PORTLAND! Rec's for Bars, Restaurants, Hipster Sh!t (aka Dukes plz reply)

[sonick]

So heading off for our guys road trip to Portland and Oregon Coast this weekend. Anybody have good recent (previous posts on RS were from years ago) recommendations for places to hit up while there... Anything; bars, clubs, restaurants, lounges, etc.

Doesn't have to necessarily be the most popular (e.g. Voodoo Donuts), in fact would prefer it to be less hyped. Just interesting and out of the ordinary (put a bird on it!)

We are there during brewer's festival, so any beer places would probably be overlooked, for this trip at least.

Thanks!

[Tapioca]

Kenny and Zuke's Deli downtown is pretty decent.

Food carts for cheap eats. They're everywhere downtown and in convenient pods. You can actually have a decent meal for 5-7 bucks, unlike the appetizer-sized portions here.
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[Manic!]

Killer BBQ; Podnah's Pit the mustard BBQ sauce is great.

http://www.anjaliandthekid.com/ go to any party they are DJing if you like to dance.

[sonick]

Just got back from 4 nights in Portland.

Yes food carts were great. Food wasn't crazy outstanding or innovative 'fusion' like some places here, but definitely tasty and cheap. Also open late unlike the ones here which are only open at lunch for the suits.

It was a bit more 'ghetto' than I had imagined in terms of bums and cleanliness, but you get used to it. Also people there are super friendly overall. We were wandering around oldtown/chinatown and ended up in this super white biker bar (note we are a group with 2 chinese, a filipino, an indian, and a russian guy) but didn't feel out of place at all and the waitress was super friendly; even gave us all a keychain Jaegermeister bottle openers.

Also if you smoke or have a pack of smokes handy, super easy to just meet people and strike up a convo on the patio when someone inevitably asks to bum a smoke off you.

Here's a few places that stood out for us:

• Deschutes Bar (awesome place. Like Yaletown Brewing Co. but 5x better food and beer)
• Hobo's Bistro (classy, woody joint. Great value, tender, nicely done 12oz NY strip for $21),
• Huber's Cafe (another classy-feeling old school joint. huge, moist turkey dinner for $12),
• Berbati (for clubbing, good classic rap, ambiance like a Donnelley place but authentic and no douchebag/pretentiousness)
• Shanghai Tunnel (super hip/cool underground speakeasy-type place for drinks)

[Matlock]

Pok Pok: Thai-ish. We really loved the chicken wings.
Pinestate Biscuits: Long line up for breakfast food... But the biscuits were soo good.

+1 for Podnah: The smoked prime rib was awesome. I even ate the fat, it had a delicious smokey taste. haha... (kind of a shadey area if you go at night though... 3 years ago, we saw a "wanted information sign" next door saying someone got stabbed and was murdered next door. We still go back every year haha)

[dat_steve]

Gravy for breakfast. order anything that comes with french toast. or just order the damn fresh toast

[kcl38]

Recommendations for shopping? Going down near the end of August and only places I want to check out so far are The Woodlands and the Chrome Industries store.

[sonick]

My buddies aren't really into style or fashion, so not many personal recommendations.

All I know is there's a Filson store in Pearl District. However, this thread on another forum has great shopping rec's: The Ultimate Portland (OR) Shopping Thread

[rageguy]

Originally Posted by kcl38

Recommendations for shopping? Going down near the end of August and only places I want to check out so far are The Woodlands and the Chrome Industries store.

Nordstrom has the most selection for high end stuff. Mario's is another place too. They both carry some luxury brands. If you are into deals, Nordstrom Rack is there too. They are all in Downtown area, on Morrison St. There is also a Saks Fifth Avenue store, but it is just the "Off 5th" collection, meaning they sell the offseason stuff. Lastly, you may want to make the drive to the Woodburn Company Stores. It is basically their outlet.

If you want a simple shopping mall, Pioneer Place Mall is also on Morrison.

In other words, you could stay in Downtown core area, and everything is there.

If you want a fun outdoor activity, look up what tubing is. Do the circuit at Clackamas River. It's really fun.

[6793026]

the food carts was SHIT to be honest. I didnt' like it at all, nothing really stood out and we were there during the busy lunch time. The fish and chips place was featured on TV before on the FOOD channel and surprisingly there were NO line up what so ever.

pok pok was ok, just really crazy famous food that's fusion. Yes, their chicken wings are a must.

downtown is a pretty cool place, jut walk around and you'll enjoy it there. We drove thru the forest along the oregon coast, keep in mind, after 50 km of driving, it gets MOFO boring and everything seems like it's the same shit. so don't get too crazy. We stayed at some bed and breakfast place instead of going to some awesome hotel.

[sonick]

Well compared to the fancy food carts we have here, yea the Portland ones were not great since they are what food carts were supposed to be, cheap eats. We didn't really seek out or research well known carts, but I must say a few $1 soft tacos (with the real corn tortillas) really hits the spot after a few beers.

The drive down the coast was pretty good, not spectacular. Beats the I5 hands down. See my other thread in the travel forum for my thoughts on that. But nowhere as dismal for us as you felt it was.

[bcrdukes]

Wow, I missed this thread.