Portland Restaurants

[John Shaft]

Caprial's Bistro. IMO it is underpriced for the quality.
Mother's in downtown is good "classic American home food."
Second the Syun Izakaya vote - that's one of my fave restaurants ever.

[PNW-type-gal]

Originally Posted by 11Hungrybb

Has anyone tried Produce Row Cafe in SE? I will try that place very soon

Produce Row Cafe » SouthEast Portland’s Restaraunt and Bar »Intro

Haven't been in a couple years, but it's a reasonable pub, with a couple of caveats: it's small, seating is minimal and it's frequently very crowded. Back in the late 70s or so, it had the absolute best beer selection in Portland. Now there are a lot of contenders for that title.

[lilypad]

So many fun places to eat in Portland and vicinity. I love the SE part of town, and frequent Than Thao (Hawthorne District) and Old Wive's Tales (Burnside and SE 13th). Also love mexican food, Mazatlan is very good for not being in the soutwest.

[sphinx1999]

I just discovered this new gem in SW 12th and Morrison. It looks pretty trendy and somewhat upscale. But the prices are UNBELIEVABLE!

I think it's because it opened recently and they are trying to get some foot traffic going. The food is good but I wish they had more variety. The drinks are phenomenal though. I tried the house special and was blown away. They said the ingredients are all local so I like that community support aspect

Have fun!

Element lounge is the name by the way...hehe

[Yankeemama]

Irving Street Kitchen!

[newtohere]

If you are into breakfasts, get ahold of a copy of Breakfast in Bridgetown, available through Amazon, as well as at Powell's, etc. For good ole fashion, nothing fancy, try to famous/infamous Original Hotcake House (not to be confused with the Original Pancake House, which actually is the first of that chain, known in some places as "walker Brothers") around 12th and Powell.
Huge plate-sized pancakes, with some kind of raspberry preserves to put on them, huge servings of everything (hashbrowns, etc.) Open 24 hours, though gritty late at night. Similarly huge portions are found at Pa's Kettle, around
170th and SE Division--incredible what they call scones, honey butter, etc. But they close around 3 (parts of town are basically safe, but a bit gritty).

For something more unusual, try Pine State Biscuits on Belmont--founded by a bunch of guys from NC, this place is a cardiologists best friend (or worse nightmare, depending upon how you look at it), but the stuff is unbelievable--fried grits cakes, incredible biscuits with chicken breasts and eggs and gravy, etc. There is also a Cuban place down on Stark somewhere with incredible breads and tasty everything else (bread like grapefruit poundcake, etc. You have to have it to understand it).

Another low-key, but a bit more up scale and avante garde, place for breakfast is Hawthorn Cafe, around 30 something and Hawthorne. Marionberry coffeecake, asparagus and chive cheese omelettes, etc.--it's all good.

For other meals, there is actually a salad buffet that is kind of interesting--we all know how buffets are, but the fact that you can load up on salads and unhealthy sides (if you choose) is interesting. There are a couple of them in the area--called real Tomatoes, or something like that. But that is low budget stuff. There are many good Vietnames, Mexican, etc. places.

For atmosphere (and "okay") food, try any of the McMinnamin's microbreweries, esp. the renovated places like Kennedy School and way out in Troutdale, the Edgefield, which are also quasi low-budget resorts.

Surprisingly decent fast food can be found at Burgerville's--and this time of year they start featuring blackberry dessert items--a good place to check out if you are looking to grab something on the run. (Good special sauce for fries and burgers as well). There are several of them around town.