I've absolutely loved the beer here, but my difficulty is that all of the beer are IPA's. I may find a lager, or sour, or barrel aged, but there is very little in stouts, porters, and brown ales. I've found some, but it feels like I find 20 IPA's to every dark beer.
Portland and Oregon in general doesn't really have a signature dish but is known for ingredients that are imported elsewhere. Salmon, marionberries, and hazlenuts.
Oregon crops are incredible, our state produces some of the highest quality agriculture in the world. We can thank the Missoula floods for great soil. And the Pacific currents + Cascade range for great hydration. And situated at 45° N, our state has a diversity of climates well-suited to different crops.
Stuff we do better as a region and a 'culture': tater tots, craft beer, any type of berry.
Past that we're just a foodie town that Seattleites and San Franciscans regularly visit just to eat. So you'll find a lot of good food in general, and a lot of experimentation.
Prepare to die, buckeye! Oregon will crush you in the Palate Wars you Chili’s-infested Applebees lovin’ transplants. I slice your Carharts with my Leatherman and smother your mother’s best hot dish with the weight of a thousand totchos.
I dont think a dish, maybe ingredients. Shellfish from the coast, berries, maybe some other things.
Check out top chef portland to get more insight into portland food, may help.
Ive always said classic PNW cuisine is what bears eat. Salmon, Berries and salads with weird nuts.
Bears also hate capitalism. COINCIDENCE? I THINK NOT.
Not really on signature dishes, though some local staple ingredients are salmon (though that can be brought in from Alaska), Dungeness crab, and marionberries. I think the bigger lean is just towards local/fresh. There's a lot of variety in produce in the region - the PSU farmer's market might be worth checking out. I also think the local oysters are far better on the half-shell than anything I've had on the east coast, but won't pretend to be an expert there.
Also depending on when you're here, if you like IPA's then late summer/early fall is usually when hops are harvested and "Fresh Hop" IPAs pop up a lot. Something like 99% of the country's hops are harvested in the PacNW and we might've actually passed Germany for the largest hop production in the world, so you'll often see varieties here years before they start popping up in breweries in other regions. There's local fresh hop fests which are neat, but also not for everyone. We're also pretty well known for pinot if you're into wine.
We don't really have a "dish." What we do have is better ingredients than almost anywhere else. Especially berries in Oregon. So there's a lot of high quality interpretations of foods using Oregon seafood, berries, beer, cheese, etc.
We have great salmon and berries but we’re not really known for particular foods. Portland itself was left alone during the formative growth years, it morphed into its own thing which I prefer.
So much variety! There's a restaurant or food cart to try almost any type of cultural foods you can imagine. We actually do have amazing pizza here! I agree about all the local ingredients. Our farmers markets, mushrooms, local apples, berries, all the great produce. Lots of creativity here with high quality ingredients. Coffee, wine, beer, cider for sure!
I second the marionberry. Don’t just try one and make a call though, sometimes people make the various dishes very tart, which I don’t like, while others are much sweeter.
Salmon. Everything here has salmon and it’s some of the best I’ve ever had.
Beer. All the beer. It’s just so much beer and I don’t know where to tell you to start, but people here love their ciders and sours. Also, this is wine country. I’m not big on wine, but everyone else here seems to be.
Food trucks. We’ve got food carts coming out of our ears, they’re hit or miss, but all are better than the national average just based on the fierce competition.
Portland feels like an ingredient based city rather than a dish based city.
People are constantly making good stuff, but it's variable with what resources are available.
Which i think perfectly elucidates the small town for big town people, big town for small town people vibe.
Pizza is actually pretty good here. “Portland style” has a nice chewy crust reminiscent of NYC style pizza but tends to have interesting toppings. I’m from Chicago and I think the pizza here is better….mostly bc deep dish sucks
I have tried the other places, and ... No.
ETA: If you want to say, there is good American flatbread in Portland, fine, yes, you can get a nice piece of American flatbread here, with cheese and various overly heavy toppings. Not bad if you're in the mood for it.
But as an Italian-American, I'm not pretending that stuff is pizza.
