Five Places We’re Excited to Order Takeout From This Week

1. YāYā PDX

1451 NE Alberta St., 503-477-5555, yayapdx.com. 4-10 pm Wednesday-Sunday.

Chef Steven Chin calls Cantonese barbecue his soul food, and you really feel that. The streamlined menu focuses on serving meat over rice with hot mustard, dipping sauce and pickled cucumber and carrot. It’s simple and it’s great. YāYā particularly nails the duck and char siu pork. Of all the duck I’ve sampled (and it’s been many; sorry to my avian friends), Chin’s is the most five-spice forward. The ducks he selects also have more meat on the bones than many of the others, leading to luscious full bites of bird. As Cantonese duck is served chopped and bone-in, this means a bigger and better payoff as you nibble.

2. Chicha

1314 NW Glisan St., 503-953-1933, chichapdx.com. 4-9 pm Wednesday-Sunday.

A long-planned, takeout sister of Andina popped up this past May, with a menu featuring empanadas, croquettes and skewers that pay tribute to the street food of Lima and the neighboring seaside city Callao. Though Andina is reopening on Aug. 18, Chicha will remain, offering patio dining, delivery and pickup.

3. Lottie & Zula’s

120-A NE Russell St., 503-333-6923, lottieandzulas.com. 8 am-4 pm Tuesday-Saturday. Breakfast all day, lunch 10:30 am to close. Takeout and delivery only.

Toro Bravo is gone, replaced by a punky sandwich window with New England roots. The heart of the Lottie & Zula’s breakfast menu are bolo levedos, or “Portuguese muffins”—something like a cross between an English muffin and a King’s Hawaiian roll, which makes Lottie & Zula’s version of a McGriddle extra satisfying.

4. Hey Chaudy

Order @heychaudy.

When beloved Vietnamese karaoke bar Yen Ha on Northeast Sandy Boulevard closed in 2019, longtime manager and co-owner Anh Tran started messing around with recipes for banh pate so—flaky pastry stuffed with peppery ground pork or vegan Impossible meat. Soon enough, Tran got it dialed in and is selling them for $25 a dozen for meat, $30 a dozen for vegan from his Instagram handle, @heychaudy. The pate so have exploded in popularity. Tran is also making different Vietnamese soups for pickup every Tuesday, available at his personal handle, @_2anh.

5. Pure Spice

2446 SE 87th Ave., 503-772-1808, purespicerestaurant.com. 9 am-8:30 pm daily.

Known more for its fresh-from-the-kitchen dim sum, Pure Spice low-key holds it down in the Cantonese barbecue category as well. Pure Spice’s barbecue pork is just a shade more tender and meatier than most, and lacks the overt sweetness that is often typical in a char siu situation. Pick the menu option that lets you order the roast duck, steamed chicken (another Cantonese classic), and barbecue pork together for $22.50, and then spend some time with the rest of the menu: Grab some har gow shrimp dumplings, a scallion pancake, and a rice noodle roll with XO sauce for maximum sampling satisfaction.