Downtown, Old Town and the river
6 stops · 2.5 h · on foot + MAX · 6 stops
- Powell's City of Books
- Pioneer Courthouse Square
- Lan Su Chinese Garden
- Portland Saturday Market
- Tom McCall Waterfront Park
- Mill Ends Park
150 places · Eater 38, James Beard 2026, Willamette Week · 5 routes · no sales tax
Tap a route and it gets drawn on the map, stop by stop.
Tap a pin to see photos, rating and how to get there by MAX, streetcar, TriMet bus or BIKETOWN. Turn on a route to follow the numbered path.
This interactive map of Portland (United States) brings together 150 hand-picked places: 53 attractions, 52 restaurants, 26 cafés and 19 shops. It also includes 5 walking routes with their stops in order. For every place you get what it is, a practical tip and how to get there by public transport. It is free, works on your phone and needs no sign-up.
· Curated by the HOLASIM team · How we make the maps
Tap a route to see it drawn on the map, stop by stop.
6 stops · 2.5 h · on foot + MAX · 6 stops
7 stops · 4 h · MAX Blue/Red + forest walk · 7 stops
7 stops · 3 h · A/B Loop streetcar + on foot · 7 stops
7 stops · 3.5 h · bus 4 and bus 72 + on foot · 7 stops
6 stops · 3 h · bus 14 and bus 15 + the Mt. Tabor climb · 6 stops
Downtown · W Burnside
A full city block of new and used books shelved side by side. The largest independent bookstore on earth.
Tip: Grab the colour-coded map at the door: nine rooms and you will get lost. The 3rd-floor Rare Book Room closes at 5pm.
🚇 MAX Blue/Red to Galleria/SW 10th · 3 min walk
Featured in: Powell's Books · Travel Portland · The Oregonian
Show on mapWashington Park · SW Kingston
Twelve acres of moss, water and maples on the hillside. Widely called the most authentic Japanese garden outside Japan.
Tip: October is THE month: the Japanese maples catch fire. Book online and arrive at 10am, before the crowd.
🚇 MAX Blue/Red to Washington Park, then bus 63 or a 15 min climb
Featured in: Portland Japanese Garden · Travel Portland · Portland Monthly
Show on mapWashington Park · Rose Garden
Ten thousand rose bushes terraced above the city, Mt. Hood behind. The reason Portland is called the City of Roses.
Tip: Always free. In October late blooms are still going and the overlook empties out at dusk.
🚇 MAX Blue/Red to Washington Park, then bus 63 · or 12 min on foot up SW Kingston
Featured in: Portland Parks & Recreation · Travel Portland
Show on mapOld Town · Chinatown
A complete Ming-dynasty courtyard hidden on one Chinatown block, built by Suzhou artisans. Teahouse over the lake.
Tip: Sit in the Tower of Cosmic Reflections with a pot of tea: best rainy-day shelter downtown.
🚇 MAX Blue/Red/Green to Old Town/Chinatown · 2 min walk
Featured in: Lan Su Chinese Garden · Travel Portland
Show on mapWest Hills · Pittock Dr
A 1914 French château perched 1,000 ft above town. From the lawn you see five volcanoes on a clear day.
Tip: The lawn and the view are free without a ticket. Come 45 min before an October sunset: Mt. Hood turns pink.
🚇 Bus 20 along W Burnside to NW Barnes Rd, then a 20 min climb · or drive
Featured in: Pittock Mansion · Travel Portland
Show on mapDowntown · South Park Blocks
The oldest art museum in the Northwest, freshly expanded. Pacific Northwest Native art, Monet and a huge graphics collection.
Tip: The South Park Blocks out front go gold in October: take the photo before you go in. Closed Mondays.
🚇 MAX Blue/Red to Library/SW 9th · 4 min walk through the South Park Blocks
Featured in: Portland Art Museum · The Oregonian
Show on mapCentral Eastside · SE Water Ave
Big-format science on the riverbank: planetarium, hands-on physics halls and a real submarine moored outside.
Tip: General admission drops sharply the first Sunday of every month; the submarine is ticketed separately and worth it.
🚇 MAX Orange Line to OMSI/SE Water · 2 min · or streetcar A/B Loop
Featured in: OMSI · Travel Portland
Show on mapCentral Eastside · OMSI dock
The Navy's last diesel fast-attack sub, the one from The Hunt for Red October. You tour the whole thing inside.
Tip: Tours leave every 30 min and sell out: buy the ticket when you enter OMSI, not on the way out.
🚇 MAX Orange Line to OMSI/SE Water, then 4 min to the dock
Featured in: OMSI · Travel Portland
Show on mapDowntown · SW 6th & Morrison
The brick plaza everyone calls Portland's living room: amphitheatre, coffee carts and every MAX line rolling past.
Tip: Hunt for a brick: each carries the name of a 1984 donor. Food carts ring the square at lunchtime.
🚇 MAX Blue/Red/Green/Yellow at Pioneer Square North or South · right there
Featured in: Travel Portland · Pioneer Courthouse Square
Show on mapWashington Park · SW Canyon Rd
The oldest zoo west of the Mississippi, famous for its Asian elephant herd and the grey wolf habitat.
Tip: That MAX platform is the deepest in the US: read the rock core timeline before you take the lift up.
🚇 MAX Blue/Red to Washington Park: the platform is carved into rock, 260 ft down
Featured in: Oregon Zoo · Travel Portland
Show on mapWashington Park · SW Fairview
190 hectares of trees from five continents and 12 miles of trail. In October it is the best autumn colour in town.
Tip: Walk the Maple Trail in October: three-quarters of a mile of red maples. Free maps at the visitor centre, 10am-4pm.
🚇 MAX Blue/Red to Washington Park, then an 8 min uphill walk to the visitor centre
Featured in: Hoyt Arboretum · Portland Parks & Recreation
Show on mapWashington Park · SW Knights Blvd
A forest museum with a rafting simulator, a scaled canopy walk and the story of Oregon's giants, told properly.
Tip: Indoors and short: the perfect stop between zoo and arboretum if the rain starts. Closed Tuesdays.
🚇 MAX Blue/Red Washington Park · 3 min walk
Featured in: World Forestry Center · Travel Portland
Show on mapNorthwest · Wildwood Trail
8,000 acres of temperate forest inside the city limits: one of the largest urban forests in the United States.
Tip: October is mushroom season: don't forage without a permit, but the earth smell and gold canopy are worth the hike.
🚇 Bus 15 or 77 to NW Thurman St, enter at the Leif Erikson Drive gate
Featured in: Forest Park Conservancy · Portland Parks & Recreation
Show on mapWashington Park · Zoo
A 1958 miniature railway that threads the park's woods. It is on the National Register and the crew loves it.
Tip: It runs weekends in autumn and the yellow woods change everything. Check the day's timetable at the booth.
🚇 MAX Blue/Red Washington Park · 5 min walk to the zoo depot
Featured in: Oregon Zoo · Portland Parks & Recreation
Show on mapDowntown · SW Naito Pkwy
The world's smallest park per Guinness: two feet across, in a roadway median. A leprechaun colony lives there.
Tip: It is in the median opposite SW Taylor: look down or you walk right past. Crouch for the photo, free, 30 seconds.
🚇 MAX Blue/Red Morrison/SW 3rd · 5 min walk towards the river
Featured in: Guinness World Records · Portland Parks & Recreation
Show on mapOld Town · Waterfront
The largest continuously operating open-air craft market in the US, running under the Burnside Bridge since 1974.