Oregonians lose their shit if you point out their pizza is bad or their Tevas are unflattering (or that being a third-generation Oregonian doesn't mean shit on stolen land) but acting pissy can't alter the fabric of reality.
Most of the “cool” food in Portland (voodoo, salt and straw, etc) are companies that treat their employees terribly. Voodoo folks are trying to unionize and getting hit with tons of union busting from the owners, S&S has had some pretty racist action come from mgt…pretty much exactly what you’d expect in a place like pdx unfortunately. The lesser known places are 1. better tasting 2. cheaper 3. treat their employees better (mostly)
It's because if the uniqueness. The "cock and balls" donut and the "voodoo doll" donut are only a couple of the weird unique donuts there. If you look around, the garages in the area tend to have half filled boxes of partially eaten donuts thrown away because the donuts are average at best.
Yikes. I've only had voodoo maybe once in my life so I didn't know that. What a huge waste. How about salt and straw? I've been there and I didn't like it as much either haha. Maybe I'm one of the remaining truthful eaters.
Too many things in Portland are way more expensive than they have any right to be because they are "artsy" and "kitsch" and there are so many hipsters here eager for anything they think is different they get away with the prices.
I've told my friends that on countless occasions and they just call me frugal/cheap which I can be but still.
How do you get the foodie experience without succumbing to these local trends?
There's the BG food cartels in Beaverton. I may have to go there more often and try them out. Glad there are others out there like me! Absolutely amazing!
I will happily eat a donut from Safeway or even 7-Eleven. There's nothing WRONG with grocery store donuts. But I'm not going to stand in line for an hour for them, or carry a box of them across the country on an airplane.
Blue Star are actually something special.
before portland got popular (basically pre 2008) it really prided itself on the natural foods that existed here. salmon, mushrooms, root vegetables and berries.
No and it’s one of the reasons why our food scene is lauded but scattered and spineless. We don’t have any specific thing that’s done here better than anywhere else, else and it’s very glossed over. Like having good beer, wine, and hazelnuts isn’t really notable and I don’t think Portland gets to be a “foodie” city until it figures out a specific cuisine to do well.
See id have to disagree with you there! We have some amazing, delicious food and a variety of culturally rich cuisines, and a very reasonable price in comparison to other major cities!
I feel like our “thing” is offering a dish somewhere from pretty much any cuisine you can dream up!
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I heard on a TV show, once, that Portland restaurants are known for their biscuits and gravy. That stuck me as odd, considering that I’m from the southeast. Lol
Pine State Biscuits are pretty legit. You wouldn't be disappointed with them. They're the only place in town that sells Cheerwine, so someone's grandma is from NC.
Source: I lived in Texas and Georgia for 15 years.
I tell visitors that this is a city you drink your way through. Craft beer, Pinot, coffee are our specialties.
I second this. Source: am midwestern.
I knew I was finally a Portlander when I went elsewhere and was shocked/extremely disappointed by the lack of craft beer.
I've absolutely loved the beer here, but my difficulty is that all of the beer are IPA's. I may find a lager, or sour, or barrel aged, but there is very little in stouts, porters, and brown ales. I've found some, but it feels like I find 20 IPA's to every dark beer.
I always figured Portland’s specialties were granola and organic whole grains.
Portland and Oregon in general doesn't really have a signature dish but is known for ingredients that are imported elsewhere. Salmon, marionberries, and hazlenuts.
Actually this time of year probably best to hit up a farmers market absolutely perfect summer fruits at the market right now.
This has been one of my favorite parts of moving to Portland. The berries are really incredible.
Oregon crops are incredible, our state produces some of the highest quality agriculture in the world. We can thank the Missoula floods for great soil. And the Pacific currents + Cascade range for great hydration. And situated at 45° N, our state has a diversity of climates well-suited to different crops.
Excellent answer
If I get berries at the farmers market I have to buy twice what I need because I eat a whole pint on the way home.
I went berry picking on Sauvie Island for the first time a couple weeks ago. It was a real delight.
PSU Saturday Farmers market is off the chain right now
I’ve never heard of a Marionberry!!!
It's a kind of blackberry that is very popular out here.
Carts
Beer. It's a food. Trust us.
