The Resy Hit List: Where In Portland You’ll Want to Eat Right Now

Tucked behind European-inspired brewery and taproom Away Days Brewing Co., you’ll find Champs Burgers, the once-pop-up now turned full-time food cart. Like many of Portland’s great burger joints, the menu is simple: A cheeseburger (made with dry-aged beef, quality American cheese, onions, pickles, and burger sauce on a housemade Cairspring Mills flour-based bun), in a single, double, and thick version. Plus, a rotating special (previous favorites have included a lengua pastrami burger and pickled jalapeño-topped Oklahoma burger); beef tallow fries; and a cookie (from classics like chopped chocolate chip to pumpkin toffee spiced corn). The cart continues to draw long lines, and it’s worth joining the queue.

Find more info here.

This subterranean bar underneath Kann, is the award-winning restaurant’s dark, moody twin. The cozy space, highlighted with Caribbean blue tile and plush hot pink velvet banquettes, is inspired by the cuisines of Haiti, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Mexico, and beyond. Here, seated around the rounded bar or tucked quietly beneath the bar’s partially hidden Basquiat photo, you’ll want to order the griyo bites, among Kann’s signature dishes, here served in a more crowd-friendly format, and the chicken wings, dusted in Creole spice. Drinks, both alcoholic and not, are among the greatest draws here, also drawing flavors from the Caribbean canon and arriving in beautiful glassware, garnished with fruit, flowers, and flavored ice.

This final project of restaurant titan Naomi Pomeroy was in its toddler-hood when the famed and beloved chef tragically died last summer. After a short run as a pop-up and a few months of build-out, L’Echelle is finally officially open again. On a recent visit, the restaurant hummed brightly, the space’s previously black-rimmed windows now shining an alluring cobalt blue. A short but expansive bistro menu offered all the hallmarks of French classics with a signature PNW flair. Oeufs as large as snowballs arrived buried in an airy, lemony aioli while a generous stack of chilled asparagus nestled into a green allium remoulade. Elsewhere, find a short raw menu and a quartet of well-priced mains like steak au poivre and seared duck breast. It’s the buzziest restaurant in town right now, and we can’t wait to go back. Oh, and did we mention? Reservations are live.

As summer turns to fall, we’re trading sunny patio seating for cozy lounges to while away our nights. Enter Scotch Lodge, the warm, subterranean cocktail bar, whose menu was built for “whisky lovers,” a perfect respite for the rainy season ahead. Cocktails remain some of the best in town, highlighting Japanese whiskies, Islay Scotches and ingenious infused spirits in creative drinks like the Moon Age Daydream, shaken with Japanese gin, lotus orgeat, sansho peppercorn, and yuzu, and the Loch Stock, stirred with Scotch, mezcal, and lapsang souchong-infused sweet vermouth. Small and shareable salty snacks and bites balance out the drinks; the pickle spice fries are a must.

This quintessential Portland restaurant has been a dining destination for 20 years. One of the city’s first venues to feature a wood-fired oven, Nostrana’s dedication to regional Italian cuisine has made it a standout since 2005. The menu has shifted very little since its early days; start with simple antipasti like squash arancini and the iconic Nostrana salad, an anchovy-laced radicchio salad nestled beneath a shower of Parmigiano-Reggiano, move to a handful of fresh pastas tossed in simple sauces, pizza pulled fresh from the wood-fired oven, and a handful of meaty mains and sides, including another iconic dish: the 2.5-pound bistecca alla Fiorentina served with grilled lemon and rosemary oil. After dinner, order a thimble of the housemade limoncello, often seen infusing behind the bar.

Book now on Tock.

This former vegan dim sum pop-up from chef Cyrus Ichiza, whose restaurant Ichiza Kitchen was a destination, just moved into its own digs on Southeast Belmont. Here, find deceivingly good vegan variations of many popular Chinese and dim sum dishes like grilled bean curd dumplings, turnip cake, spicy wontons, siu mai and char siu bao. Elsewhere on the menu, larger dishes like Jade’s take on dan dan noodles, mapo tofu, and a ramen-esque “mami noodle soup” fill out the rest of the table.

Sharing a home with Vtopian Artisan Cheese Shop’s new Northeast Grand Avenue location, Adelleda has taken over the longtime vegan cheesemaker’s space from Thursdays to Monday nights. A self-described “refined lounge and pasta residency,” Adelleda’s menu focuses on fresh pastas using seasonal and wild-foraged ingredients like agnolotti with fennel, kohlrabi, and toasted pistachio, bucatini with lobster mushroom, cauliflower puree and pickled jimmy nardellos, and Parisian gnocchi with brussels three ways, chicken of the woods, and chile flake. Elsewhere, find small antipasti bites and small, often fried, plates. 

Nestled in the quiet intersection of Northeast Glisan and I-84, Metlapil is one of Portland’s newest and maybe most singular mariscos spots. Helmed by former República chef Jose “Lalo” Camarena and his partner and pastry chef Kautia Camarena, Metlapil hand-grinds masa for two tasting menu services a week — on Saturdays and Sundays — alongside a tempting late-night mariscos menu Sunday nights from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. It’s hard to know what to expect inside the bright and almost beachy space, as the menu shifts constantly save for that masa, which is served pressed into pillowy tortillas, fried into tostadas, and wrapped around tender fillings. But recent ephemeral menu sightings have highlighted whole fried bay shrimp with chile morita mayo, pickled oysters with lime granita and chipotle salsa, and Oregon albacore aguachile with cucumber and pickled sungolds.

