We’ve had Portland on our travel bucket list for some time now. Mostly because we love to eat and Portland seems to have no shortage of good food. So as soon as we booked our trip, I started my research and started pinning places we needed to check out in my Pinbox app (I talk more about how I use pinbox in this post!). I’m pretty sure I read every “Portland’s best food” list on the internet, searched Instagram high and low for Portland eateries, and interviewed everyone we know who has ever been to Portland to come up with our list! We were only in Portland for 3 full days, but we made sure to make the most out of of time and check off as many places on my list as we could. We literally ate our way through Portland, and I’m going to share what exactly we ate here!
PS: You can read all things we did while we were in Portland HERE, check back tomorrow for a budget breakdown of our trip, and come back this weekend for our video of Portland (our first ever Vlog)!
GOOD COFFEE
During our first morning in Portland I pulled up my PinBox app and saw that there were a couple coffee shops within walking distance from where we were staying. One was stump town, but I wanted something I hadn’t had before so Good Coffee it was. My coffee was good (not great), and T Lowe wasn’t a fan of his hot chocolate. But let it be known he’s very picky when it comes to his hot chocolate!
VISIT GOOD COFFEE: https://goodwith.us
SCREEN DOOR
Friday was our first full day in Portland and I wanted to hit up a popular brunch spot before the weekend rush to avoid a long wait time. Screen Door restaurant seemed to be on the top of everyones list for brunch in Portland, and for good reason! It did not disappoint. Trav got the famous chicken and waffles, and I got their special of the day (frittata with goat cheese and mushrooms) and we split the Praline Bacon to share. Everything was delicious but I must say Travs chicken and waffles hit the spot!
VISIT SCRREN DOOR: http://screendoorrestaurant.com
BLUE STAR DONUTS
Yeah I know VooDoo is the place to go in Portland, but (!!) we went to VooDoo while we were in Austin so we were in no hurry to grab donuts at Portland’s famous donut shop. We liked the VooDoo donuts, but there’s no magical fireworks like the hype makes it seem. So, we decided to try out Blue star donuts (also native to Portland), and let me tell you it was like the Fourth of July! They taste like they just came out of the oven-so fresh and decedent. They remind me of Sidecar donuts here in California!
VISIT BLUE STAR DONUTS: http://www.bluestardonuts.com
GRASSA
You guys! This dinner was EPIC! It was simple, and not very fancy but holy moly was it good. Grassa is all about their home made pastas. We ended up splitting the mac and cheese with pork belly, garlic bread, and the most delicious kale caesar salad I have ever had (like seriously, I came home and had to try to recreate it).
VISIT GRASSA: http://grassapdx.com
SALT AND STRAW
Trav and I are pretty big on the zerts (thats short for desserts for all you non Parks and Rec watching people). More specifically, ice cream zerts. So it was fitting that we tried Salt and Straw. They are known for their eccentric flavors (ex: pear and blue cheese). We were lucky and got a server who let us try as many flavors as we wanted and did a great job at explaining each flavor to us. I tell people that it was like wine tasting, but with ice cream! Travis got the Pot of Gold and Rainbows (aka Lucky Charms in ice cream form) and I got the Sweet Corn and Waffle Cone. We loved our ice cream so much we went back the next night for seconds.
VISIT SALT AND STRAW: https://saltandstraw.com
WATER AVENUE COFFEE CO
We were told it was an hour and a half wait for brunch, so we found the nearest coffee shop on my list and started walking. Again, I got the coffee and Travis ordered his hot chocolate. We saw a picture on Instagram with hot chocolate topped with a home made toasty marshmallow, but this location didn’t have that. It could’ve been due to it being a smaller location (it was located inside a larger office building in downtown). We both agreed that this was better than our first coffee/hot chocolate run, but would’ve been better with a toasty marshmallow.
