NYC hound here, sending my boss through PDX for a night and while he is a typical business man type (read: meat and potatoes) he is somewhat adventurous and would generally prefer a local place over a big dumb national chain steakhouse. I'm going to suggest The Woodsman and Clyde Common but is there something local that exists on the spectrum between, say, El Gaucho or Portland City Grill and these places? I need a safe backup for him. Is McCormick and Schmick's actually a fun place to be with quality stuff?

Thanks hounds!
Cheers,
Julie