Last Saturday my daughter Jenny presented her dad and I our Mothers and Fathers Day gifts: a touring Broadway production of The Book of Mormon at the Keller Auditorium in downtown Portland. Harry has been a longtime fan of South Park (and I a more recent appreciator of its satire and humor), so we were looking forward to the show. First, however, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to sample yet another of Portland’s great dining establishments. We needed somewhere that could seat us and feed us fairly quickly, as we needed to have time to get to the theater, find parking and get seated by 7:30 p.m. A recommendation from one of Jenny’s coworkers provided us with the perfect solution: Tilt, located in the Pearl District. Tilt, offering “Handcrafted food & drink, built for the American workforce,” opened initially on Swan Island, the heart of Portland’s manufacturing and heavy industries for decades. In fact, co-owners Octavian and Brittany Jurj’s fathers still work there; and Octavian, before his current career as restaurateur, worked several jobs there, including painting Freightliner trucks. They developed a hearty, comfort food-based menu which delivers generous portions at a very fair price, sure to satisfy the appetite of any hardworking Joe or Jane. Their Blue Collar Biscuits, served all day, provide the cornerstone of a slew of breakfast entrées, served drenched in gravy and everything from fried chicken to corned beef and eggs. Also offered: hot and cold hand-carved sandwiches, several “Big Salads,” and a mouthwatering list of standard and named burgers. The beef is 100% local ground chuck, presented as a square patty and as juicy, tender and tasty as one could wish. There’s even a “Fat Farmer” veggie option as well as lamb and chicken versions. All come on house recipe buns, and one can choose from beer-battered fries, onion rings and three or four varieties of “tots.” If you aren’t completely stuffed after that, “handcrafted daily” pies and pastries tempt from the pastry case, and you can wash it all down with on tap local brews, pop or coffee. The Pearl District location, housed in an old General Electric distribution plant, opened within the past year and presents an open, industrial dining room with open duct work, tables and bars supported by I-beams and a huge green drill press greeting patrons at the entrance. One orders at the counter and then collects cutlery and napkins (red cotton shop towels, appropriately enough) before finding a place at tables with metal shop stools. Jenny ordered the standard bacon cheeseburger; Harry wanted to check out the Reuben; and I tried the Groundhog burger, served with grilled mushrooms, honey-smoked bacon, avocado and Swiss cheese. Harry topped it off with a large order of fries to share; turns out that order could easily have satisfied six rather than just us three. I am not a big burger fan, but I’ll return in a heartbeat to try more of Tilt’s. The house bun is light, not dense, meaning I didn’t fill up on bread and could fully enjoy the melding of flavors and textures of the Groundhog. (That honey-smoked bacon is fabulous!) Jenny polished hers off quickly, too; and Harry felt that, although the Reuben was a little blander than he prefers, it certainly came through on size. Next time we’ll be sure to order the tots, which are said to be exceptional, and maybe a stop just for dessert is in order. Hmmm, and I’d like to try those biscuits for breakfast one day. We had plenty of time to get to the show (even with a quick look through Powell’s, Portland’s famous independent bookstore) — which we thoroughly enjoyed. You know, it’s pretty hard to NOT have a great night out in Portland with all the great dining options from classy to blue collar and plenty of entertainment options, to boot. — Patty Vanikiotis, associate editor/copy editor