All, I live in Portland (after having lived in Logan Square for 7 years) and have experienced a great variety of all the lovely food this city offers. If you need recommendations, do not hesitate to be in touch.

Congratulations on the move, I'll definitely hit you up for suggestions when I come out that way. LTHer Leek and her husband just relocated to Portland in the last couple of months, you two can start out Portland chapter.

During a month living in the Hawthorne neighborhood, my fav's were Jam for breakfast, Screen Door for lunch & dinner, and Kenny and Zukes for pastrami cheese fries. Voodoo Donuts for their bacon maple bar, Random Order for great home made pies(nectarine cream to die for), and Stumptown coffee are a must(I'm now addicted to the cold brew).

CSD

Visited Portland two weeks with some buddies for a friend’s milestone birthday. Rented a house in the Boise neighborhood, which was super close to Williams Street and also close to Mississippi. It was a great location for us.

A first time for all four of us. A couple of the guys (including the birthday boy) weren’t into restaurants nearly as much as bars, which limited the restaurant choices.

Favorite dinner was at Pok Pok. The restaurant I was most interested in going to, and it lived up to expectations. Really wanted to hit it on a Wednesday, but we never made it over that neighborhood. Nervously went on a Thursday, but were seated almost immediately. Split many dishes (maybe 10?) and loved everything. Don’t recall everything but included Papaya Pok Pok salad, Ike’s Vietnamese Fish Sauce Spicy Wings, Sai Ua Samun Phrai (Chiang Mai sausage), Muu Paa Kham Waan (boar collar), Tam Kai Yaang salad, Kaneng Hang Leh (pork belly and shoulder curry), Het Paa Naam Tok (mushroom salad). A very seasonal special was a fiddlehead fern salad that was terrific. I have been eating Thai food for 40 years and the meal seemed different and new. Enjoyed my tamarind whiskey sour. Would return in a heartbeat.

We had another awesome dinner and a fun night at Eem, a newer Thai/BBQ spot started by Earl Ninsom of Langbaan, Paadee, and Hat Yai, and Matt Vicedomini of Matt's BBQ. Again shared 9 or 10 dishes and no disappointments. I’m missing some dishes, but included chopped BBQ fried rice, green curry sausage with papaya salad, brisket boudin with Thai fried egg salad, white curry with brisket burnt ends, spicy jungle curry with sliced brisket, Massaman curry with smoked lamb shoulder, BBQ pork steak, BBQ pork belly, and Eem hot cauliflower. Enjoyed my Jesus & tequila cocktail. Would return in a heartbeat.

Drinking on Williams Street made it convenient for pizza at Lovely’s fifty fifty. Started with marinated Castelvetrano olives, roasted asparagus over polenta with a steamed egg, and something else I don’t recall. It’s odd when I was the voice of reason and the one who wanted to order less than my dining companions. They insisted on four: stinging nettles/new potatoes/taleggio/pancetta/egg, fennel sausage/kale/reggiano/fresh rosemary, morel/ramps/ extagarai/gremolata (I didn’t care for the gremolata on this – it overpowered), asparagus/agretti/walnut pesto/dandelion greens/ricotta (the least favorite for all of us). I loved the first two (the nettles and the sausage).

One night my friend's called an audible and we just had apps in the bars, but my plans were to hit either Canard or Kachka that evening for dinner.

Favorite lunch for all of us was Lardo. Three of us had the fabulous Korean pork shoulder/house kimchi/chili mayo/cilantro/lime. One of my buddies proclaimed it to be the best sandwich he’s ever had. We also split a couple orders of the incredibly addicting Dirty Fries/pork scraps/marinated peppers/fried herbs/parmesan. Would return in a heartbeat.

Out of convenience one lunch was by our rental house at The People’s Pig since they didn’t want to head to Matt’s BBQ. My pork shoulder (the counterman’s rec) was very good and sides were just OK.

Hit Olympia Provisions for a lunch, but the Pine Street Market location had a limited menu, I was really looking forward to hitting OP, but was a bit disappointed. I split the schnitzel and the public house grinder with my friend. I’m not a big schnitzel fan, a bit boring IMO. Was underwhelmed by the grinder, not nearly as good as many Italian subs in Chicago.

A really good lunch at Valley Commissary in McMinville when we were out in the Willamette Valley.

Our first morning we stopped in one of the closest breakfast spots we found, Milk & Honey Café. I was happy with my mushroom, leek, and kale pie in a cornmeal crust and good coffee.

Caught some live music at Doug Fir and two nights at Mississippi Studios.

