Tusk - Mediterranean restaurant in Portland - 2448 E Burnside St, USA

Nice cute place for brunch. The food was good, reasonable price, great service! We had fun eating brunch and chatting with friends here, they were very to let us stay for a long time like hours and didn’t come to disturb us.

We visited Tusk on a Friday evening and decided to do the deluxe dining option. I think it was a great value for 12 dishes! Some dishes were good, others were excellent. If you’re willing to be flexible, I definitely think it’s the route to go. Favorite dishes included the delicata squash, hummus and pita, baked feta, and pistachio cake. Lots of great vegetarian and vegan options which I always really appreciate!

One of Portland’s top restaurants. Great for a large group and sharing small plates family-style. The kafta was my favorite dish - a perfect juxtaposition of textures and spices. The Brussels sprouts were also somehow the star of the show. I’d also recommend a hummus plate or two if you’re here with a group. Honestly, you can’t go wrong with any dishes here. I’d highly recommend this spot to any of my friends or family and I will definitely be back soon.

Had a great brunch with my wife. We got the Shakshouka, baked cheese, and a cardamom apple fritter. The food was all great. The offered crackers to replace the bread when I asked about gluten-free options was very appreciated. The server was very nice and did a good job checking in. It looks like the have some intentional acoustic design in the room, but it misses the mark at low frequencies because it was sometimes hard to hear each other speaking. It might have been the bass on the sound system being a little high. All told it was a great experience and we're planning to come back.

Tusk was just as delicious as we had heard about. It was our 1st time and the food was soooo good. Very unique wine list which is exciting. Service was good. Atmosphere was a little lacking-- it was very cold in the main area of the restaurant with a bit of a no music / silent vibe. If music was playing I couldn't hear it. Back to the food! Amazing: Baked cheese, Hummus, sauces -zhoug & chili oil, rice, pita, beef & chicken kabobs, collards greens & chicken peas, and falafel. Everything was great! The greens were surprisingly amazing and I'm a fan of traditional southern collard greens, wow these were surprisingly fantastic. Hummus was some of the best I have had. When we got our bill, our waitress told us the 20% tip that was already added on was "for the kitchen only", so this was disappointing. Places like Nostrana do this but are up front and not deceiving about it. The additional tip line is for the server but by her saying the added in tip was for the kitchen only then makes u think she needs an additional 20%. So we're we supposed to tip $50 on a just over $100 bill. I doubt that and if that's true then we wouldn't chose to return in the future. According to the website it's split between all hourly employees. So kinda bummed it ended this way. Otherwise, we would come back for the food!

I prefer to take out and eat in the comfort of my own home (cough* bed* cough) but on vacation we decided to go with the experience of eating at a way nicer restaurant than we normally would...so keep that in mind... first...Why must every nice restaurant have such dark lighting? I felt like I could barely see and I don't have vision issues. We did the preset menu and it was nice not having to make a decision on what to eat, though I'm not sure why each course doesn't come with a food guide...is that a thing? They come to the table and rattle off a million things about 10 different dishes and sauces and you're expected to just... remember? So, I don't really even know what I ate. Everything was good, several things were great ...but I couldn't tell you what lol. Also it was weird they give you a taste of like every appetizer but only one protein choice? Also disappointed that the desserts that came with our meal were the two that looked less appealing. We were not fans of the cannoli thing...that was the only thing we didn't care to finish or take home. Overall the food was good...some things were great, but my personal preference would be to just get a combo plate for a quarter of the price at any number of other Mediterranean/middle eastern spots around. But if you're the type of person that has the financial means and a taste for slightly novel flavors this would be a good choice!

Great place for dinner and drinks. Tusk G&T (gin and tonic) was delicious. Hibiscus infused gin with a hint of sweetness. Baked cheese, chicken skewers and the pita bread were my favorites.

Great service and atmosphere. A bit overpriced considering their portion sizes and selections. Not saying you need to serve in heaps but there's room for improvement. The desert we had from the secret menu was not impressive. Hopefully they'll add more selections in the future.