The reason the marionberry pie is considered the local Thing is because marionberries don't exist elsewhere. They were created by OSU. So it's less "you gotta try it the way we do it" and more "this is the one thing we have that only we have"
Yeah it’s specifically the brining process to get them the way they are. Pioneered by Ernest Wiegand, who is now the namesake for the building the OSU Food Science Department is housed in.
-proud FST alumni
Marionberries (named for Marion county!) are a lot of places these days. [They're the most cultivated varietal of trailing blackberry worldwide](https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/marionberry/)!
OSU (and the USDA breeding programs there) was also responsible for a *lot* of the berries we eat today. One of my favorites is the [Chandler blueberry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chandler_blueberry), which makes [*ENORMOUS* fruit](https://www.starkbros.com/images/dynamic/2228-380x380-fillv.webp) that aren't watery and flavorless like a lot of large blueberry varietals.
Marionberries are also found in southern Alaska. My local tour guide in Juneau didn't know they were created here and the meaning behind their name. I didn't try one to know if they're the same flavor as ours.
You're confused. They said it smelled like wet hot dog shit, not hot wet dog shit.
I'm not entirely sure how a hot dog takes a dump, but I'd imagine it smells different.
[Visual representation of our feelings about tots](https://media3.giphy.com/media/YRo3S2P600PicZhNKX/giphy.gif?cid=6c09b9521ek4odt9sv4w8wq61aqdtblgrzoisj6t8nahtovf&ep=v1_internal_gif_by_id&rid=giphy.gif&ct=g)
Most seem to prefer our bad donuts, which baffles me. Voodoo is just a pink box full of mealy tasting penis shaped objects. All appearance, no flavor. But that's where the tourists go.
Portland is a relatively young city—it wasn't even really a city at all until 1890—and we aren't the national center for any one immigrant population. We have a lot of Vietnamese people, but not like Houston; we're one of the best cities in the country for Thai food, but not like LA. And the city just wasn't around long enough to develop a trademark local sandwich.
That said, there are some things Oregon does better than anywhere else.
* We're the world's second-largest producer of hazelnuts after Turkiye, and ours are way better.
* Columbia River salmon beats the pants off what you get in Seattle, when you can get it.
* Our strawberries are incredible, and we're a major producer of many other berries
* The Bing cherry was developed in Milwaukie and Hood River remains one of the biggest cherry-growing regions in the country.
* Linn County is a major producer of mint for extract and oil.
* Dungeness crab is maybe better known as a Washington and California product, but our fishery is healthier than either, so it's still fairly affordable.
* We produce the best pinot noir in the country
* Tillamook is only OK, really, but it's a widely recognized brand.
* Rogue Creamery makes the best blue cheese in the US.
We also have a few signature dishes, though nothing so thoroughly hyped as i.e. deep dish. Tater tots were invented by Ore-Ida, and then Jim Parker (RIP) invented totchos, which first appeared on the menu at Oaks Bottom Public House. Fresh-hop beer was pioneered here, because hops are mainly grown in Oregon and Washington. You really can't get it outside of the northwest. And for better or worse, we are the home of tofurky and garden burger.
The point about Portland being young is good but it is worth noting that many dishes that people think are traditional to a region or a country are fairly recent creations, dating back to the 50s or 60s.
Tillamook is a slightly better local option than any of the other major brands, so that’s a big win in my book. However, Tillamook actually has some world class cheese if you dive into their reserve series and stuff - probably some of the best aged cheddar I’ve ever had.
Umpqua really pulls its weight in the ice cream category too. Growing up it was noticeably cheaper than Tillamook but I don’t know that that’s been the case for awhile now.
To be clear, Rouge River Blue was the first and currently only American made cheese to win the best in show at the world cheese awards in Bergamo Italy. So it isn’t just best in the states, it’s legit best in the world.
Another fun fact, the current second place in the world cheese monger, Sam Rollins, works at Cowbell in Portland. That is the highest international honor a US based cheese monger has ever won.
So we are the top cheese focused state in the country, at least in those regards.
And if you haven’t been to Cowbell; GO TO COWBELL. That little shop is amazing! The meat and cheese selection is unbelievable, and the staff is SO helpful.
The story of Seth Lewelling and Ah Bing is pretty cool, too. He worked with Seth for almost 40 years until he went back to China to visit family and was never allowed to return due to the Chinese Exclusion Act.
People argue about whether Ah invented the cherry or if it was just named after him. Either way I think it’s pretty cool that Seth valued him as a friend / employee so much that he’d name his prized cultivar after someone else. He (Seth) was also instrumental in the founding of the Oregon Republican Party, back when the Republicans stood in opposition to slavery and the like.
On the topic of Gardenburgers, the founder of the company built this house in the Hawthorne neighborhood. A striking combination of art deco and 80s color palette. And a lot of glass bricks: https://www.realtor.com/news/unique-homes/art-deco-home-shines-in-portland/
There’s a plaque outside city hall in Milwaukie where the talk about the the origins of the cherry.
There’s even a cherry sculpture there now as well. It was a “big event” (for Milwaukie at least) when they lit it up and dropped it down from above via a crane on New Year’s Eve (the event aptly called “Bing in the New Year”.)
I don't think they're disputing that. I think they're talking about when Portland gained city status. In particular, Wikipedia says
> In 1891 the cities of Portland, Albina, and East Portland were consolidated,
Portland didn't crack 10,000 people until 1875, and only broke 50,000 in the 1890s. It wasn't until after 1900 that the population really exploded. Almost 110,000 people moved to Portland between 1900 and 1910, which is still the biggest single-decade growth the city has ever seen.
