SE Hawthorne and Belmont run parallel through the Buckman and Sunnyside neighbourhoods. Cartopia pod, Apizza Scholls, the dive bars with fried chicken.
Bonnie Morales's Russian and Georgian room in southeast Portland, with infused vodkas, pelmeni dumplings and the city's most authoritative zakuski spread.
Signature: Pelmeni, Khachapuri
Order: The Siberian pelmeni with brown butter and vinegar
Tip: Lunch is counter service and walk-in only. Dinner takes reservations and the vodka flights are mandatory.
Portland's first salumeria, now a refined European bistro in the Central Eastside with house-cured charcuterie and a long pastry bar at the front.
Signature: Charcuterie board, Choucroute royale
Order: The chef's charcuterie board with house-baked rye
Tip: Choucroute royale is on the menu year-round but tastes right in winter. Brunch on weekends from 10:00.
Nong Poonsukwattana's Thai chicken-and-rice counter in southeast Portland, started as a 2009 food cart and now the canonical khao man gai in town.
Signature: Khao man gai, Pandan chicken
Order: Khao man gai with the house ginger-soy sauce
Tip: Two locations: SE Ankeny is the original cart-turned-shop. SW 13th Ave is the downtown counter.
The Belmont outpost of Earl Ninsom's Southern Thai chicken concept in Portland, with rice-flour fried chicken, khao soi and walk-in counter seating.
Signature: Fried chicken, Khao soi
Order: Khao soi with the half chicken
Tip: Counter ordering, table service. Open daily 11:30-21:00. No reservations.
Brian and Kim Spangler's 18-inch sourdough pies on SE Hawthorne in Portland, in business since 2004 and still the canonical Portland Neapolitan pizza.
Signature: Pizza margherita, Calzone
Order: The classic Margherita with house mozzarella
Tip: Phone orders open at 16:00. Dough sells out on weekends; arrive by 17:30 or risk no pie.
Ken Forkish's wood-fired pizza room on SE 28th in Portland, the pizza arm of his bakery empire with naturally leavened dough and seasonal toppings.
Signature: Wood-fired margherita, Monday-night meatballs
Order: The margherita with house-cured pepperoni
Tip: Reservations on Tock for the dining room. Monday-night meatballs sell out by 19:00.
The world's first certified sustainable sushi room, born in Portland in 2008. The SE 28th flagship runs nigiri, rolls and the wagyu burger. Priced at $$.
Signature: Nigiri sustainable platter, Wagyu burger
Order: The chef's choice nigiri platter
Tip: Four Portland locations. The SE 28th room is the original, with the longest sake list.
Rick Gencarelli's chef-driven sandwich shop on SE Hawthorne in Portland, founded as a 2010 food cart and four-time Willamette Week Best Sandwich winner.
Signature: Pork meatball banh mi, Dirty fries
Order: The dirty fries: cut fries with pork scraps and marinated peppers
Tip: Counter order. The chefwich rotates monthly and is a collaboration with a guest chef.
Matt Higgins's Coava flagship on SE Grand in Portland, with single-origin pour-overs, the Kone filter brewer Coava invented and shared communal tables.
Signature drink: Pour-over filter
Tip: The original espresso bar, with bamboo communal tables. Wholesale to most Portland third-wave cafes.
Matt Higgins's Coava Coffee in Portland, the 2010 SE Grand roastery and cafe whose Kone filter brewer became a third-wave standard. Now four locations.
Tip: The Grand Avenue flagship has the longest bar and bamboo communal tables. Wholesale to most Portland cafes.
Sources from: Ethiopia, Colombia, Honduras, Kenya
How they serve: Espresso, Pour over, Whole bean retail, Subscription
Coava's SE Hawthorne cafe in Portland, the second Coava outpost with single-origin pour-overs, espresso bar, and natural light through the storefront windows.
Tip: Lighter foot traffic than the Grand flagship. The patio has space for laptops and study sessions.
Sources from: Ethiopia, Colombia, Kenya
How they serve: Espresso, Filter, Whole bean retail
The naturally focused wine room next door to the former Castagna space on SE Hawthorne in Portland, chef Justin Woodward's food, Willamette growers.
Signature pour: Willamette Valley Pinot Noir by the glass
Wine focus: Natural wine from Oregon and the Old World
Food: Pacific Northwest small plates
Tip: The bar takes walk-ins; the dining room reserves on Resy. By-the-glass list rotates weekly.
The Olympia Provisions bar in SE Portland, with European wines by the glass paired to house-cured charcuterie boards and choucroute royale. Family-friendly.
Signature pour: Loire-Valley Chenin Blanc by the glass
Wine focus: European wines and Oregon Pinot
Food: House-cured charcuterie and rustic plates
Tip: Walk-in seating at the bar. The charcuterie board with two glasses is the editorial pick.
