Things to do in Portland

[Hypn0t1q79]

I am coming to Portland on vacation just looking for opinions on things to do while I am there.

All options will be considered.

[CupcakeS5]

Someone's mom.

[tankdeer]

Everyone's mom

[NaiveTurtle]

Pat's mom, for sure!


Also, you're a dingus. Why not just text your friends that live here. Like you've been doing all day....

[CupcakeS5]

Pat's mom doesn't live in Portland, dingus.

[Rabbit]

I hear SE 82nd is super cool.








Dingus.

[CupcakeS5]

We should take him to that vegan place near my house

[tankdeer]

What a dingus

[Rabbit]

We should take him to that vegan place near my house

Haha.
Um, Walmart is pretty cool. I took Lance there when he was in town.

[NaiveTurtle]

We could get stoned behind a 7-11

[Hypn0t1q79]

[CupcakeS5]

Haha.
Um, Walmart is pretty cool. I took Lance there when he was in town.

You also took Lance to a dispensary and that turned out.......well.
Yep, we are getting Brandon high now. Since it's legal and all.

[Rabbit]

We went twice!

[Rabbit]

We could get stoned behind a 7-11

It was a Gas Station. Get it right!

[NaiveTurtle]

It was a Gas Station. Get it right!

Oh I thought it was a 7-11. We had been drinking all day.

[Rabbit]

Excuses

[dufferdude]

Winter mode part #69

[rubbndubbn]

In all seriousness check out Silverado's you will love it!

[CupcakeS5]

Winter mode part #69

In all seriousness check out Silverado's you will love it!

Oh, yeah! How could we have forgotten that fine establishment? My bad.

[Rabbit]

Winter mode part #69

[dufferdude]

Everythings better with penguins.....

[Rabbit]

[Audi_509]

Everythings better with penguins.....

Interesting but I must say 🐶 pics are better. Anyways, I just started my detail in Portland. So opinions on what to check out? I hear fantastic things about burritos. 😋

[Hypn0t1q79]

This went exactly as I should have expected it to.

[CupcakeS5]

Interesting but I must say 🐶 pics are better. Anyways, I just started my detail in Portland. So opinions on what to check out? I hear fantastic things about burritos. 😋

RI
GO
BER
TO

This went exactly as I should have expected it to.

Duh.

[Audi_509]

^I hope it's worth it. It's a 25 minute drive. I'll check them out tomorrow. I can't wait.

[Rabbit]

^I hope it's worth it. It's a 25 minute drive. I'll check them out tomorrow. I can't wait.

Same for us, but we do it cause it's the closest to the burritos back home that we have found so far.

[Hypn0t1q79]

^I hope it's worth it. It's a 25 minute drive. I'll check them out tomorrow. I can't wait.

Total first world problems when a 25 minute drive for burritos is too long.

[CupcakeS5]

Total first world problems when a 25 minute drive for burritos is too long.

That's not a first-world problem, that's just being a little bitch.

Yes, it's very, very worth it.

[Audi_509]

Same for us, but we do it cause it's the closest to the burritos back home that we have found so far.

By any chance have you lived in south Texas (boarding mex)? I miss my TexMex food.

Total first world problems when a 25 minute drive for burritos is too long.

🤔 It totally is.

That's not a first-world problem, that's just being a little bitch.

Yes, it's very, very worth it.

I hope you know that you set up some big expectations. Lol...

[Rabbit]

By any chance have you lived in south Texas (boarding mex)? I miss my TexMex food.

San Diego, CA. So if you're looking for TexMex Rigoberto's probably won't deliver, but their food is very close to west border style.
There are at least a few TexMex places in Portland, but I don't know how good they are. Everything else is pretty much mission style and/or Southern Mexican (lots of people up here from Southern Mexico).

[Audi_509]

^Thanks for the feedback. I'm used to the NW Mexican food. lol. I'm just going to have to make plans for a 2200 mile trip and get me some home cooking.

How about beer places? Any recommendations? Portland looks to be a mecca of great beer.

