The Ultimate Portland (OR) Shopping Thread

[upsett1_spaghett1]

Yeah it’s tough, a Portland icon for sure. Here’s some info:

Exclusive: After 26 years in Northwest Portland, Paley’s Place is closing

After Thanksgiving service, Vitaly and Kimberly Paley plan to put their restaurant and its century-old building on the market and retire.

www.oregonlive.com

Well ****. I hope that they enjoy retirement

 

[Timbaland]

Hey guys, I'm planning a guys trip and the earliest everyone could make it out is the beginning of December (it's hard to get out when you have kids). I was wondering how bad the weather is and if we should we wait.

I last visited February 2020 right before the pandemic and our Airbnb host said she didn't have many visitors at that time of the year. I didn't think the weather was that bad, there was a light sprinkle but I don't think it rained too hard and we still had a great time.

Google search doesn't make December look too much worse than February: high/low temps of 46/37 to 50/38 and 15 rainy days to 13.

Is it generally muddy hiking in December? I was thinking of doing the Rose garden to Pitt mansion hike and Macleay park to witch's castle.

Any recs for food/bars/things to do? A lot of places I liked looked to have closed: Imperial (and all of Vitaly's restaurants), Pepe Le Moko, Toro Bravo, Little Bird Bistro (years ago), etc.

I see Afuri ramen is still open. Is the Lan Su gardens worth visiting?

Thanks.

 

[js0930]

Hey guys, I'm planning a guys trip and the earliest everyone could make it out is the beginning of December (it's hard to get out when you have kids). I was wondering how bad the weather is and if we should we wait.

I last visited February 2020 right before the pandemic and our Airbnb host said she didn't have many visitors at that time of the year. I didn't think the weather was that bad, there was a light sprinkle but I don't think it rained too hard and we still had a great time.

Google search doesn't make December look too much worse than February: high/low temps of 46/37 to 50/38 and 15 rainy days to 13.

Is it generally muddy hiking in December? I was thinking of doing the Rose garden to Pitt mansion hike and Macleay park to witch's castle.

Any recs for food/bars/things to do? A lot of places I liked looked to have closed: Imperial (and all of Vitaly's restaurants), Pepe Le Moko, Toro Bravo, Little Bird Bistro (years ago), etc.

I see Afuri ramen is still open. Is the Lan Su gardens worth visiting?

Thanks.

If you don’t mind rain, anywhere from November to March won’t be that different.

Food wise it’s a bit of a new generation, but there’s so many amazing places to eat right now. Stuff I’ve been to recently or had a friend go to: Sunshine Noodles, Dame, Republica (mindblowing with the agave pairing, hard to do with kids), Eem/Paadee/Hat Yai/anything Earl Nimsom touches,Le Pigeon/Canard, Gado Gado - the Willamette Week is really good with their where to eat/drink lists as well.

Lan Su is nice, the area around it is real rough right now. Hiking will just be muddy - but if you don’t mind the rain any of the waterfalls will be big that time of year. Let me know if you want more ideas - I’ve lived here most of my life and can definitely come up with more.

 

[dixonmanor]

Yeah, hiking will be muddy, but maybe less muddy than spring because at least December is at the start of the rainy season. Food recs above are great... Would also rec Expatriate (cocktail bar, no kids) and Luce (no resos, great for lunch).

 

[justridiculous]

Good recs so far! I'll second Luce, Republica, Eem/Hat Yai, and Canard. I'd also add Cafe Rowan to the list (brunches Friday-Sunday or dinner on Wednesday/Thursday, if you can make a reservation), Bar West, La Bottega (if you're willing to cross the river for killer Italian food), Mediterranean Exploration Company, Nong's Khao Man Gai, Andina, Olympia Provisions, and on and on. So many places to eat, dude. For coffee; Heart, Coava, Good Coffee, Keeper, Upper Left, Roseline, etc.

 

[justridiculous]

And, if you can make it out to either the Gorge or the coast to do some hiking, right now is a great time for it. Some good elevation gains/views without the heat.

