In a previous post, I bemoaned Portlanders’ lack of culinary sensibilities regarding pizza.  Many pizza joints on the West side in Hillsboro and nearby Beaverton are franchised operations with familiarly awful brand names, using prepared dough with questionable ingredients.  And when Alice and I explored Portland’s City Center, we ran across pizza places with a mishmash of toppings to hide shortcomings.

Imagine our delight then, once we stumbled across Mad Dog Pizza on Main Avenue in Tillamook – two hours away – concluding this was pizza we could savor.

Yet where did Portland fit in?, we wondered.  Locally published magazines tout eateries with a multitude of palate-pleasing delights.  Is the appetizing copy totally promotional advertising?

We remained disheartened, until a good friend – actually, a godsend – kept nagging us to explore the “Rose City’s” Northwest 23rd Avenue, merely one block north of Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital.

What a find in Portland’s alphabet district between Hoyt and Irving!  Two adjoining Big Apple-inspired eateries – Escape From New York Pizza and Kornblatt’s Delicatessen – totally upgraded our downtrodden taste buds.  Normally, restaurant promotional verbiage is hyperbole on glossy menus, but Escape From New York’s copy printed atop its pizza boxes is spot-on.

“Our pizza is Portland’s finest,” pizza-maker David Ellis agrees.  “Our cheese is whole milk mozzarella.  That’s it.  No substitutions!

“Our sauce is a unique recipe prepared each day from whole tomatoes, fresh garlic, select herbs and spices.  Our dough is handmade every morning seven days a week.  Our toppings are fresh and bountiful.  Our promise is to make everything fresh.  We won’t skimp on ingredients.”

Palates belonging to Alice and me heartily concur.  Then Kornblatt’s Delicatessen caught our eye.  Its takeout menu promises, “We offer the finest traditional delicatessen-style food west of the Hudson.”  Well, why not give it a try?

Omigod, I can’t argue with their assessment, considering that – oy gevalt – honest-to-goodness kosher grub doesn’t exist out here.

Well, not quite true!  Maybe it’s not blessed by a rabbi, but an unexpected oasis exists inside Kornblatt’s, which the New York Times headlined “The Best in the [North] West.”  Proprietor Josh Kornblatt calls his cuisine “the equivalent of Jewish soul food.” Authentic latkes, kippered salmon, whitefish salad flown in fresh from New York, homemade bagels, matzo ball soup, cheese blintzes and more, served over 12 hours each and every day – all at prices cheaper than in Manhattan.  Plus you can order by phone and/or take home, too.

Yes, our sensibilities were super-satisfied, yet we had one more 23rd Avenue discovery to make down a short flight of steps north of Marshall Street.  If East Coast tastes were relevant to Manhattan, was it too much to expect a place called Grant’s Philly CheeseSteak to satiate a Philly appetite?

We needed to find out.  As the sight of a medical marijuana dispensary caused our dreams to expand further in this alphabet neighborhood, we ambled into Grant’s.  And what a cheesesteak.  Patrons of Philly’s Geno’s and Pat’s will appreciate what we found.

Alice took half of hers home, but I consumed the whole doggoned thing, including the homemade potato chips.  From the grill, Grant’s Philly CheeseSteak concoction consists of thinly slicing up a half pound of chopped sirloin steak, cooking it on the grill, adding a combination of sweet and hot peppers plus provolone cheese, and inserting the piping-hot result inside an amoroso roll.  For good measure, I requested marinara sauce, which was grilled  within.

Delicious!  But take note Kraft’s popular Cheez Whiz is available as a cheese option, although I never cared much for it.  Nevertheless, I know some Philadelphians who would jump at the chance.

Diane and Grant Schuler own the establishment that is closed on Saturdays, due to their 7th Day Adventist faith.  So never plan on a Saturday cheesesteak.  It helps to know Diane’s mother had hailed from Johnstown, Pa., which is why the offspring can serve up a faithful rendering of a Philly cheesesteak.

All in all, after our 23rd Avenue exploration, I take pleasure in eating my words about viable options for good New York/Philly pizza, especially knowing a great Jewish-style deli and Philly cheesesteaks help East Coasters learn the West is the best.  Little wonder parking spaces are few and far between.

But take heart: On crowded afternoons, the Portland Streetcar can drop you into this slice of heaven.

Just make sure to bring your appetite.