If you tried to order a hamburger in ancient Rome, it wouldn't come with fries. No ketchup either: Tomatoes and potatoes wouldn't reach European shores until the sixteenth century. Five thousand miles away in what is now called the Pacific Northwest, there'd have been no lettuce, mustard, or sesame seeds for the bun. Cows and pigs aren't native to the Americas, so elk or bison would have to sup for an all-beef patty.
The best restaurants in Portland, Oregon reflect a diverse dining scene that has come a long way since the first wave of farm-to-table restaurants opened here back in the mid-1990s. Though only one of those original restaurants- Higgins-is still around today, the influence of such pioneers is still felt in many of the Portland's best restaurants today. New places like vegan fine-dining venue Astera, Will Preisch's 82 Acres, Gregory Gourdet's world-famous Haitian hotspot Kann, and the stunning Mexican-locavore Lilia Comedor
While Portland's restaurant scene continues to grapple with very real challenges- Higgins sounding the alarm about flagging sales, tariffs hammering already thin profit margins-it also can't help but dazzle diners. We keep winning James Beard awards, the New York Times seems awfully obsessed with us, and new restaurants keep coming. This next suite of arrivals includes pop-ups converting to brick-and-mortars, a Beaverton-Portland exchange, and even two new Thai restaurants, because we can't get enough of them.