The first thing you have to understand: Voodoo Donuts is bullshit, Blue Star and Pips are amazing.
- TriMet is your friend, the Max runs downtown. We have a mobile app to buy bus passes with.
- Transit App is worth the money, helps with routes once you know where are going
- If you are planning to take the bus, this is a good beginners guide
- Cabs have to dispatched, you can't hail them. The exception is for taxi stands (Amtrak Station, Airport, in front of Hotels). Radio Cab is a standby. Use Curb to handle payments and dispatch from your phone.
- We have Lyft and that other company also
- There are Five Quadrants: Burnside divides North/South, Willamette and I-5 East/West. Our magical fifth quadrant is North Portland, which is North of the Willamete and West of I-5, but NE was already taken.
- Couch is pronounced "cooch" and Oregon is "orygun"
- In parts of town, streets running East/West are in alphabetical order. North/South Streets are numbered. It's easy to get around.
- This is Bridge Town.
- "Where can I find out about shows/events/things to do"
- Our two free weekly papers got you covered: Willamette Week and Portland Mercury
- "What is up with the old builings with numbers that aren't their number? I got lost in this place called Ladd's Addition?"
- Read up on the Great Renumbering, and if you thought SemVer changes were a nightmare.
- "There sure seems to be a lot of white people here"
- Our state (and city) has a painful and lasting racist history that didn't involve any wars. You can read more here.
- "Hey man, I hear you can, like, smoke weed here or something?"
- Of no surprise, our free newspapers got you covered there also
Portland's often called "Brewvana" due to the amazing number of craft breweries and cider-houses, beer bars, and general pub scene. Here's an opinionated (via @ahpook) selection of the best of the crop, with their Neighborhood in parenthesis:
- Cascade Barrel House - The "House of Sour", specialists in barrel-aged, fruited lambic and gueuze styles. Not to be missed. (Close-in SE)
- Commons Brewing - Focused on Saison/Farmhouse ales and other rustic styles. No food to speak of, but great taster trays and extremely high-quality beer. (Close-in SE)
- Upright Brewing - Also mostly a Saison/Farmhouse specialist but with a "wilder" edge than Commons. (Close-in North Portland)
- Ex Novo - A relatively new entrant to the PDX Brewing scene, but I like everything I've had from them, especially their "Eliot" IPA and "Wonder Twins" Rye IIPA. (Close-in North Portland)
- Reverend Nat's - Cider house. Innovative, challenging, occasionally undrinkable but always interesting (Close-in North Portland)
- Ecliptic Brewing - Former Deschutes brewmaster, great mix of traditional and experimental styles, tasty pub fare and a very cool setting at the South end of hoppin' Mississippi Ave (North Portland)
- Baerlic Brewing - Also relatively new, mostly English styles like Bitters, Cream Ales, and an amazing Stout. No food served. (Close-in SE)
- Burnside Brewing - Closest brewery to the Convention center, with decent lunch and solid brews. (Central Eastside)
- Base Camp Brewing - If you ever wished that REI sold beer, Base Camp will feel like home. They're primarily lager specialists, which is unusual and welcome in the land of top-fermentation. (Central Eastside)
- Natian Brewing - Unsure if they have a tasting room, call first (Central Eastside)
- Breakside Brewing - fantastic food and award-winning beer. Mostly lives up to the hype. (Dekum/North Portland)
- 10 Barrel Brewing - Sadly, now owned by a giant megacorp, but the beer is still pretty darn good. (The Pearl)
- Fat Head's Brewing - Obnoxious label art but solid, hop-heavy brews. First Oregon location of this Ohio-based brewery is in the Pearl, just down from 10 Barrel, Bridgeport, and Deschutes so it's easy to bar-hop between them (see what I did there?)
- Deschutes - One of the originators of NW craft brewing. Still kills it with a variety of styles, especially their Porters and Stouts. (The Pearl)
- Bridgeport Brewing - Credited with creating the first American IPA. Excellent food and a bustling brewpub atmosphere - a block from the previous Puppetlabs (currently Simple) office. (The Pearl)
- Rogue Distillery and Public House - Inexplicably popular; responsible for some of the least tasty "craft" beers I've ever had. Do not be tricked into buying the Voodoo Maple Bacon beer, it's disgusting.
Not breweries, but places to taste a wide variety of beer from near and far.
- APEX - Cash-only, bikes (motorized and non) encouraged, pinball. Arguably the best beer bar in Oregon, or maybe the United States. (Close-in SE)
- Bailey's - Solid tap list, mostly West Coast/Pacific NW focused. Gets crowded and loud, for a reason. (Downtown)
- Beer Mongers - Eight taps, hundreds of bottles and cans chilled and ready to drink. Kitty-corner from APEX. (Close-in SE)
- Belmont Station - Beer nerd heaven. Very selective tap list and the attached bottle shop has the deepest selection in town. (SE Stark/44th)
- Bushwhacker's Cider - Another option for Cider lovers, with a SE and a North Portland location.
