I think I'm in love...  with Groupon!  A few months ago they had a special for The East Burn which I purchased.  It was going to expire in about two weeks, so Eddie and I decided to get out and use it tonight. This place is cool.  Restaurant & patio upstairs, bar & pool tables downstairs.  The restaurant tables were taken when we arrived so we scoped out the bar downstairs.  Also packed thanks to a Blazers game so we went back upstairs to wait for a table.  Fortunately we were able to snag two stools at the bar.  This place has a fun food or drink special each day of the week.  Tuesday just happens to be $2 pint night - all night.  Not just during happy hour.  And we're talking good beers here - not $2 Bud / Miller / Coors.  I mean great microbrews.  We took advantage.

I wasn't super impressed with my burger though.  The bartender didn't ask how I would like it prepared.  I realize now that I should have made a point to ask for it medium or medium rare.  It came out super well done.  I mean really well done.  :-(  But the beef came from Carlton Farms, so props for using a local supplier.  The bun was also good.  I didn't care for the herb & spice mix that they blend in with the meat.  I'm a purist and believe the best burgers need only salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  If you want to add Italian seasonings, why not just order a meatball.  Burgers shouldn't taste like that.  But one thing this place does right is having the $10.50 price of the burger include cheese & bacon.  As I've said before, I hate having to pay extra to add those toppings.  Oh yeah.  The fries were really good.

I finally finished the book I started reading before Christmas.  I had to put it down while I was in San Jose because I desperately needed to finish the 600 page An Irish Country Christmas that I had to sell back to the Portland airport.  A few months ago, Shannon suggested I try reading some Lisa Scottoline.  So I looked her up and purchased the first book in her lawyer series, Everywhere That Mary Went.  And it turned out to be a great recommendation.  I will say though that I think I'm starting to read too many of these pro-feminine murder mysteries.  They're all kind of starting to sound the same - even though I'm reading from different authors.  But they're still enjoyable so I'm looking forward to reading the second book.