126 Best Restaurants in Portland, Oregon

Specializing in adventurous Northwest-influenced French dishes of extraordinary quality, this cozy and unassuming restaurant consistently ranks among the city's most acclaimed dining venues. James Beard award–winning chef Gabriel Rucker presents a five-course tasting menu ($135), with a vegetarian option available as well, and although the lineup changes nightly, dishes like Iberico pork jowl and tenderloin and gnocchi with lobster and black truffle are typical.

Acclaimed Japanese ramen chain Afuri decided to open an outpost in the United States in 2016, choosing this modern, high-ceilinged dining room in food-obsessed Portland in part because the exacting culinary team appreciated the city's pristine, glacially fed water supply, which plays a significant part in the steaming, savory portions of yuzu shio (with chicken broth, yuzu citrus, shimeji mushrooms, seasoned egg, chashu, endive, and nori), one of a half dozen deeply satisfying ramen bowls. The kitchen also turns out flavorful skewers of shishito peppers and chicken thighs, pork dumplings, sushi, and other izakaya-style fare, all of it consistently exceptional.

Verdant plants hang from the timber beams and high, pitched ceiling of this outstanding West African restaurant founded by chef-owner Fatou Ouattara, who grew up in Cote D'Ivoire and learned to cook using clay ovens and wood fires from her grandmother. Akadi's menu draws on traditional recipes like street-style grilled goat with a mustard sauce and plantains, and palm butter stew with shrimp, gambas, crab, fish, and spices. There's a full bar.

From the custom wine cellar that forms the back wall of the dining room to the rows of bottles in the front window, the emphasis on viticulture is clear the minute you walk into this intimate bistro known for its seasonally sourced Pacific Northwest cuisine. The menu—available à la carte or as a four-course prix fixe—changes daily according to availability but might feature local king salmon or a duck plate for two.

This adorable neighborhood café—one of the most outstanding brunch spots in town—serves fresh and delicious Scandinavian food with fun-to-pronounce names like friterade applen (apple fritter) and aebleskivers (Danish pancakes). All the food—the hashes, lefse potato crepes, the baked egg scrambles, the Swedish breakfast boards—is delicious, with the Swedish meatballs in sherry cream sauce and salmon fish cakes with caraway vinaigrette being especially tasty among the midday choices. There are additional locations in North Portland, Southwest Portland, and Hood River in the Columbia Gorge.

This festive, see-and-be-seen next-generation steak house in the lobby of the Woodlark Hotel brings Southwest-meets-Oregon flair (“Tex-Oregana,” according to The Oregonian's food critic) to signature dishes such as beef carpaccio nachos and San Antonio chicken that lives up to the hype. Try the crispy duck confit with hominy grits, a fried egg, and mustard gravy during the popular weekend brunch, an excellent time to sample the creative cocktails.

A warm and welcoming Peruvian American family runs this superb—and reasonably priced—Latin American restaurant that occupies a pretty little house on an otherwise bland commercial street in North Portland. The beautifully plated food bursts with flavor and complexity, from classic causas and ceviches packed with seasonal vegetables, Peruvian chilis, and fresh shellfish to stick-to-your-ribs fish, lamb, and steak grills.

The light and open, bamboo wood–filled flagship location of Coava Coffee Roasters offers some of the highest-quality single-origin, pour-over coffees in the city. There are additional branches in Hawthorne and Downtown, and a separate coffee bar a few blocks away on S.E Main Street where you can watch the coffee roasting process.

Home to the sunny neighborhood-oriented Market Cafe, which serves brunch daily, Coquine blossoms into a romantic, sophisticated French–Pacific Northwest bistro in the evening. Early in the day, feast on sourdough pancakes with huckleberry compote, or black cod–based fisherman's stew with garlic toast, while in the evening, you might encounter pappardelle noodles with pork ragu or roasted whole chicken with hand-cut fries. The unfussy storefront space is just steps from Mt. Tabor Park, making it a lovely spot for a meal before or after a leafy stroll.

The Portland branch of the Bend-based Deschutes Brewery typically has 26 beers on tap, including nationally acclaimed mainstays Mirror Pond Pale Ale, Inversion IPA, and Black Butte Porter, plus seasonal and experimental brews. On the food side, the talented kitchen staff have made this a worthy destination for elevated pub fare, such as Manila clams steamed in cider, Nashville-style hot chicken and waffles, and peanut butter–pork belly burgers.

Choosing your flavor of silky, premium frozen yogurt at this hip dessert café is relatively easy, as there are only a few flavors offered at any given time, unique though they often are (honey-grapefruit and mango lassi, for example). It's the formidable list of toppings that may leave you overwhelmed, albeit happily so, highlights of which include coconut-hazelnut cake crumb, organic sour fruity bears, marionberry compote, cold-brew bourbon sauce, and nondairy peanut butter magic shell. You'll find additional locations on Southeast Division and Northwest 23rd.

