A Portland food guide is a daunting task considering the rich restaurant scene this hipster capital has to offer. Whether it be coffee or beer, Portlanders are big fans of small-batch brewing. As for food, the Pacific Northwest is known for its seafood, but the weekend brunch scene is what dreams are made of. The following Portland food guide is divided into: coffee, brunch, seafood, beer, and late-night donuts.
Coffee
First things first: coffee. The thing the courses through our veins and makes us the kind, reasonable people that we are. The best thing about Portland is it’s abundance of independent coffee shops. It insures that you are greeted with a warm smile and a hint of snobbery that won’t ruin your morning with something ridiculous like sugar in your coffee. Our favorites were:
- Stumptown Coffee Roasters | Born in Portland, this coffee roaster is slowly taking over the West Coast with the smoothest nitro cold brew around and some seasonal varietals.
- Cup & Bar | Located in central Portland, this place is part coffee roaster, part chocolate maker, and all kinds of delicious.
Cup & Bar with the ol’ Ball & Chain.
Brunch
The brunch scene in Portland is out-of-this-world. If this is what weird-ness tastes like, I’ll have for every meal of the day! The brunch item that impressed me the most throughout the weekend was the loaded hash. Let’s hash it out, shall we:
- Pine State Biscuits | The Hash Up here has steak, grilled onions, mushrooms, and melted cheese for good measure. Seriously the best hash I have ever eaten. It still haunts my tastebuds. In addition, their famous biscuits are truly amazing with either butter & honey, or a local jam like marionberry.
- City State Diner & Bakery | The Louisiana Crab Hash here was absolutely incredible. Funnily enough, not actually a Louisiana specialty. This crab-stuffed and hollandaise-topped hash is a City State invention and worth the trip! We also got the Hazelnut Challah French Toast, which was exactly as it sounds – delicious.
Seafood
For affordable and classic seafood, look no further than Jake’s Famous Crawfish. We went both nights for dinner and here are just a few of their incredible happy hour items (3-6pm daily, after 9pm Sun-Thurs, after 10pm Fri-Sat):
- Garlic Steamed Mussels [$6.95] The juiciest of the garlickiest of the butteriest mussels ever for less than $7.
- Three Cheese Mac [$2.95] Pasta with three types of cheese for less than $3, need I say more?
- Tempura Fried Green Beans [$4.95] Eat green beans with none of the guilt of eating something overly healthy in this cold weather.
- Northwest Salmon Cakes [$5.95] Fluffy cakes, with not crab, but salmon!
- Jake’s Étouffée [$5.95] Everyone was getting this dish, a huge bowl of chicken and prawns.
See their full happy hour menu here.
Beer
In Portland, microbreweries are more ubiquitous than handlebar mustaches and Medieval stringed instruments. Here are our favorites:
- Tug Boat Brewing | Portland’s smallest and oldest brewery. Amazingly cheap ($2.50) and delicious small-batch beer list that can only be found there. The bartender, Linsel, was a pure delight and the board game selection was perfect. Cozy vibes and not overcrowded, the brewery provides for games all-night.
- Deschutes Brewery | One of Portland’s better known breweries, this place can get pretty crowded but the beer selection is amazing. We got an experimental IPA (XPA) and an Obsidian Stout. They also have some fun souvenirs, including Mirror Pond beer-scented soap, that still brightens my day!
Doughnuts
The perfect night cap to an evening of micro-brewery hopping is at Portland’s famous Voodoo Doughnut. The line isn’t too long at night, so it’s the perfect time to stock up on a Bacon Maple bar, Portland Cream, M&M, and the Homer Simpson – doh!
Here’s a map of the places we visited and then some – enjoy!