Dinner
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Located inside the elegant Heathman Hotel, the Heathman Restaurant and Bar offers a casually formal dining atmosphere with French inspired cuisine, innovative cocktails, all which can equate to an intimate yet fun experience. Chef Philippe Boulot, a James Beard Best Chef award winner in 2001, is a Pacific Northwest native with a stress on utilizing the best of Oregon's produce and products. With options for private dining, an afternoon tea room, and catering services, the Heathman Restaurant and Bar is a cozy, casual, and elegant spot for any meal, any time of the day.
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Despite a recently revised menu that boasts an extensive selection of healthy choices, Madison’s Grill’s modern take on American pub fare hardly suffers from their reduction in fatty ingredients. Offering lunch and dinner daily, as well as brunch on Saturdays and Sundays, this charming grill is the place to go if you’re seeking a lively atmosphere in a historic building featuring a full bar, free billiards, and patio dining. The traditional pub treats mingle with some unconventional alternatives such as the Northwest Salmon Picatta and Chicken Bento.
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Fittingly set in the Industrial District, Clarklewis is housed in an invitingly airy and open former loading dock. Dimly lit with ingeniously placed flashlights at each table to guide along the occasional disoriented diner, it lends the contemporary décor a soft and cozy edge. Emanating from the open kitchen’s wood-fired stove is a warm smoky smell sure to make your mouth water for one of their meat specialties such as the Spit-Roasted Chicken or Hearth-Roasted Carlton Pork Shoulder. Their hearty American fare serves local, organic, seasonal ingredients in a thoughtful presentation that will delight even the most particular of guests.
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Meriwether’s Restaurant stands on the site of the famous 1905 World’s Fair and this historic location is just one of the distinguishing aspects of Meriwether’s Restaurant. The restaurant also boasts its own Meriwether’s Skyline Farm, where Chef Earl Hook receives his home-grown produce. The beautiful nature surroundings allows guests the option of scenic outdoor garden dining, or indoor seating in Meriwether’s spacious dining room. The menu offers Pacific North Western cuisine made from local, fresh ingredients, but not only is the food local, the bar is stocked with locally brewed beverages as well.
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Nostrana, translated as “ours,” focuses on sharing simple, pure food with its guests in a warm, welcoming atmosphere. Earning the Best Chef Award by the James Beard Foundation in 2010, Nostrana’s menu is built around regional Italian classics like pasta and traditional Italian-style pizzas including the Dicembre with collard greens, garlic, mozzarella, red onion, and cracklins. For meat-lovers, the diversity of the food offered is evident through menu items like the Sunday Roast Lamb, Idaho Trout and Flat Iron Steak served rare. To round out the meal, a lengthy wine list has wines by the glass, bottle, or region-specific flights.
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Top 10
Located in a charming old Victorian home, Paley’s Place offers Southern French and Northern Italian influenced Pacific Northwestern cuisine. The result, orchestrated by skilled 2005 James Beard Award winner Chef Vitaly Paley, is nothing short of culinary excellence. Whether it be a table on the porch or in the intimate but casual dining room, there’s no bad seat in the house to enjoy some of their seasonal organic specialties such as the Rabbit Ravioli with house bacon, mushrooms and summer squash or 40-Day Dry-Aged Highland Oak Ribeye with sweet onion rings and creamed greens.
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Restaurateur Bruce Carey’s Bluehour, named for that ethereal time between day and night, is a sophisticated take on Northwest-inspired Mediterranean cuisine. The sleek, contemporary dining room is a harmony of dramatic high ceilings and austere décor. With an intimate private dining space with a wall back-lit with 3,000 wine bottles, this is the ideal gathering place for a group of up to 100 people. Executive Chef Kenny Giambalvo’s fresh menu changes with the seasons but fear not, his signature dishes are as constant as the blue hour that the restaurant is name for.
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Serving native Peruvian food in a colorful atmosphere, this restaurant has garnered a slew of accolades since they opened in 2005. The ambiance, food, and service have hardly suffered since, making this the ideal location for the adventurous diner. The cuisine, an imaginative hybrid, blends the best of traditional cooking methods with their own version of Peruvian influenced Northwest regional food. The result has been coined “Novoandina”, and people simply cannot get enough. Animated music, an earth-toned formal dining room brightly decorated in native arts and crafts, and a bar featuring devilishly delicious cocktails and an award-winning wine list are …
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The oldest restaurant in Portland honors its earliest days and patrons with a time-tested menu and persevering commitment to please. Originally opened in 1879, Huber’s made a start by serving a free turkey sandwich with every beer purchase; today, turkey is the clear favorite of patrons and staff alike, and plays a prominent role on the menu. The Roast Turkey Wings with all the fixings will surely whisk you off to happier times and the Turkey Mushroom Pie will warm you inside out. As if Huber’s didn’t have enough going for it, it also happens to be the largest user …
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Biwa, a Japanese restaurant located in southeast Portland, has a social awareness that will leave diners feeling good about eating here. Open until midnight, this restaurant features a special “late night” menu, offering up traditional Japanese dishes such as gyoza and specialty ramen. Biwa donates to local foundations such as the Newspace Scholarship Fund in addition to supporting global causes, such as tsunami relief. Add this to the fact that Biwa strives to use fresh, local ingredients, and it is easy to see why so many diners appreciate this refreshing take on dining.