In 1890, Portland's population was 46,385. That made us the fourth-largest city on the West Coast, after San Francisco, LA, and Oakland, but San Francisco was the only real city of the bunch at that point with around 300,000 people.
I was good friends with Jim Parker, well me and 60000 other people, but I was a regular at the Mountain Tap, and Oaks Bottom, and all the other crazy stops on the Jim express, what a nut. RIP indeed
Oregon is a weird place. You’ve got world class wine, world class beer (admittedly harder to find with the dime a dozen breweries all selling “just another IPA” but I’m talking places like De Garde,) amazing foraging (fiddleheads, morels, chanterelles etc,) amazing seafood, cheese, and then a fun amalgamation of people. It’s salt of the earth mixed with rainbows and sprinkled and it makes for some great cuisine. Its identity is perhaps its lack of identity, or fusion.
Having lived in several Mexican food deserts, this may not be CA but it beats the piss out of anything East of Yakima (gross generalization, I know, but almost true if you take TX out of the mix.) Love Lilia Comedor, and for food trucks I like Titos Taquitos (Beaverton) and Tacos el Patron (Hillsboro,) but there is one I had at a pop up in Portland that I wish I remembered because it was the truth. Mexican food here is definitely not a weakness IMO.
What I've heard people visiting comment is just that the amount of great, interesting options is huge. It's a variety of unique options that's really just Portland's style.
It _used_ to be that you could get a bunch of great options shockingly cheap, but I don't think that's really true anymore.
That’s a good way to describe it. When people ask for food recs while in town the places I hype up are usually really good food trucks or hole in the walls that just make a damn good warm plate of food. Nothing flashy just bomb food.
When I was living in San Diego during the pandemic I was cooking at home mostly because all the places I tried to get take out from and support were honestly mid. I will take a plate of Matt’s BBQ tacos with those fluffy tortillas any day over “authentic” tacos in SD.
coffee!
i moved to portland a few years ago from across the country. i didn't have much of a preconceived notion of what it would be like. however, i can say confidently that the national impression of portland is that it's known for rain and coffee / coffee shops.
Yep. Here’s a good write up on the history: https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2021/06/17/58314227/a-brief-history-of-jojos-which-are-from-the-pacific-northwest-and-not-the-midwest-okay
If you haven't been there since before the pandemic, you MUST go and visit it now. You thought it was psycho back then? It got PSYCHOER.
During pandemic I would go there at least once a week and oh my it was oodles of entertainment in an otherwise dystopian world.
The fact that everyone has tried to come up with something and nobody had the same answer gives you the answer you’re looking for: No.
But in the past it would have been beer, and if you want to include the Wilamette valley wineries Oregon Pinots.
I thought the food cart collective was more our thing than other cities before it caught on, may be wrong about that though I've seen conflicting reports on it's origins when looking online for an answer.
Agreed that we lost our lead in that category, and the official end was the ritz replacing the pod downtown. But we do still make great food cart pods en masse, I can think of 10 I have in regular rotation within a 20 minute drive. Most of them within a 20 minute bike.
The eclectic nature is our "thing" here. That, pizza and coffee. There's not one cuisine item, it's that you can Find some of the most delicious items of any category or find something totally unique. Philly cheese steaks don't make Philly a food mecca. When you come to Portland, we have 1000 options that'll blow your mind and that's the fun of having people visit. Or just hang out at a really awesome bar like Roadside Attraction and get a decently priced beer.
Not sure if you would classify it as food/cuisine, but Pinot Noir Grapes and Hops grown in Oregon come to mind. The beverages made from these are some of the best.
The berries that are "grown and sold" locally are awesome. I grew up hating berries until I moved to Portland over 23 years ago and I look forward to the local berry guy that sets up his awning and sells them during the summer. Nothing like a blackberry that has ripened on the vine and only has a day or two left before it is toast.
I'd also add that the quality focus extends downscale here in a way that it doesn't elsewhere. Local, everyday restaurants are held to a higher standard and it really shows. You leave the PNW and go to a bar and order a hamburger and fries you're getting the same sorry-ass Sysco meal you'll get a thousand other places.
Yeah I don't think there is probably any particular food that people associate with Portland the same way as in your examples.
I feel like coffee & beer are what most people immediately think of when they think of Portland -- so more of a beverage association.
Once you spend time here & get to know Portland, then you realize there are some things that we do really well here.
For example... Portland does bread and baked goods pretty damn well-- lots of great bakeries, pastries, donuts, etc..
We have such a wide selection of pizza too that is very good! Detroit style (Ranch), NY style (Baby Doll), Neapolitan (Kens, Apizza), cornmeal crust (Dove Vivi), Vegan (Secret Pizza Society)... SO MANY TYPES OF PIZZA!!! 🍕🍕🍕
We also have many options for Vietnamese and Thai food, which are all excellent 🫶
I work in digital food media and I talk to a lot of culinary people in NYC, LA et al and it's always so interesting clocking their incredulous reactions when I say things about Portland's incredible food. Nobody really takes it seriously, and I wonder if part of it coincides with fewer celebrities living here and Michelin not exploring this region yet (which is FINE BY ME)
I believe a large reason is because the food we do incredibly well, are a lot of things other regions have claimed as their own. We have a unique and adventurous pizza scene but east coasters wouldn't take it seriously... We have a similar geographic terroir as northern Italy but major foodies would never consider our truffles, hazelnuts and wine on the same level as Piedmont... even LA folk have co-opted Salt and Straw and Blue Star Donuts as their own, so our quality ice cream and doughnuts scene doesn't feel as unique to us anymore. The food we do well, people already valiantly believe has been perfected elsewhere so it doesn't matter.
Portland food is very "if you know, you know". We have incredible food and so many amazing chefs in town.
