The Resy Hit List: Where In Portland You’ll Want to Eat in May 2024
There’s no question we hear more often: Where should I go eat? And while we at Resy know it’s an honor to be the friend who everyone asks for restaurant advice, we also know it’s a complicated task. That’s where the Resy Hit List comes in.
We’ve designed it to be your essential resource for dining in Portland: a monthly-updated (and newly expanded!) guide to the restaurants in that you won’t want to miss — tonight or any night.
Things In Portland Not to Miss This Month
- Bark City is Back in Town: Later this month, one of the city’s best barbecue carts will make its Portland return. Settling down at Woodstock’s Heist food cart pod, Bark City will offer many of all the old favorites — Texas-style brisket, Carolina-sauced pulled pork, Memphis-inspired ribs — alongside a handful of new sandwiches and specials.
New to the Hit List (May 2024)
Bellwether Bar, Feral, Tulip Shop Tavern.
1. Kann Southeast Portland
Portland’s arguably most sought-after restaurant proudly focuses on chef Gregory Gourdet’s Haitian heritage. And it’s still worth trying to snag a reservation. The James Beard Award-winning menu is truly best suited for joyous reunion, with groups of four to six (or more in the private dining space!) getting a chance to try a little bit of everything if you’re sharing across the table. Don’t miss the signature dishes — the plaintain brioche and the griyo twice-cooked pork — as well as any number of plates emerging from the wood-fired hearth. We’re partial to the red cabbage with smoked herring and African pepper sauce and a glazed duck breast and leg, lacquered with cane syrup. Add in sides to share, and desserts, and you’ll see why Gourdet is so lauded.
2. Cafe Nell Northwest District
This longtime slice of “Old Portland,” has been serving the Northwest Portland neighborhood French-influenced PNW classics like steak frites, grilled salmon and Dungeness crab salad for 15 years. The all-day, every day restaurant has something for everyone at almost any time of day, whether it’s blowout weekend brunch, daily happy hour bites from 3-6 p.m., midday lunch or Wednesday $9 cocktails, glass pours and plates for its weekly “Girls Night Out.”
3. Jeju Restaurant Central Eastside Portland
Peter Cho and Sun Young Park’s (Han Oak, Toki) latest restaurant is dedicated to upscale Korean barbecue. The menu takes guests through a quartet of banchan, a cold and hot starter — recently a dry-aged Hawaiian kampachi and the signature pan-fried mandu resting in a pool of black vinegar broth — before a hearty ssam spread of wood-fired, whole-animal barbecue. Meats range from bulgogi marinated steak and pork coppa to spicy sausages made in-house and sliced short rib, as well as substantial vegetarian options. After dinner, in true Han Oak family fashion, guests are welcome to try their hand at karaoke.
4. Bellwether Bar Montavilla
Residing in Montavilla’s historic Thomas Graham building, Bellwether Bar is the kind of spot you dream of having in your own neighborhood (and lucky you who already do). Outfitted in dark wood paneling and coffered ceilings, the airy space seemingly has a heartbeat of its own. Add to it a fantastic food menu — which lands somewhere between upscale bar food and French bistro; a fantastic cocktail list — numbered, for ease; and a fantastic beer and wine list, and you’ve created the perfect formula for any night, whether for big group outings (don’t miss the enormous outdoor patio) or romantic date nights snuggled into a cozy booth.
5. The Paper Bridge Central Eastside
It’s not a stretch to say there’s no Vietnamese restaurant in town like this. At Paper Bridge, which opened late last year in the same building as Scotch Lodge, most of the Northern Vietnamese menu book is dedicated to extensive descriptions of each dish. For every item, the restaurant offers a miniature history lesson and glossary entry, often noting the origins, regional significance and geography alongside descriptions of ingredients and cooking techniques. Last month, we spent nearly 10 minutes getting ready to order, as we flipped between the menu and its descriptions, settling on rare-to-Portland dishes like stir-fried morning glory with three types of garlic, a classic bún chả Hanoi, and the addictive, piping hot Hai Phong-style breadsticks with pate. Post dinner, we asked for menus again … to study up for next time.
6. No Saint Vernon
Since it opened a little more than a year ago, No Saint has emerged as one of the best new pizza restaurants in the city. Find a handful of simple antipasti: think housemade focaccia and olives alongside composed plates like a fall burrata with blueberry mostarda and mortadella. Salads highlight seasonal bounty; a recent radish and apple salad showcased a highwire act of bitterness and sweetness. And of course, the pizzas, with a wonderfully chewy, fire-kissed crust supporting a cast of toppings you’re unlikely to find anywhere else. Don’t miss the quince and pepperoni, the Portland version of a Hawaiian; or the a pear and sausage, which brings the best of a pear salad and sausage pie together.
