you unfamiliar with my town? Beaverton is where Portland goes to shop at 7-Elevens or chow down at Mickey D's ...


Um. Anyway, plans were drawn, ground broken, and Beaverton in the Round was begun. This was going to be apartments above, shops and restaurants below, across from a big gym, right on the MAX light rail line, all like that. A whole mini-city to revitalize the burg.


Developer ran out of money. Sold it at a loss, and last I head that developer ran out of money. The big lot where the torn-down movie theater sat is still vacant.


But there are some restaurants that started and survived, and one of them is Mingo. Which, as far as I am concerned, serves the best rustic Italian food I've ever eaten. Never had a bad meal there. Indoor or outdoor, with big, garage-bay doors that open when the weather is nice. You can watch the children play on the terraced lawn or in the fountains, and the trains as they go by. 


As a late celebration of our birthdays, we went to Mingo for supper yesterday. I had the lasagna with chicken and lobster mushrooms, and it was to die for. A small glass of thirty-year-old port for dessert. 


My only regret was that razor clams weren't in season, because those are one of the best pan-fried appetizers ever ...


We don't eat out that often, and can't afford to dine ala Mingo as much as we'd like, because we'd be a) beached walruses and b) broke pretty quick if we did, but it is a delightful treat. 





1 comment:

Ed said...

I take it the torn down movie theater was Westgate....If so - I think the first movie I ever saw there was when my mom and dad took me when I was in grade school....I guess they couldn't afford a babysitter that night - don't know where the other kids were, anyway the movie was the Last Detail....I think they thought it would be a different kind of movie....I remember I saw Star Wars and Airplane there too. The last movie I saw there was Dragon - The Bruce Lee Story. It was a fun place back in the day. Anyway have great new years!