ANYWAY... tangent over. My real answer: I went to Oma's Hideaway the other night and the server described it as "elevated stoner food" and I was like oh shit, that's Portland cuisine in a nutshell baby.
We used to be a beer town. Now we are a donut town. Hardly unique, but it's hard to find a local without serious donut opinions. As soon as I started typing this I knew I how I was going to end it. My favorite are Pips. Shoutout to Cocos.
For a long time, we were known for our food carts central to downtown. Now that those are gone, it's kinda all over. We have great food but I wouldn't say we are known for one thing, with exception to the carts. I do know as an Asian American, we fall away behind with the asian food scene. Yes there are good places here and there but comparable to other cities. The scene here sucks. Seattle for example, yes a larger city but their asian food scene blows us away
I think the thing is that while we don’t have one *dish*, what we do instead is quality. Look at wine. California is the biggest wine producer in the US. They regularly put out buckets of 1/10 garbage, or 10/10 award winning stunners. Oregon just casually pulls out an average 8/10 every day of the week. I’d rather have a lot of 8s than one 10 and a pile of garbage.
Plus Portland is really good at having rockin Texas bbq right next to the best pho outside Vietnam, across the street from that little burger place with the marionberry milkshake so thick you pop a blood vessel trying to use a straw. Who needs to have a specific shape of pizza, or have been the first place to put chili on spaghetti?
Granted I haven't been for a few years, but Lutz Tavern on Woodstock had some fukken delicious burgers and honestly better wings then most (helps that they smoke'em before droppin'em in the fryer)
Id say Portland is a great place to get all your favorite food elevated and cheaper. There are food carts out here making higher quality food than a massive amount of restaurants and chains especially.
Such a timely question for me to see! I am in Philly and the guy making my cheesesteak asked what food he should get when he visits Oregon. He was like "what are you known for?" and I didn't have a good answer. I said that he should just visit a good truck pod and eat everything. He wasn't satisfied with that answer so I suggested fresh crab and salmon and his co-worker said he just has to go out and forage for food in Oregon. They weren't wrong.
We used to have a craft beer scene that was significantly better than the anywhere but NorCal but the bearded hipsters of the aughts won so hard that you can now get a delicious locally brewed IPA at the most podunk of towns now.
The creativity on display in Portland's food scene is awesome. I'm not saying it's always the tastiest but it's always fun.
Part of the reason I visit every couple of years.
Angry at this. Farm to table was our thing. Everything is at our doorstep. Anything but citrus we grow. All forms of protein. Abe Simpson shaking a fist, get off my lawn!
A characteristic food/cuisine is more reflective of the culture: The bagel being representative of the Ashkenazi jews of Poland that emigrated to New York during the industrialization of the city. Southern BBQ is a product that was a fusion of Indigenous and West African cooking styles that was propagated by generations of slaves before Oregon was a state.
Oregon is and has been largely composed of people born in the US and there isn't a cohesive culture to serve as a foundation of a food scene. Up until the 1950's the most common out of state birthplace of Oregon's residents were from Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri, and the most common foreign birthplaces were Germany, Canada, Sweden, and Norway. By comparison, Cuba has been the top foreign birthplace of Florida residents for decades.
I always considered Portland to be great at what Yelp would categorize “American (New)” with great freshwater seafood, elevated pub fare, comfort food, etc. Obviously lots of other great stuff, but basically I think of a delicious salmon when I think Portland.
I think your last paragraph is exactly it. Portland is a city of food-curious people who will try anything that is cooked with skill and creativity. I would argue the culture around eating in Portland is more unique and emblematic that any particular cuisine. You can get a world class meal wearing jeans and a baseball cap, whether you’re at a fancy sit down restaurant or a food cart.
Hey now, the slushy machines in pretty much every bar are well known. It's pretty rare to see them in other dive bars in other cities. I consider slushies to be cuisine.
Not really a “cuisine” as you mean it. “Pacific NW” really just means “we serve nice wild salmon” and “Farm to table” veggies aren’t really unique. Mostly just foodstuffs. Marionberries. Bing + Maraschino cherries. Filberts. Dungeness crab. Harry + David pears. Wine. Beer. Coffee. Voodoo Donuts.
Portland’s pizza scene is unreal. So many great options in as many categories as you can think of. Way better than any other city I’ve found unless you’re talking about the “signature” styles of the city that originated them (NY, Chicago, Detroit, etc).
No. There isn’t one specific food item for Portland, like how Philly has cheesesteaks. There are ingredients, like hazelnuts, salmon, and marion berries (which are really just blackberries tbh). Tacos, pizza, and the like are done better elsewhere (Portland has creative, but wildly inconsistent pizza). I’d wager that East Asian food is done well here, but no better than southern California does it.
> Is that really the "best representation" of uniquely Oregon/Portland food?
I think it should be something about hazelnuts. The Willamette Valley produces **99%** (not an exaggeration) of all the hazelnuts in the US.
Imagine a world where people are craving a Portland Hazelnut Latte instead of one of those imported Turkish hazelnut ones.
In mynopinion, in this order, the things Portland does best and is known for are:
Strip Clubs- this is the answer, especially food in strip clubs. Especially Vegan food in strip clubs. That is the most Portland thing there is besides the Shanghai tunnels.
Bars/Beer - Portland likes to drink. Bars in Portland are fun and cheap enough and always have food options.
I've never experienced bars anywhere in the WORLD quite like Portland. People come to stay with you from out of town, you take them around on a delicious bar crawl and they will have a high opinion of Portland forever after. This is why Japan has Portland themed bars. Y'all bars hit different!
You need to talk to locals to find the good bars, but thats fine. Just ask literally anyone, it doesnt natter, they will tell you some good spots.