Tip: Saturdays and Sundays, March to December. Oregon has no sales tax: the price on the tag is the price you pay.
🚇 MAX Blue/Red/Green Old Town/Chinatown · 4 min walk to the river
Featured in: Portland Saturday Market · Travel Portland
Show on mapSlabtown · NW Thurman
A museum of the bizarre taken all the way: aliens in jars, insect ice cream and a Bigfoot. Keep Portland Weird, as a shop.
Tip: Twenty minutes and a lot of photos. If it rains, the perfect stop before heading down to eat on NW 23rd.
🚇 Streetcar NS Line to NW Northrup & 22nd · 6 min walk · or bus 15
Featured in: Travel Portland · Atlas Obscura
Show on mapSt. Johns · Under the bridge
The park beneath the Gothic arches of St. Johns Bridge. Portland's most photographed spot, and hardly anyone knows it.
Tip: The cottonwoods go yellow in October against the green bridge. Best light: 90 minutes before sunset.
🚇 Bus 4 or 16 to N Philadelphia Ave in St. Johns, then 10 min downhill
Featured in: Portland Parks & Recreation · Travel Portland
Show on mapSt. Johns · Willamette
A 1931 Gothic suspension bridge painted Cascade green. The only one of its kind in the Northwest and the prettiest in Oregon.
Tip: Walk it on the east sidewalk. It is lit at night, and from Cathedral Park it really does look like a cathedral.
🚇 Bus 16 crosses the bridge · bus 4 to St. Johns, then 8 min on foot
Featured in: Travel Portland · The Oregonian
Show on mapLaurelhurst · SE Cesar Chavez
Thirty acres laid out by the Olmsteds around a duck pond. The most elegant park on the east side.
Tip: In October the elms around the pond turn gold and the morning fog is unreal. Always free.
🚇 Bus 20 along E Burnside to SE 39th · 5 min walk · or bus 75
Featured in: Portland Parks & Recreation · Portland Monthly
Show on mapMt. Tabor · SE Portland
An extinct volcano INSIDE the city, with 1894 open reservoirs and the best sunset view over downtown.
Tip: Walk to the west viewpoint at sunset: city, river and Mt. Hood in one shot. Wednesdays the summit road is car-free.
🚇 Bus 15 along SE Belmont to SE 60th · 12 min climb on foot
Featured in: Portland Parks & Recreation · Travel Portland
Show on mapWoodstock · Reed College
Seven acres of rhododendrons around a spring-fed lake with ducks and herons, next to Reed College. Pure quiet.
Tip: October to February entry is free. The Japanese maples by the lake give the densest autumn colour in Portland.
🚇 MAX Orange Line to SE Bybee Blvd, then bus 19 · or 15 min walk from Westmoreland
Featured in: Portland Parks & Recreation · Travel Portland
Show on mapSellwood · Oaks Bottom
A 1905 riverside amusement park with the country's oldest continuously operating roller rink and its pipe organ.
Tip: In October they run the Halloween Haunted Trail and the rink works in the rain. Check hours: autumn is limited.
🚇 MAX Orange Line to SE Tacoma/Johnson Creek, then 15 min on the Springwater Corridor
Featured in: Oaks Park · Travel Portland
Show on mapMadison South · NE Skidmore
A 62-acre Catholic sanctuary with a chapel carved into a cliff and a clifftop garden looking at the Cascades.
Tip: The lower level is free; the lift to the upper garden is ticketed and in October that forest is entirely red.
🚇 Bus 12 along NE Sandy Blvd to NE 85th · 5 min walk
Featured in: The Grotto · Travel Portland
Show on mapOMSI · South Waterfront
The only major US bridge closed to private cars: MAX, streetcar, buses, bikes and people only. Its lights track the river.
Tip: Walk it at night: the LEDs change colour with the Willamette's speed and temperature. Free.
🚇 MAX Orange Line crosses it · get off at OMSI/SE Water or South Waterfront
Featured in: TriMet · Travel Portland
Show on mapSouth Waterfront · S Moody
A three-minute cable car climbing 500 ft to the OHSU campus. River and volcano views for the price of one ticket.
Tip: Weekdays you pay going up only; coming down is free. Up top, the OHSU terrace is a free public viewpoint.
🚇 MAX Orange Line to South Waterfront/S Moody · 2 min to the lower terminal
Featured in: Portland Aerial Tram · TriMet
Show on mapDowntown · Willamette
A mile and a half of riverbank that used to be a freeway. Now lawn, Japanese cherries and the best city stroll at dusk.
Tip: Loop it with the Eastbank Esplanade via the Hawthorne and Steel bridges: a 2.6 mile circuit, free.
🚇 MAX Blue/Red Oak St/SW 1st · 3 min walk towards the water
Featured in: Portland Parks & Recreation · Travel Portland
Show on mapOld Town · Willamette
The world's only double-deck bridge with both decks that lift independently. Trains below, cars and MAX above.
Tip: The lower deck is the Eastbank Esplanade walkway: cross at water level for the best skyline view in town.
🚇 MAX Blue/Red/Yellow cross it · get off at Old Town/Chinatown or Rose Quarter
Featured in: Travel Portland · The Oregonian
Show on mapDowntown · SE Hawthorne
The world's oldest operating vertical-lift bridge (1910) and the most bike-trafficked in the US: 8,000 a day.
Tip: Grab a BIKETOWN and ride it east at sunset: the backlit skyline is Portland's free postcard.
🚇 MAX Blue/Red Morrison/SW 3rd · 6 min walk · or bus 14 crosses it
Featured in: Travel Portland · Portland Bureau of Transportation
Show on mapOld Town · W Burnside
The bridge that splits Portland into north and south. Underneath sits Burnside Skatepark, the world's first DIY park, 1990.
Tip: The skatepark is roofed by the bridge itself: it runs rain or shine. Saturday Market sets up right beside it.
🚇 MAX Blue/Red/Green Old Town/Chinatown · 3 min walk
Featured in: Travel Portland · Portland Mercury
Show on mapGoose Hollow · SW 18th
A 1926 downtown stadium, home of the Timbers and the Thorns. The Timbers Army sings for 90 minutes straight.
Tip: October closes the MLS and NWSL seasons: check the official calendar before you travel, few home games left.
🚇 MAX Blue/Red to Providence Park: the platform touches the stadium
Featured in: Portland Timbers · Portland Thorns FC · Travel Portland
Show on mapRose Quarter · NE Portland
Home of the Trail Blazers, 19,000 seats and the loudest crowd out west. The NBA season tips off in October.
Tip: The Blazers' 2026-27 season is underway: check the official schedule and buy resale on game day, prices usually drop.
🚇 MAX Blue/Green/Red Rose Quarter Transit Center · 3 min walk
Featured in: Portland Trail Blazers · NBA · KPTV
Show on mapDowntown · SW Clay
Portland's big room: opera, ballet and the Broadway tours. Across the street, the Keller waterfall fountain.
Tip: The Keller Fountain across the street is free, walkable and a landmark of 20th-century landscape architecture.
🚇 MAX Orange/Green/Yellow SW 5th & Montgomery · 4 min walk
Featured in: Portland'5 Centers for the Arts · Travel Portland
Show on mapDowntown · South Park Blocks
Two centuries of Oregon told unvarnished, from Indigenous nations to the Oregon Trail. The outdoor mural is a landmark.
Tip: Free for Multnomah County residents; for everyone else one ticket covers the whole museum and fills a rainy afternoon.
