We have lived in Portland for about a week now and have already had a chance to explore some of the neighborhood’s good eats, good drinks and of course, good coffee.
Here’s a glance at our first week of eats in Portland’s Mississippi (Boise) neighborhood.
- Stormbreaker Brewing: First things first, the beer is DELICIOUS. I tried two of their seasonal beers – their Fall of the Iron Curtain Baltic Porter and the SB & Friends (a saison) – if you like porters, you don’t want to miss this deep, rich (and dare I say, velvety porter). If you’re into saisons or even sour beers, the SB & Friends won’t disappoint. It has the crispness of a saison with just the right amount of sourness. And let’s not forget the food. The pickle jar is pretty amazing and full of pickled things – from cucumbers, beets, radishes and even cauliflower (yum). The veggie burger was also pretty tasty especially if you add the chips to it for extra crunch. I also tried the warm kale salad minus bacon and would say to go for the kale salad vs. the veggie burger if you’re having trouble deciding…it’s like really, really good. Casey had the burger and said it was really good as well – he just wished it had come with french fries instead of chips which would have been my only complaint as well. We’ll be back for sure…the beers, the patio and the amazingly friendly staff are well worth it!
- Monsoon Thai Cuisine: We ordered in thai food from this very convenient restaurant on Casey’s first night in town (it’s literally our next door neighbor); I assume we’ll be ordering food from here quite often. For our first order, we did the yellow curry, panang curry, pad see ew, and pad thai all with tofu. Both noodle dishes were really good – flavorful, spicy and cooked just right. Casey wasn’t big into their curries but I really liked the panang. I’ll admit that the yellow wasn’t my favorite – it tasted a little too much like celery or something. All in all a good spot for quick, delicious and affordable thai food. And maybe next time I’ll stick with the panang and try their pumpkin curry.
- Sidecar 11: This teeny tiny little whiskey bar on Mississippi Ave serves up some interesting cocktails and has a really nice ambiance – perfect for happy hour’ing or late night drinks. They also serve food but its honestly nothing to write home about … however it is impressive what they are able to serve up considering their kitchen is literally just a small convection oven. We got a couple of the flatbreads and the mac n’ cheese to share. Good but not amazing. I’d say go here for the drinks and skip the food (unless maybe it’s just a pre or post dinner snack).
- Gravy: We tried this neighborhood spot for brunch and as the name implies, they serve up all kinds of biscuits and gravy (they even had a veggie friendly gravy which I haven’t yet tried). I really love that the menu was full of options for vegetarians – from veggie sausage and fakin’ bacon to vegan scrambles. I ordered a side of veggie sausage with my breakfast and it was HUGE (and really good). I also really enjoyed my hashbrowns. Travis and Casey both went with the biscuits and gravy with a half order of the french toast. I think the french toast and my hashbrowns were the stars of this meal – the toast is made with challah bread and is just soooo good and the hashbrowns…well, who knows what makes them so darn good. 😉
- Homegrown Smoker BBQ: I was pumped to discover a vegan bbq food truck directly across the street from our apartment. As someone who LOVES me some fake meat from time to time, it was the perfect stop after a good, hilly trail run. I really enjoyed my Carolina Chickn sandwich made with Beyond Meat chicken (which I buy from time to time..) and french fries (seriously sooo good). Casey got the Macdaddy burger which is topped with cheeseless mac n’ cheese. He really liked the mac n’ cheese part of the burger but wasn’t a huge fan of the veggie patty which is a little surprising given we eat a lot of the Field Roast “meat” products (mainly their vegan sausages) at home. Travis got the Slosmomofa Sandwich which was good albeit a little on the sweeter side with the maple bourbon bbq sauce and all. We all shared some hushpuppies and really enjoyed the Remoulade sauce they came with. We’ll def be back for chick’n sandwiches and sides… or at least I will!
- Ruby Jewel: Since this handmade Oregon ice cream shop is only a few blocks away, I’m sure we’ll be visiting often. So far, we’ve tried the Oregon Fresh Mint with Chocolate Flakes and the Honey Lavender with Lemon Cookies (my personal, very unexpected favorite!!).
And of course, the coffeeeee, wheeee, always the coffeeeee!
- Fresh Pot: This is my place…my every morning, go to coffee shop. The coffee is really good – they brew Stumptown, naturally – and its spitting distance from my apartment. Plus, the staff are all super duper friendly. A must if you’re in the Mississippi and looking for a great cup of coffee or a nice place to work for a few hours.
- Ristretto Roasters: This is another one of my neighborhood favorites. It’s a little farther than spitting distance but a great place to go when you want a GREAT cup of coffee and a nice place to get some work done or meet with a friend. I’ve had straight up black coffee and an almond milk latte here and both did not disappoint.
- Albina Press: Another neighborhood spot – a little farther north for us – but totally worth it. Really enjoyed the cold brew here and the chai. Another great spot to get caffeinated and stay productive.
- Coffeehouse-Five: Another great spot for coffee – again a little farther than spitting distance but I like the change of scenery once in awhile. I love that they change up their roast from time to time as it provides a great opportunity to try all kinds of coffee.
That’s what’s cooking here…
Stay sweaty friends!
XOXO,
Jamie
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