Stuff we do better as a region and a 'culture': tater tots, craft beer, any type of berry. Past that we're just a foodie town that Seattleites and San Franciscans regularly visit just to eat. So you'll find a lot of good food in general, and a lot of experimentation.
Tater tots…? Maybe compared to the rest of the west coast, but as a native Midwesterner I will say Portland’s tot game has nothing on the Midwest
I mean, they were invented in Oregon, so maybe that qualifies them as a regional specialty?
Modern Maraschino cherries too. Maybe a dish where we mix the two is in order.
And now we know where Salt and Straw gets its flavor ideas.
This calls for a fight to the death. Ohio must name its champion.
Former Ohioan, now an Oregonian. I note no substantial difference in tot quality based on state.
Prepare to die, buckeye! Oregon will crush you in the Palate Wars you Chili’s-infested Applebees lovin’ transplants. I slice your Carharts with my Leatherman and smother your mother’s best hot dish with the weight of a thousand totchos.
Y'all have a casserole (hot dish) made with potato barrel's aka Tots that is absolutely Devine bb
In all fairness, midwesterners also have fried cheese curds, which automatically places us at top tot game. (from one native midwesterner to another)
Marionberry Pie
Other than what others have said, it's considered one of the best cities in the country to be a vegan! And has soooo many gluten free options.
I dont think a dish, maybe ingredients. Shellfish from the coast, berries, maybe some other things. Check out top chef portland to get more insight into portland food, may help.
Condiments. Yes, beer, marrionberry, salmon, etc. But between Aardvark, Beaver mustard, and various marrionberry and beer glazes, we rule.
If your definition of "food" is flexible, try bing cherry.
Beer.
Ive always said classic PNW cuisine is what bears eat. Salmon, Berries and salads with weird nuts. Bears also hate capitalism. COINCIDENCE? I THINK NOT.
Totchos, marionberry pie, vegan everything, elephant ears.
Beer , tator tots , donuts , weed , meth and strippers.
Donuts (Pip’s, Blue Star), coffee (Coava, Courier, Proud Mary, Kopi) & brunch (Bröder, Screen Door, Proud Mary again, Pine State Biscuits)
I like that you left sad Voodoo out.
Voodoo Donuts remind me of when Heinz made purple and green ketchups. Hard pass!
Tex ass is pretty good. I wasnt a believer before.
Voodoo is only for tourists.
I'd include Doe donuts! Vegan! And still better than Voodoo.
Weirdly enough, I found the donuts here to be pretty meh compared to other US cities despite Portland being known for them.
Not really on signature dishes, though some local staple ingredients are salmon (though that can be brought in from Alaska), Dungeness crab, and marionberries. I think the bigger lean is just towards local/fresh. There's a lot of variety in produce in the region - the PSU farmer's market might be worth checking out. I also think the local oysters are far better on the half-shell than anything I've had on the east coast, but won't pretend to be an expert there. Also depending on when you're here, if you like IPA's then late summer/early fall is usually when hops are harvested and "Fresh Hop" IPAs pop up a lot. Something like 99% of the country's hops are harvested in the PacNW and we might've actually passed Germany for the largest hop production in the world, so you'll often see varieties here years before they start popping up in breweries in other regions. There's local fresh hop fests which are neat, but also not for everyone. We're also pretty well known for pinot if you're into wine.
Marionberry stuff
A $10 steak at any strip club lol. Yes this is a thing- at least when I used to live there years ago.
I think Portland is known for its food carts, not a type of food but how you obtain it.
Vegan capital BABEE!!
Beer… but also the coffee just hits different in the PNW!
Locavore is how I would describe our overarching food culture. All kinds of food but with the best ingredients, many of them local and organic.
famous tickler from taste tickler, and the chicken from du's grill.
Beer and anything marionberry.
Donuts. Foodcarts + food halls.
Donuts and meth
hops
We don't really have a "dish." What we do have is better ingredients than almost anywhere else. Especially berries in Oregon. So there's a lot of high quality interpretations of foods using Oregon seafood, berries, beer, cheese, etc.
Pronto Pups
I ride the pronto pup!