[CupcakeS5]

Audi_509 I need a name pls, I hate calling people by their screennames. And really, if we're getting into the burritos and beer discussion, it's personal enough

I think you might like Chez Jose, it's in SW PDX at the intersection of Terwilliger & Taylors Ferry, if you want more Tex style. I've been going there since I was a kid and I love it (I was in Tx too....Ft Hood....but dad was the soldier, not I). It's a sit-down place. Rigos is either/or and is better for just burritos/tacos than large plates.

Beer is literally everywhere. You need to start coming to Beer Night - see our thread up in the stickies section for the PDX meetup. Ecliptic is where we're going and it's one excellent place. In that same neighborhood is Stormbreaker and Prost. Deschutes has a good restaurant in NW. Hopworks is yummy, in SE and NE. Lompoc locations, Laurelwood locations, Rheinlander/Gustav's for another German experience like Prost with less beer and a bigger food menu. Just do us a favor and stay away from the sellouts like 10 Barrel. Others can expand on this list from here...I have to go train someone here at work now.

[Rabbit]

^Thanks for the feedback. I'm used to the NW Mexican food. lol. I'm just going to have to make plans for a 2200 mile trip and get me some home cooking.

How about beer places? Any recommendations? Portland looks to be a mecca of great beer.

Depends on what kind of beer you're looking for. We do a monthly beer night, and a couple of our regular places are Ecliptic and HUB. Cascade in SE is nice for sour beers, plus their non-sour beer is very good. In that same area is Burnside, Base Camp, Hair of the Dog, uhhhh... Ummm... Farmhouse?
Breakside in upper NE is good, too. And of course, Deschutes.

[CupcakeS5]

uhhhh... Ummm... Farmhouse?

You're thinking of Commons?

[Rabbit]

Yes, thank you.

[NaiveTurtle]

You're thinking of Commons?

I need Commons in my life. Like right now....

[Audi_509]

Personal? Food and beer, I guess your right. Lol. The name is Sergio. I'm into many types of beers. I don't try to discriminate. I'm a fan of Porters, Belgin; IPA (not too bitter). Current fav is Deshutes Fresh Sqeeze IPA. I really enjoy going to places that carry many different types so I can buy a flight or two.

Thanks everyone for all the suggestions. I will have to google and plan some tastings. Tomorrow is a burrito from Rigoberto's.

[AvusPdx]

There is a lot of useless info here.

I'm a Portland native, loves food/beer/wine, was a sous-chef at my families restaurant before college, and studied cooking in Japan for 3 months. So when I give recommendations to the following restaurants, they are going to be good, but on Yelp I'd say they are about $$$ range. If you want to stick with the $ and $$, you can just google any breweries and most would be similar (bar food, beer tastings etc.). Food carts are fun, but they are more for convenience when you stumble upon them or work near by, I would never drive to just go eat at a food cart.

Reservations are HIGHLY recommended especially for weekends. Portlanders love their food and most restaurants will be packed on Fri/Sat.

List starting from my favorites:

Italian:
Mucca (SW Downtown) - up scale, smaller portions, real italian chefs that barely speaks English
Cena (near Mclaughlin St, a little out of the way) - bigger portions, still classy and good
Piazza Italia (NW Downtown "Pearl district") - fun atmosphere, good food, great date spot. I know this restaurant is a Mafia front, so if you like that kind of stuff, its kinda cool.

Sushi:
Yama's Sushi (NW Downtown "Pearl district") - high quality sushi, for best experience, eat at the sushi bar.
Bamboo Sushi (2 location in DT, SW and NW "23rd" area) - Trendy, sustainable fish, good sushi but with a lot of twists so not traditional.

Steak/American (ones with * are $$$$):
*El Gaucho - (SW DT Portland) corporate write off type steak house. Good quality and superb service, live music on Sat nights
*Urban Farmer - (SW DT Portland, Nines Hotel) Contemporary very cool interior, more interesting dishes compared to regular steak houses, cool balcony bar "Departure" on top of the building.
Irving Street Kitchen - (NW Pearl District) contemporary new age American dishes, cool bar with wine "taps" to order by the glass. Great date spot.

