Where to Eat This Week

1. Arden

417 NW 10th Ave., 503-206-6097, ardenpdx.com. 5-9 Wednesday-Saturday.

The food menu had not been this Pearl District wine bar’s strong suit. It is now that Erik Van Kley is helming the kitchen. The longtime Portland chef may only have a small four-burner stove to work with, but he still manages to create decadent dishes, like an appetizer of creamy burrata, crispy-fried mushrooms and pine nuts; and mains, such as duck liver ragù over tagliatelle and morel mushroom and ricotta cappelletti. Indecisive? Go with the chef’s prix fixe, four courses for $65 per person.

2. Callao

1510 S Harbor Way, 503-295-6166, kingtidefishandshell.com/callao. 2-7 pm Wednesday-Sunday.

Now that it’s officially summer, you owe it to yourself to spend some time on the waterfront while snacking on light fare suited for hotter temperatures. Chef Alexander Diestra has made it a little easier to do just that with his new seasonal outdoor pop-up, Callao, which prepares traditional South American ingredients through a Japanese lens—think skewers, ceviche and a couple of dreamy desserts, like a coconut cookie sandwich and coffee jelly served with hazelnut whipped cream.

3. Rangoon Bistro

2311 SE 50th Ave., 503-953-5385, rangoonbistropdx.com. 5-9 pm Wednesday-Friday, noon-9 pm Saturday-Sunday.

After half a decade hawking tea leaf salads and chickpea tofu to farmers marketgoers on weekends—while holding down day jobs—the trio behind Rangoon Bistro now have a restaurant. The dishes reflect a pursuit to perfect childhood memories of two of the Myanmar-born co-owners native foods: cucumber thoke and poached shrimp, a gloriously large rice noodle dumpling stuffed with ground pork, and chana dal, skinned and split chickpeas served at least a half-dozen ways.

4. Pollo Bravo

1225 N Killingsworth St., 503-477-8999, pollobravopdx.com. 11:30 am-9 pm daily.

During the pandemic, Pollo Bravo stuck it out for a while with takeout and delivery from Pine Street Market, but without downtown’s tourists and office workers, co-owners Josh and Sarah Scofield eventually decided to go on hiatus. Now the beloved brand is back in a stand-alone restaurant with its signature chicken and stalwart sides (radicchio salad, patatas bravas), as well as select tapas and a rebooted Bravo burger.

5. Dough Zone

1910 S River Drive, 503-446-3500, doughzonedumplinghouse.com. 11 am-10 pm daily.

Dough Zone, a Seattle dim sum darling with its first Portland outpost, must have come in with some industrial-sized sage sticks to cleanse the former Lucier space: Early on, it seems to have what it takes to lift the yearslong funk there. Despite the remaining opulence, this is a casual business—a place to go with friends and order a smorgasbord. Fill a table with spicy beef pancake rolls, Berkshire-Duroc pork-and-shrimp steamed dumplings, and xiao long bao, which at $7.95 for an order of six is the best deal in town.