@Timbaland

 

[domdomdomdom]

Here's a copy of a list I populated for someone else



I don't see that anyone has mentioned my favorite restaurant in Portland yet: Coquine

 

[justridiculous]

Here's a copy of a list I populated for someone else



I don't see that anyone has mentioned my favorite restaurant in Portland yet: Coquine

Great list! I thought about adding Coquine to my list but, I've only been there once and it was a while back...

 

[justridiculous]

@domdomdomdom you've gone to Kann? Still trying to get a reservation.

Oh! Adding one more to my list; Dimo's Apizza. So good.

 

[domdomdomdom]

@domdomdomdom you've gone to Kann? Still trying to get a reservation.

Oh! Adding one more to my list; Dimo's Apizza. So good.

Kann is the one place on my list I haven't gone - just included it because the hype is as high for any Portland restaurant as I've seen. I should also note that I went very light on the list with Chinese/Korean/Japanese/Vietnamese/Mexican food because the person I created this list for was visiting from LA.

 

[utjtl21]

Yeah, Coquine is tops on the list. You'll need reservations for the restaurant when they become available 2 weeks in advance. I just returned from a week in Portland/Newberg and failed to secure reservations. However, I had a nice meal at the Coquine Market next door for a scaled down experience. It was nice to see and visit with Ksandek as always. And I always eat at Olympia Provisions before my departure. Great experience. I enjoyed dinner at St. Jack last year.

 

[Timbaland]

Thanks for the recs everyone, the places look and sound great. The food never disappoints. I will be going without the kids.

Is there a neighborhood (walkable) you'd guys recommend for bar hopping (good drinks, fairly lively)? Forgot where I went last time but things seemed pretty spread out and we had to Uber around.

Lan Su is nice, the area around it is real rough right now. Hiking will just be muddy - but if you don’t mind the rain any of the waterfalls will be big that time of year. Let me know if you want more ideas - I’ve lived here most of my life and can definitely come up with more.

Thanks, appreciate the help. Is the Pearl and Old Town area that bad now (safety wise)? Was planning on going to Dante's cabaret.

Any ideas for things to do besides eating/drinking/hiking (won't make it out to the Gorge we won't have a car) would be great. Thanks

 

[justridiculous]

Thanks for the recs everyone, the places look and sound great. The food never disappoints. I will be going without the kids.

Is there a neighborhood (walkable) you'd guys recommend for bar hopping (good drinks, fairly lively)? Forgot where I went last time but things seemed pretty spread out and we had to Uber around.




Thanks, appreciate the help. Is the Pearl and Old Town area that bad now (safety wise)? Was planning on going to Dante's cabaret.

Any ideas for things to do besides eating/drinking/hiking (won't make it out to the Gorge we won't have a car) would be great. Thanks

Chinatown is still cool with good places to eat, but it's pretty rugged nowadays. Still charming in its own way

Neighborhoods: Belmont, Hawthorne, Sellwood, Alberta, NE Broadway, Hollywood District.

 

[js0930]

Thanks for the recs everyone, the places look and sound great. The food never disappoints. I will be going without the kids.

Is there a neighborhood (walkable) you'd guys recommend for bar hopping (good drinks, fairly lively)? Forgot where I went last time but things seemed pretty spread out and we had to Uber around.




Thanks, appreciate the help. Is the Pearl and Old Town area that bad now (safety wise)? Was planning on going to Dante's cabaret.

Any ideas for things to do besides eating/drinking/hiking (won't make it out to the Gorge we won't have a car) would be great. Thanks

Really depends - if things go bad Old Town is not a place I’d want to be in with kids but as you’re traveling without it’s likely not a big deal. The Pearl is completely fine.

Helium Comedy puts on a good show, Portland Center Stage is a very good theater company and there are some good smaller theater companies as well if that appeals, there’s some decent shopping if you want to take advantage of no sales tax. If you get a dry day rent a bike (or take one of the Niketown bikes) and explore the city.

I know it’s still drinking but distillery row is fun for tastings, Pairings is probably my favorite shop for wine and they do great tastings - the food across the street is great as well, particularly Tropicale. The weeklies - Portland Mercury and Willamette Week both will have listings of everything going on once you’re here. Feel free to hit me up once it’s closer as well and I’ll have more ideas.