🚇 MAX Blue/Red Library/SW 9th · 4 min walk
Featured in: Oregon Historical Society · The Oregonian
Show on mapOld Town · NW 4th & Burnside
The 1986 arch with two stone lions marking historic Chinatown, one of the oldest on the West Coast.
Tip: It is the natural gate to Lan Su Chinese Garden, two blocks north. Quick photo and move on: enjoy this area by day.
🚇 MAX Blue/Red/Green Old Town/Chinatown · 1 min walk
Featured in: Travel Portland · Portland Chinatown Museum
Show on mapWaterfront · Bill of Rights Memorial
Thirteen inscribed stones telling the 1942 incarceration of Japanese Americans, under a hundred cherry trees by the river.
Tip: The cherry trees turn orange in October and nobody is there: the quietest corner of the waterfront. Always open.
🚇 MAX Blue/Red/Green Old Town/Chinatown · 5 min walk to the river
Featured in: Portland Parks & Recreation · Travel Portland
Show on mapWashington Park · SW Park Pl
A stone plaza with bronze objects scattered across the ground and soil from six death camps beneath the central slab.
Tip: It sits at the Washington Park entrance: stop here before climbing to the Rose Garden. Always open, always free.
🚇 Streetcar NS Line to NW Lovejoy & 22nd, then a 12 min climb · or bus 20
Featured in: Oregon Jewish Museum · Portland Parks & Recreation
Show on mapWashington Park · Hoyt Arboretum
A descending granite spiral in the middle of the forest, carrying Oregon's names and each year's news of the war.
Tip: Almost nobody finds it: hidden among the Hoyt's conifers, and in October the floor is a carpet of leaves. Ten minutes.
🚇 MAX Blue/Red Washington Park · 6 min along the arboretum trail
Featured in: Portland Parks & Recreation · Hoyt Arboretum
Show on mapSW Hills · Council Crest
Portland's highest point at 1,073 ft. On a clear day you see five volcanoes from the same stone circle.
Tip: Come at an October sunrise: fog fills the valleys and the volcanoes float above it. Parking is tiny, arrive early.
🚇 Bus 51 Vista to SW Greenway Ave · 10 min uphill on foot
Featured in: Portland Parks & Recreation · Travel Portland
Show on mapPiedmont · N Portland
The city's oldest public rose garden (1909), sunken and symmetrical, with a bandstand and fountain. Locals prefer it to the famous one.
Tip: Free and nearly empty. In October late roses remain and the limes around are yellow: shoot from the bandstand.
🚇 MAX Yellow Line to N Killingsworth St · 8 min walk along N Albina
Featured in: Portland Parks & Recreation · Portland Monthly
Show on mapOverlook · N Skidmore Terrace
A bluff edge above the Swan Island rail yard. Portlanders' favourite sunset, and it costs nothing.
Tip: Bring a drink and sit on the grass: city, river, trains and Mt. Hood straight ahead. Residential street, keep it down.
🚇 MAX Yellow Line to Overlook Park · 7 min west along N Skidmore
Featured in: Portland Parks & Recreation · Portland Mercury
Show on mapPearl District · NW 6th Ave
The 1896 terminal with the GO BY TRAIN neon sign that doubles as the city's unofficial logo. The waiting hall is intact.
Tip: The neon fires up at dusk: shoot from NW 6th with the clock tower. Inside, the wooden benches are original.
🚇 MAX Green/Yellow Union Station/NW 5th & Glisan · 3 min walk
Featured in: Amtrak · Travel Portland
Show on mapHollywood · NE Sandy Blvd
A 1926 Spanish-Baroque movie palace, nonprofit, with a 70mm projector and impossibly good cult programming.
Tip: Check the monthly grid: 35mm and 70mm screenings, with horror marathons in October. Tickets are absurdly cheap.
🚇 MAX Blue/Red Hollywood/NE 42nd Ave · 3 min walk
Featured in: Hollywood Theatre · Willamette Week
Show on mapHawthorne · SE 37th
A 1927 McMenamins cinema-pub: you watch the film with draft beer and pizza in your seat. Hand-painted ceiling.
Tip: Cheap tickets and tables at the seats. Order the beer before it starts: service stops when the lights go down.
🚇 Bus 14 along SE Hawthorne to SE 37th · at the door
Featured in: McMenamins · Willamette Week
Show on mapDowntown · W Burnside
A 1914 ballroom with a floating floor on ball bearings: when the crowd jumps, the whole room bounces. Everyone has played here.
Tip: Stand mid-floor to feel it move. Downstairs, Lola's Room runs smaller, cheaper shows most nights.
🚇 MAX Blue/Red Galleria/SW 10th · 5 min walk along W Burnside
Featured in: McMenamins · Willamette Week
Show on mapBrooklyn · SE Milwaukie Ave
A 1927 cinema turned into the best-sounding room in town for folk, soul and songwriters. Capacity 620, every seat close.
Tip: Every seat is good: it is a converted cinema, no pillars. The bar next door opens before the show.
🚇 MAX Orange Line Clinton St/SE 12th, then bus 17 · or 12 min on foot
Featured in: Aladdin Theater · Willamette Week
Show on mapAlberta Arts · NE 30th
A 1927 neighbourhood cinema turned modern vaudeville house: music, live radio and comedy, with tables and a drink in hand.
Tip: It anchors the east end of Alberta: pair it with dinner at Urdaneta or Pasar, both two blocks away.
🚇 Bus 72 to NE Killingsworth & 30th · 8 min walk · or bus 70 along NE 33rd
Featured in: Alberta Rose Theatre · Willamette Week
Show on mapDowntown · SW Broadway
The city's symphony hall, 1928, under the neon PORTLAND sign that is the must-shoot of SW Broadway.
Tip: The Portland Book Festival takes over this hall and the Art Museum 2-8 November 2026, with Saturday the 7th as the big day.
🚇 MAX Blue/Red Library/SW 9th · 3 min walk
Featured in: Portland'5 Centers for the Arts · Literary Arts · OPB
Show on mapCentral Eastside · SE Water Ave
Three giant steam locomotives, alive and kept running by volunteers, in a glass-walled roundhouse. Free entry.
Tip: Free and indoors, Thursday to Sunday. The volunteers will let you into the cab if you ask nicely.
🚇 MAX Orange Line OMSI/SE Water · 6 min walk south
Featured in: Oregon Rail Heritage Foundation · Travel Portland
Show on mapDowntown · South Park Blocks
More than 140 producers under the PSU campus elms. In October it is a wall of squash, mushrooms and Hood River apples.
Tip: Saturday mornings year-round. Hunt the chanterelle and matsutake stalls: Oregon is the wild mushroom capital.
🚇 Streetcar NS Line SW Park & Market · 2 min · or MAX Green/Yellow PSU Urban Center
Featured in: Portland Farmers Market · Portland Monthly
Show on mapNE Portland · PDX
The airport with the Oregon mass-timber roof and the world's most famous carpet: locals tattoo that pattern on themselves.
Tip: It has real Powell's, Stumptown and local shops at city prices, and Oregon has no sales tax: do your last shopping here.
🚇 MAX Red Line to Portland International Airport: 38 min from downtown, door to door
Featured in: Port of Portland · Travel Portland
Show on mapAlberta · NE Alberta St
Twenty blocks of murals, galleries and new kitchens. Last Thursday of the month the street closes and fills with artists.
Tip: Walk NE 14th to NE 30th: Proud Mary, Bollywood Theater, Urdaneta and Pasar are all on it. The murals change yearly.
