The Best Healthy Restaurants in Portland
With urban farms in every quadrant, not to mention a ring of fertile farmland in every direction, Portland has long enjoyed easy access to the freshest produce. But it’s what Portland chefs are doing with all that fresh-from-the-land-and-sea bounty that sets the city apart. Just a few years ago, all those vegetables might’ve been lashed with bacon and relegated to the side of the plate. But, as the city’s chefs have proven time and again, they’re never content with the status quo. Those macho, meat-heavy dishes are giving way to inventive creations that rely less on pork belly and more on plants. The result is a highly creative, produce-driven dining scene that makes eating out feel just as healthy as it is exciting.
Photo by Nikki Unger-Fink1/12Farm Spirit
There are only 14 seats, but they’re all the best in the house, offering prime views as a team of chefs assembles eight intricate, often fermented, plant-based courses. Vegan chef-owner Aaron Adams threw out the rulebook when launching his two-year-old sliver of a restaurant: Reservations are pre-paid, servers are nixed in favor of the chef’s counter, and nearly everything is sourced from within 150 miles, including the handmade plates. There’s a Nordic sensibility to Adams’ food, but it’s built on farmed rather than foraged ingredients. The result is earthy, delicate, and probably unlike any vegan restaurant you’ve encountered before.
Photo by AJ Meeker2/12Tusk
Let’s be real: Rain-drenched Portlanders would’ve fallen for Tusk (one of Bon Appétit’s best new restaurants this year) based on its light and breezy Palm Springs-style alone. But chef Sam Smith’s super-fresh, Middle Eastern-influenced plates prove there’s plenty of substance behind Tusk’s considerable style. An alum of Philadelphia’s modern-Israeli Zahav and Portland’s veg-centric Ava Gene’s, Smith pulls from both influences to put a distinctively West Coast stamp on Levantine cuisine. At both dinner and brunch, his seasonally rotating cast of grains, fruits, and vegetables are at the center of the menu, both literally and figuratively, adorned with the likes of whipped feta, fermented chiles, and preserved lemon cream. And pastry chef Nora Antene, formerly of Portland’s famed Le Pigeon, creates playful, not-too-sweet desserts like halva soft serve and pistachio gooey butter cake that you don’t want to miss.
Photo by Aaron Lee3/12Han Oak
Several years ago, Oregon native Peter Cho left his post beside April Bloomfield at The Spotted Pig, took his finely honed cooking chops back to Portland, and teased the city with mind-boggling hot dog and fried chicken pop-ups set in booze-soaked hipster bars. But, when he finally went brick-and-mortar last year, it was in the form of Han Oak: Korean home-cooking with a chef’s sensibility, served in a light-filled space tucked away in a secret courtyard. It wasn’t what the city expected, but it was exactly what it needed. The pre-paid, reservation-only set menu on Friday and Saturday nights offers an assortment of chef-driven banchan, like green beans with chili paste and seaweed, followed by delicate noodles swimming in white kimchi broth and heartier ssam plates of smoked hangar steak. If you miss your chance, Sundays and Mondays are walk-in-only and a la carte, with some of the best dumplings and hand-pulled noodles in town.
Photo by Thomas Teal4/12Güero Tortas
Güero started as everyone’s favorite food cart, then it blessedly went brick and mortar this year (and made BA’s Best 50 list) so we can pretend we’re eating our big, sloppy, flavor-packed tortas in a bright Jalisco café instead of out in the Northwest cold and rain. These Mexican sandwiches are made with intention, layered with a multitude of flavorful components. Like the Desayuno, a breakfast sandwich of sorts with scrambled egg, avocado, queso fresco, and pickled jalapeño, plus braised beef, chicharrones, a slathering of lime mayo, and crisp microgreens. If you need a helping of nutrition to go with your two-fisted sandwich and mezcal margarita, order the Sik’il Pak, a bowl of fire-roasted chiles blended with pumpkin seeds, perfect for dipping cool, crunchy spears of jicama.
Photo by Aubrie LeGault5/12Quaintrelle
Any trip to Portland should include a visit to Mississippi Avenue, with its deep concentration of hipster shops, excellent food trucks, and cool bars. Here, you can go from the kitsch of vegan Tiki bar No Bones Beach Club to the cool elegance of year-old Quaintrelle in a matter of steps. And it’s here at year-old Quaintrelle, where chef Bill Wallender, an Ava Gene’s alum, is helping to lead Portland into a brave new world of “vegetable-forward” dining. Like former San Diego chef Jason Roberts, himself a vegetable whisperer at his year-old central Eastside bistro Rue, Wallender’s exceptionally pretty, highly seasonal salads are the most exciting things on the menu.