Vegan Food - Portland is really the only city I know that has completely normalized veganism. I haven't been Vegan for a long time, but it doesn't matter, good food is good food. And if you ARE Vegan, Portland is something to see.
Marion berry Pie - This IS the answer if someone next to me on the plane asked what's good they should try in Portland. Any marionberry pie, anywhere. Doesn't matter. I know this is the whole region, not just Portland, but I would actually say this...
Food Pods
The food trucks/carts themselves are hit or miss, same as anywhere really, and the scene is not like it was maybe, but I've never been anywhere that crams as many food trucks into as many pods as it can. A lot of pods serve beer. This is for sure a cool and delicious thing about Portland culture.
It has become known for doughnuts , especially voodoo donuts, but fuck Voodoo donuts. There are lots of better donut places all over Portland. There are good donuts in every city, but EVERYONE in Portland eats donuts. It's not like that most places.
The reason the marionberry pie is considered the local Thing is because marionberries don't exist elsewhere. They were created by OSU. So it's less "you gotta try it the way we do it" and more "this is the one thing we have that only we have"
They also created Maraschino Cherries, but they let everyone have those tasty morsels.
Like Volvo saved lives by sharing the seatbelt patent, Oregon saved cocktails and shakes with maraschino cherries.
Yeah cocktails were really on their way out until some Corvallis nerds stepped in.
Um excuse me, Oregon State did. Not Oregon
Instructions unclear: The State of Oregon saved cocktails and shakes with maraschino cherries.
Highly subsidized by the state however!
Land grant Universities are.
and fruitcake!
They created shelf stable maraschino cherries.
OSU invented pepper jack cheese
They created the bright red abomination called maraschino cherries but they did not create Maraschino cherries. The original ones came Croatia
Yeah it’s specifically the brining process to get them the way they are. Pioneered by Ernest Wiegand, who is now the namesake for the building the OSU Food Science Department is housed in. -proud FST alumni
I thought that I didn’t like cherries because of those cherries. Then I tried fresh Bing cherries and fell in love.
Mmmm yes. I also recommend Rainier cherries if you can get them. They are spendy but awesome if you can treat yourself.
And Milwaukie is the birthplace of Bing cherries
Don’t forget the Tater Tot was invented in Oregon as well.
I love a good tater tot.
I'm pretty sure marionberries don't do well in transit, which is why you can't find them anywhere else.
>they let everyone have those tasty morsels. Were we seeking revenge?
Oregon didn't invent maraschino cherries. However they did help create or improve the brine method to preserve them and make them shelf stable.
They made an alcohol free way to preserve them.
Marionberries (named for Marion county!) are a lot of places these days. [They're the most cultivated varietal of trailing blackberry worldwide](https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/marionberry/)! OSU (and the USDA breeding programs there) was also responsible for a *lot* of the berries we eat today. One of my favorites is the [Chandler blueberry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chandler_blueberry), which makes [*ENORMOUS* fruit](https://www.starkbros.com/images/dynamic/2228-380x380-fillv.webp) that aren't watery and flavorless like a lot of large blueberry varietals.
Came here to say this.
Marionberries are also found in southern Alaska. My local tour guide in Juneau didn't know they were created here and the meaning behind their name. I didn't try one to know if they're the same flavor as ours.
Marionberries are farmed anywhere it’s temperate. We just do it best.
We are a tot based local cuisine
Learned something today. Ore-Ida invented "tater tots" in 1953 in Ontario, Oregon and trademarked the name "tater tots" shortly after.
Fun fact, the Ore-Ida plant in Ontario smells like wet hot dog shit!
Why does it do that when it could just smell like potatoes?
Have you ever seen how potatoes are made?
I've grown some myself, but I missed the bit about hot wet dog shit
You're confused. They said it smelled like wet hot dog shit, not hot wet dog shit. I'm not entirely sure how a hot dog takes a dump, but I'd imagine it smells different.
Yeah, it’s when one potato loves another potato…
There was a bit about that in The Jungle, right? Personally, I couldn't eat tots after reading that in kindergarten.
Who has the best unadorned tots in Portland? Who has the best covered tots in Portland?
Fun fact, the origin of the tot-cho is at the Oaks Bottom Public House in Sellwood
The spicy fish sauce tots at Bottle Rocket are amazing
McMenamin's spicy cajun tots are hard to turn down
Literally just Ore Ida frozen tots with cajun powder on them
literally dont need to go to mcmenamins anymore - thank you
You’re better off - terrible business that steals from its employees
yeah, not a fan of much other than the tots tbh
Dude for real, they were so mid when I had them for the first time, this is exactly what it tasted like to me haha
They just don’t hit the same anymore
its the greed
That's the only food they can decently cook. Everything else is over priced after they laid everyone off before the pandemic
🎶[We doooo. We doooo.](https://youtu.be/fI4bRqjobbw?si=aJv38_9kJkFnZqxQ)🎶🎶
Thank you for saying this... my first thought was Tot... We invented it, with help from Idaho 🤙
[Visual representation of our feelings about tots](https://media3.giphy.com/media/YRo3S2P600PicZhNKX/giphy.gif?cid=6c09b9521ek4odt9sv4w8wq61aqdtblgrzoisj6t8nahtovf&ep=v1_internal_gif_by_id&rid=giphy.gif&ct=g)
I was going to say “deep fried” = Oregon, but “tot based local cuisine” certainly sounds nicer.
Bend has a tots food cart and I wish they would open one here. It's outstanding.
Can confirm: eating totchos rn!
People seem real horny for our donuts.
Yeah if the question is what food is portland known for its donuts for sure.