🚇 No MAX here: bus 6 along NE MLK or bus 8 along NE 15th, then walk east on Alberta
Featured in: Travel Portland · Portland Monthly
Show on mapBoise · N Mississippi
Ten blocks of Victorian houses turned into bars, record shops and beer gardens. The most walkable strip in north Portland.
Tip: Start at Prost Marketplace (food carts plus German beer) and finish at Lovely's Fifty Fifty. All within ten blocks.
🚇 MAX Yellow Line Albina/Mississippi · 6 min walk east · or bus 4 runs up Mississippi
Featured in: Travel Portland · Willamette Week
Show on mapCentral Eastside · SE Ash
Gregory Gourdet's live-fire Haitian cooking, a James Beard Best New Restaurant winner. Griot, pikliz and rum.
Tip: Book weeks out. No table? The Sousòl bar downstairs takes walk-ins and serves the same short menu.
🚇 Streetcar A/B Loop to SE Grand & E Burnside · 5 min walk
Featured in: Eater 38 · James Beard Foundation · World's 50 Best North America
Show on mapCentral Eastside · E Burnside
Twenty seats around the kitchen and the most copied dish in the country: Gabriel Rucker's foie gras burger.
Tip: A 2026 James Beard semifinalist for Outstanding Restaurant. Sit at the counter facing the grill: you watch everything cook.
🚇 Streetcar A/B Loop to SE Grand & E Burnside · 3 min walk
Featured in: Eater 38 · James Beard Foundation · Portland Monthly
Show on mapDowntown · SW Broadway
Ryan Roadhouse's Japanese tasting menu, 2026 James Beard winner for Best Chef: Northwest. One counter, one seating.
Tip: Reservations drop in batches and vanish in minutes: set an alert on their site for the day next month opens.
🚇 MAX Blue/Red Morrison/SW 3rd · 5 min walk · or Pioneer Square
Featured in: Eater 38 · James Beard Foundation 2026 · OPB
Show on mapNW 23rd · Nob Hill
The most ambitious Thai kitchen in America: a seasonal narrative menu in a small room behind a hidden door.
Tip: Two seatings a night, ticketed. The October Willamette wine pairing is fresh harvest: order it.
🚇 Streetcar NS Line NW 23rd & Marshall · 7 min walk north · or bus 15
Featured in: Eater 38 · Eater · Portland Monthly
Show on mapKerns · NE Cesar Chavez
Thomas Pisha-Duffly's Indonesian sharing plates: nasi goreng, satay and the best fried rice on the east side.
Tip: A 2026 James Beard Best Chef: Northwest semifinalist. Two people: order four small plates and the rijsttafel if it is on.
🚇 Bus 75 along NE Cesar Chavez to NE Sandy · 2 min walk
Featured in: Eater 38 · James Beard Foundation · Willamette Week
Show on mapAlberta Arts · NE 30th
Basque tapas at a tiny Alberta counter: pintxos, gildas, tortilla and a northern Spanish wine list that surprises.
Tip: Walk-in only and it fills by 6:30pm. Take the counter and order the gilda with their house vermouth.
🚇 No MAX here: bus 72 to NE Killingsworth & 30th, then 8 min south on foot
Featured in: Eater 38 · Portland Monthly
Show on mapAlberta Arts · NE 30th
Urdaneta's Indonesian-Malay sister on the same corner: laksa, rendang and roti made to order, daytime only.
Tip: Open daytime, closes early: the lunch that saves you before walking Alberta. Order the laksa if it rains.
🚇 No MAX: bus 72 to NE Killingsworth & 30th · 8 min south on foot
Featured in: Eater 38 · Eater
Show on mapKing · NE MLK Blvd
Chef-driven cooking on Oregon produce in a tiny north-side room. Short menu, changes often, never misses.
Tip: In October the menu fills with chanterelles and matsutake: if the wild mushroom dish is on, that is the reason to come.
🚇 Bus 6 along NE Martin Luther King Jr Blvd to NE Killingsworth · 3 min walk
Featured in: Eater 38 · Eater
Show on mapPiedmont · N Lombard
Real Peruvian deep in north Portland: ceviche, lomo saltado and causas, cooked by a family the way they cook at home.
Tip: Order the mixed ceviche and the passionfruit pisco sour. Small and popular: call ahead or come at 5:30pm.
🚇 MAX Yellow Line to N Lombard Transit Center · 8 min walk east
Featured in: Eater 38 · Willamette Week
Show on mapAlberta Arts · NE 15th
Modern Vietnamese with real robusta coffee: bánh mì, bún and a cà phê sữa đá that ruins every other one.
Tip: Vietnamese brunch: order the cà phê sữa đá and the broken rice. Closes mid-afternoon, not a dinner spot.
🚇 Bus 8 along NE 15th to NE Alberta · right on the corner
Featured in: Eater 38 · Eater
Show on mapConcordia · NE 42nd
American Southwest cooking with live fire and nixtamal masa in a neighbourhood house. Small, warm and hard to leave.
Tip: Order the made-to-order tortillas and whatever is on the fire. Book ahead: few tables and the neighbourhood found it.
🚇 Bus 75 along NE 42nd Ave to NE Going St · 2 min walk
Featured in: Eater 38 · Eater
Show on mapMississippi · N Mississippi Ave
Wood-fired pizza on farm produce plus house-made ice cream in one sitting. A Mississippi Avenue institution.
Tip: In October the chanterelle and the squash pizzas are the ones. Leave room for the ice cream, made in house.
🚇 MAX Yellow Line Albina/Mississippi · 10 min walk · or bus 4 runs up Mississippi
Featured in: Eater 38 · Portland Monthly
Show on mapHollywood · NE Sandy Blvd
Unapologetic Chinese-American cooking with an irreverent brunch and a menu that laughs at categories.
Tip: Weekend brunch is the move: arrive at 10am. Go at night and the menu is a different beast.
🚇 Bus 12 along NE Sandy Blvd to NE 38th · at the door
Featured in: Eater 38 · Eater · Willamette Week
Show on mapPearl District · NW 10th
A Pearl District wine bar and small-plates room with the most interesting natural list in town and candlelight all night.
Tip: October is Willamette harvest: ask which new Pinot Noir is open by the glass, it rotates weekly.
🚇 Streetcar NS Line NW 10th & Glisan · 2 min walk
Featured in: Eater 38 · Portland Monthly
Show on mapBuckman · E Burnside
Trattoria and Italian grocery in one room: you eat the pasta and leave with the olive oil and anchovies in a bag.
Tip: No reservations and always full: put your name down and wait outside with a glass. The grocery is open all day.
🚇 Bus 20 along E Burnside to SE 21st · at the door
Featured in: Eater 38 · Eater
Show on mapWest End · SW 13th
Two floors of sushi in the West End with a long counter, solid nigiri and the best value downtown.
Tip: The upstairs bar happy hour is the secret: half-price nigiri and sake before 6pm.
🚇 Streetcar NS Line SW 11th & Alder · 4 min walk · or MAX Galleria/SW 10th
Featured in: Eater 38 · Eater
Show on mapCentral Eastside · SE Ash
Chef-driven Vietnamese in a minimal room: hand-made bánh cuốn, long-simmered broths and a short menu that sells out.
Tip: Lunch is short and precise: the bánh cuốn runs out. Arrive before 12:30 and order the daily special.
🚇 Streetcar A/B Loop SE Grand & Stark · 4 min walk
Featured in: Eater 38 · Eater
Show on mapDowntown · SW 4th Ave
No-compromise Sichuan downtown: mapo tofu, kung pao with real Sichuan peppercorn and broths that wake your face up.
