Restaurant: Nob Hill Bar & GrillLocation: 937 Northwest 23rd Avenue, Portland, OR 97210-3005Date: July 5th, 2010Ordered: Tacos ($.50 each!)Cost: confidentialIt was Monday night and my stomach was on the prowl for cheap Portland eats. Suddenly it popped in my head; I'd heard friends mention cheap taco night before and this was my chance to sample it. Nob Hill Bar & Grill is an unassuming joint sitting on NW 23rd. It's a nice, clean bar with a pleasant atmosphere. On Monday nights, from 6 PM to 9 PM, one can order tacos there for 50 cents. These are not fancy tacos; you're handed a shell with warm, delicious meat in it; I'm going to assume it was seasoned beef. You're then directed to an area where you can add lettuce, cheese, tomatos, salsa, and other toppings. Like I said, nothing fancy - but man, it's delicious. I won't disclose how many of these cheap tacos I ate, but I can tell you that four people ate heartily for less than $10. Would I go to Nob Hill again? Sure! Aside from 50-cent tacos, the rest of the happy hour menu (2 PM to close) looked pretty darn good. I can't wait to give it a shot.

Restaurant: AprisaLocation: Corner of SE 8th & Division, Portland, OR 97214Date: February 24th, 2010Ordered: Taco SaladCost: $5.40Several of my coworkers and I decided to try Aprisa one day, as it's within walking distance of where I work. It's a surprising-looking place; it's entirely a drive-up restaurant that's roughly the size of a single-wide trailer. A cute-looking little place, but it doesn't scream "restaurant". I ordered my favorite, taco salad. It came in short time, as ordered. The water I asked for, while ordering, however, didn't come as ordered and I had to ask for it. Notably, my friend's burrito, ordered without cheese, was delivered (with verbal assurance) without cheese. Or so he was told; it actually came with cheese, as he later, unfortunately, found out. My taco salad, once I got a chance to eat it, wasn't all that great. It wasn't terrible, and was perhaps nicely authentic, but it wasn't all that great. The ingredients tasted fresh, but the proportions all seemed wrong. Still, if you're in the mood for authentic mexican food, it's a place to try.

Restaurant: La Isla BonitaLocation: 7670 SW Nyberg St, Tualatin, OR 97062Date: June 2nd, 2009Ordered: Taco SaladCost: $6.95I'm going to start out by saying that I have a very soft spot for Mexican restaurants that - in addition to tortilla chips and salsa - aslo bring a small bowl of refried beans in which to dip aforementioned chips. La Isla Bonita, I found, is such a place and therefore is automatically working from a favorable position.I ordered the Taco Salad (not a huge surprise) with chicken and no guacamole. Perhaps it was due to being the only customer in the store, but the food was prepared amazingly quickly - though I still managed to comsume a fair portion of the chips beforehand.Tragically, the food was a tad flavorless. It wasn't bad, per se, and I've certainly had worse, but it wasn't really noteworthy either. I still ate it, I still enjoyed it, but I wouldn't drive across town for it.The service was alright there, too. For being the only customer, it seemed that I was quite short (or out) of water quite often. The glasses were small, but I guess that's how things are. The decor of the restaurant seemed to replicate the generically inoffensive decor found in most small Mexican restaurants.In all, La Isla Bonita wasn't bad. If it were within walking distance, I might frequent it. However, it's in Tualatin and I have rare occasion to go out there, so I probably won't head back.