| Miss Delta | |
|---|---|
 | |
 The restaurant's exterior, 2025 | |
 Interactive map of Miss Delta | |
| Restaurant information | |
| Established | 2007 (2007) |
| Owner | Marcus Oliver |
| Previous owners |
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| Food type | |
| Location | 3950 North Mississippi Avenue, Portland, Oregon, 97227, United States |
| Coordinates | 45°33′5.9″N122°40′31.1″W / 45.551639°N 122.675306°W /45.551639; -122.675306 |
| Website | missdeltapdx |
Miss Delta is aSouthern restaurant inPortland, Oregon, United States.[1][2] Anastasia Corya and Anton Pace opened the restaurant in 2007, and later sold the business to Marcus Oliver, who expanded theCajun andCreole-menu to includebarbecue.
TheSouthern restaurant Miss Delta, located in thenorth Portland part of theBoise neighborhood, servesbrunch, lunch, and dinner.[3] According to John Chandler ofPortland Monthly, the restaurant "is the slightly-less-thrift-store-funky offspring of the originalDelta Cafe on SE Woodstock, a joint that earned its rep by dropping huge platters of Southern cooking on its customers for embarrassingly small sums of money".[4] ThePortland Mercury's Alison Hallett described Miss Delta as a "well-designed little space" with wood floors, exposed brick walls, and "quirky" light fixtures "that suffuse the place with a bourbon-y hue create an atmosphere redolent with both Southern gentility and North Portland chic".[5]
TheCajun andCreole-influenced[6] menu has includedsoul food[7] such asbarbecue,[8]biscuits and gravy,[9] catfish sandwiches,[10] cauliflower casserole,chicken and waffles,[11]cornbread muffins,fried okra,hushpuppies,gumbo, andpo'boys.[12][13] The Trashy Mac ismacaroni and cheese with smoked chicken andpesto,jambalaya, or gumbo.[14][15][16] The Meat Sweats is a platter ofandouille,brisket, blackened chicken,pulled pork, andspare ribs.[12] Sides have includedcoleslaw,collards,mashed potatoes with chicken sausage gravy, andred beans and rice.[17] The dessert menu has includedmarionberry cobbler,sweet potato pie, and Milky Way cake (dark chocolate cake with chunks ofMilky Way candy and caramel).[6]
Anastasia Corya and Anton Pace, who previously opened the Delta Cafe in 1995, opened Miss Delta in August 2007.[6] Previously, the space had housed Pasta Bangs.[18] Marcus Oliver later became the owner.[19] He purchased the restaurant and expanded the mostly Cajun/Creole menu to include barbecue.[20]
In 2013, Michael Russell ofThe Oregonian called Miss Delta a "one-time spinoff of ... cult favorite Delta Cafe" and said the restaurant "has seemed to change hands more times than the Mississippi River has tributaries".[17] Like many restaurants, the business experienced difficulties during theCOVID-19 pandemic, including staffing issues and temporary closures.[21][22] In 2021, Oliver's bookCool and Kooky Kids Coloring Cookbook was sold at the restaurant.[23]
In his 2007 review of Miss Delta, Tim LaBarge ofThe Oregonian wrote, "Don't let the lighthearted interior fool you: Miss Delta is a place for serious eating and Southern comfort."[24] The newspaper's Grant Butler called the fried chicken "stellar" and said the "sides are good across the board".[25] In 2008, Butler said the restaurant "captures the essence of Southern cooking in all its cast-iron glory. Whether it's perfect black-eyed pea fritters or spicy jambalaya with hot sausage, smoked chicken and shrimp, dishes have a calories-be-damned approach. Portions are so large they have their own gravitational pull: The thing separating comfort from extreme discomfort is your own self-control."[26][27]
Selecting a fish dish was trickier, but we chose the catfish from Miss Delta. Located in the middle of a fun strip of Mississippi Avenue, the two things you notice instantly about Miss Delta is that it is hideously noisy even when only half full and that it's incredibly textural with its array of Victorian-inspired hanging lamps, exposed brick wall, tin ceiling-panel decorated open kitchen, and slippery vinyl banquettes complete with tears and crumbs. But forget all that, because you're there for the deep-fried catfish. Miss Delta avoids the fatty, oily taste catfish sometimes suffers from. Instead, it has a succulent interior and honey-colored crust. Unfortunately, this excellent fish comes with two overcooked sides of your choice. The rice in the beans and rice is mushy and the beans have all but lost their integrity. The overly wet mashed potatoes have been pureed into something between mush and soup. Even the pasta in the mac and cheese was downright limp. However, all is not completely lost. Even with the mushy pasta, we found ourselves compulsively picking out and devouring the tasty browned, cheesy bits that had baked to a crisp on top of the mac and cheese. So, just for those tasty morsels, we'd opt for the mac and cheese.
Miss Delta, which really does Cajun-inspired fare justice, is firing on all cylinders when it comes to chicken and waffles. Miss Delta uses boneless breasts for fried chicken, which isn't the most authentically Southern preparation, but it's just so dang good that I didn't care. The cuts of chicken are thin enough that you get a good taste of perfectly executed buttermilk batter in every bite — it's crispy, just a little spicy and decadent without being overwhelmingly so. The waffle is just as good: lightly crispy and buttery, accompanied by delicious praline butter and classic maple syrup. The effect makes you understand why this seemingly odd dish was invented in the first place.
The restaurant, which earlier this year took over the space that had been Pasta Bangs, is from the original owners of the Woodstock neighborhood's Delta Cafe. While that spot has experienced a quality slide in recent years, Miss Delta recaptures the magic.
Don't let the lighthearted interior fool you: Miss Delta is a place for serious eating and Southern comfort.
Miss Delta: This new restaurant offering the dishes of the Deep South is from the original owners of the Delta Cafe. While that spot has experienced a quality slide in recent years, Miss Delta recaptures the magic. Start out with addictive fried okra --with crispness that overcomes the sliminess that some people find off-putting. Or dig into golf-ball-sized hush puppies, perfectly fried balls of cornmeal dough studded with finely minced bits of jalapeno. Main dishes are hearty and meat-centric, ranging from bowls of spicy, shrimp-studded gumbos and jambalayas to a mammoth plate of barbecued pork spare ribs. Don't miss the stellar fried chicken, at once crunchy and juicy. Sides are good across the board.
Miss Delta, which opened last year on bustling North Mississippi Avenue's dining strip, captures the essence of Southern cooking in all its cast-iron glory. Whether it's perfect black-eyed pea fritters or spicy jambalaya with hot sausage, smoked chicken and shrimp, dishes have a calories-be-damned approach. Portions are so large they have their own gravitational pull: The thing separating comfort from extreme discomfort is your own self-control. That's why there's a treadmill at your gym. Use it. Eat and drink: Hush puppies full of jalapeno bits; cornmeal-crusted fried okra; shrimp gumbo; barbecue pork spareribs; fried chicken, with a leg and plump breast lightly battered, crunchy and juicy; sides like buttery mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, or collard greens with bits of pork, so good you could make a meal of them alone; flaky-crusted homemade apple and marionberry pies. Classic Southern cocktails like Sazeracs and Old-Fashioneds mingle with inventions like the "farmer's daughter" --muddled cucumber, vodka and cranberry juice. Reality check: It's almost always packed, and the only place to wait for a table is a dreary hallway back by the bathrooms.