Tip: Order the mapo tofu at full heat and the fish in chilli broth. Office lunch spot: queue at noon, empty at 2pm.
🚇 MAX Blue/Red Morrison/SW 3rd · 3 min walk
Featured in: Eater 38 · Eater
Show on mapBelmont · SE 38th
Eastern Mediterranean cooking with lots of vegetables, lots of fire and fresh bread. The prettiest room on Belmont.
Tip: Order the bread with every mezze they have and let them build the table. Book Fridays and Saturdays.
🚇 Bus 15 along SE Belmont to SE 38th · at the door
Featured in: Eater 38 · Eater
Show on mapBelmont · SE 24th
Sri Lankan cooking, fully vegan and worker-owned: hoppers, coconut curries and sambol. It tastes like nothing else here.
Tip: Order the full rice & curry: it comes with six sides. Genuinely spicy, say so if you want it mild.
🚇 Bus 15 along SE Belmont to SE 24th · at the door
Featured in: Eater 38 · Eater · Willamette Week
Show on mapCentral Eastside · SE 11th
Food of the former Soviet Union with 40 infused vodkas and hand-folded pelmeni. Dumplings, herring and Russian joy.
Tip: Order the Zakuski Experience to share: half the menu arrives. The horseradish vodka is non-negotiable.
🚇 Streetcar A/B Loop SE Grand & Taylor · 5 min walk east
Featured in: Eater 38 · Willamette Week · Portland Monthly
Show on mapHawthorne · SE 18th
The Castagna team's wine bar with Portland's best by-the-glass list and a burger that is local legend.
Tip: Come late: after 10pm there are tables and the full menu runs. Ask for the new Willamette harvest pours.
🚇 Bus 14 along SE Hawthorne to SE 17th · at the door
Featured in: Eater 38 · Portland Monthly
Show on mapBrooklyn · SE 11th
Family-run Burmese: tea leaf salad, mohinga and curries you will not find anywhere else in the city.
Tip: The fermented tea leaf salad is the mandatory opener. Lunch is calm, dinner has a wait.
🚇 Bus 70 along SE 12th Ave to SE Division · 6 min walk south
Featured in: Eater 38 · Eater
Show on mapDivision · SE 10th
Chef Fatou Ouattara's West African cooking: jollof, attiéké and maafe with the heat exactly where it should be.
Tip: Order the jollof with roast chicken and the fried plantain. Want heat? Ask for the pepper on the side: it bites.
🚇 Bus 4 along SE Division to SE 11th · at the door
Featured in: Eater 38 · Eater · Willamette Week
Show on mapDivision · SE 38th
Modern Filipino over fire: lechón kawali, sinigang and adobo served from a Division cart pod.
Tip: It is a cart inside a pod: there is cover and heaters, so rain is fine. Order the lechón kawali and share.
🚇 Bus 4 along SE Division to SE 39th · at the door
Featured in: Eater 38 · Eater
Show on mapClinton · SE 25th
A neighbourhood seafood counter: Pacific Northwest oysters, clams and a short, sharp white wine list.
Tip: Netarts and Willapa Bay oysters peak in autumn. Early happy hour: half a dozen at half price.
🚇 Bus 4 along SE Division to SE 26th · 3 min walk south
Featured in: Eater 38 · Portland Monthly
Show on mapFoster-Powell · SE Powell
A different soup every day of the week, made by the family that redefined Vietnamese food in Portland.
Tip: Check the calendar first: one soup per day, no substitutes. They close at 3pm and sell out earlier on rainy days.
🚇 Bus 9 along SE Powell Blvd to SE 65th · at the door
Featured in: Eater 38 · Eater · The Oregonian
Show on mapOverlook · N Killingsworth
The perfect neighbourhood tavern: double cheeseburger, cold beer and a jukebox that never misses.
Tip: Order the double Tulip Burger and fries. After 10pm there is room at the bar and the kitchen keeps going.
🚇 MAX Yellow Line to N Killingsworth St · 5 min walk east
Featured in: Eater 38 · Willamette Week
Show on mapBoise · NE MLK Blvd
Bakery, pizzeria and natural wine bar in a bright warehouse. Their own sourdough and Oregon-milled flour.
Tip: A 2026 James Beard Best Chef: Northwest semifinalist. Bakery in the morning; pizza and natural wine at night.
🚇 Bus 6 along NE Martin Luther King Jr Blvd to NE Failing · 2 min walk
Featured in: Eater 38 · Eater · James Beard Foundation
Show on mapWest End · SW 13th
One dish, perfected: poached chicken over rice cooked in its broth, with the fermented soy sauce that made Nong famous.
Tip: It started as a cart in 2009 and changed the city. Order the classic khao man gai and buy a bottle of the sauce.
🚇 Streetcar NS Line SW 11th & Alder · 4 min walk · or MAX Galleria/SW 10th
Featured in: Eater · The Oregonian
Show on mapBuckman · E Burnside
Southern brunch with Portland's most hunted fried chicken and waffle. The sidewalk queue is local folklore.
Tip: The weekend queue runs an hour. Trick: come Tuesday at 9am, or eat dinner here, which almost nobody does.
🚇 Bus 20 along E Burnside to SE 24th · at the door
Featured in: Eater · Travel Portland
Show on mapBuckman · SE 28th
The Langbaan team's everyday Thai: khao soi, pad see ew and boat noodles in a warm little room.
Tip: Order the khao soi: Portland's best October dish once the rain starts. Walk-in tables at 5:30pm.
🚇 Bus 20 along E Burnside to SE 28th · 2 min walk south
Featured in: Eater · Willamette Week
Show on mapConcordia · NE Killingsworth
Southern Thai fried chicken with roti and yellow curry. Fast, hot and addictive: the chicken combo is the order.
Tip: Order the Hat Yai Combo: chicken, roti, curry. Perfect takeaway if you want to eat in Alberta Park in the sun.
🚇 Bus 72 along NE Killingsworth to NE 16th · at the door
Featured in: Eater · Portland Monthly
Show on mapConcordia · NE Killingsworth
Texas barbecue smoked over oak in a real pit: brisket, ribs and hand-rolled flour tortillas.
Tip: The brisket runs out: come before 1pm or before 7pm. The huevos rancheros brunch is the real secret.
🚇 Bus 72 along NE Killingsworth to NE 16th · at the door
Featured in: Eater · Willamette Week
Show on mapDowntown · SW Broadway
The restaurant that invented Pacific Northwest farm-to-table, open since 1994 and better than ever.
Tip: Greg Higgins won a James Beard in 2002 and is still in the kitchen. The October menu is all game, mushrooms and squash.
🚇 MAX Blue/Red Library/SW 9th · 4 min walk
Featured in: Eater · James Beard Foundation · The Oregonian
Show on mapCentral Eastside · SE Grand
Real Japanese home cooking: teishoku sets with rice, soup, pickles and a main that changes daily.
Tip: Order the daily teishoku: the most complete, cheapest lunch in the Central Eastside. They close between services.
🚇 Streetcar A/B Loop SE Grand & Morrison · 2 min walk
Featured in: Eater · Eater
Show on mapJade District · SE 82nd & Powell
Hand-pulled Chinese noodles in the heart of the Jade District: wonton, chow fun and broths at neighbourhood prices.
Tip: The Jade District is Portland's real Asian quarter: come hungry and walk three blocks before you pick.
🚇 Bus 9 along SE Powell Blvd to SE 82nd · on the corner · or bus 72
Featured in: Eater · Eater
Show on mapJade District · SE Division
Cantonese banquet food with live fish, crisp duck and lazy Susans full of Chinese families on Sundays.
