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Portland‘s Central Eastside Industrial District is one of the city’s hottest neighborhoods for dining, with more new restaurants on the way. Here are a few of our favorite spots to feast and imbibe from morning ’til night.
Stacked Sandwich Shop
Find local gourmet eats at Stacked Sandwich Shop — Photo courtesy of Kari Young
How did a chef with a sandwich shop become Eater Portland’s Chef of the Year? Stacked is the culmination of chef Gabriel Pascuzzi’s many years in the fine dining world.
Here, he combines fine dining techniques and hyperlocal ingredients to elevate the humble sandwich to a whole new level. Classics include the oxtail French dip with charred onions and a pork and water buffalo meatball sandwich with spicy tomato and truffle pecorino. There are always several vegetarian options and salads, too.
Le Pigeon
Food is art at Le Pigeon — Photo courtesy of David Reamer
The 10-seat chef’s counter at Le Pigeon, available for walk-ins only, is the best way to experience two-time James Beard Award winning chef Gabriel Rucker’s signature restaurant. The communal tables are fun too, and the five- and seven-course tastings menus are consistent great values.
Rucker’s playful dishes like oxtail baklava with barbecue sweetbreads and plum-glazed pigeon ushered in a new era of relaxed fine dining at independent chef-driven restaurants when he opened in 2006. Fourteen years later, this is still one of the best restaurants in the city.
Canard
Stop in for a fantastic, fun meal at Canard — Photo courtesy of David Reamer
Next door to Le Pigeon, Canard is chef Gabriel Rucker’s all-day cafe, serving three meals a day plus weekend brunch. The food is playful (think funfetti pancakes) but the wine list is seriously good, and it’s the perfect place to stop for either a snack or a meal.
Locally, Portland Monthly and The Oregonian declared Canard the best new restaurant of 2018 and they snagged a 2019 semi-finalist nomination for James Beard’s Best New Restaurant, too.
Boke Bowl
Boke Bowl ramen — Photo courtesy of Amber Gibson
What began as a pop-up in 2010 has become one of the best fast casual Asian-inspired restaurants in Portland. Portland-style ramen is made with handmade noodles (ask for shirataki noodles if you’re gluten-free) and light, but flavorful slow-simmered dashis, with an array of toppings for carnivores, pescatarians and vegans alike.
Poke, seasonal steam buns, fresh salads and house-brined pickles round out the diverse menu at Boke Bowl, which is great for sharing. Stop by for Korean Fried Chicken Night on Thursdays.
Kachka
A meal at Bonnie and Israel Morales’ Russian restaurant is enlightening, fun and delicious. Get an education in vodka and caviar (not all of it’s super pricey), then taste the difference between Ukranian and Siberian dumplings.
Try Kachka‘s famous seven-layer dip that’s really more of a salad, playfully named “herring under a fur coat” on the menu. There are pickles, pork neck skewers and smoked veal breast served with buckwheat crepe.
Grab a cookie to go on your way out and practice your new Russian vocabulary. It’s rare to find a restaurant that blends the traditional and modern so well, and in a style of food still foreign to many American diners.
Olympia Provisions Southeast
Oregon’s first USDA-approved salumeria offers cured meats, sausages and pâtés that are sold nationwide. At Olympia Provisions Southeast, you can order Spanish, French and Italian charcuterie boards along with choucroute garnie and other classic European meat dishes.
Brunch is perhaps even better than dinner, with specials like the flapjack attack – hot cakes with poached eggs, hollandaise, sweetheart ham and maple syrup. Even ordinary dishes like shrimp and grits or a BLT sandwich are elevated by the rich flavor of their andouille sausage and bacon.
Renata
Everyone in the neighborhood flocks to Renata‘s expansive patio on a warm summer evening, enjoying a spritz or Negroni with wood-fired Neapolitan pizza and housemade pasta. Come winter, request a seat by the hearth to warm up and watch the kitchen at work.
Whether you’re looking for happy hour bar snacks, like arancini and fritto misto, or a hearty family-style meal for a large group, this is arguably the best Italian food in town, served with the same generous portions and loving spirit as if you’re dining with family.
All meat is sourced from small local farms and butchered in house. Try the porchetta spiced chicken or grilled pork chop with Calabrian chile aioli smashed potatoes.
La Luna Cafe
This cheerful cafe serves breakfast and lunch seven days a week with a menu ranging from greasy hangover cures to a virtuous acai bowl. Try the fat biscuit, composed of frizzled Irish bacon, smoked gouda scramble and maple aioli on a housemade buttermilk biscuit, or perhaps the za’atar roasted vegetables with lentils and goji tahini sauce.
The pastry case at La Luna Cafe is full of temptations too, like the pile of chocolate hazelnut cookies and matcha rice crispies. After all, breakfast is the most important meal of the day, right?