- Cider Bite - Newly-opened cider tasting bar. (MW Hoyt/13th)
- Green Dragon - Owned by Rogue, but fortunately serves beers other than their house brands. 50 taps including a "secret" one.
- Hop Haven - Probably the closest "deep" craft beer bar to the Convention Center.
- Loyal Legion - Busy and fun, 99 taps (not all of which are always lit up) and beer-boiled sausages. (Close-in SE)
- Portland Cider House - Cider specialists, for the fruit-inclined. (SE Hawthorne)
- Saraveza - Wisconsin-worshipping "Cheers" vibe. Good bottle choices, small but well-curated tap list (North Portland)
- Upper Lip - Upstairs bar, above Bailey's Taproom. A few taps, and more than 170 bottles. (Downtown)
- Powell's Books - 1005 W Burnside, Portland, OR
- Clyde Commons / Kenny Zukes / Stumptown / Pepe le Moko / Ace Hotel: one building, all of portland.
- Multnomah Whiskey Library- worth getting here on a monday/tuesday, no wait or lines, $50 for a reservation otherwise.
- Bailey's Tap Room 1: All the beers.
- Santeria1: "the Best Mexican Food on The Planet", allegedly (It'a really very good). Delivers to Bailey's
- Brunchbox: all the cholesterol
- Raven & Rose: good cocktails / food
- Killer Burger (all over the city actually): great burgers
- TILT: Great burgers
- Sizzle Pie
- Lechon: All the meats
- Ground Kontrol: Classic arcade game bar
- Luc Lac: Popular Vietnamese restaurant and bar, can be very busy around peak times
ALWAYS CROSS THE MORRISON BRIDGE ON THE SOUTH SIDE (The stairs on the north-side are pretty gnarly)
- Bit House Saloon - New cocktails and food
- Noraneko - Ramen
- Dig A Pony - Hipsters
- Bunk Bar - Sandwiches
- Kachka - Russian Hipsters (really awesome dumplings)
- Clark Lewis - Formalish dining
- Olympia Provisions
- White Owl Social Club - Vegan hipsters
- Le Montage Bistro - Been here forever. If you ever meet a native Portlander, chances are they had a prom dinner here.
- Morrison Hotel - Proper dive, owned by a dedicated Red Sox fan (fuck the yankees)
- Podnahs: BBQ / Brunch
- Branch: Whiskey
- Random Order: Pie
- Bridge City Comics: Comics
- Meadow: Cocktail bitters, salts, chocolates
- Tasty and Sons: Brunch
- Paadee: Thai food (better than PokPok) - http://langbaanpdx.com/ is their private dining / super awesome space
- tapalaya: cajun tapas, great happy hour
- Bollywood Theatre - Indian street food
- Bye and Bye - Hi
- Vintage Cocktail Lounge - Best cocktails for the price in the city
- Observatory / Over & Out - Great food, Over&Out in back is their less crowded bar
- Country Cat - House made everything
- Tanuki - Izakiya and Big Tit Zombie - don't bother if you have allergies or dietary restrictions or don't like watching Japanese B grade horror movies while you eat kimchi and jellyfish salad
- Roscoes - Tons of beer and po' boys. Sushi bar attached is great.
- Bipartisan Cafe - Pie!
In Portland, most places will have some decent vegetarian or vegan options on the menu. However, here are some specific places to check out:
- Farm Spirit - Intimate (14-seat) vegan prix fixe. Advance tickets required. (Close In SE) $$$$
- Natural Selection - 4-course prix fixe or a la carte dinner options. (NE/Alberta) $$$
- Blossoming Lotus - Vegan world fusion cuisine. (NE) $$
- Portobello Vegan Trattoria - Amazing and creative entrees and desserts. (Close In SE) $$
- Dick's Kitchen - Burgers, etc. with a focus on Paleo, Gluten Free, and Vegan options. (NW and SE) $
- Laughing Planet Cafe - Quick service lunch/dinner with many vegan/vegetarian options. (Multiple Locations) $
- Burgerville - Local fast food chain with at least 2 vegetarian burger options. (Multiple Locations) $
- Juniper - Food cart focused on vegan comfort food. (Downtown) $
- DC Vegetarian - Food cart serving vegetarian/vegan hot and cold sandwiches. (Downtown) $
Not an endorsement, just suggestions
Portland is a great place to play a game. We have several game shops that host formal game nights/afternoons/events; allow informal playing in their stores; and have in-store game libraries you can use. We also have a variety of weekly show-up-at-this-bar-and-play events. A few public game nights are:
- Lucky Lab Brew Pub Most every night folks can be found playing games, but Thursdays are the big board game night.
- Guardian Games Every other Sunday, starting at noon, is boardgame day. Check thier event calendar to see which Sunday it is.
- My Father's Place Folks gather on Wednesdays to play at this bar.
- Calagator is our home grown tech event calendar. If you are cool, you put your event here.
- Not everyone is cool. Some events are on Meetup. And that's okay too.
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