Eat Your Way Through Portland
Portland is a food lover’s paradise. There are so many varieties of cuisine throughout the city for you to indulge your stomach. From fusions to classics to new age there’s a dish for everyone. After visiting Portland when your stomach grumbles you’ll know what it’s trying to say is, “take me back to Portland, I want to eat!”
Portland Mornings
A motto of Portland’s is “Keep Portland Weird”. A way to experience that weirdness both in visual form and with your taste buds is by stopping over at Voodoo Doughnut. Visitors line up early at either of Voodoo Doughnut’s two Portland locations to buy theses tasty pastries. Both locations open late so you can satisfy your doughnut craving from morning to night. There are over fifty doughnuts to choose from and the doughnuts run the gamut from the extreme to the classics. The namesake doughnut is the “Voodoo Doll” doughnut. This doughnut is in the shape of a person with a pretzel stick jutting out just as a pin on an actual voodoo doll. Another fan favorite is the “Bacon Maple Bar” doughnut. Other popular items are the various cereal-topped doughnuts such as “Captain my Captain” (Captain Crunch) or “The Loop” (Fruit Loops). Keep in mind that transactions are cash only, so bring money and not your credit cards. The original location, Voodoo Doughnut ONE, is next to Caffe Vita. Caffe Vita is a coffee stand that serves coffee and other beverages for those needing a drink to go with the doughnuts.
For those that prefer a heartier meal head over to Pine State Biscuits for breakfast. Fresh buttermilk biscuits can be ordered plain, with a spread such as jam, or as a sandwich. The biscuit sandwiches include a breakfast favorite made with biscuit, cheese, egg, and your choice of meat (bacon, country ham, sausage, fried chicken, or steak). Other biscuit sandwiches include a chicken club and a BBQ biscuit, meaning you could eat at Pine State Biscuit for each meal of the day.
Portland Food Trucks
In Europe every Christmas a multitude of cities break out market stalls serving such delicacies as mulled wines, warm dishes with cheeses as its main ingredients, and desserts a plenty. The problem is that these markets only appear in December. In Portland food stalls are open every month of the year. Although these stalls are stationary and don’t truck anywhere they are called food trucks. There are plenty of choices to satisfy even the pickiest of eaters. Sprawled throughout the city in clusters no one food truck is the same. You may find the same style of cuisine, for instance, a few Vietnamese food trucks. Except each truck must offer something different from its regional cuisine neighbor. This means that one Vietnamese truck may sell pho while the other focuses on selling only rice plates. Ensuring no two food trucks are alike means so many choices your stomach may get full just thinking of the sheer enormity of everything it could consume. The best thing to do is to dig right in and pick whatever fits your fancy. One example of a great food truck is The Gaufre Gourmet. They serve up a Belgian style waffle that will satisfy your sweet or savory tooth.
Portland Dining
For those that prefer to sit while eating Portland offers great restaurant choices. KOi Fusion has both food truck locations and indoor locations. One of their indoor locations is shared with a couple other eateries and has plenty of seating available. KOi Fusion serves up Mexican-Korean fusion dishes that rival similar food trucks and restaurants found in the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles. Choose from tacos, burritos, quesadillas, and even sliders. These dishes are made with your choice of meats such as bulgogi, kalbi, chicken, or pork. The “Seoul Sliders” with bulgogi BBQ beef on a soft bread bun with zesty coleslaw is a feast for the senses.
For the hog fanatic, Lardo serves up an assortment of hog cuts on scrumptious bread rolls filled with fancy spreads. These aren’t your average sandwiches with offerings such as the “Double Burger” made with porkstrami. Lardo’s menu includes a “Pork Meatball Banh Mi” and a “Griddled Mortadella” sandwich with provolone. Lardo’s “Pho’rench Dip” sandwich is made from the same ingredients found in a bowl of Vietnamese pho. If you are looking for a classic sandwich order the “Porchetta” sandwich. There are three Lardo locations in Portland each of which serves up various sandwiches, fries, and beers.
Those wishing for more of a romantic dinner setting will want to eat at Toro Bravo. The ambience is low light and the wood tables evoke a warm and comforting vibe. With a rotating menu of Spanish style tapas it’s possible to never have the same meal at Toro Bravo twice. Another great restaurant worth making time for is Pok Pok. This restaurant serves a variety of Thai dishes. The restaurant staple is their chicken wings a dish that has become so popular that travelers come to Portland just to eat them.
