City: Portland, Oregon
Population: 550,000
Local specialties: Salmon, Cherries, Peaches, Wine
Portland! It's such a rich city for food-lovers. Here are a few of our picks from Portland's best shops and resources for cooks. What would you add to this list?
Foods You Must Try
• Salmon
• Oysters
• Cherries
• Peaches
• Stumptown coffee
• Locally-made wine and beer
Farmers' Markets
• Portland State University Farmers Market - We don't like to play favorites, but...this is one of the best farmers markets we've ever been to!
• Downtown Farmers Market
• Hollywood Farmers Market
Food Halls
• Portland doesn't have any covered food halls that we know of (do you?), but definitely keep your eye out for downtown street carts!
Best Grocery Stores
• New Seasons Market
• People's Food Co-op
• Foster and Dobbs - especially for meats and cheeses
Specialty Shops of Note
• Grand Central Baking Company - Definitely check out their rustic baguette and their raspberry scones
• Kettleman's Bagel Company
• Pix Patisserie
• The Meadow - Gourmet salts, as well as chocolates, wine, and other yummies!
Independent Food Artisans
• Voget Meats - Their main retail store is located in Hubbard, Oregon, but we think their products are sold in various places around town. Keep your eye out!
• Alma Chocolates
• Stumptown Coffee
• Tillamook Cheese - Their main location is in Tillamook (which is totally worth a trip if you can get there!), but their cheese is sold throughout the Northwest.
About The Kitchn's Food-Lover's Guides
We focus mainly on home cooking here at The Kitchn, and we know that one huge source of inspiration is travel. We want to give you ideas for things to eat and places to visit even when you're away from your home kitchen. We want to inspire your inner chef and introduce you to the best spots for food-lovers in a dozen or so major cities.
These guides don't deal with restaurants; there are plenty of other resources for that. These are the spots for food-lovers and cooks: the markets, specialty cookshops, and best small-batch artisans. If you're traveling in one of these cities this summer, we hope these guides help you find something inspiring. And if you live here, maybe you'll find a new resource to inspire your daily cooking!
We need your help, too, with these guides. Each city's thread will have at least some recommendations, but of course they will be incomplete. So we need your insider help. Tell us where the best markets, food shops, jam-makers, brewers, butchers, independent groceries, bakery supply stores, and quirky, strange, out-of-the-way food experts are. What are your favorite places to shop, as a cook?
(Image: Flickr members StuSeeger, biskuit, and jesse.millan licensed under Creative Commons)
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Pastaworks!! http://pastaworks.com/ Excellent wine selection, cheeses, wonderful selection of fresh and cured meats (don't bother buying salami anywhere else in town). They have three locations, but I think the best one is on SE Hawthorne.
Portland is def. on my list of places that I want to visit.
One of my favorite places to visit! Here are some "must try's"
Steve's Cheese http://www.stevescheese.biz/
Beast for dinner or brunch! http://beastpdx.com/
Pearl Bakery http://www.pearlbakery.com/
Pok Pok for some of the best thai you will ever have http://www.pokpokpdx.com/
Ringers of McMinnimans for a beer or fresh squeezed cocktail http://www.mcmenamins.com/index.php?loc=46
Bunk Sandwiches http://www.bunksandwiches.com/
and more Portland restaurants listed on my blog, including Lovely Hula Hands, one of my favorites! www.paintedpeach.blogspot.com
Apizza Scholls has amazing pizza and Cafe Mingo has the best Italian food in Portland! DOC has a great menu, very seasonal. Portland has so many great restaurants, its hard to choose!
One of my favorite go to markets is The City Market on NW 21st. The only link takes you to pastaworks. They have a bunch of different markets within the shop including:
Pastaworks - see links provided by others.
Chop Butchery & Charcuterie, with the slogan "know your butcher, is where I go to for some good local meats, homemade pates and sausages, farm fresh eggs and advice on how to cook everything. They all know me by name there, which is pretty cool.
Newman's Fish Market probably is the best place in Portland to buy fish, the fish is always fresh, and the staff are all knowledgeable, and they smoke their own salmon which is well worth the hefty price tag.
I also like Ken's artisan bakery http://www.kensartisan.com/
for fresh breads and granolas
And for fruit and berry picking, I suggest a ride out to one of the many farms on Sauvie Island. http://sauvieisland.org/
Ken's Artisan Bakery is magnificent. Monday night pizza at the NW 21st and Flanders location can hardly be beat--but the SE pizza has the bonus of many draft beers. Hopworks Urban Brewery is heaven on earth (and the design is cyclist chic). Meriwether's, Clarklewis, Wildwood...all special places. Pok Pok is sublime for Vietnamese food. Habibi (we're headed there tonight), and its cousins Nicholas and Hodas--we have what we need. Clear Creek, New Deal, and other distilleries. (But the earlier reference to McMenamins--come on, we have infinitely better beer here.)
As mentioned, Ken's Artisan pizza (McMenamins is more for the atmosphere, less for the food/beer)
Best breakfast: Petite Provence
Best Thai: Typhoon
Best Labanese: Ya Hala
Chocolate: Sahagun
Wine: Oregon Wines on Broadway (but the town has tons of great wine shops)
Coffee: Ristretto Roasters and Barista
Ice Cream: Cool Moon Ice Cream (interesting flavors)
I'd say that the meat (pork and beef) is much better than the Salmon/Fish/Seafood in Portland. Many restaurants are doing their own butchering and smoking/curing in-house.
Best Portland market = Zupans
Best Portland Corned Beef Hash = Everett Street Bistro
Best Portland Bread = Grand Central Como
Best Portland Street for "Where would you like to go for dinner?" = NW 21st Avenue
Best Place to take your best friend (woof) for a beer: Lucky Lab Pub
Best Chocolate Anywhere: Verdun
What about three hours South in Bend Oregon? I have no idea where to start with our local goods.
