The Country Cat - Portland International Airport PDX

CLOSED April 30(?), 2024. This post security restaurant has closed and will move to a new location pre-security with a planned August 2024 opening.

Established 2015

Visited August 17, 2018

PDX has come a long way since my first layover here in 2008.  I had a great experience at The Country Cat on Stark and I hoped to experience the same at this airport outpost. But things didn't start looking so good as the restaurant which is supposed to open at 5 AM opened about 15 minutes past.

Even though it is breakfast, the restaurant executes all menu offerings at any time. Great! Finally my chance to try their signature fried chicken.

Two Pieces of Cast-Iron Skillet Fried Chicken with bacon braised collard greens and mash potatoes with gravy. I hope it lives up to the hype but have my doubts as this is the airport. It takes a while and I have the time to wait. Better fully cooked chicken than something rushed and raw. It finally arrives.

It's a carefully plated bulky but exquisite dish that the photo fails to capture because of dim restaurant lighting.This is a promising phase 3. I start with the generous portion of collard greens. Tart, salty. Good basic taste initially but it becomes one note many bites in as well as too salty for my buds.

Mash potatoes. Simply wonderful real mashed potatoes with varying texture of fully mashed to small chunks. Good gravy, the gravy is good! My buds is likely wrong but it says parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme and perfectly balanced with the potatoes. The wonderful thick gravy elicits wondrous happy escape this world emotions.

Fried chicken. It lives up to the hype. Moist fully cooked and seasoned through chicken. The coating is fresh and crunchy providing dynamic contrast with the meaty moist chicken. I've had wonderful top notch fried chicken in Portland at Screen Door and The Observatory. Each has it's own nuances. I now add The Country Cat to the elite list.

Food: ★★★3/4
Service: ★★3/4
Probability of making an out of the way return: NA
Probability of returning if in the area: 95%