Traveling to Portland, OR. Any recommendations?

[beattie228]

Any MMM readers who have recommendations for things to do, see, eat and drink in Portland, OR? I'll be traveling there next month for a conference and spending a few additional days exploring. Thanks in advance!

[Bracken_Joy]

Totally depends on what you like! Hiking? Arts? Shopping? Food? There's lots around, so narrowing it down helps =) Also, of course, budget levels.

Personally I'm all about nature and food. So I recommend:
Forest Park, council crest is a fun hike
Coffee: heart, coava, case study
Donuts: blue star, Pip's
Burgers: dick's burgers, tilt
Food carts: nong's khao man gai (get the chicken skin if you're there early enough!), frying scotsman, el taco yucateco, 808 grinds
Misc: The ReBuild Center in Mississippi neighborhood, Lodeka bus, Collage stationary, the zoo is pretty cool but super busy on nice days/the weekends/summer

[calimom]

If you like nature, there is the Rose Garden and my personal favorite, the Lan Su Chinese Garden.

[beattie228]

Totally depends on what you like! Hiking? Arts? Shopping? Food? There's lots around, so narrowing it down helps =) Also, of course, budget levels.

Personally I'm all about nature and food. So I recommend:
Forest Park, council crest is a fun hike
Coffee: heart, coava, case study
Donuts: blue star, Pip's
Burgers: dick's burgers, tilt
Food carts: nong's khao man gai (get the chicken skin if you're there early enough!), frying scotsman, el taco yucateco, 808 grinds
Misc: The ReBuild Center in Mississippi neighborhood, Lodeka bus, Collage stationary, the zoo is pretty cool but super busy on nice days/the weekends/summer

Thanks so much!! I too am about nature and food. I had a few hikes that I've read up on and otherwise just planning to take in the food/brewery scene. Will definitely check out a couple of these recs.

[Bracken_Joy]

Totally depends on what you like! Hiking? Arts? Shopping? Food? There's lots around, so narrowing it down helps =) Also, of course, budget levels.

Personally I'm all about nature and food. So I recommend:
Forest Park, council crest is a fun hike
Coffee: heart, coava, case study
Donuts: blue star, Pip's
Burgers: dick's burgers, tilt
Food carts: nong's khao man gai (get the chicken skin if you're there early enough!), frying scotsman, el taco yucateco, 808 grinds
Misc: The ReBuild Center in Mississippi neighborhood, Lodeka bus, Collage stationary, the zoo is pretty cool but super busy on nice days/the weekends/summer

Thanks so much!! I too am about nature and food. I had a few hikes that I've read up on and otherwise just planning to take in the food/brewery scene. Will definitely check out a couple of these recs.

Oh! Breweries are a good one too. I recommend:
-Bridgeport is really beautiful, but on the spendy side. Rogue has great beer but their food is meh IMO. Reverend Nat's is exceptional cider and a super cool space. Widmer and the widmer tour are fantastic. Rontom's has a really cool outdoor space- it's not a brewery, but it's still a good visit.

I also second the rose gardens recc. Japanese gardens if you're willing to spend the money. While over there, I recommend stopping by Zupan's market. The food displays are gorgeous.

uwajimaya is good too. They have some killer bao.

[Not Your Monkey]

Hikes up mt hood should be nice by next month. Ramona falls or Tom, Dick, and Harry are classics

Loyal Legion is a great beer hall to start your beer adventure. Tons of Oregon beers there with an impressive rotating tap as well. Loving Breakside Brewery for innovative yet reliably good flavors. Culmination brewing is also decent and starting to gain traction.

If you like cider, Bushwhackers has a ridiculous name but a nice selection.

Coffee is a no brainer here, you can trip and accidentally fall into a great coffee shop. Tea as well. Jasmine Pearl and Steve Smith top the list. The bonus with going to Smith Teamaker on the East side is that it's across the street from House Spirits Distillery and Olympia Provisions (meat and charcuterie).