7. Xiao Ye Hollywood
This “first generation American” restaurant from partners Jolyn Chen and Louis Lin (Rose’s Luxury in D.C., Felix in L.A.) was one of the city’s most anticipated restaurant openings last year. The short-but-sweet, dinner party-esque menu boasts five sections, each offering two to three multinational dishes. Plates kick off with mini madeleines with whipped butter and jalapeño powder and butter-basted chicken hearts, then weave between “cold,” “warm,” and “bigger stuff,” and land at “sweets.” A radicchio and winter citrus salad with cashew yogurt and vegan XO balances out headliner dishes like the rigatoni all’amatriciana, the half fried chicken with S&B curry jus, or Japanese sweet potato with miso butter and celeriac slaw.
8. L’Orange SE Portland, Hosford-Abernethy, Ladd's Addition
L’Orange, the winery restaurant from Joel Stocks (Holdfast) and winemaker Jeff Vejr (Holdfast, Les Caves), is one of those born-beloved Portland spots you forget has only been around for a short while. The western Mediterranean plays heavy inspiration here, with much of the menu frolicking between seasonal salads, composed small plates, and larger entrees, often incorporating some form of seafood, like mussels and clams with roasted fennel and smoked and roasted sturgeon with oil-cured black olive. Wines will be a particular draw here as well, with bottles representing southern France through the Italian Riviera.
9. Scotch Lodge Buckman
This warm, subterranean cocktail bar, whose menu was built for “whisky lovers,” might be one of the coziest spots in Portland. Cocktails remain some of the best in town, highlighting Japanese whiskies, Islay Scotches, and ingenious infused spirits in creative drinks like the Islay daiquiri, shaken with pineapple rum and coconut-oolong demerara and the Loch Stock, stirred with Scotch, mezcal, and lapsang souchong-infused sweet vermouth. The food menu sticks to small and shareable, with salty snacks and bites to balance your drink (the pickle spice fries and something from the raw menu are a must), with a handful of mains — like the beautiful soft-shell crab sandwich — to make it a meal.
10. Feral Vernon
Four days a week, plant-based Feral is plating up hyper-seasonal dishes unlike any other restaurant in town. On a visit, you might try the cannellini carbonara toast, studded with smoked tofu lardons; the peanut butter & jelly cabbage, brined and blackened over coals, brightened with dekopon mandarin jelly; or the lion’s mane cordon bleu, paired with smoked pimenton parsnip and pommes puree; it is easy to forget as each new arrival hits the table that everything is vegan. Head here to experience the most of each season.
11. Yaowarat Montavilla
Yaowarat, the newest restaurant from the ever-popular Langbaan and Eem family, opened to fanfare and lines out the door of the former Lazy Susan space last year. A meditation on Thailand’s Chinatown, Yaowarat combines the cocktail prowess of Eric Nelson and Kyle Linden Webster (Expatriate) with the culinary might of Thai chefs Kanokwan “Nok” Jinuntuya and Taweesak “Tee” Teesompong. The menu – more of a meditation on a summer trip than a 1:1 recreation of the bustling neighborhood – features both new and familiar dishes, including Yaowarat road squid, spiked with garlic and Thai chiles; lap cheong fried rice studded with gingko nuts and prik nam pla; and mapo tofu, simmered with ground beef and pork and soft egg tofu.
Find more info here.
12. Akadi Hosford-Abernathy
Delight in bright and spicy (and dietary-restriction-friendly!) dishes from chef and owner Fatou Ouattara. Having opened one of the city’s few West African restaurants, Ouattara brings her Ivorian cooking expertise to new, larger Division Avenue digs. Here, chicken wings arrive dusted in an aromatic dry rub alongside a duo of sauces, sweet plantains balance out the heat of beef brochettes and jolof coconut meals, and hearty mafe is filled out with beef, chicken, lamb, or oxtail. Don’t miss a side of fufu, a staple for many West African countries, here made from corn.
More info here.
13. Laurelhurst Market Laurelhurst
There’s a reason Laurelhurst, with its side-by-side in-house butcher shop and restaurant, remains one of Portland’s most popular spots. Known for its ultra high-quality meats — available for purchase in the adjacent butcher shop — Laurelhurst has been a local stalwart for the past 15 years. The menu has remained simple but fantastically executed: a handful of lovely starters, including an all-made-in-house charcuterie board; a trio of seasonal salads, punched-up sides, and a wide variety of mains. Don’t feel like you have to always go with steak or a pork chop, either. The eponymous burger, topped with grilled onions and white cheddar, is one of the best in town.