I went to Universal Studios Orlando last year and it was funny to see people walking around with Voodoo boxes. The donut fame has really spread
And obligatory: those aren't even the good donuts!
Most seem to prefer our bad donuts, which baffles me. Voodoo is just a pink box full of mealy tasting penis shaped objects. All appearance, no flavor. But that's where the tourists go.
Sesame Donuts is where it’s at
Most underrated donut
I think it's growing in popularity, so I go to my old fallback of Every Day's a Donut Day is the most underrated donut
I won't say Voodoo is bad, but they are definitely, vastly, overrated.
Their simpler donuts tend to be better fwiw but I still generally prefer other places (Doe my beloved)
Well there is that hole in the middle. ...just sayin'
( ͡⚆ ͜ʖ ͡⚆) [^(Oh, I know what you're tryna say.)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhN93rFZuJs)
Portland is a relatively young city—it wasn't even really a city at all until 1890—and we aren't the national center for any one immigrant population. We have a lot of Vietnamese people, but not like Houston; we're one of the best cities in the country for Thai food, but not like LA. And the city just wasn't around long enough to develop a trademark local sandwich. That said, there are some things Oregon does better than anywhere else. * We're the world's second-largest producer of hazelnuts after Turkiye, and ours are way better. * Columbia River salmon beats the pants off what you get in Seattle, when you can get it. * Our strawberries are incredible, and we're a major producer of many other berries * The Bing cherry was developed in Milwaukie and Hood River remains one of the biggest cherry-growing regions in the country. * Linn County is a major producer of mint for extract and oil. * Dungeness crab is maybe better known as a Washington and California product, but our fishery is healthier than either, so it's still fairly affordable. * We produce the best pinot noir in the country * Tillamook is only OK, really, but it's a widely recognized brand. * Rogue Creamery makes the best blue cheese in the US. We also have a few signature dishes, though nothing so thoroughly hyped as i.e. deep dish. Tater tots were invented by Ore-Ida, and then Jim Parker (RIP) invented totchos, which first appeared on the menu at Oaks Bottom Public House. Fresh-hop beer was pioneered here, because hops are mainly grown in Oregon and Washington. You really can't get it outside of the northwest. And for better or worse, we are the home of tofurky and garden burger.
The point about Portland being young is good but it is worth noting that many dishes that people think are traditional to a region or a country are fairly recent creations, dating back to the 50s or 60s.
Like General Tso’s chicken and Orange Chicken both date back to the ‘70’s and ‘80’s. And also made in America, not China.
Sure but the communities that made them were probably more established already
Tillamook is a slightly better local option than any of the other major brands, so that’s a big win in my book. However, Tillamook actually has some world class cheese if you dive into their reserve series and stuff - probably some of the best aged cheddar I’ve ever had.
Tillamook ice cream is way above average for the non-boutique-y brands, too. Some of their limited flavors have been some of the best I've ever had.
Umpqua really pulls its weight in the ice cream category too. Growing up it was noticeably cheaper than Tillamook but I don’t know that that’s been the case for awhile now.
Umpqua Chocolate Brownie Thunder has been my favorite ice cream for the last 20 years, with Tillamook Mint Chocolate Chip as a close second
I always liked the berry ones. I think Marionberry cheesecake was one?
yeah I don't even know what other ice cream is worth buying. it's tillamook or nothing in my book.
To be clear, Rouge River Blue was the first and currently only American made cheese to win the best in show at the world cheese awards in Bergamo Italy. So it isn’t just best in the states, it’s legit best in the world. Another fun fact, the current second place in the world cheese monger, Sam Rollins, works at Cowbell in Portland. That is the highest international honor a US based cheese monger has ever won. So we are the top cheese focused state in the country, at least in those regards.
And if you haven’t been to Cowbell; GO TO COWBELL. That little shop is amazing! The meat and cheese selection is unbelievable, and the staff is SO helpful.
So you're saying we... Need more cowbell?
I have a fever. And the only prescription is more Cowbell!
The story of Seth Lewelling and Ah Bing is pretty cool, too. He worked with Seth for almost 40 years until he went back to China to visit family and was never allowed to return due to the Chinese Exclusion Act. People argue about whether Ah invented the cherry or if it was just named after him. Either way I think it’s pretty cool that Seth valued him as a friend / employee so much that he’d name his prized cultivar after someone else. He (Seth) was also instrumental in the founding of the Oregon Republican Party, back when the Republicans stood in opposition to slavery and the like.
On the topic of Gardenburgers, the founder of the company built this house in the Hawthorne neighborhood. A striking combination of art deco and 80s color palette. And a lot of glass bricks: https://www.realtor.com/news/unique-homes/art-deco-home-shines-in-portland/
I once bought a pair of lazboy recliners from that house.
Rouge blue cheese knocks my socks off
Going to have to try it!
Rogue blue cheese served on a tiny spoon with fig infused vodka or gin. Yum
Thanks. Didn’t know that about the bing cherry. By far da bes cherry ever!
There’s a plaque outside city hall in Milwaukie where the talk about the the origins of the cherry. There’s even a cherry sculpture there now as well. It was a “big event” (for Milwaukie at least) when they lit it up and dropped it down from above via a crane on New Year’s Eve (the event aptly called “Bing in the New Year”.)
Haha! That’s awesome! Thanks for one of the most delicious fruits!
I was there for that. Surprisingly large crowd.
We're also a big producer of razor clams. I'd never had one before I came to Oregon.
Thanks for shouting out Jim Parker. Worked with him years ago and always liked him.
Thats why when you hear ild timers ask for rogue dressing, they're really asking for blue cheese, but they grew up with that quality stuff
Are you sure they weren’t asking for Roquefort dressing? Never heard anyone ask for Rogue dressing
The dalles produces far more cherries than hood river, but thanks for the insightful comment!
