The Top Five Places to Eat in Portland This Week

1. G-Love

1615 NW 21st Ave., 971-229-1043, g-lovepdx.com.

Portland's first "reverse steakhouse" puts veggies in the spotlight and relegates meat to sideshow status, which isn't the novel idea around these parts that owner-chef Garrett Benedict seems to think it is—but items like the craveable Ensalata Bomba are delicious enough to justify the restaurant's existence, regardless of the concept.

Read the full review: G-Love's "Reverse Steakhouse" Is the Normcore Veggie Restaurant Slabtown Didn't Really Need, But Probably Deserves.

2. Bae’s

225 SW Ash St.

Micah Camden is giving chicken another go. After failing the first time around with Son of a Biscuit, Portland's master of fast casual has teamed with homegrown NFL star Ndamukong Suh to turn the old Ash Street Saloon into a house of poultry, serving birds both fried and grilled, in basically every configuration, along with Southern-inspired sides. It's scheduled to open Nov. 6.

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Menu tasting - before we open Vivian we are learning and indulging in the Nordic inspired menu led by Chef @alexmarshalljackson - so much goes into the menu and gathering together to see the hard work is pretty magical. #KEXPDX #100 #MLK #vivian #menu #tasting #work

A post shared by KEX Portland (@kexportland) on Oct 30, 2019 at 4:23pm PDT

3. Vivian

100 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

The Portland outpost of Reykjavík hotel Kex is slated to open this week, and its ground-floor restaurant should be, if nothing else, a welcome respite to the avalanche of new pizzerias and chicken shacks we've seen lately. The menu blends Pacific Northwest and Icelandic influences, with items like chicken liver toast and open-faced beet root smorrebrod. Beers from the hotel's own brewery will also be on tap.

The smash burger at Craft PDX. (Henry Cromett)

4. Craft PDX

320 SW Harvey Milk St., hi-lo-hotel.com.

Inhabiting the space formerly occupied by Hi-Lo Hotel's "modern Mexican" restaurant Alto Bajo, Craft swaps overpriced chips and guac for a more honest approach to garden-variety bar food. The right side of the menu features what Craft calls a "burger lab," which starts with a 4-ounce smash burger that contains an entire spectrum of fatty flavors and a crispy, charred exterior, minus the gut-busting girth. Add CBD olive oil for $1.

Read the full review: A Trio of New Restaurants Have Opened in Downtown Portland Hotels. We Went to All Three.

5. Magna

2525 SE Clinton St., 503-395-8542, magnapdx.com.

It's past time for a food city like Portland to have its own great Filipino restaurant, and with Carlo Lamagna's Magna, we've got one. To a first-gen Filipino who grew up eating this food at every meal, Lamagna's dishes are both intimately familiar and achingly cool. In his hands, even the humble tortang talong—a simple fried eggplant omelet—is coddled with as much care as an Escoffier-style omelet, served with a spray of quick-pickled watermelon radishes, onions, and fresh tomatoes.

Read the full review: Magna Is like Being Teleported into a Filipino Family's Sunday Dinner.