Okay, please someone mention Nicholas (http://nicholasrestaurant.com/) on SE MLK! It's incredible and delicious. Get the mezza for 1 to split between two. Have three people at the table and enjoy naan fresh from the oven and big enough to be a baby blanket!
Also, thanks for the shout-out to Kettleman's! Definitely the best bagels in the city!
We also like: Cha!Cha!Cha! for very large burritos after a long bike ride (another awesome thing to do in/around Portland) and Saburo's for delicious, inexpensive sushi (in the Westmoreland (SE) area of town).
Portland is also home to a large number of fabulous brewpubs where you can taste the numerous local microbrews that we are very proud of. Laurelwood, McMennamin's, Deschutes, and Lompoc just to name a few (and McMennamin's and Laurelwood both come in $3 Movie Theater variety)!!
I'm glad to see Pix Patisserie on your list! They make this dessert called the Pear Rosemary Tart that includes rosemary-infused chocolate and thinly-sliced pears in a tart shell.
It is TO DIE FOR.
Tastebud's bagels are pretty amazing and so is their pizza. They are usually set up at all the farmers markets toting a wood-fired oven (in the winter). I also live by the year-round Hillsdale Farmer's Market which I love. It's not huge, but just big enough.
Baker & Spice makes the best pastries in town, and their bread is amazing too. Try the maple twist at the savory galette. (Better than Pearl Bakery, in my opinion).
I love Portland so much, but I must also give a shout to amazing beer out of Eugene too. Ninkasi is served a bunch of places in Portland on tap or for purchase in stores.
i'm sorry but I found Pix Patisserie to be a little too dank and cluttered. I am moderately up tight and i like my eateries, especially bakeries to be clean and bright. Pix felt like walking into someone's garage or their grandmothers's living room. i left because it just felt dirty to me.
Granted, Portland is a bit more on the "au natural" side. just a warning to other neat freaks like me.
Don't forget to try the hazelnuts and strawberries! Also, dinner at Wildwood was amazing and dessert at Papa Haydn is worth it. Also, Jory in the wine country area was delicious and inside a really great hotel.
Bowery Bagels is the newest bagel shop. Much better than Kettleman's.
On Hawthorne near 23rd there is a covered outdoor farm stand for Kruger Farms, which is really great when the rain makes the Farmer's Markets too soggy. And Flying Fish is a cart there that sells some of the best fresh fish and excellent local farm fresh meats and dairy. I would echo Apizza Scholls and also mention Oven & Shaker for pizza. And the food carts! Koi Fusion, Big A$$ sandwich, Lardo just opened a brick & mortar shop on Hawthorne. Brunch is a great way here to try out some places you might not normally go or afford, too. Interurban on Mississippi St. is the newest place we have gone. It is awesome, especially on a patio day!
My sister and I went to Portland two years ago for a conference, and had a fabulous time - and enjoyed fabulous food. The food carts were just starting to get widespread press coverage, and I'm glad I got to experience them!
Two other places were standouts for completely different reasons:
Mother's Bistro (http://www.mothersbistro.com/) was excellent for comfort food dining
Voodoo Donuts (http://voodoodoughnut.com/index.php) for some crazy donuts
Remember, "Keep Portland Weird!" (And a city with that as a slogan is right up my alley!)
Oops, Kettleman's is so longer in business! (Though I agree, Bowery Bagels is a close second). Thanks for the shout out to our fine city:)
Oooooh, I LOVE LOVE LOVE Portland!!!
Pok Pok is awesome (although some of my friends who live there, say that it's gone downhill. I still have to go there when I'm in town.)
Screen Door has GREAT brunch. You know it's good when the line wraps around the block at 9 am!
Pix is delicious.
Apizza Scholls is WORTH THE WAIT.
Andinas has great tapas and cocktails.
For food and wine, I whole-heartedly recommend the drive to McMinnville. There are so many good restaurants down there!
And while you are in Portland, definitely go to Powell's City of Books and the Japanese Gardens.
I work at the farmer's market in Portland - you gotta try hazelnuts (fresh in fall, great year round) and marionberries (July) while you're here too.
Definitely food carts - my favorite right now is Wolf and Bear, the main cart is on N Mississippi St. It's blowing up recently.
Best brunch in town with less wait-time is Jam on SE Hawthorne.
Stumptown is not all its cracked up to be... There's tons of great coffee in Portland, start with Stella or Cellar Door (great cafe/store on SE 11th).
For a nice vegan brunch or dinner, definitely hit up Portobella.
Nicholas' has the biggest and bestest Lebanese food ever, and the nicest staff.
Don't forget to mention the absolutely fantastic and fun bar scene all over Portland :)
Kettleman's doesn't exist anymore - they were bought out by Einstein's bagels and quality has apparently gone downhill... The new bagel place people rave about is I think Spielman's on SE Clinton.
Fresh fish - Flying Fish Company on 23rd and Hawthorne. So many good, fresh fish and it's right next to the produce market.
Wine - Cork on 29th and Alberta. I don't know much about wine, so having a shop with people who know what goes best with what is awesome.
I definitely second Chop on North Williams, so many great tasty treats. Also, Laurelhurst Market has some great cuts and charcuterie you can buy.
Also, remember that Bob's Red Mill is just a hop away in Milwaukie! All the flours, grains, and granolas you can imagine.
I love everything on this list and the comments as well. There is nothing better than living in Portland, we seriously have some amazing food and drink options. You mentioned the farmers markets and lack of food hall. However, a plan is in the works for a permanent market, much Reading Terminal or Pike Place:
http://www.portlandpublicmarket.com/. This is something absolutely perfect for the season and I could imagine spending lots of time there.