Nicholas Restaurant

Like craft beers with sentence-long names and the word “artisanal,” mezze plates have become pretty cliché in Portland. You’ll find them as the vegetarian compromise on menus at way too many bars and restaurants. But at Nicholas, a Lebanese restaurant on a busy Central Eastside strip, the mezze platter is the highlight of the menu. Depending on which you choose, spinach-cheese pie, tabouli, falafel, hummus, and freshly baked pita will arrive at your table. The space is fairly tight, and you’ll want to stay for a while, ordering rounds of pita for the last smear of babaganoush - so maybe don’t show up with a whole crew after a Grand Ave bar crawl. Come back for a weeknight date instead, and you’ll likely just walk in with no wait.