Tip: Come as a group and order fish from the tank. Weekend midday dim sum fills up by 11am.
🚇 MAX Green Line to Southeast Division Street · 6 min walk east
Featured in: Eater · Eater
Show on mapAlberta Arts · NE 18th
An Alberta sake and nigiri bar with 100-plus Japanese labels. Unpretentious omakase and a lot of knowledge.
Tip: Take the counter and order the sake flight with the small omakase. They walk you through every bottle.
🚇 No MAX: bus 8 along NE 15th to Alberta, then three blocks east on foot
Featured in: Eater · Portland Monthly
Show on mapBelmont · SE 45th
The English pub that taught Oregon to drink craft beer, since 1976. Dark wood, 50 taps and darts.
Tip: Order a hand-pulled cask ale and an Irish coffee if it rains. Open late every day of the year.
🚇 Bus 15 along SE Belmont to SE 45th · at the door
Featured in: Eater · Willamette Week
Show on mapDowntown · SW 3rd Ave
Portland's oldest restaurant (1879), with stained glass, mahogany and Spanish coffee flamed at your table.
Tip: Come for the Spanish Coffee alone: they set it alight at your table, the oldest show in town. Also, order the turkey.
🚇 MAX Blue/Red Morrison/SW 3rd · 2 min walk
Featured in: Eater · Travel Portland
Show on mapKerns · NE 24th
Peter Cho's Korean cooking in the courtyard of his own house: dumplings, noodles and a family menu built to share.
Tip: The courtyard is covered and heated in October. Check their Instagram: days and format shift by season.
🚇 Bus 20 along E Burnside to NE 24th · 5 min walk north
Featured in: James Beard Foundation · Portland Monthly · Bon Appétit
Show on mapEliot · NE MLK Blvd
Portland's Argentine grill: meat over wood, provoleta, chimichurri and the country's best clam-and-chorizo soup.
Tip: No reservations for small groups: put your name in and wait at Whey Bar next door. Order the clam chowder and short rib.
🚇 Bus 6 along NE Martin Luther King Jr Blvd to NE Brazee · at the door
Featured in: Willamette Week · Portland Monthly · James Beard Foundation
Show on mapMt. Tabor · SE Belmont
Café by day, restaurant by night at the foot of Mt. Tabor, home of Oregon's most famous salted chocolate chip cookie.
Tip: A 2026 James Beard semifinalist for its wine programme. Buy the salted chocolate chip cookie and walk up Mt. Tabor with it.
🚇 Bus 15 along SE Belmont to SE 69th · at the door
Featured in: James Beard Foundation 2026 · Portland Monthly · Bon Appétit
Show on mapCentral Eastside · SE 9th
A basement whisky bar with no sign, winner of the 2026 James Beard Outstanding Bar award. Two hundred Scotch labels.
Tip: Take the unmarked stairs off SE 9th. Order a peated house cocktail: this team won the 2026 James Beard.
🚇 Streetcar A/B Loop SE Grand & Stark · 4 min walk east
Featured in: James Beard Foundation 2026 · Willamette Week · OPB
Show on mapMississippi · N Skidmore
North Portland's best-loved cart pod: ten kitchens ringing a German beer hall with communal tables.
Tip: Buy food at any cart and beer inside Prost. In October the courtyard has an awning and heaters.
🚇 MAX Yellow Line Albina/Mississippi · 12 min walk · or bus 4 runs up Mississippi
Featured in: Travel Portland · Willamette Week
Show on mapCentral Eastside · SE Madison
Thirty carts around a courtyard with a bar, fire pits and an awning. The best picture of Portland's cart culture.
Tip: Covered and heated: the October plan when the rain starts. Each cart charges separately, bring cash.
🚇 Streetcar A/B Loop SE MLK & Hawthorne · 5 min walk · or bus 14
Featured in: Travel Portland · Portland Mercury
Show on mapArleta · SE Foster Rd
The Northwest's first Latino public market: Mexican, Salvadoran and Peruvian carts plus a grocery and bar.
Tip: The indoor hall has a roof and tables. Try the Salvadoran pupusas and an agua fresca from the grocery.
🚇 Bus 14 along SE Foster Rd to SE 72nd · at the door · or bus 72 along SE 82nd
Featured in: Portland Mercado · Travel Portland
Show on mapPearl District · NW 11th
Bend's brewery in Portland: 20 taps with experimental batches that never leave the building.
Tip: Order the pilot flight: beers brewed only in this room. The pumpkin-and-spice batch lands in October.
🚇 Streetcar NS Line NW 11th & Couch · 2 min walk
Featured in: Deschutes Brewery · Travel Portland
Show on mapAlberta Arts · NE 22nd
The brewery that put Portland on the hazy IPA and pastry stout map. Big patio, cult beer.
Tip: Order the Juice Box or the Blueberry Muffin: people travel for these. Take cans home, they are hard to find elsewhere.
🚇 No MAX: bus 70 along NE 33rd to Alberta, then six blocks west on foot
Featured in: Willamette Week · Portland Monthly
Show on mapWoodlawn · NE Dekum
The original pub of Oregon's most awarded brewery, on a Woodlawn corner with a patio and its own kitchen.
Tip: The Breakside IPA took national gold and is freshest right here. Heated patio in autumn.
🚇 Bus 72 to NE Killingsworth & 8th · 7 min walk north
Featured in: Breakside Brewery · Willamette Week
Show on mapCentral Eastside · SE Belmont
The home of Oregon barrel-aged sour beer: fruited blends and krieks that exist nowhere else.
Tip: Order a flight of seasonal fruit sours: October brings the ones made with Willamette harvest grapes.
🚇 Streetcar A/B Loop SE Grand & Belmont · 3 min walk east
Featured in: Cascade Brewing · Willamette Week
Show on mapDivision · SE 45th
The original 1999 shop: American third-wave coffee was born here and they still roast like it.
Tip: Order the Hair Bender as pour-over, not a latte: it is the blend that defined American specialty coffee.
🚇 Bus 4 along SE Division to SE 45th · at the door
Featured in: Sprudge · The Oregonian · Travel Portland
Show on mapCentral Eastside · SE Main
Roastery and brew bar sharing a joinery workshop: concrete, bamboo plywood and flawless pour-overs.
Tip: Order a Kone, their patented metal filter: no paper, more body in the cup. Wi-Fi and long tables.
🚇 Streetcar A/B Loop SE Grand & Taylor · 6 min walk east
Featured in: Sprudge · Portland Monthly
Show on mapBuckman · E Burnside
Bright, light Nordic roasting founded by a former Finnish drummer. The whitest, brightest room on Burnside.
Tip: Order a single-origin espresso: they roast so light it tastes like fruit. 250g bags to take home.
🚇 Bus 20 along E Burnside to SE 22nd · at the door
Featured in: Sprudge · Willamette Week
Show on mapCentral Eastside · SE Water Ave
An industrial warehouse roastery with its own kitchen: the Eastside's most consistent coffee and a brunch nobody knows about.
Tip: They run roastery tours by appointment. The room is huge and covered: perfect for working on a rainy day.
🚇 Streetcar A/B Loop SE Water/OMSI · 6 min walk north
Featured in: Sprudge · Portland Monthly
Show on mapCentral Eastside · SE 12th
Japanese minimalism applied to Portland coffee: clean bar, oat milk by default and flawless latte art.
Tip: Order the oat cortado: it is their signature. Opens early and is the best place nearby to start the day.