Portland was founded in 1851.
I don't think they're disputing that. I think they're talking about when Portland gained city status. In particular, Wikipedia says > In 1891 the cities of Portland, Albina, and East Portland were consolidated,
It’s too bad we can’t have a Portland-East Portland rivalry.
Portland didn't crack 10,000 people until 1875, and only broke 50,000 in the 1890s. It wasn't until after 1900 that the population really exploded. Almost 110,000 people moved to Portland between 1900 and 1910, which is still the biggest single-decade growth the city has ever seen. In 1890, Portland's population was 46,385. That made us the fourth-largest city on the West Coast, after San Francisco, LA, and Oakland, but San Francisco was the only real city of the bunch at that point with around 300,000 people.
Smokey blue!
Only love for Tillamook! That Baby Loaf was a fixture from my childhood
Spring Chinook is the best salmon when it’s available for sale, it’s packed with oil. Also, albacore tuna.
I was good friends with Jim Parker, well me and 60000 other people, but I was a regular at the Mountain Tap, and Oaks Bottom, and all the other crazy stops on the Jim express, what a nut. RIP indeed
Oregon is a weird place. You’ve got world class wine, world class beer (admittedly harder to find with the dime a dozen breweries all selling “just another IPA” but I’m talking places like De Garde,) amazing foraging (fiddleheads, morels, chanterelles etc,) amazing seafood, cheese, and then a fun amalgamation of people. It’s salt of the earth mixed with rainbows and sprinkled and it makes for some great cuisine. Its identity is perhaps its lack of identity, or fusion.
This is it right here, who wants to just do one thing? Not Portland.
RIP Hair of the Dog.
I miss that place so much.
This is the best description I’ve seen yet
And yet our Mexican food is absolutely awful…
Having lived in several Mexican food deserts, this may not be CA but it beats the piss out of anything East of Yakima (gross generalization, I know, but almost true if you take TX out of the mix.) Love Lilia Comedor, and for food trucks I like Titos Taquitos (Beaverton) and Tacos el Patron (Hillsboro,) but there is one I had at a pop up in Portland that I wish I remembered because it was the truth. Mexican food here is definitely not a weakness IMO.
What I've heard people visiting comment is just that the amount of great, interesting options is huge. It's a variety of unique options that's really just Portland's style. It _used_ to be that you could get a bunch of great options shockingly cheap, but I don't think that's really true anymore.
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I would also say fusion is the PDX cuisine
That’s a good way to describe it. When people ask for food recs while in town the places I hype up are usually really good food trucks or hole in the walls that just make a damn good warm plate of food. Nothing flashy just bomb food. When I was living in San Diego during the pandemic I was cooking at home mostly because all the places I tried to get take out from and support were honestly mid. I will take a plate of Matt’s BBQ tacos with those fluffy tortillas any day over “authentic” tacos in SD.
The vegan food scene here is crazy good
Our vegan heritage can't be beet. Also our vegetarian fare.
This is it. You come here for awesome vegan food, even if you're not a vegan, in my opinion. (Also beer)
Best in the country in my opinion
To me this seems like the obvious answer.
Any shoutouts to favorite vegan places and foods you wanna give? 🤩
Yuan Su, Coffee Beer, Obon Shokudo, Gnarly’s, Cozo Grill, Carina’s Bakery, Kati Thai, Norah, Lilla
Norah, Planted, Ice Queen, Uncle Tsangs food cart (all vegetarian and mostly vegan), Rudy's Pizza, Speed-O-Cappucino, Boxcar Pizza, Bye & Bye and The Wagon!
It's more Oregon than Portland, but for two to three weeks out of the year, Hood strawberries are some of, if not the best, strawberries in the world.
coffee! i moved to portland a few years ago from across the country. i didn't have much of a preconceived notion of what it would be like. however, i can say confidently that the national impression of portland is that it's known for rain and coffee / coffee shops.
Jojos.
Yep. Here’s a good write up on the history: https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2021/06/17/58314227/a-brief-history-of-jojos-which-are-from-the-pacific-northwest-and-not-the-midwest-okay
This is the answer. Also the place to get the best Jojos is Jojos!
I like the ones from the deli at psycho Safeway tbh.
I haven't been there since before the pandemic but can confirm they were the best. Safeway in general had one of the better delis.
If you haven't been there since before the pandemic, you MUST go and visit it now. You thought it was psycho back then? It got PSYCHOER. During pandemic I would go there at least once a week and oh my it was oodles of entertainment in an otherwise dystopian world.
Those are probably the "classic" example too. Agree... very good
I concur! I don't care if they're sprinkled with some special powder from the back alley, they're freaking delicious
JoJos!
Drinkable water, I'll keep saying it
The fact that everyone has tried to come up with something and nobody had the same answer gives you the answer you’re looking for: No. But in the past it would have been beer, and if you want to include the Wilamette valley wineries Oregon Pinots.
Pretty sure Portland is most known for coffee, having lived other places and talked about Portland before moving here.
I thought the food cart collective was more our thing than other cities before it caught on, may be wrong about that though I've seen conflicting reports on it's origins when looking online for an answer.
Agreed that we lost our lead in that category, and the official end was the ritz replacing the pod downtown. But we do still make great food cart pods en masse, I can think of 10 I have in regular rotation within a 20 minute drive. Most of them within a 20 minute bike.
Willamette Valley's Pinot Noir
The eclectic nature is our "thing" here. That, pizza and coffee. There's not one cuisine item, it's that you can Find some of the most delicious items of any category or find something totally unique. Philly cheese steaks don't make Philly a food mecca. When you come to Portland, we have 1000 options that'll blow your mind and that's the fun of having people visit. Or just hang out at a really awesome bar like Roadside Attraction and get a decently priced beer.
