With a few seasons of Portlandia in the books, sketch master and former Trenchmouth drummer Fred Armisen has helped spawn a renewed interest in The City of Roses (aided, of course, by the talents of ex-Sleater-Kinney guitarist Carrie Brownstein).
Just about every restaurant I go to in Portland is unbelievably great. Portland really does have its own style of food, and it never feels derivative or desperate. It says a lot about the city. You know what’s great too? The service. It’s always informative and polite, but never too much. I am crazy about the food carts too.
In no particular order, here are five places I really like going to:
1. Ping (Old Town / Chinatown)
I love the menu. Different and fast.
2. Clyde Common (Old Town / Chinatown)
Right by the Ace Hotel. It looks and feels great. Amazing food. The good kind of fancy.
3. Any Stumptown Coffee Roasters
When I first heard about it, I was told that it was the best coffee in the world. I said, “Hmm, really? Sure.” But then I tried it, and I said, “Oh, my god, this is the best coffee in the world!”
4. Pok Pok Noi (Sabin)
I love this place too! I like sitting at the counter and getting whatever crazy noodle-soup thing. And one of those vinegar drinks. It feels healthy for some reason.
5. Olympic Provisions (Buckman and Slabtown)
Are you kidding me? How can something be this good? A selection of dry-cured salami? Hell yes.
Several very obvious choices Fred, did your slacker publicist choose them for you? BTW Stumptown is a bit overextended with their customer base so they burn the beans to make them have a longer shelf life. You should really check out Coava at 1300 SE grand, if you think stumptown is the best, get ready to have your mind F’d in the A. I don’t disagree with any of your eatery choices, but you should really check out Ned Ludd, Chef Jason Francis French is the best chef in Portland hands down. A lot of people try to re-invent the wheel, a lot of people don’t. What Chef French does at Ned Ludd is the equivalent of sculpting a wheel and having it bronzed to symbolize the epitome of what the wheel should be. Also, you are awesome, cacao.
All are great choices, Fred. The food at the Timbers games are very Portland oriented, too. (Full disclosure, my son runs the concesssions there)
Hey! where are these places in the Portlandia Guide for Visitors book? We’re confused. Ah shite, is it a guide book parody? Guess we’ll have to go back. We luv ya Fred!
Stopped reading after your first sentence. You don’t seem like a nice person.