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Sequestered in North Portland, the particular aesthetic of Woodlawn's businesses—from the packable picnic baskets at P's and Q's Market to the chickens that freely roam garden store Dekum Street Doorway—makes it feel like this would be the neighborhood where Martha Stewart would live were she to move to Portland. For many Portlanders, that's not exactly a badge of honor. Isolation, however, gives a certain self-selecting quality to those who come to live here or in neighboring Concordia. You can spend an entire afternoon sampling award-winning beers and ciders, have an excellent latte or pastry, even get your bike fixed. You'll never see a scowl.
WW PICKS
P's and Q's Market, 1301 NE Dekum St.
The Oregon Public House, 700 NE Dekum St.
Dekum Street Doorway, 728 NE Dekum St.
Woodlawn Park, Northeast 13th Avenue and Dekum Street.
MUST
McMenamins Kennedy School
5736 NE 33rd Ave, 503-249-3983, mcmenamins.com/427-kennedy-school-home.
Kennedy School is an adult wonderland for those with the power of imagination to make it one. Where is a better place to tackle head-on the ghosts of all your scolding public school teachers than in a warren of bars and guest rooms made up to be a perfect facsimile of your own elementary school? Where else can you bathe in a pool-sized hot tub, then go see a movie, then go chain smoke cigars without putting shoes on? (OK, you probably have to wear shoes, but still.) The nearly $6 beers are the price you pay to keep the staff quiet.
EAT
Bassotto Gelateria
1760 NE Dekum St., 503-209-2399, bassottopdx.com. Breakfast-dinner Tuesday-Sunday.
Bassotto may not command the crowds of Portland's nouveau ice-cream shops, but that has little to do with the quality of the product, which is superb. The gelatos made change daily, but look out for the rich and nutty black sesame gelato and the Earl Grey-infused Portland Fog. $.
Firehouse
711 NE Dekum St., 503-954-1702, firehousepdx.com. Dinner nightly.
Firehouse has a legitimate claim to the best under-the-radar pizza in town. If nothing else, it's among the most aesthetically pleasing, emerging from the maw of its oven with a gorgeously spotted crust and just-ever-so-melted mozzarella. $$.
P's and Q's Market
1301 NE Dekum St., 503-894-8979, psandqsmarket.com. Lunch and dinner Monday-Friday, breakfast-dinner Saturday-Sunday.
An oddly curated throwback bodega, P's and Q's is the kind of no-nonsense joint where, when someone tells you to try the brisket, you put down the menu and try the brisket. Have them pack you a picnic basket (with 24 hours notice and a $15 deposit) brimming with snacks and sandwiches of your choice and walk it over to Woodlawn Park. $.
Tamale Boy
1764 NE Dekum St., 503-206-8022, tamaleboy.com. Lunch and dinner Tuesday-Friday, brunch-dinner Saturday-Sunday.
Tamales are portable and comforting and fill you up for cheap, so what could be better for a food truck? Now Tamale Boys has a successful brick-and-mortar restaurant and catering operation. The only question remaining is banana leaf or corn husk? $.
Woodlawn Coffee and Pastry
808 NE Dekum St., 503-954-2412. Breakfast-early dinner daily.
Woodlawn Coffee and Pastry is perhaps the foremost backdrop for naturally lit, no-filter pictures of black coffee and yogurt in Mason jars in North Portland. But when your lattes are made from Roseline or Coava beans, and the baked goods—including the heavenly rhubarb bar—are made from impeccably sourced ingredients, simple things can be very good. $.
DRINK
Breakside Brewery
820 NE Dekum St., 503-719-6475, breakside.com.
One of the most beloved and best breweries in Portland—the one that brewed our favorite beer of 2015, its Fresh Hop Simcoe IPA—Breakside is scheduled to expand to Slabtown, just around the corner from the Willamette Week offices, come fall 2016. We welcome the expansion.
The High Water Mark
6800 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, 503-286-6513, highwatermarklounge.com.
The High Water Mark isn't so much a punk bar as it is a punk-themed bar, which could be off-putting were it not for the fact that the place has great energy. One gets the impression this bar could be municipal utilities-themed and the locals would still pack the place dressed as meter readers.
Hi-Wheel Wine & Mead Co.
6719 NE 18th Ave, 503-928-5723, hiwheelwines.com.
Calling the bubbly fermented fruit juice blends produced at Hi-Wheel Wine & Mead Co. "wine" would probably cheese off a few European countries and the entirety of Sonoma County, which is a good reason to do as much. The taproom also pours local beers when you're ready for something more familiar.
The Oregon Public House
700 NE Dekum St., 503-828-0884, oregonpublichouse.com.
The Oregon Public House was the first not-for-profit pub in the country, and yes, management will remind you of this. But that doesn't diminish the fact that you can have a nice afternoon exploring a tap list that features favorites from Barley Brown's and Green Flash. Your purchases will help charities like Portland Animal Welfare and the Wetlands Conservancy.
SHOP
Dekum Street Doorway
728 NE Dekum St, 503-310-4578, dekumstreetdoorway.com. Closed Monday-Wednesday.
Whether you're an avid urban gardener or just one of the lucky Portlanders to have a patch of side yard, Dekum Street Doorway makes green things feel luxurious. Here, the adorable dwarf-breed chickens freely peck at hunks of compost and you may suddenly be consumed with learning about the tenets of biodynamic pest control.
Upcycles
909 NE Dekum St., 503-388-0305, upcyclespdx.com. Closed Tuesday-Wednesday.
If your 10-speed breaks down while passing through Dekum on a Portland Sunday Parkways ride, your best bet to get rolling again is Upcycles. It offers full service repairs and modifications, or if you just need a fresh start, it will build you a custom bike from the ground up.
GO
Woodlawn Park
Northeast 13th Avenue and Dekum Street.
Some in pre-gentrification Woodlawn referred to this park as "Bloodlawn" for knifing-related reasons, but you wouldn't guess it today from the number of people lounging around wirth picnic baskets or affluent young couples walking fancy dogs. If you need further proof of the extent of the park's renewal, there is an amphitheater that was the original home of Trek in the Park.
In multiple locations:
Bushwhacker Cider, 901 NE Oneonta St.
Willamette Week