Somehow I have lived this long without ever visiting Portland, Oregon. This is despite being a coffee nerd and a foodie, and it being just a short flight from San Francisco.
I remedied that this weekend with a quick trip there for a skate party. (I’ll write more about the party in the next post.)
Many friends have told me that I would love Portland, and gave me a long list of places that they recommended for me. So I had pretty high expectations going in. And honestly, they were exceeded.
I spent the most of my time in the Hawthorne neighborhood, one of the funkiest parts of town. I loved being able to walk to a diverse range of restaurants, cafes, coffee shops, vintage stores, and markets. We stayed in a very charming home decked out with funky art in every room. Everything was very hipster, but not pretentious.
I also went downtown to visit the famous Powell Bookstore, VooDoo Donuts, the waterfront park, and the Saturday Art Market. Very walkable and pleasant on that side of the city.
Portland felt like it combined a lot of what I love about the Bay Area, but a bit more chill, affordable, and smaller in scale. We passed through so many cute neighborhoods, and there’s green spaces everywhere. And while it’s not very ethnically diverse, there was quite a bit of Asian and Latinx representation.
In terms of foodie adventures, I accomplished quite a lot in a short amount of time:
VooDoo Donuts : Lots of people recommended this spot. It’s a very cute shop with a long line to get in. I got a very sweet and helpful cashier who helped me pick out a donut — the Old Dirty Bastard (raised donut with chocolate and peanut butter). It was … fine.
Blue Star Donuts: This was the other donut shop several folks mentioned. I was only able to go to the one in the airport. But I thought it was very solid! I had the chocolate bergamot old fashioned donut and tried a bite of the apple fritter. Both were well made and nicely balanced.
Seven Virtues Coffee : Third wave coffee shop in Hawthorne. Cute shop, helpful barista. I got a delicious macchiato (Ethiopian) and some medium light Sumatran beans for later.
Waffle Window : Popular breakfast spot in Hawthorne. Well worth the hype! I went twice. The cheesecake waffle was ridiculously good.
PDX Sliders : Cute sliders spot in South Portland. I had a smash burger and a fried chicken slider. Their fries are exceptional, especially with the garlic aioli.
Nongs Khao Man Gai: Tiny Thai chicken place – cheap, fast, delicious rice and vermicelli plates with chicken or pork. I wish we had this in the Bay!
Hungry Dumpling: New Asian fusion spot in Hawthorne. Delicious chicken wings!
Overall, a very pleasant weekend. I’m excited to come back to Portland. I feel like I only scratched the surface.