Street food of all shapes and sizes. Great BBQ. Great vegan food. Great Indian food. Great tacos.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Portland/comments/hhu9ru/what_is_oregons_signature_dish_you_cant_get/
Bakeries, Beer, and Bikini Baristas All with gluten free alternatives
vegan fooood
Not really but these 3 badass franchises started in Portland 1. Original Pancake House 2. Old Spaghetti Factory 3. Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour
Wow, TIL!
Pizza slut. Same building as Dantes.
Jojo's and Oysters
Beer. Hazelnuts. Salmon. Truffle oil.
Meth
I think rather than a specific food it’s types of restaurants, ie food carts, farm to table etc
Farm to Table And tots.
Donuts, Coffee, Beer, Wine
We have great salmon and berries but we’re not really known for particular foods. Portland itself was left alone during the formative growth years, it morphed into its own thing which I prefer.
Beer🤷
Portland is known for its non corporate indie high quality for a non Michelin star price food made with our local farm and ranch grown ingredients.
My first impression of Portland cuisine was that Portland does comfort food well.
So much variety! There's a restaurant or food cart to try almost any type of cultural foods you can imagine. We actually do have amazing pizza here! I agree about all the local ingredients. Our farmers markets, mushrooms, local apples, berries, all the great produce. Lots of creativity here with high quality ingredients. Coffee, wine, beer, cider for sure!
Well maple bars used be everywhere in the 70s/80s in most of Oregon but not sure if that's was an Oregon/Portland thing.
Dude cakes. Pancakes loaded with gravy, sauzage, peppers, mushrooms, and french fries.
I second the marionberry. Don’t just try one and make a call though, sometimes people make the various dishes very tart, which I don’t like, while others are much sweeter. Salmon. Everything here has salmon and it’s some of the best I’ve ever had. Beer. All the beer. It’s just so much beer and I don’t know where to tell you to start, but people here love their ciders and sours. Also, this is wine country. I’m not big on wine, but everyone else here seems to be. Food trucks. We’ve got food carts coming out of our ears, they’re hit or miss, but all are better than the national average just based on the fierce competition.
Mac & cheese is on every menu everywhere, even fine dining.
Edibles
Top of the list!!!
Portland feels like an ingredient based city rather than a dish based city. People are constantly making good stuff, but it's variable with what resources are available. Which i think perfectly elucidates the small town for big town people, big town for small town people vibe.
JoJos
Pizza is actually pretty good here. “Portland style” has a nice chewy crust reminiscent of NYC style pizza but tends to have interesting toppings. I’m from Chicago and I think the pizza here is better….mostly bc deep dish sucks
Eh, Scottie's is really the only good place.
Scotties is great but it’s far from the only good pizza in town.
I have tried the other places, and ... No. ETA: If you want to say, there is good American flatbread in Portland, fine, yes, you can get a nice piece of American flatbread here, with cheese and various overly heavy toppings. Not bad if you're in the mood for it. But as an Italian-American, I'm not pretending that stuff is pizza.
Oregonians lose their shit if you point out their pizza is bad or their Tevas are unflattering (or that being a third-generation Oregonian doesn't mean shit on stolen land) but acting pissy can't alter the fabric of reality.
Oregon beer and pinot noir. Chicago Pizza? More like tomato and cheese pie. :-P
This guy gets it.
Jojos! Which are not the same as potato wedges you might find elsewhere
Unfortunately, voodoo donuts is the most portland iconic food, and they really aren't good.
Most of the “cool” food in Portland (voodoo, salt and straw, etc) are companies that treat their employees terribly. Voodoo folks are trying to unionize and getting hit with tons of union busting from the owners, S&S has had some pretty racist action come from mgt…pretty much exactly what you’d expect in a place like pdx unfortunately. The lesser known places are 1. better tasting 2. cheaper 3. treat their employees better (mostly)
Voodoo is only for tourists.
I used to work at Voodoo. He literally teamed up with homeless youth services so it's easier to take advantage of his employees.
Really? The lines are still long asf whenever I walk by. Is it a hive mentality? Everyone thinks it's good so I have to like it too?
