Restaurants in Portland OR.- Help!
 

I'm heading down to Portland for a girl's getaway. (from Seattle)
We're staying at either the Ace Hotel or the Inn at Northrup Station.
So far no plans have been made other than the weekend. I'm sure we'll go to the museum and other art / tourist sites. However we really, mostly, like to eat :)

The only places that pop in mind when I think of Portland are Voodoo Doughnuts and Wildwood. I know there's more.
So if you had:
Sat. Lunch
Dinner
Drinks / bar / nightlife

Sun. Breakfast
Lunch
snacks

where would you go? We'll have a car so distance isn't an issue. But we do like walking and public transportation.
I love food vacations...
Thanks!!

Henry's 12th Street Tavern for drinks/bar/nightlife. Great drink list, over 100 beers on tap, upstairs billiards room with another bar in there, and good restaurant. Very fun, and despite the tavern name, it is much more upscale yet does not have the meat market atmosphere that other places do. Portland City Grill has great views, but has that icky atmosphere. If you go early enough and just do a drink, take in the views, then head elsewhere that is best, IMO.

Breakfast, definitely Mother's. Get a reservation for a weekend morning though. If not, then Everett Street Bistro, Red Star Tavern, or Lorn and Dotties are all good as well. But Mother's is the best:)

Lunch, try Piazza Italia or Serrato and for dinner head to Fenouil. Wildwood is ok, not bad at all, but I just don't think it is as good as some other places here.

It is really easy to just walk everywhere here. There is the streetcar though, which is a good alternative.

A couple years ago a few girlfriends from Seattle came down and we did a girls weekend here. We got rooms at the Monaco (was called the 5th Avenue Suites at the time) and that worked great for us. We had connecting rooms, so perfect for late night girl chat. I have stayed there several times even though we live here, and it is a great hotel. Just to add to your decision making;)

Sat Lunch:
Everett Street Bistro (Pearl district) NW12th & Everett
Silk NW 10th & Glisan (Pearl)( Vietnamese/pho)
Wildwood ( NW ) NW 21st

Dinner:
SouthPark ( seafood) SW Park
bluehour ( steak/pasta/trendy sometimes touristy) Better imo for Happy Hour or Lunch or the Bar for Drinks at night
Piazza Italia is good for a casual dinner too.. (NW Johnson) mms reminds me of all the lunches we had there :)
I agree about Henrys for lunch or dinner or drinks..and very much agree with City Grill..view is good but there are much better places in town.

Agree with Mothers for breakast or The Pearl Bakery or for greasy breakfast, ByWays Cafe on NW Glisan or Fullers on NW 9th..down the block from the Pearl Bakery.

snacks...St Cupcake NW Glisan (

great happy hours & snacks
Paragon in the Pearl
bluehour
Vault Martini on NW12th & Everett/Davis
Ten01 on NW Couch
Fenouil is wonderful for any meal and drinks..just go there for any reason :D

No need for a car for any of these places, they are all within walking distance of the Ace or the Inn@Northrup or a streetcar ride.

There are so many places to eat and drink in town, you are going to have so much fun!

As if mms and Scarlett haven't given you enough to choose from...

Clyde Common, in the same building as the ACE Hotel, is a popular spot for both dinner and drinks. I don't think it's as gourmet as Fenouil or Wildwood (haven't been yet), but getting a lot of buzz in the 20's - 30's crowd.

I don't quite know how to describe Le Pigeon, but it's one of my favorite restaurants in town. Hole-in-the-wall gourmet sorta fits. The chef there is getting national recognition. The issue for you might be that it's on the <i>other</i> side of the river from where you'll be staying.

Bay 13 is another popular happy hour and drinks spot. It's just a block away from Paragon, in the Pearl District. And speaking of Paragon, the caesar with calamari there is one of my favorite lunches in Portland.

I'd like to know how you're planning to narrow this down... ;-)

Beachbum, is Clyde Common the restaurant that's IN the Ace Hotel? If so, what's the restaurant that's next door (on the corner of 11th, I believe)? It looked kind of like an upscale deli to me when I walked by on my way to Fenouil last month, and it was pretty packed. I didn't see a sign with a name though and was curious about it.

OP, sorry for the hijack and I definitely endorse the choice of Mother's for Sunday breakfast. I'm not sure they take reservations for weekend breakfasts though (I'm pretty sure I called and asked and they said no) so get there right at 9 when they open or be prepared to wait.

Yes, NWWanderer, Clyde Common is the restaurant just off the lobby of the ACE. I can't picture the place next door. Maybe Scarlett knows. That's close to her old stomping grounds...

