Portland, Oregon’s famed obsession with all-things artisanal extends to it’s restaurants, cafes, bakeries, and bars. The city’s unique location means it has access to a broad range of local ingredients. Beyond that, there are plenty of chefs with an extraordinary amount of talent and vision that call Portland their home.
The best restaurants in Portland showcase both the multicultural roots represented within the city as well as the wealth of local ingredients at it’s disposal.
Portland has always had a reputation for being a bit quirky. So, it shouldn’t surprise you that it’s restaurants are as well. Portland has for many years been one of the most significant food truck towns in the country. Working in that environment, chefs hone their skills while experimenting with vibrant, sense-arousing flavors that aren’t afraid to get a little weird.
While many food trucks remain consistent favorites with locals, quite a few food truck chefs advance to the point where they are able to open their very own brick and mortar restaurants. Whether you’re interested in having a vegan dinner or are looking for farm-to-fable, French, Vietnamese, or Filipino cuisine, Portland has it all.
From trendy new hotspots to longtime local favorites, budget-friendly to fine dining, these are what we feel are the Best Restaurants in Portland, Oregon.
Tercet
Although the casual dining format has been in vogue as of late, Tercet continues to proudly embrace the art and elegance of fine dining. The Tercet team is quite capable and qualified. Chefs Wyatt VandenBerghe and John Conlin, along with sommelier Michael Branton handle just about everything from greeting you at the door to washing the dishes after service and everything inbetween. The eight-course prix fixe menu will run you about $150 and features flavors that celebrate the PNW’s abundant and bountiful spirit with beautifully arranged plates that are as gorgeous as they are delicious.
The vibe of the restaurant meets at the intersection of low-key and elegant. There is no dress code, so come as you are. The restaurant can be found on the mezzanine floor of the Morgan building downtown.
Bar Casa Vale
Focusing primarily on delicious Spanish wood-fired tapas, this Portland staple is the best place to take a group of friends when visiting Stumptown. You can order just about anything, and it’s going knock your socks off. We’re especially fond of the paella and lamb meatballs.
Lil Shalom
Lil Shalom is the sister restaurant to the now defunct Shalom Y’all. The latter was arguably one of the best Mediterranean food restaurants in Portland but even though that location is now closed, Lil’ Shalom is still serving up delectable handheld bites that will leave you coming back for more again and again. Their pita- based sandwiches are pretty fantastic, but what’s earned Lil Shalom a spot in this video is their house creamy hummus.
Ken’s Artisan Pizza
From one of Portland’s best bakers, Ken Forkish, the genius behind the two-time James Beard Aard-winning Ken’s Bakery in Northwest Portland, comes this magnificent pizza joint. While Ken’s za’s borrow from authentic Italian cuisine, they come with a distinctly American twist.
Forkish recently moved to Hawaii, but before he made the big move, he perfected the dough at Ken’s Artisan Pizza. The fermented sourdough yeast blend creates these glorious airy bubbles within the pizza’s soft but slightly charred crust. Each pizza is put through a wood-fired oven after being covered in locally sourced ingredients such as hand-stretched cheese.
Not a single menu item at Ken’s Artisan Pizza is a miss. Our favorite pies have to be the Brooklyn which incorporates Mike’s Hot Honey, and the Fennel Sausage pizza.
Before we tell you about all of our other favorite restaurants in Portland, take a moment to show us a little support by giving this video a like and subscribing to the Viewcation channel.
St. Jack
St. Jack’s a quaint and cozy little French cafe that dishes out rustic yet hearty fare with regional ingredients. The atmosphere makes you feel like you’ve been teleported to a Bouchon in Lyon. The menu, which is updated daily, features mouth-watering dishes like roasted poussin, pate en croute, steak frites, and escargot.
Grassa
If you’re as big of a pasta fan as we are then you’ll love this local gem. Not only does Grassa serve handmade artisan pastas, but they do so with affordable prices as well. We adored their cacio e pepe which is served with truffle butter, but the pork belly mac ‘n cheese is also to die for.
If you tried the food blindly, you might think that it came from some kind of New American/upscale Italian joint, but the aesthetic inside is no-frills fast-casual. If that seems a bit confusing, don’t worry. We were baffled too, but we promise you’ll walk out of Grassa deeply satisfied.
Bing Mi Food Cart
Since Jacky Ren took over this long-beloved Portland food cart, it has somehow managed to reach unprecedented new heights. The team of culinary wizards at this Northwest Chinese food cart have perfected the art of pumping out mouth-watering jianbing. In case you’ve never had it, Jianbing consists of sliced duck and sausage that’s wrapped with a silky-smooth crispy crepe.
