Lowbrow-inspired food from a Bearded lady

Even the highfalutin' gent likes to dress down every once in awhile and enjoy the simple pleasures of the common man, like asking everyone if he can borrow a dollar in an effort to avoid having to do commercials for The Gap. For an upper crust restaurateur slinging tricked-out lowbrow chow, get to Sunshine Tavern.

From the two-time Beard-nominated chef behind Northeast Portland's Lincoln, Sunshine's repping a roster of comfort eats (which's "a little less formal" than its fancy-pants cousin) in a food-nut playground featuring a portraiture collage by former Decemberist drummer Rachael Blumberg, a custom shuffleboard table, video games like Donkey Kong and Galaga, and a bar built from reclaimed bowling alley planks -- striking to say the least. Sunshine's menu offers un-Lincoln belly bombers including cheese fries w/ pork sausage gravy, and an iceberg wedge w/ buttermilk blue cheese, pancetta & sieved egg, plus brined fried chicken w/ a yeasted waffle, and a burger w/ addable chicken liver mousse, "10K" sauce, and Painted Hills beef, also a series of artworks featuring L.C. alienating every one of her friends. On the bar side Sunshine's got 22 bottled beers (including Duchess), eight taps (e.g., Upright's Pils), and is slinging classic-inspired intoxicators like the bourbon/ lemon/ simple syrup/ orange bitters "Buster Brown", also the drink your mom will buy you no matter how hard you beg for a Nike Colada.

Sunshine also rocks a couple pizza ovens, plus a soft-serve ice cream machine churning out chef-designed, chocolate "magical shell"-topped, homemade honey ice cream, which's totally free for you when you mention Thrillist on opening day, something that'll make you feel decidedly un-Common.