Southpark Seafood Grill & Wine Bar is one of the places PSU students take their folks when they’re in town—and it feels like that kind of place. It’s benign-looking, no matter what area you hail from; there’s a proliferation of mahogany and track lighting, with sort of vague corporate-looking art. It’s pleasant enough to look at, but low on character. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the service is somewhat cold, as if they’ve been told that friendliness is too low-class for the feel they’re going for. Regardless, they’re efficient enough not to let Dad go too long without a fresh martini.

You’ll find much more warmth in the bread full of big chunks of soft potato that’s served at the start of your meal. Raw oysters are fresh enough, but come out a bit drained of their oyster liquor, suggesting perhaps a shucking problem. Instead of a mignonette, these are served with an icy cucumber granita, whose extreme temperature and slight crunch either augments the experience or is totally irritating, depending on your level of purism. Fried calamari are decent in their thick cornmeal breading, but could use less batter and a gentler fry. They’re served with an oddly sweet tomato sauce that reappears on other dishes; one time, it came on the daily fish special, a fillet of steelhead trout cooked just right in the brick oven (also used for serviceable pizzas). The high temperature and quick cooking gave it excellent charred skin while keeping the inside very moist and juicy. Vegetable accompaniments like snappy green beans are cooked expertly and well salted.

Paella is competent, with the rice getting a nice integration of juices and good shrimp, but chicken breast does nothing at all for the dish. Chorizo has a good savory kick, but red pepper dominates the garlic, when what you want is for the opposite to happen. Nevertheless, it’s a competent preparation of a notoriously tough dish to nail.

This also being one of Portland’s first downtown wine bars, the wine list is nicely chosen and organized in a way (by style and personality) that turns out to be more helpful than other lists’ methods. Bottles are also sold to take away. So thank the old man for footing the bill by snagging him a bottle of something local on the way out.