The homemade Bing sauce adds a light sweet-salty bit of pzazz to each bite. The experience is further defined by the addiction of Zha cai, which adds a pleasing burst of tang that nicely brings everything together.
Bing Mi offers takeout, but there is some onsite seating over at the Nob Hill Food Carts pod.
Ringside Steakhouse
In Portland’s west side, this institution is arguably Portland’s best steakhouse. They’ve been serving up high-quality cuts of meat and James Beard’s favorite onion rings since 1944. The restaurant’s dining room is very cozy. The fireplaces add a nice touch to the ambiance – as do the burgundy booths and white, clean tablecloths.
To kick off your meal, we recommend the prawn cocktail or French onion soup, which is encrusted with a generous serving of Gruyere. When ordering your main, go for the filet mignon or the dry-aged ribeye. Sitting beside your slab of meat will be a heaping portion of garlic mashed potatoes topped with bearnaise and foie gras butter.
The Prime Rib is served with fresh horseradish and Yorkshire pudding. The lobster mashed potatoes are also something to write home about.
We’re also pleased to say that Ringside offers some of the finest service in the city. They’re currently open for indoor or outdoor dining as well as takeout.
Eem
We gotta give credit where it’s due. Eem is the Portland eatery that we never knew we needed but now that we’ve tried it, we can’t imagine living without it. Their secret to success lies in their Thai BBQ fusion menu that is sure to tickle even the most hard-to-please palette.
Eem’s head shef, Earl Ninsom, is a highly experienced and celebrated flavor artisan from Bangkok. He alone has single-handedly given Portland some of the best and most popular restaurants, including Langbaan, which currently has a six-month waiting list.
Earl teamed up with Matt Vicedomini, the man behind the enormously successful Matt’s BBQ food truck. Another member of the Eem team is Eric Nelson, the brains behind the establishments out-of-this-world cocktails which are worth going for by themselves.
Together, these three masterminds contributed the first letters of each of their names to form Eem’s name. Coincidentally, Eem is also the Thai word for satiated or satisfied.
The fried chicken at Eem is clearly one of their standout menu choices, but you really couldn’t go wrong by ordering anything.
The Screen Door
This brunch spot is one of the best restaurants in Portland and has been for quite some time. The cat’s been out of the bag on that one for a long time. You can tell just by looking at the length of the line to get in.
Screen Door might not be a hidden gem, but they certainly are consistent. Their signature dish, chicken and waffles, is what makes people wait in line for hours. While that’s clearly their best offering, you’d be missing out if you didn’t try their biscuits and grits while you’re there. Both dishes stand on their own – as does the French toast, which is beyond decadent.
Show up as early as you can. And even then, you still want to prepare yourself to wait in line for quite some time. But believe us, the wait is well worth it.
RukDiew Cafe
Chef Poomipat “Pat’ Thaithongsuk, the genius behind two other Portland treasures, Kaho Moo Dang and Thai Peacock, has done it again with this delightfully charming cafe. RukDiew, in case you were wondering, translates as ‘One Love’ in Thai.
Drawing inspiration from his mother’s hospitality and soul-nourishing home cooking, Pat has turned this casual spot into a crowd-pleaser. Dishes like pumpkin curry, boat noodles, and pineapple fried rice are available at affordable prices. Even though it’s been open for a while now, RukDiew is still one of the hottest chow-spots in town.
Homegrown Smoker
While the words Vegan and BBQ might seem somewhat contradictory to some, Homegrown Smoker has perfected the art of serving up savory, smoky deliciousness sans the animal products. They are handsdown the best vegan BBQ joint we’ve ever tried, and quite possibly one of the best vegan restaurants in town.
What began as a food cart evolved into a full-fledged brick-and-mortar establishment in 2015. The restaurant specializes in vegan BBQ and comfort foods like faux deli meat submarine sandwiches and super cheesy, cheeseless mac and cheese.
The décor and beer lists leave something to be desired, but the portions are huge and absolutely delectable.
With that, we got to wrap things up. Obviously, we only got a chance to touch on a small fraction of restaurants that Portlanders are proud to have in their midst, but we did make sure to cover all of our top picks while giving a fairly well-rounded list of options to choose from. If you’ve been to Portland or are from there, we’d love to hear what some of your favorite restaurants are in town. Let us know in the comments section down below.
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As always, thanks for watching, and happy travels!