VISIT WATER AVENUE COFFEE CO: https://wateravenuecoffee.com
TASTY N ALDER
Yep, this was the brunch we waited an hour and a half for, and It was worth every minute we waited. We showed up right when they opened, but apparently people were waiting well before they opened and were seated before us. But let me tell you, the wait was worth it! Mouth watering delicious food. We ended up with the lemon ricotta pancakes with blueberry compote, the bambino plate complete with a biscuit and honey butter, and the steak and eggs with a cornmeal pancake and jalapeño butter skillet!
VISIT TASTY N ALDER: https://www.tastynalder.com
ESCAPE FROM NY PIZZA
We landed here off of a recommendation from a friend who calls Portland her hometown. It’s literally a hole in the wall pizza joint that serves up New York style pizza. Nothing fancy about it, but the pizza was pretty delicious! If you ever find yourself strolling down 23rd avenue, do yourself a favor and pop in for a slice of the best pizza we’ve had in a long time.
VISIT EXCAPE FROM NY PIZZA: http://efnypizza.net
PINE STATE BISCUITS
Another breakfast recommendation that did not disappoint! They have a very simple menu that is centered around, what else, home made biscuits! We sat at the counter with a view of the kitchen, so we saw them making the biscuits right in front of us! We each got a Reggie Deluxe, plus an extra biscuit with jam to share. If we’re being honest, we could’ve split a Reggie Deluxe and been content.
VISIT PINE STATE BISCUITS: https://www.pinestatebiscuits.com
PIPS ORIGINAL DONUTS AND CHAI
More donuts! This time in mini form. We ordered a couple of each flavor they had. My favorite was the Nutella with sea salt donut, and Travis liked the plain cinnamon sugar ones. They make their chai in house, and if we were staying longer I would’ve ordered the flight of chai. But since we were on our way to the coast for the day, I opted for the smokey robinson (original flavor). Heads up though, they do have a mobile site that moves around, but we went to their brick and mortar shop.
VISIT PIPS ORIGINAL DONUTS AND CHAI: http://www.pipsmobile.com
POR QUE NO? TACOS
After our beach excursion we were both in the mood for tacos (our other option for dinner would’ve been Pok Pok). But tacos almost always win in our book. We shared the carnitas, pollo asada, carne asada, and barbacoa tacos and split an order of chips and guac. I ordered a pomegranate margarita and Travis tried their Horchata (we would get both again!). I love that their tacos each had toppings to complement them (vs all just having the basic cilantro and onion toppings).
VISIT POR QUE NO? TACOS: http://www.porquenotacos.com
COAVA COFFEE
On our way to the airport to head home we stopped for coffee (and hot chocolate) at Coava and more blue star donuts to take home. This was my favorite coffee of the entire trip and Travs favorite hot chocolate of the trip. And, the service was excellent! Great way to end our trip!
COAVA COFFEE: https://coavacoffee.com
Best Breakfast: Tasty N Alder (me) Pine State Biscuits (T)
Best Lunch/Dinner: Grassa (me and T)
Best Dessert: Salt and Straw (me and T)
Best coffee and hot chocolate: Coava Coffee (me and T)
We were only in Portland for 3 full days, and while we did make a good dent in our list of places to eat there is still quite a few places we didn’t get to. Which just means another trip is in order! But, if you were wondering what else is on my list are some of the main ones:
- Tea Bar (Boba)
- Barista on 3rd (Coffee)
- Never Coffee (Coffee)
- Cheese and Crack
- Olympia Provisions
- Proud Mary (brunch)
- Pok Pok (Thai Chicken Wings) – also really bummed we didn’t make it here!
- Pine Street Market Food Hall
- VooDoo Donuts (Our first VooDoo donut experience was actually in Austin Tx – so we weren’t rushing to make it to VooDoo in Portland)
If there is any place we missed let me know too! We definitely want to make another trip soon (if only to get pasta and ice cream!) ha!
PS: You can read all things we did while we were in Portland HERE, check back tomorrow for a budget breakdown of our trip, and come back Friday for our video of Portland (our first ever Vlog)!
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