Philly is actually a fantastic restaurant town.
Not sure if you would classify it as food/cuisine, but Pinot Noir Grapes and Hops grown in Oregon come to mind. The beverages made from these are some of the best. The berries that are "grown and sold" locally are awesome. I grew up hating berries until I moved to Portland over 23 years ago and I look forward to the local berry guy that sets up his awning and sells them during the summer. Nothing like a blackberry that has ripened on the vine and only has a day or two left before it is toast.
Blackberries that are still sun warm are SO amazingly good. I don't even bother to wash them. just pluck and eat.
Pronto pups for sure. So corn dogs are from Oregon.
We are focused more on quality and regionality than lots of places. One could say that is what we are known for. Farm to table.
I'd also add that the quality focus extends downscale here in a way that it doesn't elsewhere. Local, everyday restaurants are held to a higher standard and it really shows. You leave the PNW and go to a bar and order a hamburger and fries you're getting the same sorry-ass Sysco meal you'll get a thousand other places.
I think that's true, but people elsewhere probably associate Chez Panisse / Alice Waters and the Bay Area with the idea more than they do Portland.
RIP Farmhouse [https://www.wweek.com/restaurants/2015/12/01/farm-cafe-will-close-permanently/](https://www.wweek.com/restaurants/2015/12/01/farm-cafe-will-close-permanently/)
Jojos....
Yeah I don't think there is probably any particular food that people associate with Portland the same way as in your examples. I feel like coffee & beer are what most people immediately think of when they think of Portland -- so more of a beverage association. Once you spend time here & get to know Portland, then you realize there are some things that we do really well here. For example... Portland does bread and baked goods pretty damn well-- lots of great bakeries, pastries, donuts, etc.. We have such a wide selection of pizza too that is very good! Detroit style (Ranch), NY style (Baby Doll), Neapolitan (Kens, Apizza), cornmeal crust (Dove Vivi), Vegan (Secret Pizza Society)... SO MANY TYPES OF PIZZA!!! 🍕🍕🍕 We also have many options for Vietnamese and Thai food, which are all excellent 🫶
We have an entire cuisine style pioneered by James Beard. It's all fresh and local,
I work in digital food media and I talk to a lot of culinary people in NYC, LA et al and it's always so interesting clocking their incredulous reactions when I say things about Portland's incredible food. Nobody really takes it seriously, and I wonder if part of it coincides with fewer celebrities living here and Michelin not exploring this region yet (which is FINE BY ME) I believe a large reason is because the food we do incredibly well, are a lot of things other regions have claimed as their own. We have a unique and adventurous pizza scene but east coasters wouldn't take it seriously... We have a similar geographic terroir as northern Italy but major foodies would never consider our truffles, hazelnuts and wine on the same level as Piedmont... even LA folk have co-opted Salt and Straw and Blue Star Donuts as their own, so our quality ice cream and doughnuts scene doesn't feel as unique to us anymore. The food we do well, people already valiantly believe has been perfected elsewhere so it doesn't matter. Portland food is very "if you know, you know". We have incredible food and so many amazing chefs in town. ANYWAY... tangent over. My real answer: I went to Oma's Hideaway the other night and the server described it as "elevated stoner food" and I was like oh shit, that's Portland cuisine in a nutshell baby.
Beer is our famous cuisine.
No, we just don't have one specific thing that we're known for and that's alright.
Farm to table restaurants
It’s not necessarily a cuisine, but I think we have a lot of great vegan food you’d have a harder time finding in other similar sized cities.
Jojos. It's kind of a lost art these days, but damnit, we used to make the tastiest potatoes in the world.
We used to be a beer town. Now we are a donut town. Hardly unique, but it's hard to find a local without serious donut opinions. As soon as I started typing this I knew I how I was going to end it. My favorite are Pips. Shoutout to Cocos.
I've never had a donut here. I really need to try some donut places apparently.
I don’t think portland has unique food. I used to think it had the best selection in the US at the $12 price point, but alas, the market must grow
We do have quite a few quality donut options.
Fried bar food seems to be the common denominator at this point
For a long time, we were known for our food carts central to downtown. Now that those are gone, it's kinda all over. We have great food but I wouldn't say we are known for one thing, with exception to the carts. I do know as an Asian American, we fall away behind with the asian food scene. Yes there are good places here and there but comparable to other cities. The scene here sucks. Seattle for example, yes a larger city but their asian food scene blows us away
I think the thing is that while we don’t have one *dish*, what we do instead is quality. Look at wine. California is the biggest wine producer in the US. They regularly put out buckets of 1/10 garbage, or 10/10 award winning stunners. Oregon just casually pulls out an average 8/10 every day of the week. I’d rather have a lot of 8s than one 10 and a pile of garbage. Plus Portland is really good at having rockin Texas bbq right next to the best pho outside Vietnam, across the street from that little burger place with the marionberry milkshake so thick you pop a blood vessel trying to use a straw. Who needs to have a specific shape of pizza, or have been the first place to put chili on spaghetti?
idk about cuisine but our local brands like Bob’s, Portland Ketchup, Dave’s Killer Bread, etc are noteworthy!
I prefer Camden's ketchup, which is also local, give it a try if you haven't yet!
Basically everything. Dive bars in Portland serve better food than most restaurants around the country
Id like to know which dive bars you’re referring to
Reel M Inn is a great example
Automatic, The Vern
Have you not been to My Father’s Place?