Way too many bars to comment on, but my favorite was A Roadside Attraction (really cool atmosphere and great garden), and also enjoyed Liberty Glass (mellow late night vibe and food in an old house), The Rambler (nice outdoor space) and Sidecar 11 (cool interior space/back bar and great bourbon selection). But there were a couple others that I really liked on Williams and Mississippi, but don’t recall names.

I’d like to give a big thanks to Lee (LeeK) who I was bugging early on in my planning, regarding what neighborhoods to look in for a rental!

And a major thanks to ex-Logan Square, now Portland, LTH’er Jack (epicFades)! Jack gave me lots of honest opinions, good advice, and a lot of recs that weren’t on my radar in several email exchanges after I had some thoughts of my own.

Pok Pok
3226 SW Division, Portland

Eem
3808 N. Williams Ave., Portland

Lovely’s Fifty Fifty
4039 N. Mississippi, Portland

Lardo
1212 SE Hawthorne, Portland

Olympia Provisions
Pine Street Market, 126 SW 2nd Ave. Portland

Valley Commissary
920 NE 8th Street, McMinnville, OR 97128

The People’s Pig
3217 N Williams, Portland

Bread & Honey Café
3526 N Vancouver Ave, Portland

A Roadside Attraction
1000 SE 12th, Portland

Liberty Glass
938 N Cook St, Portland

The Rambler
4205 N. Mississippi Ave., Portland

Sidecar 11
3955 N Mississippi Ave, Portland

Doug Fir
830 E. Burnside, Portland

Mississippi Studios and Bar Bar
3939 N Mississippi, Portland

Al, nice eating! You guys really did a good job of hitting a bunch of essential spots. Well done! I was happy help.

Late to this, but glad you had a good time - good job!

This thread is great timing for me!
Daughter and I will be in Portland 8/21 - 8/26
Some business, some pleasure
Looking for some daytrips as well-
will likely not rent a car, more fun to pay a few $ more and let someone else drive while I relax, drink wine, and rubberneck.
We'll be staying downtown at the Benson.

My husband and I just spent a few days in Portland (anchored by an Outstanding in the Field dinner on Sauvie Island that was....outstanding) and used these recommendations as well as those of a co-worker who lives in the area. We didn't have any misses, but particularly enjoyed Ava Gene's and Tusk (both for dinner), Proud Mary for brunch (don't miss the Singapore Crab Omelette), and cocktails at Angel Face. Obligatory lunches at Pok Pok and Matt's BBQ were also terrific.

Spent a couple days at a house off Mississippi so most of our time was spent around there. But here were some highlights

Pok pok was good as advertised. Thought it was on par w the excellent Thai places in Chicago

Han oak was a cool place in the owners backyard but we had a late Monday night reservation and felt like the food suffered bc of it.

Xlb in Boise had surprising great dumplings. The xlb were fantastic

Salt and straw is probably now my favorite ice cream shop. Combination of ice cream and hospitality made me enjoy it immensely.

Wineries in Willamette Valley were very fun. We enjoyed Stoller and Vidon, which was much smaller but had great wine

We love Winderlea and Soter for excellent wines, stellar views and tasty food. Both have tours and lunches, but you must make a reservation. While most of the wineries do have tasting rooms, call ahead to be sure they will be open when you plan to go. New favorite restaurants are Canard, Burrasca and the oyster happy hour at Jacqueline - make a reservation there if you can, tho they do take walk ins.

Any updates on Portland? I'm going in September and starting to think about things now. Will be in McMinnville for 3 nights and plan to do winery tours (got lots of info about these, but more are always welcome), and I'll be in the city solo for at least a week so plenty of time to hike, eat, and drink.

figmolly-- if you still happen to be in Portland, Northeast area, I can confidently recommend Gumba, an old-school new school Italian joint. I ate pastas and rapini sides and pizzas at their former far-north location before they went back to a food-truck operation during the pandemic. I have it in good authority that they still bring it at their new brick-and-mortar location in the Alberta Arts District, which is worth a stroll to look at the cool shops (and I am typically no shopper) even if you are staying elsewhere in Portland. Though Pok Pok is gone, Hat Yai in the same are offers Southern Thai-style chicken and curry-sauced roti. It is a delicious option for sit-down eve though it is small, or durable takeout. I crave it whenever I visit Portland. Note that they are closed today, 9/17, "for a staff celebration." For a casual meal and a beer in the Kenton area, near the (purloined from Minnesota) statue of Paul Bunyan, is Swift & Union. I've had excellent burgers (lamb and beef) and good salads there. Family-friendly, but brunch may be extra busy.

Gumba
1733 NE Alberta St.
Portland, OR 97211
503 975-5951

Hat Yai
1605 NE Killingsworth St
Portland, OR 97211
(503) 764-9701

Swift & Union
8103 N Denver Ave
Portland, OR 97217
(503) 206-4281