Kenny &amp; Zucs deli is the deli on the corner, no?

portlandfood.org

I would like to be stomping around there this weekend :)

NWWander I think you are thinking of Zack's or some name similar which is a deli. Clyde Commons is onthe other side of the ACE.

I love both Clyde Commons and Le Pigeon. Make ressies in advance for the later.

Teardrop Lounge has some of the best cocktails in the city. Absolutely stop in for a few!

I really like Pambiche cuban for lunch and breakfast! mmmmm!

And Cacoa Drink Chocolate for a nice mid afternoon pick me up!

Oh and there is a Tiki Bar called Thatch

I like to head to the market on Sat and Sun for breakfast too.

Thanks, that's the place! Is it any good? As former east coaster I'm always looking for good pastrami--hard to find out here.

Stormygirl- Zacks is the deli next to the Ace Hotel- its supposed to be very good - I was by there a couple of weeks ago and it was packed.

The ACE hotel looked, well a little seedy to me, but I was only in the lobby.

We ate lunch at Jakes Crawfish Restaurant and it was great - had the crabcakes.

Kenny and Zukes! yes I don't know why I can't remember that name. I had friends who went last fall and weren't overly impressed but didn't hate it either.

The ACE is not seedy at all! It's very cool boutique hotel IMHO. the Stumptown Coffee next door to it is good and they sell Voodoo Donuts!

Jakes is good but is part of the McCormick &amp; Schmidts chain- just saying in case you want to patron more local owned places

Ahhh, but Portland is where McCormick &amp; Schmick's got its start, stormy! Have you made it to Toro Bravo or Alberta Street Oyster Bar? Bet you'd like those places, too.

Cadillac Cafe on Broadway at 18th is a very good place for breakfast!

Holy S*!^*... salmon! Wow, this is going to be hard. I knew there was a big food scene in Portland but this may be harder than planning my eating schedule when in San Fransisco.
Thanks for all your suggestions. I'll report back when I've nailed it down...

So here is what it's looking like:

Sat:
Lunch at Portland Sat. Market
Snack: St. Cupcake
Dinner: Montage (friend's want)
Drinks: Teardrop
Henry's 12 St.Tavern

Sun:
Brkfast: Pearl Bakery
Lunch: Le Fenouil
Snack: Voodoo Doughnut
(for the road)

Is there anywhere else I should pick up goodies to take home?

Thanks again for all your help!!

<i>Sat:
Lunch at Portland Sat. Market
Snack: St. Cupcake
Dinner: Montage (friend's want)
Drinks: Teardrop
Henry's 12 St.Tavern

Sun:
Brkfast: Pearl Bakery
Lunch: Le Fenouil
Snack: Voodoo Doughnut
(for the road) </i>

Sat Market really isn't where I would get food..maybe a snack but ...
nearby is Old Town Pizza, a haunted pizzaria ..that would be better, I think.

You can get snacks for the road when you are at the Pearl Bakery but you can also stop at Whole Foods on 12th &amp; Couch and pick up things...a gazillion choices, they make nice stuff to go as well as having good breads, cheeses, olives etc for a picnic or snack attack.

I've had good food in Portland -- many places mentioned above, but if you don't go to Mother's for breakfast and have the salmon hash with poached eggs, I think you'll have missed one of the best meals in Portland.

Montage? Interesting choice; popular amongst the counter-cultural crowd. I had a decent lunch there a couple months ago, but I'd encourage you to twist your friend's arm. ;-) There are many much better places for your one dinner in Portland.

If you're looking for a similar casual kind of vibe, I think you'd be happier at Le Pigeon or Toro Bravo. Toro Bravo would be best because it's a tapas place, so you could pace yourselves for the long evening. Because they don't take reservations, you'll want to show up 20 minutes before they open at 5:00pm. And if you stick with your plan of lunch at Saturday Market, you'll probably be hungry by then. ;-)

Ya, I looked at the Montage website and am not in love but friend has an old friend that left Seattle and works there. So there we go and friend asks for so little when we travel I'm happy to oblige. It looks like they don't do lunch on the weekends so dinner is it.

I looked into Toro Bravo for pre-dinner munching but isn't it on the other side of the river if we're at the Ace Hotel?

Pearl Bakery was chosen for breaky since we're having lunch before leaving. If I have a huge breakfast I'll skip lunch. My usual breakfast is small with a substantial meal a few hours later. I wanted to save my belly for Le Fenouil :)

Thanks for all the advice and direction!

If plans fall thru or you need abackup we liked Tsunami

Yes, Toro Bravo is on the east side of the river, but so is Montage.

