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What's there to do in Portland?
OnTheLastCastle
let's keep it haimish for the peripateticRegistered User regular
let's keep it haimish for the peripateticRegistered User regular
Someone told me it's a fun place to visit for a week/few days and I'm shopping for new places to live so I may as well visit on my world tour of Boston, Austin and... now Portland.
OnTheLastCastle on
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Seconded! Voodoo doughnuts is cool too. The portland international test garden(free) right next to the japanese gardens(not free) is cool too. It's up on the hill heading west. Totally awesome to see literally hundreds of rose bushes.
There are a couple of great, super-cheap movie theaters that serve food and beer (which means they're 21+ only, another big advantage). Also, there are several local breweries and brewpubs where you can try some of the best beer in the country (it's hard to beat Pacific Northwest microbrews, especially if you like hoppy beers).
Thirded.
You can lose an entire day... and then some... at Powell's.
It's amazing.
You must go.
People have already mentioned a lot of the highlights: Powells is great. Ground Kontrol is a lot of fun and you can drink good beer while playing classic arcade and pinball games. They even have a 4-player Pacman Vs. table. Also, if you check their website, you might be able to arrange to go by on Free Play night where they charge $5 cover and all the games are set to free play. A little crowded, but still fun.
Keep in mind, there are a lot of places which will just suck the time right out of your day, and you would probably have more fun not sticking to a set schedule.
Portland is a foodie scene. Please, please try out the food carts. They have awesome food across a wide variety of tastes (we even have a cupcake cart!) and are regularly inspected, so no worries on that end. The happy hours are top notch (Portland City Grill is my personal favorite), and the beer selection is crazy. Don't order a mainstream beer though from the tap (i.e., Budweiser, Coors) because while they will still fill your drink, the bartender and everyone around will look at you funny.
A kind of fun way to see the city is to take the Streetcar and ride the entire route from the Pearl District all the way to the South Waterfront, and then take the Sky Tram up to Oregon Health & Science University for the view. Plus, if you're into neat architecture, OHSU is pretty impressive.
And again with the food: some of my personal favorites are Stepping Stone Cafe for breakfast (be prepared for a wait) where the food is great, cheap, and they sell man-cakes, which are dinner-plate sized pancakes for 3 bucks each. Oftentimes they whip up special ingredients into it like Oreo's or M&M's. Cacao has the best chocolate in the city, will let you sample any of the high end chocolate bars they have, and make fantastic true hot chocolate (ingredients: 70% dark chocolate bar, whole milk & cream). McMenamin's is great for food and a cheap movie, hit up either the Kennedy School or the Bagdad Theater for burgers, drinks, and a cheap movie. Hawthorne and Belmont streets have tons of great shops and food too.
Rent bicycles, and take a tour of the waterfront on both sides of the river, although my favorite section is the eastside going south to the Sellwood bridge, which takes you through some beautiful nature areas, or ride the MAX light rail to Washington Park and coast along the back roads down into the city.
Voodoo Doughnuts have been mentioned. Personal recommend is the Old Dirty Bastard doughnut.
And yes, food food food. Food carts are popping up all over the city; the downtown ones are still the best in my opinion (9th and alder) first, but there are some good ones on division and hawthorne, as mentioned.
If you're into video games, there's an exhibit at the local science museum about them, not sure if it's still going, but my friends have assured me that it was pretty fun to visit. Or just go to ground kontrol, also as mentioned, i believe that they have finally moved into their new digs, so it should be plenty spacious.
I agree with everything you've said except this part. The food is the same at every McMenamins (though the decors differ wildly) and it's pretty subpar for the most. It's not say, McDonalds bad, but if you're going to eat in the city, there are hundreds upon hundreds of better places.
Get a beer at one, see a movie, maybe get the tater tots, but I wouldn't recommend it for any sort of dining experience. Everytime I've been to one I've been let down.
Some of my favorite places to eat are Clyde Common, Little Big Burger, Wafu, Ping, Little Bird, and St. Jack, Lucky Strike.
Some bars...The Secret Society, Clyde Common again, Dig A Pony, Star Bar, Teardrop Lounge...
But I agree with you, the best situation is probably to get some cajunized tater tots and a beer, or maybe a pizza and beer while watching a movie.
Oh, and Pine State Biscuits is also great for breakfast, again, expect a wait.
And if someone tells you Pix is good, tell them that they are dirty dirty liars, because it's overpriced and there are far better places to eat.
Also, avoid Elephant Delicatessen. It's okay, but overpriced, and again, far better places to eat for cheaper.
You can go up the Columbia River Gorge to hike Multnomah Falls, you can go to Sauvie Island and walk around (I wanted to make a terrible joke about finding someone's grave here, but it's way too soon for that, and I don't think I'm that terrible of a person), you can even take a small side trip up to Astoria, Oregon (on the Coast) and see the Goonies House.
And coffee has been mentioned, Stumptown coffee is pretty spectacular.
If you're into tea, hit up the Tao of Tea on SE Belmont. They also have really tasty food, but the tea selection is just this side of crazy. There's a handful of other nice tea shops scattered around, but I really like the selection at this place.
If you're into kid's books specifically, Children's Place on NE Fremont has a pretty great selection and super nice staff. Definitely a more personalized experience than Powell's. Powell's is still awesome tho, as people have already said.
Another good food place is La Buca on east Burnside. http://labucaitaliancafe.com/ for their menu. Good food, good prices, and there's a great gelato place just down the street from them. And the Laurelhurst Theater on the other side of that street. Yeah, I like that neighborhood.
It really is a nice city. Sometimes there are dirty hipsters clogging the sidewalks with their dogs and guitars, sometimes a biker without a helmet ignores a stop sign and yells when you stand on your brakes to avoid smearing them on the pavement. These items are the exception, the norm is that people in Portland are pretty nice and easy to deal with. Have yourself an awesome trip!
-Ancient Dwarfish Proverb
Ground Kontrol
Voodoo Donuts
Big Ass Sandwiches food cart
Baghdad Theatre (The first friday of every month features a different awesome movie showing at 11 pm. It's run by the podcast guys Cort and Fatboy. Movie for October is The Thing)
Things From Another World
Powell's is amazing. I was here for work and spent a lot of time on 23rd; there's tons of awesome shops and food places there. Tasty bubble teas, a yummy chocolate cafe, and there was a guy who came in from a place across the street called Papa Haydn's that has these amazing tasty desserts and is, apparently, a big deal here. It was beyond delicious.
I've only been to the city twice but I've wandered around different parts and there are honestly just a million things to stop and do. It's like you can't be bored here.
Heh yes I did. We were just in a discussion in the Film thread the other day about Happy Madison movies.