Portland's original eastside food cart pod on SE Hawthorne at 12th, open since 2008 with a covered seating area, fire pit and a rotating cast of carts.
Try: Pod with rotating carts: pizza, Thai, Egyptian, vegan
Tip: Pyro Pizza wood-fired pies, Whiffies fried pies, Potato Champion poutine and Chicken and Guns are the long-running anchors.
A 3.5-hour walking tour starting at Cartopia in southeast Portland that visits five carts in 12 blocks, with poutine, vegan bowls and Egyptian flatbreads.
Try: Guided five-stop food cart tasting walk
Tip: Book on Lost Plate's site. The afternoon cart tour is daily; the wine and donut tours run separately.
Wayfinder's central-eastside Portland brewery and beer hall, with German-style lagers, elevated outdoor patio and a kitchen plating bratwurst and burgers.
Tip: The covered outdoor patio handles big groups. Pilsner is the order; the Italian pilsner is brewery-only.
Lost Plate's afternoon cart-pod tour in Portland visits the Central Eastside, sampling poutine, vegan bowls and Egyptian flatbreads at five carts in 3.5.
Tip: Available daily through December 18, 2026. Free cancellation up to 24 hours before. Tours cap at 12.
Lost Plate's weekend Portland wine tour samples 10+ Oregon wines paired to small bites at three eastside cellars and bars, all within a 12-block walk.
Tip: Saturday and Sunday afternoons only. The Pinot Noir flight at the second stop is the editorial highlight.
Portland by Mouth's Buckman walking tour samples four cafes, bakeries and casual rooms across SE Hawthorne and the Goat Blocks development.
Tip: Small-group, by-foot, walking pace. Locally owned tour company; book directly on their site.
Nong Poonsukwattana's $12 khao man gai counter on SE Ankeny in Portland, the canonical Thai chicken-and-rice plate that put her name on the city food map.
Try: Khao man gai poached chicken and rice
Tip: The ginger-soy sauce is the point. Extra sauce is $1.50; order it.
Kachka's weekend brunch in southeast Portland, with cheese-filled khachapuri, salt-cured fish blini, infused vodka bloody marys and the full pelmeni menu.
Order: Khachapuri and bloody mary infusion
Tip: Brunch is reservations-friendly. Order the bloody mary flight of infused vodkas.
Holocene sits in a former auto-parts warehouse on SE 10th and Morrison, with 25-foot ceilings, white walls and a sound system tuned to the kind of minimal techno that took root in Berlin.
Tip: Weekend nights start at 21:00 and most parties run to 02:00; ticketed events sell out, so grab in advance rather than chancing the door.
45 East is the Central Eastside warehouse where Portland sees its biggest touring EDM names, with a main floor for headliner sets and an upstairs Jade Room for techno and ambient.
Tip: 21 and over, doors usually 22:00 on Friday and Saturday; check the calendar for the Jade Room upstairs which programs separately from the main floor.
The Goodfoot is the upstairs pool hall and downstairs basement music room on SE Stark, where Soul Stew's funk and soul 45s have been Portland's longest-running weekly DJ dance since 2001.
Tip: Saturday night's Soul Stew is the institution; downstairs opens around 21:00 with a small cover when a show is booked.
Revolution Hall is the renovated 1924 Washington High School auditorium in Buckman, a seated 850-capacity room with a rooftop bar that opens for sunset before downstairs shows.
Tip: Roof deck opens earlier on show nights and stays open after; grab a drink up top before doors and ride the elevator down.
Peacock PDX is the queer cocktail bar that opened in the old Crush Bar space on SE Morrison in September 2025, built for conversation and community events with a long bar and rotating cocktail program.
Tip: Closed Mondays; the cocktail menu rotates seasonally and weekend evenings stretch to 02:00. Event nights bring drag and DJ programming.
My Father's Place is the 1978 Buckman dive in the 1892 New Logus Block on SE Grand, a National-Register building that serves breakfast all day, plays pinball, and pours until 02:30.
Tip: Open from 07:00 every day including holidays; the kitchen serves breakfast through close, so post-show late food is the play.
Star Bar is the Buckman rock-and-roll dive on SE Morrison with a strong jukebox, Guns N' Roses pinball, a Reuben crowd swears by and pours that go to 02:00 on Friday and Saturday.
Tip: Cash-friendly, late kitchen on weekends; the jukebox is loud and the pinball line stays moving past midnight.
Aalto Lounge is the mid-century-modern neighborhood bar on SE Belmont since 2000, named for the Finnish designer Alvar Aalto, with happy-hour pricing through to close and a steady late shift.
Tip: Kitchen runs through the night; happy hour cocktails are a giveaway most evenings, and weekend close pushes to midnight.