Portland Drinks
With so much food consumption one undertakes in Portland it makes for a thirst that must be quenched. Portland doesn’t disappoint in that regard either, having many coffee shops, ranging from chains and local joints. Besides coffee Portland is home to more breweries than any other city in the entire world. With so many to choose from selecting just one brewery to visit is hard. If you have to a good choice is HUB, which stands for Hopworks Urban Brewery. What sets HUB apart is that is serves organic beers at both of their two locations. An item on the beer menu is their flight of ten beers, a way to sample the various beers brewed by HUB. HUB is not just for adults but a place you can bring the whole family. Their locations include a restaurant that serves pub fare such as chicken wings, burgers, and pizzas.
Besides beer Oregon is well known for the wine produced in the state. In just over an hour from the city center of Portland you will find a few of Oregon’s best wineries. Top wineries include De Ponte Cellars, Domaine Drouhin, and WillaKenzie Estate. At each of these locations you’ll find full-bodied pinots and crisp whites wines. These wines are sipped in tasting rooms that overlook gorgeous views of vineyards, trees, and on cloud free days even Mount Hood. The tall magnificent trees that are found throughout the Pacific Northwest adds a special quality to the experience of wine tasting in Oregon. You won’t see trees of this kind wine tasting in places such as Napa or the Loire Valley, so soak it in during your visit.
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Portland Building Portland: Keeping it Normal Portland Building, Portland, OR, United States | |
Pearl District Portland: Keeping it Normal Pearl District, Portland, OR, United States | |
Downtown, Portland Portland: Keeping it Normal Downtown, Portland, OR, United States | |
Pioneer Courthouse Square Portland: Keeping it Normal Pioneer Courthouse Square, Portland, OR, United States | |
Chinatown Gates Portland: Keeping it Normal Chinatown Gates Portland, Northwest 4th Avenue, Portland, OR, United States | |
Washington Park Portland: Keeping it Normal Natural Portland Washington Park, Portland, OR, United States | |
International Rose Garden Portland: Keeping it Normal Natural Portland International Rose Test Garden, Southwest Kingston Avenue, Portland, OR, United States | |
Portland Japanese Garden Portland: Keeping it Normal Natural Portland Portland Japanese Garden, Southwest Kingston Avenue, Portland, OR, United States | |
Multnomah Falls Portland: Keeping it Normal Natural Portland Multnomah Falls, Multnomah County, OR, United States | |
Wahkeena Falls Portland: Keeping it Normal Natural Portland Wahkeena Falls, Multnomah County, OR, United States | |
Vista House on Crown Point Portland: Keeping it Normal Natural Portland Vista House, Historic Columbia River Highway, Corbett, OR, United States | |
Voodoo Doughnut ONE (original location) Eat Your Way Through Portland Voodoo Doughnut, Southwest 3rd Avenue, Portland, OR, United States | |
Caffe Vita Eat Your Way Through Portland Caffe Vita, Southwest 3rd Avenue, Portland, OR, United States | |
Pine State Biscuits Eat Your Way Through Portland Pine State Biscuits Alberta, Northeast Alberta Street, Portland, OR, United States | |
Gaufre Gourmet Eat Your Way Through Portland Gaufre Gourmet, Southwest 9th Avenue, Portland, OR, United States | |
KOi Fusion Eat Your Way Through Portland Washington Square, Southwest Washington Square Road, Portland, OR, United States | |
Lardo Eat Your Way Through Portland Lardo, Southwest Washington Street, Portland, OR, United States | |
Toro Bravo Eat Your Way Through Portland Toro Bravo, Northeast Russell Street, Portland, OR, United States | |
Pok Pok Eat Your Way Through Portland Pok Pok, Southeast Division Street, Portland, OR, United States | |
Hopworks Urban Brewery (HUB) Eat Your Way Through Portland Hopworks Urban Brewery, Southeast Powell Boulevard, Portland, OR, United States | |
De Ponte Cellars Eat Your Way Through Portland De Ponte Cellars, Northeast Archery Summit Road, Dayton, OR, United States | |
Domaine Drouhin Eat Your Way Through Portland Domaine Drouhin Oregon, Dayton, OR, United States | |
WillaKenzie Estate Eat Your Way Through Portland WillaKenzie Estate, Northeast Laughlin Road, Yamhill, OR, United States |