Book now on Tock.

After a down-the-street move into Clinton Street’s former mussels house La Moule, Portland’s key oyster bar has reopened with all the same favorites. One of the city’s few seafood-centric spots, Jacqueline’s biggest claim to fame is the $1 oyster happy hour (harvested and delivered the same day!) and seasonal menu of fresh fare. Guests line up six days a week for oysters, fish-focused small plates, seasonal veggie salads and fishy large-format dishes. Summertime brings lobster buns, tossing Maine lobster and bay shrimp in lobster aioli; cedar-planked McFarland trout with grilled lemon; and in a nod to the location’s former owners, Totten Inlet mussels dotted with ‘nduja, garlic scapes, and fennel, appropriately named “La Moule.”

America’s iconic hibachi chain remains one of the original “dinner and a show” spots — still beloved for its tableside teppanyaki entertainment. And let’s be honest: We never stopped loving it. So, as always, grab a seat at a communal table built around a flattop grill while your personal chef for the night slices, dices, ignites onion volcanoes, flips sick spatula tricks, and of course, makes you dinner in the process. Sushi is also available, made by the in-house sushi chef. Nostalgia for the celebratory dinners of your childhood is free, obvi, and in ready supply.

New to the growing Division pantheon of Italian restaurants, Maglia Rosa is Bollywood Theater’s reinvention specializing in fresh pasta and named for the iconic leader’s jersey in Italy’s Giro d’Italia, the country’s premier cycling stage race. Unlike the other Italian restaurants along the popular dining street, it stays true to its counter service roots, offering salads, soups, and bread alongside classic sandwiches and pasta at lunchtime and expands to include more protein-heavy mains at dinner. Six days a week, a small market inside sells ready-to-cook pastas, cured meats, antipasti, and more.  

Find more info here.

Portland’s only true tiki bar, Hale Pele has been a favorite grog-slicked haunt for more than a decade. An unassuming, darkened facade opens to a positively Rainforest Cafe-esque interior, with a small bridge guiding guests over a short moat before settling into the heart of what appears to be a hidden jungle hut, complete with thatched walls, masks, and blowfish lamps. As sparks of lit cinnamon sticks cast sparks over the bar, peruse a menu of iconic tiki classics, modern reinventions, and rum-forward staff creations, all served in various tiki glassware and paired with strength levels for appropriate imbibing. It’s hard to choose wrong here, but our favorites include the lava flow, and of course, the communal volcano bowl, a house original blending potent rums and citrus before being lit ablaze.

Book now on Tock.

Nestled into the foot of Mt. Tabor, Coquine has been among Portland’s best restaurants since it opened 10 years ago. Known for deft seasonal dishes — chef Katy Millard’s resume includes years at Coi and Plum in the Bay Area — Coquine is truly a one-size-fits-all restaurant. By day, the next door market offers coffee alongside some of the city’s best baked goods, plus restaurant-made goods, pantry supplies, and wine. By night, the market transforms into the casual, seafood-focused Katy Jane’s: An Oyster Bar, while Coquine proper focuses on beautifully prepared seasonal cuisine available a la carte or as a prix fixe. At the end of the summer, dishes included chilled yellow squash soup, pork and peach ragu over housemade mafalde pasta, and roasted chicken, glazed in molasses and black pepper, to share.

Book now on Tock.

No Saint’s excellent bread program and creative seasonal vegetable dishes earn this Northeast Portland restaurant a spot in the strong class of pizza and pizza-adjacent restaurants that have become pillars of the area’s culinary scene. Even in the winter months when seasonal options are limited, the menu continues to shine, and especially now with spring on the horizon. Salads are a must, like mache with preserved citrus and green daikon in a tahini vinaigrette. Elsewhere, housemade pastas are worth the table space and of course, the main event: Wonderfully chewy and creative pies that support a cast of toppings like nowhere else in town (cabbage alla gricia? Sign us up). These cycle through frequently and we’re consistently impressed.

Michelin-starred Austin, Texas BBQ joint La Barbecue has come to Portland. Partnering with the team behind The Old Gold, Paydirt and Holy Ghost, La Barbecue’s “far west outpost,” Lil’ Barbecue, will take over the kitchen at Northeast Dekum’s Tough Luck bar, spearheaded by general manager and pitmaster Ben Vaughan. We’ve long been keen on the low and slow brisket, saucy pork ribs, smoked turkey, and snappy sausages that made it among the first four American barbecue joints to earn the distinction. Follow along for more details on their Instagram.

A modern Italian-meets-Jewish deli, this is a longtime, well, dream project, from husband-wife team John Bissell (Ava Gene’s) and Jessie Levine. Open for lunch hours five days a week, Dream Deli’s short-but-sweet menu shows off iconic deli offerings with a bit of PNW flair. A quintet of sandwiches range from a classic corned beef and veggie “meatloaf” to a spin on the tuna melt, subbing out smoked tea-cured whitefish for the standard build. A Jewish wedding soup melds matzo ball soup with Italian wedding, and a host of farmers market veg will see itself pickled with the seasons. Elsewhere, sweet and savory baked goods like a chocolate chip schmaltz cookie and a Reuben knish fill out the bakery case.  

Find more info here.