21 Best Restaurants in Portland, Oregon

Described by baker-owner Kristen Murray as a "modern pastry luncheonette," this dainty West End café has just a handful of wooden booth and counter seats and a minimalist-inspired white-on-white aesthetic. The menu features exquisite French–Scandinavian pastries, cakes, and sandwiches, as well as a full gamut of drinks, including wine (interesting flights are offered), beer, cocktails, teas, and coffee.

Beloved chef and cookbook author Lisa Schroeder dedicates her home-style, made-with-love approach to food to the comforting foods prepared by mothers everywhere. Clearly the theme resonates, as evidenced by the long waits on weekends, and even some weekday mornings for breakfast, which is arguably the best time of the day to sample Schroeder's hearty cooking; try the wild salmon hash with leeks or the French toast with a crunchy cornflake crust. Reservations are recommended on weekends.

You'll find some of the tastiest sweets—including heavenly pistachio-rose croissants and blueberry-blackberry scones—in town at this cozy patisserie and café a few blocks south of Jamison Square. Be sure to check out the ever-changing selection of fluffy macarons.

The line that forms outside this Southern-cooking restaurant during weekend brunch and dinner is as epic as the food itself, but you can more easily score a table if you come for weekday brunch, and it's easier to find seating at the newer Pearl District location. A large, packed dining room with canned pickles and peppers along the walls, this Portland hot spot does justice to authentic Southern cooking, especially when it comes to the crispy buttermilk-battered fried chicken with creamy mashed potatoes and collard greens cooked in bacon fat. Or choose the Screen Door plate with your choice of four sides (consider the mac and cheese, creamy grits, and most any of the salads on the rotating seasonal menu).

While this upscale tavern serves fine dinner plates, it's happy hour and brunch that draws scene-y Nob Hill revelers to 23Hoyt. With a cool, clean ambience and the owner's private collection of contemporary art on the walls, this corner establishment makes an excellent place to partake in early-evening or weekend noshing.

This welcoming employee-owned restaurant focused on locally and seasonally sourced ingredients bills itself an "all-day café" and encourages guests to linger. Start the morning with a frittata sandwich and a latte, or drop by later in the day for a wood-fired wild mushroom pizza or a bowl of clams steamed in fennel broth, and maybe a glass of wine.

If you're seeking a comfy spot serving great local coffee brands and exceptional baked goods—both savory and sweet—consider this light-filled bakery-café in the bustling Burnside and 28th section of Buckman. Drawing young families, laptop-toting freelancers, and hoodied hipsters, the kitchen turns out delicious breakfast sandwiches with candied bacon in the morning, and a wide range of sandwiches at lunchtime. There's a newer branch in Inner Northeast's Burnside Bridgehead development.

This chatter-filled breakfast and lunch spot on the edge of the Central East Side is a delightful spot for kicking off your day, with or without a splash of Campari in your glass (there's a fine selection of coffees and teas, too). The breakfast-brunch fare is superb, with chicken-and-waffles topped with hot-chili honey and Honduran baleadas (homemade flour tortillas rolled around refried beans, scrambled eggs, queso, avocado, and crema) leading the charge.

Inside this sleek Woodstock café, with additional locations Downtown and on East Burnside, patrons sip fine coffees sourced from Central America, South America, and Africa, and indulge in breakfast and lunch fare, such as savory and sweet porridges, granola, toasts, and salads. Finnish owner Wille Yli-Luoma brings a modern, minimalist aesthetic to this striking space with plenty of tables for working and socializing.

Golden crusts are the trademark of Ken's rustic breads, croissants, tarts, and puff pastries, perfect for breakfast and lunch. Sandwiches, barbecue pulled pork, and croque monsieur are served on thick slabs of freshly baked bread, and local berries fill the flaky pastries. If the dozen tables inside the vibrant blue bakery are crammed (they usually are), you can sit outside at one of the sidewalk tables.

This New York-style kosher deli and bagel bakery evokes a 1950s diner. The thick sandwiches are made with fresh bread and lean, fresh-cooked meats, and the tender home-smoked salmon and pickled herring are simply mouthwatering.

With a colorful purple-and-green color scheme, soaring ceilings with exposed air ducts, and lots of hanging plants, this modern mashup of Indian cuisine and comfort brunch fare isn't quite like anything even offbeat Portland has ever seen before. Dishes are both pretty and tasty, from the kitchari (savory rice dal with cabbage, herb salad, and bright-purple pickled eggs) to a rendition of shrimp and grits that showcases shrimp in a tikka mole sauce over coconut milk polenta. The owners also operate the popular DesiPDX food cart on North Mississippi Avenue.

The original of what's now a franchise with more than 100 branches in North America and Japan, this pancake house is the real deal. Faithful customers have been coming since 1953 to this cabin-like local landmark, which is crowded with both locals and tourists from the time it opens at 7 am until it closes in the mid-afternoon. With pancakes starting around $7, it's not the cheapest place to get a stack, but with 20 varieties and some of the best waffles and crepes around, it's worth the trip.Signature item is Apple Pancakes.

Painted in bright purples, pinks, and greens, this festive spot offers traditional Cuban fare: slow-roasted meats, tropical root vegetables, hearty stews, rice, and beans. The meat plates—featuring slow-roasted pork, oxtail, shredded beef, rubbed chicken, or giant prawns—with various rich and saucy accompaniments, are all tasty and best enjoyed with a side of fried plantains.

Loosen your belt a notch or two before venturing inside this down-home Southern restaurant that's especially beloved for its over-the-top breakfast biscuit fare. Pat yourself on the back, or belly, if you can polish off the Reggie Deluxe (a fluffy homemade biscuit topped with fried chicken, bacon, cheese, an egg, and sage gravy), a masterful mélange of calorie-laden ingredients, or the gut-busting smoked-brisket-club biscuit sandwich, shrimp and grits, and andouille corn dog featuring locally made Otto's sausage. You'll find several additional locations around town.

Named for the patron saint of bakers, this French bakery on a quiet corner in Slabtown serves light meals and pastries. Start the day off with a plain or chocolate croissant, or café au lait, but return for lunch (or dinner) and the delicious quiche, sandwiches, salads, savory puff pastries, and tarts. St. Honoré has outposts Downtown, on S.E. Division Street, and in Lake Oswego.

This busy, informal restaurant on Alberta Street is known for its hearty breakfasts—namely, its biscuits and gravy, shredded-potato cakes, egg and tofu scrambles—but the lunch menu offers plenty of creative choices as well, like a creamy artichoke sandwich and a mac and cheese of the day. With a large stone fireplace and chimney, the covered, comfortable outdoor area doubles as a beer garden on warm spring and summer days, and the adjacent garden rounds off the property with a peaceful sitting area.