14. Cafe Olli MLK Boulevard
This airy, all-day cafe not only boasts some of the best pizza in town, but one of the best brunches and some of the best baked goods. (And lunch? And bread?). During the day, the simple, seasonal menu veers toward both sweet and savory things served with or on toast. There’s a fantastic breakfast sandwich on a housemade milk bun and a whipped ricotta toast that could also double as a decadent, but not overly sweet, dessert. At night, the menu keeps its simple mantra, trading out toast and eggs for pizza, pasta, vegetables, snacks, and protein-rich mains. The absolute can’t-miss pizza stunner is a simple one: the pomodoro pie with added stracciatella (+$4) and a side of Calabrian chile honey.
No reservations.
15. Quaintrelle Southeast Portland
Taking up residence in Southeast Clinton’s former Burrasca space, Quaintrelle has continued its fine-dining flair in a space that feels much more like home. The menu here spans a range of options and levels of commitment, from a la carte dishes to tasting menus in seven- and 10-course iterations. Dishes, regardless of menu choice, all remain ever-changing but always seasonal and gorgeous. Menus typically start with some form of oyster, often delivered on a bed of shells mimicking tidepools, before winding through a luxurious caviar course, salads, meats, and fish, all set with local produce. Cocktails, too, remain as ephemeral as the changing seasons, built out with fresh fruits, herbs, and savory elements.
16. Tulip Shop Tavern Killingsworth
It’s hard to find another word to describe Tulip Shop Tavern other than “cool.” The shotgun space, an homage to the diner and roadside tavern, comes from two Rum Club alums and serves some of the city’s best sandwiches and cocktails. The top spot goes to their burger, which is worth the trip alone, arriving in a trio of iterations but centered on the standard special sauce, American cheese, pickles, and shredduce calculus. The fish sandwich, breaded in panko and slathered in tartar sauce, also is excellent, as is the fried pork tenderloin, an honorable tribute to the Midwest staple.
No reservations. More info here.
17. Kachka Goat Blocks
Still arguably the most talked-about Russian restaurant in America, now with a cookbook, market, frozen dumpling line, and a sinus-clearing bottled horseradish vodka for sale, Kachka has remained a shining star in Portland’s dining scene since it opened nearly 10 years ago. The menu – broken into four sections — showcases dressed up versions of classic dishes from Belarus, Ukraine, Russia, and Georgia. It has, gratefully, changed little since its first days. You’ll still find the ombre-like Herring “Under a Fur Coat,” the mayo-laced Russian “salad;” boards boasting caviar and roe, pickles, house-cured meats, and breads; phenomenal pelmeni; and the iconic cozy clay-pot rabbit. Now wonderfully expanded: the restaurant’s phenomenal house-infused vodkas that shift with the seasons.
Call 503-235-0059 for more info.
18. Mama Bird Slabtown
Portlanders got an early taste of spring for a brief moment in March. The all-70-degrees weekend startled the city out of its wintery stupor to remind us of patios, lazy weekend lunches, and grilled chicken. And with April here, Slabtown’s Mama Bird, from chef Gabe Pascuzzi (Stacked Sanwich), is a perfect spot for all three, with a heavily wood-fired menu offering everything from arancini and wagyu tartare to salads and of course, smoky grilled chicken. The main bird, served in half or whole options, arrives with a range of sauces, from smoked garlic miso to vadouvan yogurt, and pairs well with grilled herb potatoes and seasonal vegetables.
19. Grana Pizza Napoletana Kerns
Former farmers market pizza pop-up Grana Pizza – with their dual Ooni setup roaring at full blast – retired those portable ovens for a brick-and-mortar space last fall. These days, find bubbly, charred pies topped with everything from the classic margherita to black truffle specials. Grana’s other claim to fame, besides just great Neapolitan pies, is their entry into Portland’s burgeoning portafoglio and panuzzo market. These folded pizzas and “pizza dough sandwiches,” whose mortadella-stuffed pockets have been popping up as specials across town, are the perfect amalgamation of sandwich, calzone and pizza. Grana’s range from mortadella (natch) with fontina, chicory and pistachios, to diavola, filled with salami, Calabrian chiles, and honey.
20. St. Jack Slabtown
This longtime Portland French bistro remains a citywide favorite, thanks to its straightforward menu, excellent attention to culinary detail, and a fantastic beverage list. Start with the butter lettuce salad, one of the city’s most recognizable salads (it’s Portland, there are a few!), layered with avocado, sliced radish, and croutons, tossed in a Dijon vinaigrette and a dusting of fine herbs, before diving into chicken liver mousse, beef tartare, and maybe a foie gras terrine. From there, the menu stays on the bistro track, with a classic and wonderful steak frites — one of the few in town — moules marinère, and duck l’orange. We love grabbing a seat along the bar near the iconic melted wax candles that have been a constant since the restaurant’s early days in Southeast more than a decade ago.
