CLICK HERE if you are having trouble viewing these photos on a mobile device
Heading for Oregon? Portland has long been known for its buzzy dining scene, its colorful restaurants, food trucks and, of course, its craft brews. Here are five places that absolutely, positively belong on your itinerary.
Tusk
This sensational Middle Eastern restaurant, which opened in 2016, hails from the same team behind Portland’s popular Ava Gene’s, run by James Beard award-winning chef Joshua McFadden. Here, the sleek, chic restaurant’s menu is helmed by chef Sam Smith and it’s a winner, whether you’re there for dinner or brunch. Everything’s shareable ($10-$32), the hummus and flatbread are divine and the soundtrack leans, of course, toward Fleetwood Mac.
Details: Open for dinner daily and weekend brunch at 2448 E. Burnside St., Portland; www.tuskpdx.com
Bollywood Theater
Movies flicker silently on one wall at this Bollywood-inspired eatery from Chez Panisse alum Troy MacLarty. Order your East India Trading Company G&T and one of the wildly addictive Kati Rolls ($11.25) at the counter, then grab a seat and dig in. The curries are great, but we can’t stop thinking about the Kati Roll and its marinated, grilled chicken, pickled onions and mint chutney encased in flaky flatbread. Swoon.
Details: Open daily for lunch and dinner at 2039 N.E. Alberta and 3010 S.E. Division, Portland; www.bollywoodtheaterpdx.com
Pok Pok
All five eateries from James Beard award-winning chef Andy Ricker offer Southeast Asian street food — Vietnamese fish-sauce chicken wings ($15.75), slow-roasted baby back ribs ($15.75) and the like — in vibrant hawker-fare settings. The one on S.E. Division Street is the original and the lines are crazy long. The trick? Put your name on the list, then go over to Ricker’s Whiskey Soda Lounge across the street for Thai-inspired cocktails and appetizers while you wait. They’ll send you back across the street when your table is ready.
Details: Open for lunch and dinner daily at 3226 SE Division St. and other locations; pokpokpdx.com.
Lardo
This adorable spot has sandwiches to die for, from the Pork Meatball Banh Mi ($11) with pickled veggies and sriracha mayo, to the Wake and Bake ($10), with scrambled eggs, bacon and extra cheddar. There’s craft beer on tap and coffee, too. Grassa, the handcrafted pasta shop next door, is owned by the same folks, so if you want wine, you can nip through the connecting door and bring a glass back with you.
Details: Open daily for lunch and dinner at 1205 S.W. Washington; also at 1212 S.E. Hawthorne Blvd.; http://lardosandwiches.com
Blue Star Donuts
We may think of coffee in terms of waves — supermarket perk-ready was the first wave, Starbucks the second and Blue Bottle and Verve are third wave. Portland’s doughnut meccas can be described similarly. Voodoo, which makes huge, cream-filled doughnuts topped with crushed Oreos and such, blazed a second-wave trail through the doughnutosphere. But Blue Star, with its brioche dough and eclectic, sophisticated flavors ($3-$4.25 each) — blueberry-bourbon-basil, Valhrona chocolate crunch and passionfruit-cocoa nib (our fave) — is third wave through and through.
Details: Eight Portland locations, including one at PDX airport; www.bluestardonuts.com. Find Voodoo Doughnuts locations at www.voodoodoughnut.com