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With its quaint, cottage storefront and bright interior, Broder is a Swedis restaurant that will make diners feel as though they have been transported out of Portland and into Sweden. Serving up breakfast and lunch daily, with dinner only available Thursday through Saturday, Broder is well known for their tasty breakfast menu featuring Danish pancakes. This restaurant also presents specialty dishes for lunch and dinner, such as Swedish meatballs or Danish meat patties. Broder also serves traditional American options, making this restaurant a perfect place to bring even the pickiest of eaters.
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With its diner-like atmosphere and menu of original sandwich creations, it is no wonder that Bunk Sandwiches of Portland’s industrial district was once featured and praised on the Food Network. In addition to its deliciously simple lunch menu, the restaurant also offers up a modest breakfast menu served all day. Well-known for its Pork Belly Cubano Sandwich, patrons are equally drawn to its classic sides, including Red Beans and Rice. If you can’t make it for lunch, Bunk is also open later as a bar featuring draft beer, house drinks, and its renowned sandwiches.
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Editor's Pick
Portland locals like their dining the way they like their lifestyle: comfortable, unpretentious and high quality. Castagna delivers on all three counts. The décor in the restaurant is understated and neat, leaving diners free to focus their attention on the exquisite food. The dishes originate from classic French and Italian cuisine, but also highlight ingredients particular to the Northeast region. Expect to see local seafood and several varieties of mushroom sprinkled throughout the rotating menu, which includes such delectable offerings as Grilled Cattail Creek Lamb or Muscovy Duck Legs. For a slightly more casual meal, they also have an informal …
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Many are surprised on their first visit to Genoa to discover what lies behind the door of the unassuming storefront. Stepping inside, guests leave urban Portland far behind and travel to another world. As a guest to Genoa you can expect to begin your meal with an aperitif or cocktail and leave completely satisfied.
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Top 10
If elegance and romance signal your perfect evening, look no further then Lucy’s Table, a lively yet lush restaurant dedicated to flavors and savoring. Using fresh and local ingredients whenever possible, Lucy’s options for lunch and dinner offer mouthwatering dishes like Goat Cheese Ravioli, Croque Monsieur, French Dip, and Pomegranate Glazed Baby Back Ribs. French food is meant to be savored slowly, and at Lucy’s, their French-meets-American makes the cuisine approachable, affordable, and appetizing. Featuring a full bar, outdoor seating and valet parking for dinner, Lucy’s pays an attention to detail to their flavorful food—which is what keeps diners coming …
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Top 10
Serratto serves up authentic dishes inspired by Italian, French, and Mediterranean cuisine with an emphasis on seasonality and freshness. Located in a quaint yet lively neighborhood, Serratto's menu changes seasonally, always offering a new taste of their ever evolving dishes. They also have an extensive wine list focusing on traditional wine regions such as Piemonte and Tuscany, as well as emerging production zones such as Sicily, Friuli, and Apulia. Serratto can be considered an ideal place for lunch meetings, special events, private dinners, or just meeting up for a glass of wine. This neighborhood eatery has a touch of elegance …
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This tavern-style restaurant adjacent to the Ace Hotel offers a unique ambiance highlighted by creative and thoughtful fare by Chef Jason Barwikowski. With a culinary philosophy that incorporates foreign and domestic styles of cooking with local ingredients, one can expect foodie delights such as Foie Gras Torchon with rose sorbet and brioche croutons or Beef Tongue with seared scallops, beets and tomato jam. The space itself has a no frills minimalist décor boasting an open kitchen, zinc-topped bar, and long communal tables ideal for mingling with old and new friends alike.
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With a menu worthy of an Italian grandmother’s famed home cooking, Iorio Restaurant honors its genre with the finest local organic produce and sustainable meats. Affordable favorites such as the cornmeal-crusted Wild Caught Calamari or Butternut Squash Pizza will please the foodie palate in this small but intimate Hawthorne eatery. Whether you come as part of a couple or with a large party, Iorio encourages a variety of group sizes with their amply-spaced tables. The friendly and inviting décor, low lighting, attentive service, and unpretentious comfort food is sure to give this a permanent place on your list of regular …
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Veritable Quandary, located right in the heart of the busy city, is a charming dining garden with an “Old Portland” feel. The dining room’s glass walls can be opened to the outdoor elements, allowing for fresh air and the scent of blossoming flowers or they can be closed to keep guests cozy on a rainy day. The abundance of greenery surrounding Veritable Quandary changes with the seasons, as does Chef Annie Cuggino’s menu. Chef Cuggino uses fresh ingredients from local farmers to create a unique Northwest cuisine that is mixed with some flavors from her past, having previously worked in …
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Wildwood Restaurant offers a market driven menu featuring fresh seasonal ingredients from local farms and purveyors - a sumptuous diversity of meats, seafood, pastas, vegetables, and salads. Try a pizza from the clay oven, or indulge your sweet tooth with one of our luscious desserts, made daily. Located in Northwest Portland, Wildwood Restaurant utilizes sustainable and environmentally friendly ingredients and cooking techniques to produce meals that are rich in flavor and heart. Executive Chef Dustin Clark, a member of the Wildwood team since 1998, creates dishes that are inspired by Oregon and it's unique, fresh produce. Wildwood offers a taste …