🚇 Bus 70 along SE 12th Ave to SE Madison · 2 min walk
Featured in: Sprudge · Willamette Week
Show on mapNW 23rd · Nob Hill
A Portland roastery that behaves like a lab: method-by-method pour-overs, nitro cold brew and a lot of light.
Tip: The obligatory stop before shopping NW 23rd. Order the nitro cold brew if it is not raining.
🚇 Streetcar NS Line NW 23rd & Marshall · 4 min walk north · or bus 15
Featured in: Sprudge · Travel Portland
Show on mapOld Town · NW Couch
Coffee and sneakers across the same counter, founded by a former Nike designer. Drinks named after shoes.
Tip: Order the Shoe Lace Latte and stay to talk sneakers: Ian runs it and knows everything. Closes mid-afternoon.
🚇 MAX Blue/Red/Green Old Town/Chinatown · 3 min walk
Featured in: Sprudge · Travel Portland · Willamette Week
Show on mapAlberta Arts · NE 20th
The Portland outpost of the Melbourne roaster: Australian brunch, estate coffee and Sunday queues.
Tip: The Bruléed Banana Bread is the most photographed plate on Alberta. Weekdays at 9am there is no queue.
🚇 No MAX: bus 8 along NE 15th to Alberta, then four blocks east on foot
Featured in: Sprudge · Portland Monthly
Show on mapDivision · SE 20th
Fourth-generation Brazilian coffee roasted in Portland: the Carvalho family has farmed in Minas since 1890.
Tip: Order the family-farm coffee with a pão de queijo: the most Brazilian corner in the US Northwest.
🚇 Bus 4 along SE Division to SE 20th · at the door
Featured in: Sprudge · Travel Portland
Show on mapLadd's Addition · SE Clay
A corner house turned roastery with a patio, in Portland's strangest neighbourhood: Ladd's Addition and its diagonal streets.
Tip: Take the coffee and walk five blocks into Ladd's Addition: an 1891 diagonal street grid with four rose gardens.
🚇 Streetcar A/B Loop SE MLK & Mill · 6 min walk east
Featured in: Sprudge · Portland Monthly
Show on mapNW 21st · Nob Hill
The bakery that convinced Portland bread matters: baguettes, canelés and perfectly laminated croissants.
Tip: Monday nights they fire wood-oven Neapolitan pizza and the queue hits the sidewalk. Mornings: canelé and pain au chocolat.
🚇 Streetcar NS Line NW Northrup & 21st · 3 min walk
Featured in: Eater · Travel Portland
Show on mapPearl District · NW 10th
French patisserie with impossibly coloured macarons and the Pearl's best almond croissants.
Tip: Take a box of macarons: no sales tax, so the counter price is final. They close mid-afternoon.
🚇 Streetcar NS Line NW 10th & Glisan · 2 min walk
Featured in: Eater · Portland Monthly
Show on mapCentral Eastside · SE Belmont
Vince Nguyen's Vietnamese patisserie: pandan, taro, mango and glutinous rice treated like French haute pâtisserie.
Tip: Open a few days a week and sells out: check their Instagram before going. Order the bánh da lợn and pandan flan.
🚇 Streetcar A/B Loop SE Grand & Belmont · 3 min walk east
Featured in: Eater · Portland Monthly
Show on mapDivision · SE 26th
Sourdough bakery and sandwiches on their own bread: the Saturday cinnamon bun is gone by 10am.
Tip: It sits mid-way along the Division corridor: buy bread here and keep walking east with a coffee in hand.
🚇 Bus 4 along SE Division to SE 26th · at the door
Featured in: Eater · Eater
Show on mapFoster-Powell · SE Foster Rd
A Vietnamese neighbourhood bakery: bánh mì at 2005 prices, taro pastries and a serious condensed-milk coffee.
Tip: Three bánh mì cost what one downtown sandwich does. Take them away and eat them on Mt. Tabor.
🚇 Bus 14 along SE Foster Rd to SE 54th · at the door
Featured in: Eater · Willamette Week
Show on mapHumboldt · N Michigan
A corner café with a pastry case, breakfast sandwiches and house ice cream. The best neighbourhood nook up north.
Tip: The egg sandwich on their butter biscuit is the breakfast. October brings squash and apple pastries.
🚇 MAX Yellow Line N Killingsworth St · 10 min walk west
Featured in: Eater · Portland Monthly
Show on mapConcordia · NE Killingsworth
A small bakery with the best lamination in northeast Portland: kouign-amann, scones and seasonal fruit tarts.
Tip: It is next to Hat Yai and Podnah's: breakfast here and return to the same block for lunch. Closes early.
🚇 Bus 72 along NE Killingsworth to NE 16th · at the door
Featured in: Eater · Eater
Show on mapHumboldt · N Albina
Farmhouse breakfast at twelve tables: cornbread with salted honey, herb pie and eggs with everything from the market.
Tip: Order the cornbread with salted honey even if you are not hungry. Weekend queues start at 9am.
🚇 MAX Yellow Line N Killingsworth St · 8 min walk east
Featured in: Eater · Portland Monthly
Show on mapMississippi · N Shaver
Scandinavian breakfast: aebleskiver with lingonberry jam, Swedish pancakes and house-cured salmon.
Tip: Order aebleskiver for the table and the Danish Breakfast Board. Put your name down and walk Mississippi while you wait.
🚇 MAX Yellow Line Albina/Mississippi · 9 min walk · or bus 4 runs up Mississippi
Featured in: Eater · Willamette Week
Show on mapSellwood · SE 13th
Monumental Italian sandwiches on bread baked on site: mortadella, porchetta and a focaccia worth the trip.
Tip: Buy a sandwich and cross to Sellwood Riverfront Park to eat it by the water. The daily specials sell out.
🚇 Bus 70 along SE 13th Ave to SE Tacoma · at the door
Featured in: Eater · Eater
Show on mapIrvington · NE Broadway
Filled croissants and twisted laminates that went viral: pistachio, ube and a pizza one that makes no sense and works.
Tip: Flavours rotate weekly and are posted on Instagram. Arrive before 10am if you want the pistachio.
🚇 Bus 77 along NE Broadway to NE 24th · at the door
Featured in: Eater · Eater
Show on mapWest End · W Burnside
Filipino desserts downtown: ube halo-halo, shave ice and pandesal straight out of the oven.
Tip: It is in the Danner building, half a block from Powell's: the perfect dessert stop mid-shopping.
🚇 MAX Blue/Red Galleria/SW 10th · 3 min walk
Featured in: Eater · Eater
Show on mapWest End · SW 13th
An Italian café-bar from morning to night: cappuccino early, aperitivo at dusk, sandwiches in between.
Tip: Come at 5pm for aperitivo: spritz and Italian snacks before dinner in the West End.
🚇 Streetcar NS Line SW 11th & Alder · 3 min walk
Featured in: Eater · Eater
Show on mapLents · SE Woodstock
A neighbourhood Italian bakery with biscotti, olive bread and focaccia by the slice. A deep southeast secret.
Tip: Buy focaccia by the slice and biscotti for the road. Closed Mondays: check before crossing half the city.
🚇 Bus 19 along SE Woodstock Blvd to SE 92nd · at the door
Featured in: Eater · Eater
Show on mapOld Town · SW 3rd Ave
The pink doughnut shop that made Portland famous: Bacon Maple Bar, cereal-topped rings and a queue at any hour.
Tip: Open 24 hours: the 2am queue is shorter than the noon one. The local argument is Voodoo versus Blue Star.
