I gotta admit that CO has been trying to get to go to DST for a while now, but boy am I glad that we ended up going. The space is absolutely gorgeous, spacious with different "zones" which I like (especially the area with the loft), but the menu looks solid and I would be very happy to end up here any night.
Here's a pic of the sirloin strip burger, with braised pork belly on top and really nice pickles and shoestring fries with it. Tasty stuff.
Ducked in to try their happy hour. Lots of nice items, especially the mussels which give a huge amount for $5. The flavor steered in the Thai direction, with galanga, kaffir lime and coconut. Had to ask for bread 
but the coconut-mussel broth was really nice.
I tried a bunch of things off of others' plates, like the seared tuna, the pulled pork, and the trio of crostini. Having had a lot of the happy hour and late night menu, I think soon I gotta try their dinner menu, especially the monkfish gumbo which sounds pretty good.
It's only been two visits, but so far I'd rank Davis Street pretty favorably, kind of like a more casual version of Ten01 in the sense that it's an upscale New American menu, but the wood floors, exposed beams and old bricks give the space a much more relaxed vibe (also, the playlist of classic R&B and soul hits was nice -- lots of Marvin Gaye, Sam Cooke, Stevie Wonder, etc).
well all I can say about DST(Davis Street Tavern) is, WIN! Everything we had tonight was good. The only bone I could pick with any of the dishes would be one the bruschetta with white bean and Parm., it was a bit salty.
along with the previously mentioned Mussels, we had a trio of Bruschetta(most notably with a beet puree...nice color huh!), the Tomba Tuna salad( really well dressed w/onion and fennel and a great vinagrette), and the pulled pork BBQ sandwich(really nice and moist pork(actually moist meat, not meat with a ton of cloying BBQ sauce on it). the slaw and bun where forgettable but I would order it again to just eat the pork off the thing....).
Everything on the HH menu is $5, as are a selection of drinks, both beer and wine. I am anticipating a return for the regular menu as well.
http://www.oregonlive.com/dining/index.ssf/2009/04/restaurant_review_dav...
Looks like Oregonian was not too keen.
I am endlessly amused by grade inflation. Apparently neither undergraduates nor local diners can handle anything but 1000 shades of B.
I went. It was Cat, Angelhair, Mr. Hair, Amanda, John, Jill & Calabrese.
As a DST noob, I was impressed with the food and liked the space, too. We were in the back room. The amuse was a crab salad with curry and sumac atop a cucumber coin with some fat roe on top. You can read the rest of our menu over at the other site. Loved the asparagus with duck egg, scallops with nettles and the crab bisque. Don't want to think about how much butter I consumed last night.
Service was attentive, especially from the drink lady. She helped me with cocktail pairings instead of wine, and hooked up Jeff and John with beer pairings. There was one weird moment when Jeff was rushed to "enjoy" his amuse so someone could clear his plate. Jeff was over on the other side of the table visiting with John, and I thought it was a little rude to hurry him up like that. I might have been the only one who thought so, though.
It's a place Brian would probably quite like and I can't wait to go back.
http://www.portlandmercury.com/portland/charming-imperfection/Content?oi...
From Davis Street Tavern's facebook account:
Somehow I think I like DST even more than Sauce! I felt instantly comfortable at the bar, and with the selection of food/drink.
My first bite of previously mentioned burger was very underwhelming. Just as I was about to give it an audible shoulder shrug, It started to grow on me. Very subtle, but not weak, flavors. Pork belly gave the burger the pork fat undertones with none of bacons smokey/pepperyness. Nice soft bun, beef cooked perfectly...and I mean PERFECTLY! black and blue. think, crusty Tartare! given the burgerWIN, you would have thought the fries would be pedestrian!? you would be wrong. Great shoestring spuds, like 1/8th-1/4inch cut and fried nicely. Its easy to overcook such a small fry, but DST got it right.
Now you may think this is a lot of hoopla over a burger and fries, and I would tend to agree with that. What it means to me is, if they do the one dish most places only have because they have to have it, this well.....then it bodes well for the remainder of the menu. Which by no surprise looks great.
That being said, I want to go back and try all(and I mean all....) the seafood items on the HH menu before I pull the trigger on a full blown meal(the menu looks fabulous, but its also not cheap. Apps $8-14, mains $15-32 i think?).
"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." - Thomas Edison