The farmer's market at PSU is something to behold

I've never had a bad meal at: PaaDee (Thai street food), Laurelhurst Market (meat heavy), the Aviary, Tasty and Sons. If you are vegetarian, Harlow is amazing. I'm not even vegetarian but I still go there to eat sometimes.

The Rose garden is good, as are the Crystal springs garden, Washington park, and the Oregon garden.  Also walking along Tom McCall waterfront park.  But I'd rather go on a hike generally. The old curmudgeon in me remembers how inexpensive the Japanese and Chinese gardens used to be.  At current prices I can't recommend anymore.

I drag all visitors to Powell's bookstore on West Burnside.

[beattie228]

Hikes up mt hood should be nice by next month. Ramona falls or Tom, Dick, and Harry are classics

Loyal Legion is a great beer hall to start your beer adventure. Tons of Oregon beers there with an impressive rotating tap as well. Loving Breakside Brewery for innovative yet reliably good flavors. Culmination brewing is also decent and starting to gain traction.

If you like cider, Bushwhackers has a ridiculous name but a nice selection.

Coffee is a no brainer here, you can trip and accidentally fall into a great coffee shop. Tea as well. Jasmine Pearl and Steve Smith top the list. The bonus with going to Smith Teamaker on the East side is that it's across the street from House Spirits Distillery and Olympia Provisions (meat and charcuterie).

The farmer's market at PSU is something to behold

I've never had a bad meal at: PaaDee (Thai street food), Laurelhurst Market (meat heavy), the Aviary, Tasty and Sons. If you are vegetarian, Harlow is amazing. I'm not even vegetarian but I still go there to eat sometimes.

The Rose garden is good, as are the Crystal springs garden, Washington park, and the Oregon garden.  Also walking along Tom McCall waterfront park.  But I'd rather go on a hike generally. The old curmudgeon in me remembers how inexpensive the Japanese and Chinese gardens used to be.  At current prices I can't recommend anymore.

I drag all visitors to Powell's bookstore on West Burnside.

Solid list! Much appreciate the detailed response. Looking forward to my first trip to the Pacific NW.

[Exflyboy]

"Portland.. its where young people go to retire"

Make sure you watch Portlandia if you haven't already...:)

[patchyfacialhair]

When my wife was there for work, we visited a few places outside of the metro area, notably multnomah falls, and cannon beach, but we also enjoyed walking to powell's bookstore and finding unique but budget friendly places to eat. One day we literally just sat on a bench in a park in the city and people watched. Luckily the weather was superb while we were there (the sun peeked out a few times each day!)

[Not Your Monkey]

Cannon Beach is quite lovely if you have the time to spare. I didn't include on my list because it is about 80 miles west of Portland and there is only one main road to get there. In the summer, traffic can be terrible. Especially on the weekends.

As for Multnomah Falls, it's spectacular. The lodge is open. However, due to an unfortunate large scale fire caused by some teenagers, the trail and lower viewing area are both closed. You can still drive there and glimpse the falls, but the view may be a bit obscured by vegetation and there's not a lot of walking around you can do.  In fact, most of the trails in the Columbia Gorge are closed because of the fire. Too bad, really.  It was such a lovely place to go

[sparkytheop]

I'll be there Sunday to see Everclear :)  I haven't explored much of Portland since I usually have things I'm going there to do/visit, that I can't do at home (so, I know my way around Costco, but that's it).  You might look to see if there are any plays or concerts you'd be interested in seeing, if that's your thing.  The Saturday Market is great for photography and people watching. 

The fire was horrible, and you can't even pull over at a lot of places in the gorge, but if you just want to take a drive, go to Mt Hood from one through Sandy, then come back down through Hood River and head back along the gorge.  It's a pretty drive and you might be able to play in the snow (I have no idea what snow levels will be like in July though).  You can also stop by Timberline Lodge (where they filmed the exterior of The Shining).  The best things about "Portland" are not in Portland ;)