Yet another Portland question
October 8, 2013 8:58 AM Subscribe
We will be hanging out in Portland (Oregon) for three days over next weekend and are looking for a few types of activities downtown or easily accessible by public transit/walking from downtown. One of us has spent a little time there in the past and has done Basic Touristy Portland, the other has not.
We're looking for:
1) great happy hours
2) interesting places to get craft cocktails (we love the Summit Sun Liquor in Seattle, and something along those lines would be awesome)
3) non-downtown neighborhoods for interesting city walking and wandering (to use Seattle equivalents again, we can easily spend a day happily wandering on foot around Queen Anne or Capitol Hill or Ballard/Fremont)
4) fun inside places to go if heavy rain kills above-mentioned plans for interesting walking (yes, we know about and love Powell's- I'm sure we'll spend a morning there)
We'll happily accept any other Portland suggestions for two Alaskans staying downtown (probably, this is a last-minute trip so hotel specifics are TBD) without a car.
We like city things unavailable in our own smaller city (food trucks, late-night dining, fancy drinks, happy hours, sigh), are a mix of outdoorsy and geeky and are very open to anything you care to suggest. It probably matters less in Portland than it does in Anchorage, but I'm a vegetarian so need at least one decent option at any dining place suggested.
We're looking for:
1) great happy hours
2) interesting places to get craft cocktails (we love the Summit Sun Liquor in Seattle, and something along those lines would be awesome)
3) non-downtown neighborhoods for interesting city walking and wandering (to use Seattle equivalents again, we can easily spend a day happily wandering on foot around Queen Anne or Capitol Hill or Ballard/Fremont)
4) fun inside places to go if heavy rain kills above-mentioned plans for interesting walking (yes, we know about and love Powell's- I'm sure we'll spend a morning there)
We'll happily accept any other Portland suggestions for two Alaskans staying downtown (probably, this is a last-minute trip so hotel specifics are TBD) without a car.
We like city things unavailable in our own smaller city (food trucks, late-night dining, fancy drinks, happy hours, sigh), are a mix of outdoorsy and geeky and are very open to anything you care to suggest. It probably matters less in Portland than it does in Anchorage, but I'm a vegetarian so need at least one decent option at any dining place suggested.
My craft cocktail suggestions include:
Rum Club (also good happy hour)
Teardrop Lounge
Clyde Common
Raven & Rose (the Rookery bar is upstairs)
Kask
Hale Pele (owned by a good friend, excellent tiki drinks!)
Interesting neighborhoods to walk around include:
Alberta Arts district
Mississippi street area
Hawthorne neighborhood
Belmont neighborhood
all of these neighborhoods have a number of good restaurants, bars, coffee/tea houses, shops, etc as well.
posted by Kpele at 10:04 AM on October 8, 2013 [1 favorite]
Rum Club (also good happy hour)
Teardrop Lounge
Clyde Common
Raven & Rose (the Rookery bar is upstairs)
Kask
Hale Pele (owned by a good friend, excellent tiki drinks!)
Interesting neighborhoods to walk around include:
Alberta Arts district
Mississippi street area
Hawthorne neighborhood
Belmont neighborhood
all of these neighborhoods have a number of good restaurants, bars, coffee/tea houses, shops, etc as well.
posted by Kpele at 10:04 AM on October 8, 2013 [1 favorite]
Ground kontrol is a metafilter favorite for rainy days, for good reason.
Not quite a happy hour, but I always reccomend Tanuki in the Montavilla neighborhood. Really good japanese/Korean influenced bar food, and solid cocktails and booze list. Cheap as shit if you order the omakase, and set you own price. They'll always bring you tons of food; more than if you bought it piecemeal.
posted by furnace.heart at 10:07 AM on October 8, 2013
Not quite a happy hour, but I always reccomend Tanuki in the Montavilla neighborhood. Really good japanese/Korean influenced bar food, and solid cocktails and booze list. Cheap as shit if you order the omakase, and set you own price. They'll always bring you tons of food; more than if you bought it piecemeal.
posted by furnace.heart at 10:07 AM on October 8, 2013
Oh-- and all of the bars/restaurants listed have at least one vegetarian option, and most have multiple.
For food carts, check out Food Carts Portland. There is a cart pod on SE Belmont about 42nd, one on SE Hawthorne and 12th (Potato Champion! yay poutine!), a couple on Mississippi and a couple on NE Alberta.
posted by Kpele at 10:09 AM on October 8, 2013 [1 favorite]
For food carts, check out Food Carts Portland. There is a cart pod on SE Belmont about 42nd, one on SE Hawthorne and 12th (Potato Champion! yay poutine!), a couple on Mississippi and a couple on NE Alberta.
posted by Kpele at 10:09 AM on October 8, 2013 [1 favorite]
Kpele's list is good.
