Portlandia - the real deal

Just got home from Portland, Oregon for a long weekend trip and I wish I could list each and every place you should eat at, but we would be here all day.  So instead I will provide a go to list of must sees and eats and you obviously can always ask me about more if you actually are going there...

food carts

My uncle knows Portland well.  And I mean WELL.  He helped us eat and drink at as many places as we could in the three days that we were in town.  Without him (and a little of yelp) we would have been lost, but instead I now need to go on a permanent diet and probably have shortened my life span by 10 years...

Brunch: without a DOUBT eat at Screen Door - Southern cooking, fried chicken and waffles, pecan crusted bacon, biscuits and gravy...should I keep going?  Other spots: Bijou Cafe, Mothers, Byways.  Brunch is a HUGE deal in Portland see either wake up early or expect a two hour wait.

Oregonian at PBJ: jam, blue cheese, peanut butter

Lunch: Food carts.  If you do nothing else in Portland you must try at least one Food Cart.  My favorite was PBJ.  One of the more famous one's is Nong's Khao Man Gai which is Thai chicken and rice.  Didn't get a chance to try it but everyone knows about it.

fresh ceviche

Dinner: The end of the day is one of my favorite times because you are allowed to eat until your stomach hurts then go to bed.  Oh you aren't supposed to do that?  Oops.  We started off our Portland experience at Clyde Common; great first experience into the Portland food scene and phenom food.  The pastrami short rib was full flavored and juicy, I'm already starting to miss it.  Also recommend food at Deschuttes, Burnside brewery, and again any food cart (they are open late).  But the real star was Andina.  Fresh Peruvian tapas that is just so flavorful and made so well that even in my buzzed state I knew the food was better than just drunk munchies.  Only issue with it, you probably can't get in.  It was a Christmas miracle we got reservations.

beer on beer on beer (but I didn't like this brewery)

Other must eats/drinks:  Ruby Jewel ice cream (Portlandian's might shoot me but I preferred it to Salt & Straw); Blue Star Donuts (NOT Voodoo - its overrated); Cascade Brewery for anything sour beerish; Deschutes for beer (obviously); Rogue (beer and food was pretty good); anything McMenanims; Rontoms for the outdoor patio; and The Departure for the most amazing views.

Can I move to Portland yet?