In a spur of the moment decision, my husband, Ben, and I decided to take a trip to Portland for 2 nights. We’d already been before for a weekend but it had been four years. We were overdue! Given that Portland is a “food town” we were excited to put together a list of restaurants to check out while we were in town. At the top of the list was Kachka, a Russian restaurant owned by Bonnie and Israel Morales. I had met Israel before with my last job so I knew it was a restaurant I was excited to check out. But after listening to the the Bon Appetit Podcast interview with chef Bonnie, Kachka was the first reservation I made once we booked our hotel. It was a good thing I made the reservation because the very next day Kachka was listed in the top 38 restaurants in America by Eater.com. Other food spots I added to the list included Thai, donuts, a Chinese tea house, an Australian café, and Olympic Provisions the crafted meat experts.
Our trip definitely focused on great foot but we also did some other exploring. We brought along our dog, Sadie, and checked out a long walk along the river. We (finally!) visited the Pendleton Mill in Washougal, WA, and did a tour of the factory learning about how they make their beautiful wool blankets. We also tried on hiking boots at Danner, an Oregon based outdoor store with high quality hiking boots. There are a plethora of small businesses in Portland, as no one industry dominates the city. Given that I am a huge fan of supporting local it was the perfect city to explore and shop around!
Check out the list of places we visited below. My Google map is public so please use it to plan your next trip or share it with friends and family who are visiting the city. Keep Portland Weird!
Shops
Cord
Danner
Patagonia
North of West
Maak Labs
Animal Traffic
City Home
Pendleton Mills + Store
Beam + Anchor
Suseiki Knives
Orox Leather Company
Eats
Tasty N Alder
Olympic Provisions
Kachka
Hat Yai
Proud Mary
Blue Star Donuts
Pok Pok
Drinks
Stephen Teas
Red Robe
Whiskey Bar
Jackknife
Sour Beer
La Neda
Stumptown Coffee
Stay and See
The Hoxton Hotel
Ace Hotel
Tom McCall Waterfront Park
Powell’s Books
Caviar Plate at Kachka
Sour Cherry Dumplings and Coffee at Kachka
PNW Oysters
Walking along the river
Chicken, Rice, and Liver at Nong’s Khao Man Gai
Filtered Water and Coffee Greet Us at the new Hoxton Hotel