🚇 MAX Blue/Red Oak St/SW 1st · 3 min walk
Featured in: Travel Portland · Willamette Week
Show on mapDivision · SE 33rd
The grown-up answer to Voodoo: 18-hour brioche dough, bourbon glazes and lemon with rosemary.
Tip: They bake small batches and close when they run out. Order the Blueberry Bourbon Basil: it wins the argument.
🚇 Bus 4 along SE Division to SE 33rd · at the door
Featured in: Travel Portland · Portland Monthly
Show on mapHawthorne · SE 37th
Powell's neighbourhood branch: smaller, calmer and with the best used section per square foot.
Tip: You find here what already sold out at the City of Books, without the crowd. No Oregon sales tax: the pencilled price is final.
🚇 Bus 14 along SE Hawthorne to SE 37th · at the door
Featured in: Powell's Books · Travel Portland
Show on mapDowntown · SW 5th Ave
Downtown's glass-roofed four-level mall. International brands with zero cents of sales tax.
Tip: Oregon charges no sales tax: coming from California or Washington, buy electronics and clothes here and save 8-10%.
🚇 MAX Green/Yellow Pioneer Place/SW 5th Ave · at the door
Featured in: Travel Portland · The Oregonian
Show on mapDowntown · SW Broadway
The flagship of the brand born in Portland in 1938. Three floors of technical gear built for Oregon weather.
Tip: Buy the rain shell here before walking the city in October: no sales tax means 9% less than Seattle.
🚇 MAX Blue/Red Library/SW 9th · 3 min walk
Featured in: Columbia Sportswear · Travel Portland
Show on mapDowntown · SW 5th Ave
The store of the brand that grew up in Oregon: Ducks and Blazers editions that never leave the state.
Tip: Oregon has no sales tax: a $150 pair costs $150, not $163. Hunt for the Oregon-only drops.
🚇 MAX Blue/Red Pioneer Courthouse/SW 6th Ave · 2 min walk
Featured in: Travel Portland · Nike
Show on mapWest End · W Burnside
Mountain boots made in Portland since 1932, hand-stitched at the northeast factory. They last decades.
Tip: The US-made Mountain Light is worth the spend and there is no sales tax here. They fit them in store.
🚇 MAX Blue/Red Galleria/SW 10th · 3 min walk
Featured in: Danner · Travel Portland
Show on mapPearl District · NW 13th
The store-workshop of the outdoor footwear brand founded in Portland, with sandal repairs and conservation giving.
Tip: It sits in the Pearl, three blocks from Deschutes: shopping and beer in one walk. No sales tax.
🚇 Streetcar NS Line NW 11th & Glisan · 3 min walk west
Featured in: KEEN · Travel Portland
Show on mapDowntown · SW Yamhill
Wool blankets and shirts woven in Oregon since 1863, with the Native nation designs that made them famous.
Tip: A Pendleton blanket is THE Oregon souvenir and it packs light. No sales tax: you save what shipping would cost.
🚇 MAX Blue/Red Pioneer Square South · 2 min walk
Featured in: Pendleton Woolen Mills · Travel Portland
Show on mapDowntown · Pioneer Place
Everything the state makes under one roof: hazelnuts, marionberry, pinot, Jacobsen salt and chocolate.
Tip: The last-minute gift stop: roasted hazelnuts and Jacobsen salt, tax-free and easy to pack.
🚇 MAX Green/Yellow Pioneer Place/SW 5th Ave · at the door
Featured in: Made in Oregon · Travel Portland
Show on mapNW Industrial · NW Nicolai
Factory and shop for hand-made lighting and brass goods, in a spectacular Portland industrial building.
Tip: You can watch the factory from the showroom. The small brass pieces fit in a suitcase and carry no sales tax.
🚇 Streetcar NS Line NW Northrup & 22nd · 15 min walk north · or bus 77
Featured in: Schoolhouse · Portland Monthly
Show on mapCentral Eastside · SE Grand
New and used outdoor gear over three floors, with the legendary Bargain Basement full of cheap tents and bags.
Tip: Head to the Bargain Basement: used rain gear at a third of the price, exactly what October calls for.
🚇 Streetcar A/B Loop SE Grand & Stark · 2 min walk
Featured in: Next Adventure · Willamette Week
Show on mapKerns · E Burnside
The oldest independent record store in the Northwest, open since 1969. Vinyl, free in-store shows and a cat.
Tip: Check the board: they run free in-store live sets. The vinyl carries no sales tax.
🚇 Bus 20 along E Burnside to SE 32nd · at the door
Featured in: Music Millennium · Willamette Week
Show on mapCentral Eastside · SE Yamhill
A huge warehouse of objects shipped from Asia and Mexico: furniture, textiles, papers and things you did not know you wanted.
Tip: Losing an hour inside is the plan: Japanese paper, lanterns and beads for a few dollars, tax-free.
🚇 Streetcar A/B Loop SE Grand & Taylor · 6 min walk west
Featured in: Cargo · Portland Monthly
Show on mapWest End · SW 10th
A record label and local-design shop: everything inside is made by somebody who lives in Oregon.
Tip: The best honest gift shop in town: ceramics, prints and records by Portland bands. No sales tax.
🚇 MAX Blue/Red Galleria/SW 10th · 1 min walk
Featured in: Tender Loving Empire · Travel Portland
Show on mapHawthorne · SE 33rd
A thousand square metres of vintage split by decade and by seller: 1940s to 1990s, at prices that still make sense.
Tip: Hawthorne between SE 33rd and SE 39th is Portland's vintage corridor: four big stores in six blocks.
🚇 Bus 14 along SE Hawthorne to SE 33rd · at the door
Featured in: Willamette Week · Travel Portland
Show on mapHawthorne · SE 36th
Two floors of curated secondhand: leather, denim and 1970s party dresses you will not find elsewhere.
Tip: Buy a leather jacket and pay exactly what the tag says: Oregon adds no tax at the register.
🚇 Bus 14 along SE Hawthorne to SE 36th · at the door
Featured in: Willamette Week · Travel Portland
Show on mapWestmoreland · SE Milwaukie
Portland's biggest antiques market in the antiques neighbourhood: 200 dealers under one roof.
Tip: SE Milwaukie between Bybee and Tacoma holds six more shops: the city's antiques walk. All tax-free.
🚇 MAX Orange Line SE Bybee Blvd · 8 min walk west
Featured in: Travel Portland · Portland Monthly
Show on mapMississippi · N Mississippi Ave
Natural history and curiosities: mounted insects, fossils, carnivorous plants and taxidermy. Keep Portland Weird, in a display case.
Tip: Free to walk in and it reads like a small museum. Right on Mississippi: step out and there are ten bars in ten blocks.
🚇 Bus 4 runs up N Mississippi to N Skidmore · 2 min walk
Featured in: Paxton Gate · Portland Mercury
Show on mapHawthorne · SE 36th
A Hawthorne record store with its own label and the city's best used bins for rock, jazz and Northwest rarities.
Tip: Dig the local bin: Portland records that never leave the state. No sales tax.
🚇 Bus 14 along SE Hawthorne to SE 36th · at the door
Featured in: Jackpot Records · Willamette Week
Show on mapCentral Eastside · SE Washington
The workshop of the man who founded Tazo and Stash and ended up making America's best tea in an Eastside warehouse.
Tip: The tasting bar brews to order. The tins pack light, keep a year and carry no sales tax.
🚇 Streetcar A/B Loop SE Grand & Stark · 7 min walk west
Featured in: Smith Teamaker · Portland Monthly
Show on map