4 Best Restaurants in Portland, Oregon

A laid-back North Mississippi gastropub with an L-shaped indoor bar and a bi-level back patio with lush landscaping and a shaded pergola, Interurban is both a convivial drinkery and a fine spot for affordable, well-crafted American fare served from late afternoon until 2 am. The kitchen creates consistently good and creative food, such as risotto with seasonal vegetables and smoked-trout BLT sandwiches, and there's an extensive selection of cocktails and microbrews.

This unpretentious and airy neighborhood spot with wooden booths and whimsical fire-engine-red chairs is really two delicious dining options in one: the dining room serves inventively topped, crisp, wood-fired pizzas, and a small takeout counter dispenses homemade hard and soft-serve organic ice cream with flavors like hazelnut toffee and candied kumquat. Pizza toppings change seasonally and might include homemade fennel sausage with lacinato kale, or rainbow chard with fermented tomatoes and chilis.

A veteran of TV's Top Chef Masters, co-owner Jenn Louis serves exemplary modern Pacific Northwest fare in this contemporary, conversation-filled spot along the increasingly trendy North Williams restaurant strip. The stew of clams, ocean steelhead, and Burgundy snails with shiso and Calabrian chilies is a winner, and there are always three or four fresh-made pastas on the menu, such as bucatini with an octopus Bolognese sauce and mint, plus locally sourced grills and inventive salads. Louis and her husband, David Welch, also run the more casual Sunshine Tavern on Division Street in Southeast.

A long, narrow storefront space on the lively North Mississippi strip, this convivial restaurant with exposed-brick walls, a long bar, and high timber ceilings is appreciated as a drinking hole and source of reasonably priced, well-crafted modern American fare. Sip an inventive cocktail and order a few of the shareable small plates, such as smoked-bluefish pâté or summer squash sweet corn risotto.