Portlanders love to eat. Whether its wrapped in bacon, locally sourced artisan made vegan-friendly Paleo, trendy gluten-free fermented topped with an egg or washed down with a microbrew it’s no doubt the City of Roses is also the City of Food. However, there is always room for food carts, donuts and ice cream!
Portland’s burgeoning food scene is so epic it’s caught the national spotlight and the affection of the New York Times. World-class fine dining chefs stand side-by-side with artisan butchers craft brewers master mixologists and sandwich gods in a community fueled by locally sourced high quality cuisine. From the highbrow flavors of Le Pigeon’s sinful foie gras profiteroles to the down-and-dirty satisfaction of Bunk’s pork belly cubano there’s no escaping the siren’s call of Stumptown’s epicurean delights.
Food Carts
Portland’s hottest food trend contribution has been its prolific hyper-specialized food cart culture. Despite an economic downturn, Rose City’s industrious entrepreneur chef types doubled down on food carts. As a result, local chefs took on old favorites and perfected one great dish. Some of the biggest standouts in P-town cart culture do just that and some even went on to become brick-and-mortar hot-spots like:
Nong’s Khao Man Gai
SW 10th & Alder Street
Portland OR 97205
971-255-3480
www.khaomangai.com
From a single food cart in downtown Portland serving just one favorite Thai/Hainanese dish Nong’s has perfected the art of Khao Man Gai. With hand selected ingredients that make this flavorful chicken rice and broth combo a Portland favorite. A true success story, Nong’s now has a location on the eastside in addition to its downtown carts.
Grilled Cheese Grill
1027 NE Alberta Street
Portland OR 97211
503-206-8959
www.grilledcheesegrill.com
The folks in the double decker and big yellow school bus that make up the Grilled Cheese Grill’s food cart armada know there’s just nothing more satisfying than the comfort of an ooey-gooey grilled cheese sandwich. From the simple nostalgia-inducing classic of The Kindergartner to the meatlover’s sanctuary of the infamous 1/3 pound beef burger wedged between two grilled cheese sandwiches and christened The Cheesus and all the awe-inspiring incarnations in between the GCG serves it all up with potato chips pickle spear and a smile – just like mom used to make.
Frying Scotsman
SW 9th and Alder
Portland OR 97205
503-706-3841
www.thefryingscotsmanpdx.com
Arguably the area’s most authentic fish and chips in Portland. The Frying Scotsman is the genuine article run by a real Scotsman using family recipes handed down a generation or two direct from Scotland. Now serving haggis.
Kim Jong Grillin
46 SE Division Street
Portland OR 97206
503-929-0522
Korean Barbeque at its finest serving Bulgogi (marinated strips of grilled beef) Galbi (Korean style short ribs) and Portland’s hangover cure The Bibim box (Korean BBQ Jhapchae aka glass noodles steamed rice topped off with a fried egg two kinds of Kim Chee and sesame sprouts).
Donuts
Voodoo Doughnut
22 SW 3rd Avenue
Portland OR 97204
503-241-4704
www.voodoodoughnut.com
Featured on travel and food TV shows as a “must-eat” destination in Portland. Voodoo Doughnut’s Pepto-Bismol pink exterior and donut boxes are instantly recognizable to P-town denizens. With two brick-and-mortar locations and one traveling food cart in Portland and sister locations in Eugene Denver and Taipai there’s plenty of Voodoo to go around.
Blue Star Donuts
Four area locations
1237 SW Washington Street
Portland OR 97205
503-265-8410
www.bluestardonuts.com
If Voodoo is the clown carnival of donut shops, then Blue Star is its wealthy sophisticated aunt. Starting with a classic French brioche dough Blue Star still plays with intriguing flavor combinations but they do it grown-up style with pairings like Cointreau crème brulee blueberry bourbon basil hard apple cider fritter Meyer lemon and key lime curd and the landslide favorite the vanilla bean custard-filled Valhrona chocolate crunch. With four locations to serve you in Portland one in Tokyo and a newly opened Los Angeles location this true blue star is rising fast.
Handmade Ice Cream
Salt & Straw
Three area locations
2035 NE Alberta Street
Portland OR 97211
503-208-3867
www.saltandstraw.com
With three metro area locations and one in L.A. Salt & Straw is the rock star media darling of the Portland ice cream world. Despite boasting epic summertime lines, Bon Apetit Magazine, the Wall Street Journal and Travel Channel’s Bizarre Foods host Andy Zimmern all sing its praises for out-of-the-ordinary flavors like strawberry, honey, balsamic, black pepper pear and bleu cheese Arbequina olive oil and mint leaves with sea urchin meringues.
Ruby Jewel
Three area locations
428 SW 12th Avenue
Portland OR 97205
503-954-1345
www.rubyjewel.com
Ruby Jewel’s journey started with an ice cream and cookie laced dream sold out of a humble cooler at area farmers markets. Fast forward to today with three Ruby Jewel scoop shops serving up artisanal mounds of delicately flavored all-natural decadence (like chipotle rocky road strawberry and chevre honey pistachio and cookies n’cream) ice creams sundaes and their signature ice cream sandwiches (available the shops and in your local grocer’s freezer in flavors like Lemon cookie with honey lavender and chocolate cookie with salted caramel) and you’ve got an ice cream fairytale of legendary proportions.