The Woodlark Hotel's plant-filled lobby is home to this comfy outpost from Portland roaster Good Coffee. The marble bar complements the sprawling seating area—a living room for an army of freelancers, who set up shop at the communal table, on the blue banquet seats lining the street-facing windows, and the plush couches and armchairs.

This humble, no-frills banh mi shop amid the many cheap and authentic Asian restaurants on S.E. 82nd stands out not just for its filling sandwiches (these crispy-bread creations come with fillings like spicy Chinese sausage, pork meat loaf, or sardines) but also for the daily featured soup, such as peppery pork-ball noodle soup on Wednesday and Vietnamese turmeric soup, with shrimp cake and sliced pork, on Sunday. There's also a diverse selection of thick milk shakes—top flavors include avocado, mango, and durian. The owners also operate Rose VL Deli nearby, which offers a more extensive soup menu.

Operated by the acclaimed chef behind Langbaan and Eem, this cozy and casual counter-service eatery takes its name from a small Thai city near the Malaysian border and its concept from that region's spicy and delicious fried chicken with sticky rice and rich Malayu-style curries with panfried roti bread. Other treats here uncommon to Thai restaurant culture in the States include fiery turmeric curry with mussels and heady oxtail soup with lemongrass. There's a second location on Belmont Street in Southeast.

The food-and-drink component of the stylish Jupiter Next hotel has quickly become one of the East Side's favorite destinations for hobnobbing over drinks and creative bar fare, much of it—salmon poke, the seven-layer taco bowl—framed around Asian and Latin American elements. The space is adorned with hanging and potted greenery and Oriental rugs, which provide a decidedly funky aesthetic.

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 Central East Side establishment decorated to resemble a dacha (a Russian country/vacation house) turns out wonderfully creative and often quite light Russian fare, including plenty of shareable small plates, like crispy beef tongue with sweet onion sauce, orange, and pomegranate; panfried sour-cherry vareniki (Ukrainian dumplings), and—of course—caviar with blini and all the usual accompaniments. Another crowd-pleaser on the menu is the classic chicken Kiev, prepared the old-fashioned way, oozing with butter. The owners also run Lavka, a market and deli above the restaurant.

Top Chef celebrity Gregory Gourdet looked to his heritage (he was raised in New York City by parents who had immigrated from Haiti) in developing this beautifully designed restaurant that, thanks to a tidal wave of critical acclaim, is now one of the most sought-after reservations on the West Coast. Everything that comes out of Kann's kitchen bursts with flavor and color—think lightly seared butterfish with lemongrass, mint, and green-apple shaved ice, and cane syrup–glazed breast and leg of duck with pineapple and tamarind. Reservations are a must, and it's advisable to book at least a couple of months in advance. 

Douglas-fir beams, old wine barrels, and hungry crowds surround the glowing, beehive-shaped wood oven in the open kitchen of this thin-crust pizza joint. Ken Forkish, also of Ken's Artisan Bakery, uses fresh, organic ingredients for the dough, sauces, and toppings of his pies, which include a Margherita with arugula, a hand-pressed fennel sausage with onion, and a soppressata with basil.

Guests reach this tiny 24-seat spot with an open kitchen by walking through the Phuket Cafe, which is itself a wonderful option for flavorful Asian cuisine. The restaurant serves the most interesting and consistently delicious Southeast Asian food in Portland via a weekly changing 10-course tasting menu that features unusual dishes like pickled mackerel with melon, sumac, and Thai chilies, and oxtail with bone marrow, chanterelle mushrooms, lentils, and tendon chips.

This pie-focused operation began as a stall at Portland's Saturday Farmers Market at PSU and is now a charming, homey, brick-and-mortar café along Division Street in Southeast. Though it's the delicious pies—with feathery-light crusts and delicious fillings like tart cherry, salted pecan, and chocolate-banana cream—that have made Lauretta Jean's a foodie icon in Portland, this cheerful eatery also serves exceptional brunch fare, including the LJ Classic, a fluffy biscuit topped with an over-easy egg, Jack cheese, bacon, and strawberry jam. In the evening, it's a popular spot for desserts and coffee, or even cocktails.

Set in an airy, high-ceilinged space on the ground floor of the architecturally noteworthy Clinton Condominiums building, this sleek operation serves delectable breakfast and lunch sandwiches and sweets that are nearly impossible to pass up, like the lemon-curd-and-currant scones and sea-salt chocolate brownies.