Moving to Portland

Jesus, there are a bunch of us in/near Beaverton…

Yeah, and I’m just adding one more to the list. I think it’s something to do with the quality of the beer and the outdoors. Makes it a real attractive locale.

Blue Star Donuts, per @baren

The G+ made me laugh

I have a bunch of family on portland, you lucked out versus Pittsburgh!

It’s a chain but last time I was in Portland I went to Little Sheep Hot Pot. Well, Beaverton. Oh man, so good. And so much food for your dollar.

That was for dinner. Started the day at Pine State and got a Reggie deluxe. Really great. But damn it was an hour line or so.

My wife and I live in Seattle so we come down a couple times a year. We also tried the “famous” Spanish Coffee at Huber’s. It was ok.

Any notable places we should check out? Our other favorites are Pok Pok, Screen Door, Blue Star, and Salt and Straw. Though S&S is now in Seattle too.

I’m one of those peeps up in Seattle, but I head down to Portland a few times per year. I can vouch for the boardgame night at the Lucky Lab on Thursdays- I sometimes try to plan my trips down so I can make it.

Tasty & Sons does have excellent brunch. At least as good to me, though, is Bröder. I think they have a few locations nowadays, but I always hit the original down in the Clinton neighborhood, off Division. Interesting (but accessible!) Scandinavian flavors.

Yes, more love for Broder. There is one close to my house (Broder Soder) and I go there relatively frequently. One of the few good brunch spots nearby.

I had no idea there were so many Qt3’rs around Beaverton either, I’ve lived here since '95

Portland punches waaaaaay above its weight on food. It’s downright shocking how many great restaurants it has for a relatively small town, and several world-class ones too. Had one of the best meals of my life at Ox. I didn’t think Beast was world-class, but it was extremely strong for a small town.

Second vote for Ox. Also be sure to hit le Pigeon.

Ox is really something special, an extremely pleasurable meal. Not fussy or white tablecloth or 12-course tasting menu, just a couple dishes of amazing meat cooked on a wood fire.

Yeah I tried a few of the suggestions yesterday, when I did a walk about of the west downtown.

Hit up Blue Star donuts, had the OG, raspberry rosemary, chocolate creme filled, and sugar n spice. Interesting flavors.

Tasty & Sons was closed for the holiday, as I discovered, but salt n Straw by Washington Park was open. Tried the blue cheese pear (better than expected), and had goat cheese strawberry and honey lavender. Had lunch at the Deschutes Brewery restaurant.

Also holy cow is Powell’s huge. I lost two hours there, and barely explored the first floor.

There is definitely a strong unique food presence here. The ratio of national chains to local eateries is very good. You almost can’t go more than a few blocks on any decent sized street without some quality local joint.

How many McMenamin’s have you hit up? Also, wish I could remember the name of the place, friend of mine who used to live down there (Tigard, specifically) took me to a restaurant that had really great buffalo burgers. Worth a look, if it’s still around.

I think you’ll find it’s juuuuust a bit nicer than Pittsburgh. Only problem with Portlandia is its homogenous whiteness. They didn’t allow black people in the city until like 1930. Obviously extremely liberal now, but you drive a bit east and you’ll find militias, that’s where the ranchers took over the park service station. Serious right-wingers.

I hit up the one in Hillsboro the other day.

Also @stusser it has not struck me as especially white where I am. There are very sizable Indian and Japanese populations. Not to mention significant Hawaiian influences. Might be a microcosm or the area, but Beaverton/ Hillsboro seem to be relatively diverse. And I’ve noted there is also a significant Hispanic population in the area as well.

They don’t call it “hillsborito” for nothin’.

Also - Intel being smack in the middle of Hillsboro has diversified the area substantially - Lots of asian, middle eastern, chinese. One of the best chinese restaurants is in Hillsboro - Taste of Sichuan. It has two menus - the normal menu & the “go on the wildside menu” (it’s the last 1/4 of the menu they give you).

Also, you’re going to laugh, but the Sushi Boat place in Tigard (may be a chain, that’s the one I’ve been to) is pretty awesome. Especially the Portland roll, with salmon and crab and avocado, man I need to get back down there.

I went there last night and had a meal from their ‘wildside’ Menu.

It was good, will go back again. Will get the one made with Sichuan peppercorns when I do.

There are a fair number of Japanese in the area, definitely, and very good Japanese food too. I was mostly talking about african-americans.

And to that, I can’t speak. But it certainly does seem, at first blush, that this is true. Some, yes, but less than I’d expect to see in Chicago if I did similar activities (I’ve been riding the bus and train a lot, which in Chicago tends to be proportionally more minority oriented).

But it seems there must be a Somali community as well, based on the number of women of African looking descent wearing traditionally African Muslim clothing.

Which is all great. One, I want my kids to be around, and friends with, people of diverse backgrounds. So being in an overwhelmingly white community is a net negative. The other is that I love diverse food options, and there is a ton of that here. Also a ton of Indian food, which I am all about.