Visiting Portland Big Thread

[mazelpants]

Hi, my husband and I will be in Portland 2/8-2-11.  We wanted to know the names of some good restaurants and places to check out while we are in town.  Specifically one romantic restaurant and some fun ones.
If you have any ideas I would be most appreciative.

Thank you!

[miyoko79]

Try here: http://www.portlandmonthlymag.com/where_to_eat/

Personally, I recommend the Heathman Restaurant ($$$ but worth it), Dan and Louis for seafood (especially oysters), Wong's King for dim sum, Flying Pie for pizza, and of course Voodoo Donuts!  Also, I haven't been to the Portland City Grill since it was Atwater's, but it has fantastic views of the city.

Hope you have a fun visit!

[kittykill]

There's the Velveteria to check out all the fun velvet paintings, Powell's bookstore is amazing and one of my favorite places in the world. Jake's has the best seafood and drinks. If you are into tiki and 50's retro check out Thatch (shameless plug cause my husband help build it). A great romantic restaurant is Wild Abandon or Urban Fondue. Have fun and stay dry

[kittykill]

They have Flex cars here. You can basically "rent" a car for the day, but it's not actually renting. If you're into retro tiki kinda stuff-you should check out Thatch (shameless plug cause my husband help build it) Powell's books is amazing, Portland is full of fun dive bars. I'm not sure if they still do Barfly magazine (you may be able to check it out online) but they have a listing of all the bars, whether or not it gets a "horns up" and what they specialize in. One of my new favorite places is The Florida room. Cheap yummy drinks and good basic food.

[asocialcelebrity]

Wow! Thanks- I totally didn't know about the flex cars. That makes a lot more sense. We planned on renting a car for a day or two when we came up this time but I will check that out.

Haha, my husband already told me we are going to Thatch. He is obsessed with Tiki anything. We will definitely check that stuff out.
I love Powell's. It seriously is the best book store I have ever been to. I have dreams about it- it's crazy. I really can't wait to move up. Portland is eden.

Thanks again!

[kittykill]

If he's into tiki stuff, check out the Alibi too. It's one of the west coast oldest tiki bars and it's where I got married

[bettyxbrown]

SCRAP (School and Community Reuse Action Center)
--a small business selling eclectic odds and ends for suuuuper cheap. great for crafty stuff.

the goodwill bins
--by-the-pound secondhand goods, housed in a warehouse.  kind of dirty, really good for crafting.

Dalo's ethiopian
--super cheap, super good, veg-friendly ethiopian. on N. Williams at skidmore.

Don Pancho's tacqueria
--super cheap, super good mexican (meat and cheese are their strong suits). really nice people, adjoined to a good grocery as well. ne 21st & alberta.



....there's a lot more, but i'm not feeling inspired offhand. more later.

[h_pets360]

knittn' kitten on glisan and 70th is a great place to get yarn and yarn related stuff.  they have fabric, notions, and vintage aprons / quilt tops / embroidery iron-ons too!

[TheMistressT]

Roux has lovely cajun inspired NW cuisine with good cocktails.
Country Cat and Screen Door are both great brunches on the weekend (Saturday you might not have to wait).
Pause is lovely, too.
Stumptown is a micro-roasting of coffee that is super good with a couple locations.  The service can be a bit hipster-arrogant, but the java is great!
These are all east-side locations.

[asocialcelebrity]

We are all about Riyadh's Lebanese Restaurant off SE Hawthorne. There is nothing better than fatayer, a heaping bowl of lentil soup, and a nice cold Widmer. That’s seriously my favorite place in the world, I think (and not just because I’m Lebanese).
Portland is cool because there are several small, independent restaurants and it can be like a treasure hunt to find them. We usually frequent the small, more ethnic places because
the food is so good and fairly inexpensive. There are several little greek and mediterranean places near the big Powell's Books downtown, including a very cute open-air cafe that we always get breakfast at when we’re in town (can't think of what street at the moment, but it is straight back toward’s the Chinese Garden when you first get off the the Old Town/Chinatown stop on the MAX). If you are looking for a good panini and dessert, I would suggest Mio Gelato. They have several locations around town and have the best gelato I have ever had. Alexis on west burnside is also a good place for greek food. Uhh….those were pretty much our romantic picks because we are poor.
 
There are tons (and I mean TONS) of good restaurants in Stumptown. We usually just happen to see one while in transit and decide to stop and try it out but there are several sites online. I just typed in “restaurant Portland, OR” and a bunch came up. Hope that helps!

http://heartofportland.com/neighborhood_frame.php
http://www.portlandmercury.com/portland/FoundIt?restaurant=38327