Review: Off Alley

What were your first impressions when you arrived?

Tucked into a tiny Columbia City hallway, Off Alley feels like a hidden passage to the land of whimsical, envelope-pushing presentations of Pacific Northwest seafood and "lesser" cuts of local meat. The (beef)-tongue-in-cheek pun in the name hints at the generally light-hearted vibes in a place with heavy-hitting food.

What’s the crowd like?

Nobody is here for comfort. Though the outdoor patio gives diners more room to breathe, but it lacks the unique atmosphere of the one-person-wide indoor bar seating. The main attraction here is the food and the wine, and everyone here is seriously excited about what they are getting. Expect oohs-and-aahs that crisscross the narrow bar and plenty of friendly banter with fellow culinary obsessives.

What should we be drinking?

The menu board simply lists the wine-by-the-glass options by genre, but Meghna Prakash's hand-written list of low-intervention and natural bottles matches the depth and playfulness of Off Alley's food.

Main event: the food. Give us the lowdown—especially what not to miss.

Evan Leichtling uses offal and other less popular cuts of meat and local seafood in dishes that evoke the post-service kitchen snacks of a haute-cuisine chef who dropped acid. Braised tripe is tossed with Dungeness crab, apples, and crab fat; escargot perch on popovers, swimming in leeks and herb sauce. Everything is good, some dishes absurdly great. The more outlandish it sounds, the better it will likely be.

And how did the front-of-house folks treat you?

It's an awkward space, and the team does an impressive job of making it work, but this is not a place you come for precise formalities.

What’s the real-real on why we’re coming here?

Come to expand your palate or show off your restaurant chops, and bring along a friend you want to push out of their culinary comfort zone.