Photo by @milkglassmrkt6/12Milk Glass Mrkt
This bright, little, three-year-old café isn’t conveniently located near anything—except those lucky enough to live in the North Portland neighborhood that surrounds it. But that doesn’t keep hordes of Portlanders from lining up for a tight menu of all-from-scratch, super-seasonal pastries and breakfast and lunch plates that taste far more complex than they sound on the menu. Go for the smoked trout plate, with its cavalcade of farm-fresh vegetables, or the legendary kale salad, studded with garlicky dates, roasted root vegetables, and savory granola. If leisure is on the agenda, sip a house cocktail like the Dacha Sunrise, a beet shrub topped with vodka and grapefruit juice. Otherwise, a glass of cold-brew on nitro will jet-propel you through the rest of your day.
Photo by Sydney Mansfield7/12Eb & Bean
The frozen yogurt trend has peaked and passed, but Eb & Bean is not only holding strong, it expanded to a second location on white-hot Southeast Division Street this year. You can thank the bi-weekly rotating lineup of fresh, luscious, housemade fro-yo in flavors like Sweet Corn Caramel and Valhrona chocolate, plus non-dairy flavors like Muscovado Blondie made with almond milk. There’s no artificial anything here, including the toppings, so instead of day-glo gummy worms and days-old mochi, you can choose from locally made toffee, caramel corn, and even crumbled whole-grain cookies and brownies from Portland’s popular Bake Shop.
Photo by Katie Acheff8/12Jacqueline
Come for the powder-blue blowfish wallpaper and Bill-Murray-as-Steve-Zissou oil painting,stay for the sparkling fresh Pacific Northwest oysters and yellowtail crudo with tomato leaf, because this adorable corner bistro is one of the best seafood restaurants in town. Nearly all the fish and shellfish here is certified sustainable, ranging from small plates like smoked scallop ceviche with sprouted coriander to family-style feasts like whole cedar-plank-roasted trout with grilled lemons, skyr, and spicy harissa. And instead of treating the aquatic bounty with the usual greasy fry-up or butter-based sauces, preparations here hew to grilled, roasted, or raw, with a heavy emphasis on seasonal vegetables and herbs.
Courtesy of Proud Mary9/12Proud Mary
The last thing Portland needed was another coffee shop, especially one from out-of-towners. But, this summer, a merry band of stylish Australians opened an outpost of their hip Melbourne café on Portland’s artsy Alberta Street, and it immediately became the ne plus ultra in coffee culture. The modern, high-ceilinged space is far more stylish than most upscale Portland restaurants, and the service is usually far better too. The word “gracious” comes to mind, as does “gorgeous,” because the fresh, inventive breakfast and lunch dishes here are nothing short of stunning. A lightly sweet tender ricotta cake comes topped with a rainbow of fresh berries and bright flower petals, punctuated by dramatic shards of cinnamon meringues. A platter of “breakfast sashimi” dramatically assembles thin slices of raw albacore or salmon, ribbons of carrots and fennel, and a soft-cooked egg, all under a wild shower of Aleppo pepper and fresh herbs. Don’t forget you’re supposed to be here for the coffee, so order an Aussie-style flat white and try to remember you’re still in Portland.
Photo by @langbaanpdx10/12Langbaan
Just 24 seats, available only 4 nights a week, and a dozen nationally praised, ever-changing, exquisitely herb-laden Thai dishes unlike anything being made outside of the Michelin-starred restaurants of Thailand: In other words, everyone wants to eat at tiny Langbaan, so you better plan way ahead. Or maybe not? Word on the street is the waitlist works. So sign up and keep your options open. Or go next door to Langbaan’s big sister, Paadee, where, on Monday and Tuesday nights, the funky fire of Northeastern Thailand’s Issan dishes dominate the menu, including no less than five versions of laab, from duck to albacore.
Photo of @shopnorthofwest11/12North Of West
Portland’s West End, a six-block-square area sandwiched between downtown’s office buildings and the Pearl district’s boutiques, has become one of the city’s top dining and shopping destinations thanks to beautifully curated shops like North of West. The airy, minimalist-chic space near Powell’s City of Books is filled with some of the West’s best handmade goods, like housewares from Pigeon Toe ceramics, uber-cool textiles from Nell and Mary, and apothecary lines from Herbivore and Fig & Yarrow.
Photo by @hoodriveroregon12/12Hood River
First things first: The most popular route from Portland to the outdoorsy town of Hood River was an hour-long, waterfall-lined thing of beauty. But recent wildfires have tragically thrown that area into recovery mode. But that doesn’t mean a day trip to the Windsurfing Capital of the World is out of reach. You just have to take a different scenic route, one that winds through the lush evergreen and alpine forests of the Mount Hood Scenic Byway.
Descend into the bucolic farmland of the Hood River Fruit Loop, lined with farmstands and U-pick orchards selling fresh-baked pies alongside pink-fleshed apples. The picturesque town of Hood River, on the bank of the majestic Columbia River, is a paradise for outdoor lovers of all stripes. Even better, it’s a paradise for beer, wine and food lovers too. Stop at Pfriem Brewery, just one of the half-dozen award-winning breweries in town, for Belgian farmhouse ales and refined pub fare. And, if you’re tempted to stay the night, Broder Øst will be there for you in the morning with a Scandinavian-inspired brunch.