Tapa's/South American/Spanish:
Andina's (NW Pearl District) contemporary but has a "street of spain" design, very very good tapa's, superb quality, typically 2 ~ 3 weeks out on reservations.
Mediterranean Exploration Company (NW Pearl District) ok its not Spanish, but they have Mediterranean foods in Tapa's portions to try many kinds. I was very pleased with their food and service.
Toro Bravo (NE Portland) more casual, loud, busy tapa's. Good quality, but they do not take reservations and waiting times can be very bad. If you get lucky, this place is worth it.

Brunch/Hang over foodz:
*Salty's seafood brunch buffet (Marine Dr, by the Columbia river, 15min drive from DT) Seafood galore, brunch heaven. All you can drink mimosa's and make your self Bloody M's are good. Most Portlanders knows this place, and its usually a special treat (birthdays, anniversaries, friends from out of town etc.).
*Portland City Grill brunch buffet (SW DT) Seafood galore, ala carte order of eggs benedict/pancakes/waffles. All you can drink Mimosa's, sashimi/sushi/poke tuna as well. The food items are a little bit more presented "fancier" than Salty's, rather than the sheer variety and quantity.
Cheryl's (SW DT) I would say Tasty and Alder, if you are willing to wait about an hour, hung over and cold. If not Cheryl's is one block away, good brunch items, good service and is getting very popular.
Screen Door (E Burnside) Southern style brunch items, very popular but if the wait is less than 30 min, worth the wait. Most Portlanders knows about this place.

Bars/Clubs: (disclaimer; I've been out of the game for a while, so hot spots may have changed)
Dig a Pony - younger crowd, no dress code, good atmosphere but cliquey. Music: All over the place.
Trio - Traditional night club, used to get the Asian crowd, high energy, dress code. Music: was EDM
Jack Knife - younger crowd, no dress code, hotel bar but good energy, people mingle more here. Music: All over the place
Old Town Club Area - 4 big size clubs in one block area, 1 titty bar. 80's bar, rock'n'roll bar, hiphop/EDM split club, and a outdoor EDM club/dueling piano bar.

Over hyped, avoid areas:
Voodoo donuts - its not worth the wait. If you want to FB/instagram, just take pictures of the inside and you can still say "I've been there".
Salt & Straw - its not worth the wait. Secret is if you buy a pint of their ice cream in the freezer, you don't have to wait in line. Or it was. don't blame me if you get yelled at.
Jakes craw fish and Jakes Grill - one of the oldest, most well known restaurant. Is absolute garbage and over priced. People that don't know food still goes there for "anniversaries" and special occasions, I'm surprised they are still in business to be honest.
Ring Side Steak/Seafood - Same as Jakes review. Old, expensive, not so great, elderly couple anniversary dinner type place. Money much better spent elsewhere.

Buy some good Oregon pinot noir, 2010 and 11 were good years. Depending on the vinyard, 12 isn't bad, 13, 14's will take more time. If money is not an issue, 06 was a golden year, and 08 is great.
Almost all restaurants will carry Pinot Noir's by the glass.

As for beers, there are literally thousands to try, and everyone has their favorites. Its tough to even know where to get started. Tasting samples are a great way to try and find your likes/dislikes. Ordering a pint of some shit that tastes and looks like watered down bark and dirt, sucks.

That's all I have at the moment. Enjoy Portland, and remember those fucking weirdo's you will see in public is just a small sample size of who we are..

[rubbndubbn]

Go to Hair of the Dog in the industrial district. The beer is awesome! you wont regret it and once you have drank your life away walk to Olympic Provisions great charcuterie!

the above post is more information then you will ever need to know... almost all spots mentioned are well worth the visit. I think tasty and alder is worth the wait of cheryls but thats personal!

Side note you can still buy a pint without waiting in line at salt and straw... this might not be the best month to visit as its elementary school month so its weird ass ice cream. The line will also be way to long to wait since the sun is coming out. If you want some good ol handmade ice cream go to cloud city in woodstock, not like salt and straw but there ice cream really is amazing!