On the cocktails side, I'd add Gilt Club.
If the rain (or, more likely wind) is too unpleasant for strolling outside, take your Powell's loot to the tea house in the Chinese Garden to enjoy the weather ravaging the garden from over your teacup.
posted by janell at 10:21 AM on October 8, 2013
On the cocktails side, I'd add Gilt Club.
If the rain (or, more likely wind) is too unpleasant for strolling outside, take your Powell's loot to the tea house in the Chinese Garden to enjoy the weather ravaging the garden from over your teacup.
posted by janell at 10:21 AM on October 8, 2013
While furnace.heart's Tanuki recommendation is also my number one food rec normally, it's really not an option for any vegetarian stricter than "pesco-veg, and some random pig on occasion might not kill me". Luckily for you, it's one of the only places in town that can't really accommodate vegetarians. [And for everyone else, go to tanuki, it's the best. They're playing A Serbian Film on Halloween!]
posted by a box and a stick and a string and a bear at 10:44 AM on October 8, 2013
posted by a box and a stick and a string and a bear at 10:44 AM on October 8, 2013
My partner works for Pedal Bike Tours, which operates out of downtown. They offer guided bike rides that visit food carts, brewery, wine country, columbia river gorge, etc. Even if you don't do the rides, the descriptions of their tours could be handy to look through.
posted by aniola at 10:54 AM on October 8, 2013
posted by aniola at 10:54 AM on October 8, 2013
Crap, yeah, tankuki+vegetarian is difficult. I missed that part of the question in my excitement to suggest Tanuki yet once again. Disregard!
posted by furnace.heart at 11:09 AM on October 8, 2013
posted by furnace.heart at 11:09 AM on October 8, 2013
Here's the list of the three basic Portland walking tours I made previously.
Here's my most recent overview of Portland eats.
Craft cocktails are pretty ubiquitous, honestly. I happen to love the cocktails at The Waypost, but I'm probably biased because they're my neighborhood bar.
Food carts, there are so many. The downtown Alder pod is mostly great because of Nong's, which I do highly recommend. But lately I've been loving the Hollywood and Mississippi pods.
posted by Lutoslawski at 11:25 AM on October 8, 2013 [2 favorites]
Here's my most recent overview of Portland eats.
Craft cocktails are pretty ubiquitous, honestly. I happen to love the cocktails at The Waypost, but I'm probably biased because they're my neighborhood bar.
Food carts, there are so many. The downtown Alder pod is mostly great because of Nong's, which I do highly recommend. But lately I've been loving the Hollywood and Mississippi pods.
posted by Lutoslawski at 11:25 AM on October 8, 2013 [2 favorites]
It's a bit far from downtown, but the Portland Nursery has its Annual Apple Tasting at 50th and SE Stark over the next two weekends. It's free, delicious, and fun. If you end up renting bikes or something, I'd suggest it.
posted by tacodave at 3:45 PM on October 8, 2013
posted by tacodave at 3:45 PM on October 8, 2013
Response by poster: Oh, awesome, thanks tacodave; that's totally the kind of thing we like. I think bike rentals are in our future.
posted by charmedimsure at 3:53 PM on October 8, 2013
posted by charmedimsure at 3:53 PM on October 8, 2013
If you hit up Alberta Street, Aviary is really good with some nice vegetarian options for dinner. And the cocktails are excellent too.
Not too far from Mississippi Ave is Cedos which has delicious falafel! (but don't ride your rented bikes on MLK!) A few blocks away is the Beech Street Parlour which has tasty cocktails.
Does Anchorage have Ethiopian food yet? I like Dalo Kitchen (on N. Williams) and Gojo on NE Alberta.
posted by vespabelle at 6:28 PM on October 8, 2013 [1 favorite]
Not too far from Mississippi Ave is Cedos which has delicious falafel! (but don't ride your rented bikes on MLK!) A few blocks away is the Beech Street Parlour which has tasty cocktails.
Does Anchorage have Ethiopian food yet? I like Dalo Kitchen (on N. Williams) and Gojo on NE Alberta.
posted by vespabelle at 6:28 PM on October 8, 2013 [1 favorite]
On Saturday, take the streetcar to the South Waterfront and ride the aerial tram. The views from the tram and the hospital verandas at the top are great!
posted by outfielder at 7:06 PM on October 8, 2013
posted by outfielder at 7:06 PM on October 8, 2013
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It's one of my favorite bars in the country and I highly recommend it. The drinks aren't all that cheap, but they use top notch ingredients (the owner sells his own line of all-natural bar syrups), and they pack a wallop- tiki drinks are heavy on the spirits!
posted by Old Man McKay at 9:52 AM on October 8, 2013