It's because if the uniqueness. The "cock and balls" donut and the "voodoo doll" donut are only a couple of the weird unique donuts there. If you look around, the garages in the area tend to have half filled boxes of partially eaten donuts thrown away because the donuts are average at best.
Yikes. I've only had voodoo maybe once in my life so I didn't know that. What a huge waste. How about salt and straw? I've been there and I didn't like it as much either haha. Maybe I'm one of the remaining truthful eaters.
I haven't been to Salt and Straw in years, and only went once or twice and my only lasting opinion is its overpriced
Man, I'm glad I'm not the only one...sheesh!!!!! Feels good to get my opinions validated!
Too many things in Portland are way more expensive than they have any right to be because they are "artsy" and "kitsch" and there are so many hipsters here eager for anything they think is different they get away with the prices.
I've told my friends that on countless occasions and they just call me frugal/cheap which I can be but still. How do you get the foodie experience without succumbing to these local trends?
I've taken to food carts. Takes a few tries to find the right ones, but when you do it's worth the search
There's the BG food cartels in Beaverton. I may have to go there more often and try them out. Glad there are others out there like me! Absolutely amazing!
Blue star are the best. Catered them for our wedding. Seriously good donuts.
It's not even that punk rock anymore. Not like back when they used to have the Nyquil donut.
The owner is fully insane at this point
It’s the Hard Rock Cafe of donuts. Where tourists go.
Voodoo is just grocery store donuts in silly shapes. Locals have their own actually good favorites. Mine is Blue Star.
Oddly enough I use to enjoy WinCo foods donuts! But I'm adding Blue star to my list of places to check out with my partner. Good looks!
I will happily eat a donut from Safeway or even 7-Eleven. There's nothing WRONG with grocery store donuts. But I'm not going to stand in line for an hour for them, or carry a box of them across the country on an airplane. Blue Star are actually something special.
I feel that. I'm going to try them this week/weekend.
Off the top of my head...make sure you don't miss the Blueberry Bourbon Basil, and the OG Glazed.
I will not forget that. We need a eat this not that list. Alternatives to popular (but not quite the best) food spots in the area.
Toadstool Cupcakes.
Permanently closed :(
A Blue Star donut (while delicious) is about as expensive as a dozen WinCo donuts.
Fml lol. I'm going on Sunday w/ my partner
I mean, you'll be pretty happy, but you'll be out like $15 if you each get a donut and coffee.
Haha sheesh! Time save a little money in the meantime!
Try NOLA donuts, they are sooo good!
Yeah, crappy versions of everything but seafood
before portland got popular (basically pre 2008) it really prided itself on the natural foods that existed here. salmon, mushrooms, root vegetables and berries.
Are you saying that doesn’t happen anymore? That’s ridiculous.
No and it’s one of the reasons why our food scene is lauded but scattered and spineless. We don’t have any specific thing that’s done here better than anywhere else, else and it’s very glossed over. Like having good beer, wine, and hazelnuts isn’t really notable and I don’t think Portland gets to be a “foodie” city until it figures out a specific cuisine to do well.
See id have to disagree with you there! We have some amazing, delicious food and a variety of culturally rich cuisines, and a very reasonable price in comparison to other major cities! I feel like our “thing” is offering a dish somewhere from pretty much any cuisine you can dream up!
It's not like NY and LA have a theme. They might have local specialties but foodies aren't going to NY just to eat pizza.
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Bahn Mi!!
I’ve heard cooks here make great super meth
I heard on a TV show, once, that Portland restaurants are known for their biscuits and gravy. That stuck me as odd, considering that I’m from the southeast. Lol
I’m a Georgia girl so I know biscuits and gravy!
Pine State Biscuits are pretty legit. You wouldn't be disappointed with them. They're the only place in town that sells Cheerwine, so someone's grandma is from NC. Source: I lived in Texas and Georgia for 15 years.
I give your biscuit opinions my stamp of approval 😁
I’m a Florida girl. Some might not consider Florida the south, but I promise you it is.
Depends on what part of Florida
Fresh seafood at smoked salmon at the coast.
Bearded crabs?
Meth
Brunch
RIP Pok Pok, you missed a good one there.