Portland Oregon's gots to haves.

Best place to have fresh oysters.
Best brew pub.
Best food carts.
The one place you would take someone from New York…

They’re some serious palate representation from Portland on this board so fire away!!

To eat dinner? San Francisco or Napa are probably closest.

We have so many brew pubs now it’s dizzying. You want PDX history - the Horse Brass – you want selection the Green Dragon - 50 rotating taps 1 keg at a time – you want to dive into PDX bike culture try the new HUB Bikebar.

For food carts, try the Cart POD on Belmont just down the street from the Horse Brass. http://www.goodfoodherebelmont.com/
We have another site dedicated to helping you sort through the dizzying array of choices: http://www.foodcartsportland.com/

For dinner try the Beard award winning Andy Ricker’s restaurant Pok Pok. Or Gabe Rucker’s Le Pigeon. They both won Beard awards this year.

Thanks Steven- exactly what I’m looking for!

If you want to try beers aged in oak, I know of two good options:

Hair of the Dog Tasting Room: http://www.hairofthedog.com/
Cascade Brewing Barrel House: http://www.cascadebrewingbarrelhouse.com/

My personal favorite craft brewer is not in Portland, but in Hood River. A worthy stop if you want to take a drive up the Gorge and back home across Mt. Hood.

Double Mountain Brewery: http://doublemountainbrewery.com/

If there is a specific brew you want to chase down - Give Taplister a try to find out who might have it on tap:

http://portland.taplister.com/

Can’t go wrong with Hair of the Dog or Cascade (which specializes in sour beers). Apex has a tremendous selection although not a brewpub, just a beer bar.

Food carts are sort of scattered gems all over town. Some favorites are Nong’s Khao Man Gai and The People’s Pig in the downtown 10th & Alder pod; Lardo out on Belmont; Potato Champion (Belgian frites) and Whiffie’s (fried savory and fruit pies) at 13th & Hawthorne pod (a late-night destination); Native Bowl, Big Egg and Garden State at the Mississippi pod…you get the idea.

Raw oysters? Dan & Louis Oyster Bar. EAT, an oyster bar. Even Jakes since they can’t screw them up by overcooking them.

NYer? Steve’s probably right on with Le Pigeon. Barring that, Castagna or Paley’s. Or to be perverse, Apizza Scholls.

Thanks fellas- good stuff.
I should have been a little more specific with my NYer comment. I usually throw this out
about any town I visit as a- OK where would you take a NYer to show them what X town
is all about. It doesn’t necessarily have to be high end cuisine- no city does that better than NYC.
When I lived out that way in the early 90’s, for me, it might have been Montage. Every town has that
place or several that represent what is done well from a culinary perspective while also having the vibe
that says this is Portland… Thanks again for taking the time.

Le Pigeon and Pok Pok still qualify handily. For varietal choice add Toro Bravo and Ned Ludd to the mix, or Tasty & Son for brunch.

Would also put a good word in for Le Pigeon, great people, excellent food. I would reccommend the bar as the tables are all communal and you can see them prepare the meals which is nice. There is a good wine list present with lots of good options for 1/2 bottles well which is rare. The deserts were the ones that I remember the most about the maple bacon cornbread is fantastic and the foie gras profiterals are out of this world good. Its the one place we always go back to when in PDX. Small venue too so reservatoions are a must.

Gabe is only in the kitchen Thu-Sat now. He’s splitting time between both restaurants including Little Bird Bistro. You don’t need reservations for seats at the open kitchen which is our preference – those are first come first serve. You can show up get your name on the list then have a round of drinks at Doug Fir (there’s also a couple of wine bars including Noble Rot within a few blocks too).

I too adore the Corn Bread, but it is quite heavy. I’m rarely hungry enough at dessert for it since we usually try a number of the starters.

Best place to have fresh oysters.
EAT Oyster Bar - They usually have a good lineup and they sell splits of Champagne. (Then roll across the street to Pix for more bubbles and some killer desserts.)


Best brew pub.
I don’t get an ounce of nerd cred for this recommendation, but I had an awesome time at the Rogue Public House a couple of weeks ago. They’ve got a good lineup of interesting beers, a good taster program, and their nut brown ale was magnificent.


Best food carts.
Potato Champion is a classic. I’m not too familiar with the carts though.


The one place you would take someone from New York.
If you want culinary magic, I’d hit Castagna. There are other options, but the chef is leaving on July 30th, (to go to NYC) so I’d seize this moment if you’re here before then.
Natural Selection is currently bringing the heat as far as vegetarian cooking goes. I’m not a vegetarian, and I still consider it among Portland’s best. The menu changes weekly, and the kitchen is super open.

Thanks everyone some great info from the local is exactly what was needed…

The Holy Grail of a visit to Portland would have to be meeting Melissa!!!

Especially considering no one has done it yet!

Have any of the locals even met her?

Last I heard, her husband was still waiting to meet her.

None. I order groceries on the web and make the servants pick them up at the door.

I went to the VT tasting at L&E a couple of weeks ago, if that counts. And there were people there.

While I’m here, I’ll pile on for Toro Bravo. I think we’ve been there four times in the past two months. It’s just a tapas place. Not fancy, but really good food. My favorite dishes are often the simplest, seasonal vegetables. The sauteed nettles were so good! So were the grilled spring onions with salbitxada. They also have my desert island pink, Ameztoi Rubentis, by the glass or bottle.

And it’s very Portland. You can find out the chicken’s name before you eat it.

Fwiw, a good friend from Portlandia has recommended a foodie walking tour that we will be doing in a few weeks. Sounds like fun:

http://www.portlandwalkingtours.com/tours/epicurean_excursion.php

Thanks everyone! If this post were to have taken place in the future, then I would be contributing to it as a local as well…

Why do people go there?