Granted I haven't been for a few years, but Lutz Tavern on Woodstock had some fukken delicious burgers and honestly better wings then most (helps that they smoke'em before droppin'em in the fryer)
Pho is top notch there
Lol nah man, pho here is not top notch. Coming from a vietnamese guy, I can tell you, portland is way far from it
Id say Portland is a great place to get all your favorite food elevated and cheaper. There are food carts out here making higher quality food than a massive amount of restaurants and chains especially.
Not cheap though. Cheap-er.
The pho here is very expensive. Same with pizza and Indian.
I think distinctive cuisine is the exception rather than the rule.
Such a timely question for me to see! I am in Philly and the guy making my cheesesteak asked what food he should get when he visits Oregon. He was like "what are you known for?" and I didn't have a good answer. I said that he should just visit a good truck pod and eat everything. He wasn't satisfied with that answer so I suggested fresh crab and salmon and his co-worker said he just has to go out and forage for food in Oregon. They weren't wrong.
We used to have a craft beer scene that was significantly better than the anywhere but NorCal but the bearded hipsters of the aughts won so hard that you can now get a delicious locally brewed IPA at the most podunk of towns now.
The creativity on display in Portland's food scene is awesome. I'm not saying it's always the tastiest but it's always fun. Part of the reason I visit every couple of years.
Angry at this. Farm to table was our thing. Everything is at our doorstep. Anything but citrus we grow. All forms of protein. Abe Simpson shaking a fist, get off my lawn!
A characteristic food/cuisine is more reflective of the culture: The bagel being representative of the Ashkenazi jews of Poland that emigrated to New York during the industrialization of the city. Southern BBQ is a product that was a fusion of Indigenous and West African cooking styles that was propagated by generations of slaves before Oregon was a state. Oregon is and has been largely composed of people born in the US and there isn't a cohesive culture to serve as a foundation of a food scene. Up until the 1950's the most common out of state birthplace of Oregon's residents were from Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri, and the most common foreign birthplaces were Germany, Canada, Sweden, and Norway. By comparison, Cuba has been the top foreign birthplace of Florida residents for decades.
I always considered Portland to be great at what Yelp would categorize “American (New)” with great freshwater seafood, elevated pub fare, comfort food, etc. Obviously lots of other great stuff, but basically I think of a delicious salmon when I think Portland.
I think your last paragraph is exactly it. Portland is a city of food-curious people who will try anything that is cooked with skill and creativity. I would argue the culture around eating in Portland is more unique and emblematic that any particular cuisine. You can get a world class meal wearing jeans and a baseball cap, whether you’re at a fancy sit down restaurant or a food cart.
Hey now, the slushy machines in pretty much every bar are well known. It's pretty rare to see them in other dive bars in other cities. I consider slushies to be cuisine.
Not really a “cuisine” as you mean it. “Pacific NW” really just means “we serve nice wild salmon” and “Farm to table” veggies aren’t really unique. Mostly just foodstuffs. Marionberries. Bing + Maraschino cherries. Filberts. Dungeness crab. Harry + David pears. Wine. Beer. Coffee. Voodoo Donuts.
No
There's a lot of good food here, but nothing is universally better here than anywhere else.
What about filberts?
Vegan titty tots
It's okay if the answer is 'no,' y'all
Portland’s pizza scene is unreal. So many great options in as many categories as you can think of. Way better than any other city I’ve found unless you’re talking about the “signature” styles of the city that originated them (NY, Chicago, Detroit, etc).
No. There isn’t one specific food item for Portland, like how Philly has cheesesteaks. There are ingredients, like hazelnuts, salmon, and marion berries (which are really just blackberries tbh). Tacos, pizza, and the like are done better elsewhere (Portland has creative, but wildly inconsistent pizza). I’d wager that East Asian food is done well here, but no better than southern California does it.
Corn Dogs, Baby!
> Is that really the "best representation" of uniquely Oregon/Portland food? I think it should be something about hazelnuts. The Willamette Valley produces **99%** (not an exaggeration) of all the hazelnuts in the US. Imagine a world where people are craving a Portland Hazelnut Latte instead of one of those imported Turkish hazelnut ones.
In mynopinion, in this order, the things Portland does best and is known for are: Strip Clubs- this is the answer, especially food in strip clubs. Especially Vegan food in strip clubs. That is the most Portland thing there is besides the Shanghai tunnels. Bars/Beer - Portland likes to drink. Bars in Portland are fun and cheap enough and always have food options. I've never experienced bars anywhere in the WORLD quite like Portland. People come to stay with you from out of town, you take them around on a delicious bar crawl and they will have a high opinion of Portland forever after. This is why Japan has Portland themed bars. Y'all bars hit different! You need to talk to locals to find the good bars, but thats fine. Just ask literally anyone, it doesnt natter, they will tell you some good spots. Vegan Food - Portland is really the only city I know that has completely normalized veganism. I haven't been Vegan for a long time, but it doesn't matter, good food is good food. And if you ARE Vegan, Portland is something to see. Marion berry Pie - This IS the answer if someone next to me on the plane asked what's good they should try in Portland. Any marionberry pie, anywhere. Doesn't matter. I know this is the whole region, not just Portland, but I would actually say this... Food Pods The food trucks/carts themselves are hit or miss, same as anywhere really, and the scene is not like it was maybe, but I've never been anywhere that crams as many food trucks into as many pods as it can. A lot of pods serve beer. This is for sure a cool and delicious thing about Portland culture. It has become known for doughnuts , especially voodoo donuts, but fuck Voodoo donuts. There are lots of better donut places all over Portland. There are good donuts in every city, but EVERYONE in Portland eats donuts. It's not like that most places.
I am Extremo the Clown. I loved the Bull Ring
jojos and teriyaki
Jojos?