Skip to main content
1. SHALOM Y’ALL
117 SE Taylor St., 503-208-3661, shalomyallpdx.com. 11 am–9:30 pm Sunday–Thursday, 11 am–10 pm Friday–Saturday.
Another delightful spot from the Sesame Collective, right on the edge of the train tracks in Industrial Southeast. Where to start? What about the labneh ($15), tart and creamy, brightened by the dill with meaty little sunchoke bites burrowed into the strained yogurt. Then there’s the beet salad ($14)—fleshy softness that brings out their sweetness, earthy from the black sesame and crunchy fennel crescents. The turkish braised beans ($12) have a firm skin but aren’t underdone; the thick coat gives them shape against the tomato sauce that’s smoky, or mesquitey—which is more fiery? If you’re having a meat-free evening, go for the cabbage ($11); the cruciferous leaf is having a moment right now. Here, tahini grabs at the hearty leaves that have been singed on their frilled edges. And don’t skip a drink, like Hey Dude ($16), with its slight dried cherry note. Last thing, the service is highly accommodating and friendly.
2. DOS HERMANOS BAKERY
1015 SE Stark St., 971-266-8348, doshermanosbakery.com. 7 am–4 pm daily.
Inside Dos Hermanos Bakery’s newish Southeast brick-and-mortar, you’ll find the smell of sourdough yeast reaching all the way up to the space’s high warehouse rafters. It’s industrial but cozy with its airiness—big windows, wide terra cotta-colored tiles, a mural of Chichén Itzá in turquoise, yellow and shades of burnt orange. Be warned: A full sandwich is easily two average-sized sandwiches in footlong form, so consider splitting with someone. The sole veggie lunch offering, Get Him to the Greek ($12 for half, $18 for full), comes in a slaw form of chopped-up chickpeas, olives, pepperoncini, tomato, lettuce, red onion and herbs, rolled around in red wine vinaigrette and planted in feta that seems to melt and expand inside the warm bread. And the bread itself—it almost has a pastry delicacy, with a crispy shell on the sesame bun, and a soft doughy inside.
3. AFURI
50 SW 3rd Ave., 971–288–5510, afuriramen.com. 11:30 am–9 pm daily.
A vegan ramen bowl is a dilemma. The soup grooves on a bassline of pork and chicken fat; substitute bindings like miso tend wan. Tokyo import Afuri hasn’t completely cracked the code on meatless ramen, but it’s come closer than anybody, thanks to the humble filbert. The hazelnut tantan ($18) uses Oregon’s state nut as the fatty foundation for shiitakes, cashews and chili oil; the result is a steaming, neon orange vat of the Willamette Valley’s harvest.
4. TOP BURMESE
413 NW 21st Ave., 503-477-5985, topburmese.com. 11:30 am–9 pm Sunday–Thursday, 11:30 am–10 pm Friday–Saturday.
M Bar is now the Mandalay Bar. That’s significant news for devotees of the city’s tiniest drinking nook, a space on Northwest 21st Avenue the size of a garden shed. A purchase last year by Kalvin and Poe Myint means “the M – Mandalay Bar” (formal title) is now an annex of Top Burmese next door. Which means M Bar, for the first time in memory, serves food. Specifically: the curries of Myanmar—richly oiled bowls of onion, ginger and lots of turmeric, ladled over coconut rice (most are $19). For many diners, a meal here is an introduction to Burmese cooking, which more closely resembles Indian dishes than the Thai or Vietnamese cuisines familiar in Portland. Get the yellow tofu tots ($12), made not from soybeans but chickpeas.
5. HOSTEL CAFE
1810 NW Glisan St., 503-417-8143, hostelcafepdx.com. 7 am–10 pm Monday–Sunday.
The Hostel Cafe serves some of Portland’s most satisfying American comfort food. All the usual breakfast suspects—from biscuits and gravy ($10) to French toast ($11)—are available, but lunch and dinner are equally scrumptious, particularly when it comes to vegetarian options. Served with a side of french fries as deliciously brown and crisp as the McMenamins fries of yore, the veggie burger ($11) is a zesty triumph: crisp, wheaty, nutty and astonishingly firm (you don’t see that every day). And as for the dessert menu, the variety of brownies and cookies will round off your meal nicely, whether you’re a jet-lagged traveler seeking a pleasingly subtle sugar high or a local in search of quality affordable cuisine.
Ticket to dine is your chance to dine out all March long for your chance to win one of 2,000+ prizes. Dine out at any of 80+ participating restaurants (including this week’s Hot Plates picks) to support our local restaurant community. The more times you dine out, the more chances you have to win.