Hope you have a great weekend!

Oh! I hadn't realized they were nearby each other. I keep looking at maps online and am probably getting myself turned around a good bit.
So we could go to Toro Bravo at opening, have a few bites, then head to Montage for dinner? That would be ideal. And is there public transportion that's easy to catch or should we drive?

And I guess I should say, this isn't happening until May. I just really like to plan, it holds me over until the trip. :)

Toro Bravo is about a mile north of Montage, not particularly in a place easily accessible via public transportation from the ACE, so you'd best drive. It is a tapas restaurant, but most people make dinner out of 'em. And I'll bet that once you taste the food, you'll have a tough time leaving. ;-)

beach- I have heard great things about toro bravo also! my next visit will include a stop at the Whiskey Bar/ Pok Pok

To follow up on the great advice I was given, here's how our weekend went (eating wise):

Skipped lunch Sat. had Voodoo Doughnuts instead. I had the Neapolitan, choc cake donut with pink icing and mini marshmallows shoved into the hole, very good and just the right size- not gigantic.

Dinner was at Toro Bravo (Montage was the plan but when we drove by, there were prom kids waiting outside, so we passed)
WOW! This place was amazing. Just the right size tapas and as usual my eyes were bigger than my belly.
• We had the rabbit rillette-so light and flavorful
• potatoes bravas- larger pieces than I'm used to and with an aioli sauce on top but the spicy sauce was right on, they were good.
• Oxtail croquettes- had cinnamon in them which I really liked.
• Pork sous vide- I've never had anything cooked sous vide, it was the moistest pork I've ever had! And the sherry cream potatoes it came with were yummy.
• Grilled asparagus- had a spicy pepper topping, again a good dish
The rabbit was my favorite and friend liked the pork a lot.

Breakfast was the Pearl Bakery. I’m a pastry person as is my friend. We both got the almond croissant, the brissane and a macaron. I got a cinnamon crown too. No, we didn’t eat all of these things for breakfast. Some made it to the drive home. I really like the brissane, a brioche roll with cream cheese in the center. The cream wasn’t a ton- just the right amount. Everything here was tasty. I almost regret not getting a brioche loaf. They’re hard to find in Seattle.

Lastly, with hardly the room in my belly, was Fenouil for lunch.
Friend had crab omelet and myself the croque monsieur. While all good and prepared well, this was my least favorite meal. Maybe I was just too full to enjoy it properly.

With all the great recommendations here I’ll be back to try some more 

Thanks for posting back!
Brought back nice memories :)
I love the gibassier at the Pearl and sulked if they ran out before I got there.. the Brioche is a nice alternative :)

Too bad Fenouil did not thrill you, maybe next time, don't eat all day lol.... but over all, it sounds like you had a pretty good time .. glad you posted.
Scarlett

Hey keb0503, thanks for reporting. Wow, never thought I'd read that Fenouil would be someone's least fave meal in Portland, but I guess that speaks favorably of what's going on in the food scene around here.

And Toro Bravo.... seeing your report's got me itching to get back there. What't the Spanish word for &quot;yummy&quot;? ;-)

Oh, and prom kids lined up at Montage?? Musta been students of one of the city's alternative high schools. :))

We like everything about Paley's Place.

Jake's Crawfish Restaurant is great. The crabcakes are delicious and if they have Halibut Cheeks on the menu they are to die for. I'm from the San Francisco Bay Area, where we have phenomenal restaurants and seafood. I visited Portland for the first time last December. I'm going back this weekend and Jake's is my first choice. I hope to make it to Mother's for breakfast! Have fun!

trigo, if you want good seafood, try SouthPark..fabulous. Jakes ( McCormick &amp; Schmidt) (imo) doesn't come close.

http://www.southparkseafood.com/

Thanks for the link Scarlett, Southpark looks great! I put it in my faves for Portland.

Another vote for Southpark. Like Scarlett says, it beats the heck out of Jakes. There are two Jakes...Crawfish and Grill. The Grill is the better of the two. But Southpark is even better.

Now I feel bad, it's not that I didn't like Fenouil. I was just so stuffed with pastries still I couldn't appreciate it. Maybe they should've been first, not last :)

Don't feel bad, I used to head straight to the Pearl Bakery every day.. I definitely understand getting filled up on pastries.
But lucky you, you can drive down to Portland again and do all the stuff you missed .. or do it again :)

Judy, I had the best lunch at SouthPark, warm weather, outside at the tables on the sidewalk.. they had some sort of seafood sandwiches that were so good. Also seafood dinners are great. ( I am allergic to shrimp and that is a big part of their menu)..