3 1/2 Stars

Inspired by a greater environmental awareness, the Tin Shed is a quaint garden café that is dedicated to providing its diners with fresh, local ingredients. The Tin Shed offers a variety of different menus, including a breakfast menu available through the early afternoon, a kid’s menu, and even a menu for dogs. Throughout each of the menus are many flavorful vegetarian options. This restaurant features a modest storefront and outdoor seating. Located in the Alberta Arts District of Portland, this charming little café will have diners coming back again and again for quality food and quality service.

Enjoy a wonderful meal with a charming lake view! Cafe Murrayhill serves breakfast, lunch and dinner – along with tempting desserts and great wines. All in a comfortably chic neighborhood cafe. Don't miss our unbeatable Happy Hour with refreshing cocktails, great Northwest wines, and your favorite local brews.

With its diner-like atmosphere and menu of original sandwich creations, it is no wonder that Bunk Sandwiches of Portland’s industrial district was once featured and praised on the Food Network. In addition to its deliciously simple lunch menu, the restaurant also offers up a modest breakfast menu served all day. Well-known for its Pork Belly Cubano Sandwich, patrons are equally drawn to its classic sides, including Red Beans and Rice. If you can’t make it for lunch, Bunk is also open later as a bar featuring draft beer, house drinks, and its renowned sandwiches.

With its quaint, cottage storefront and bright interior, Broder is a Swedis restaurant that will make diners feel as though they have been transported out of Portland and into Sweden. Serving up breakfast and lunch daily, with dinner only available Thursday through Saturday, Broder is well known for their tasty breakfast menu featuring Danish pancakes. This restaurant also presents specialty dishes for lunch and dinner, such as Swedish meatballs or Danish meat patties. Broder also serves traditional American options, making this restaurant a perfect place to bring even the pickiest of eaters.

Biwa, a Japanese restaurant located in southeast Portland, has a social awareness that will leave diners feeling good about eating here. Open until midnight, this restaurant features a special “late night” menu, offering up traditional Japanese dishes such as gyoza and specialty ramen. Biwa donates to local foundations such as the Newspace Scholarship Fund in addition to supporting global causes, such as tsunami relief. Add this to the fact that Biwa strives to use fresh, local ingredients, and it is easy to see why so many diners appreciate this refreshing take on dining.

In the Hawthorne District of Portland exists a quaint, canopied restaurant named Apizza Scholls. True to its name, this restaurant specializes in pizza, with an entire section of its menu dedicated to building a custom pizza pie. Additionally, a section titled “House Pies” offers diners Apizza Scholls exclusives such as Apizza Amore. There are also plenty of items to choose from beside pizza, including the House Antipasti Plate, which is a mix of meat and veggie antipasti items. This restaurant also features draft and bottled beer as well as a variety of wines. Whether here for lunch or dinner, diners …

Serving diners since 1974, Produce Row Café is a veteran of the Southeast Industrial District of Portland. This restaurant/bar hybrid offers a covered and heated patio, occasional live music, and comfort food such as meatloaf or mac and cheese. The atmosphere is often described as one of leisure, as can be seen and felt as soon as you sink into one of the “kush” booths available for seating. Perhaps one of the restaurants greatest attributes comes in the form of dessert: a waffle sandwich stacked with vanilla ice cream, bacon, peanut butter, honey, and cinnamon.

If you’re looking for a little taste of Italy, look no further. Amalfi’s Italian Restaurant is a quaint family owned restaurant on Fremont Street. Started by a couple in 1959, the restaurant has since been taken over by their granddaughter, Kiauna Floyd.Amalfi’s has come a long way in the past couple of years, and now seats up to 250 people. It offers a variety of pastas, salads, and customized Pizzas. But while this big time pizza maker is constantly expanding, they manage to stay true to their promise of “excellence and commitment” by using only the original recipes and the …

On a rare sunny morning in Portland the eager crowd that gathers outside the Screen Door would be hard to miss. Serving up hearty breakfast staples, peppered with Creole influence, the owners focus on serving Southern fare with a twist. Featuring locally sourced meats and produce they emphasize the importance of the relationship between food and table and bring their welcoming charm to the public. With plates ranging from traditional low country dishes such as cheesy grits and jambalaya, to breakfasts mixing fried chicken and waffles, the Screen Door brings a bit of southern warmth into this rainy Oregon town.

Nestled in Northeast Portland, the Alameda Brewhouse provides the authentic brewery experience in the form of a casual neighborhood pub where children are always weclome. Specializing in hand-crafted cuisine and larger-than-life portions, the restaurant features both traditional pub fare and more daring creations like the salmon gyros and gingered tahini-soy tiger prawn and scallop skewers. Characteristic barrels and kegs decorate the casual dining room to emphasize their selection of beers made in-house with seasonal flavors, in addition to their classics like the award-winning Black Bear XX Stout. From grabbing a beer after work to enjoying a fun meal out with …

Putting a modern spin on traditional Japanese foods is nothing new for this restaurant in downtown Portland. This Locally owned and family operated restaurant has been creating some inimitable dishes since 2004. Masu prides itself on its variety, service, and ability to accommodate both small and large parties with space for up to 175 people; guests can even take advantage of a private room for smaller parties. With its second story view, beautiful wood paneling, and a lounge area, Masu sushi’s chic and modern style makes it a great place to grab a drink or even sit down for a …

Modeled on classic French bistros, the two story Higgins Restaurant and Bar features primarily French cuisine with a hint of Pacific Northwest and European influences. Executive Chef and Owner Greg Higgins emphasizes fresh ingredients from local, sustainable farms in each dish on the menu. In addition to the main dining rooms, there is a bistro and bar located on the lower level. Higgins boasts an extensive wine list as well as a broad range of beers from all over the world. Both levels of the restaurant are well-lit with ambient lighting and natural light from large windows that line the …

If you’re craving fresh, homemade pasta – the ultimate in comfort food – head to Portland’s Pizza Italia where you are guaranteed to find “solid, old-school Italian food,” as one critic declared. Favorites on the menu include Linguine Squarciarella -- linguine with stirred egg, prosciutto, onion, parmesan, and black pepper; the Pappardelle al Cinghiale with slow-cooked wild boar meat sauce; or classic lasagna. Don’t be fooled by the casual décor, featuring a slew of soccer jerseys as an ode to the late Italian immigrant owner’s love of the sport; the food is definitely high-class. Staffed mainly by friends and family, …

Mingo has a great and sincere understanding of how Italian cuisine should be prepared and presented: simply and sincerely. Clarity of flavor is prized above pretense on the Mingo menu, opting for fewer, high quality and impact ingredients over the muddling of tastes and textures. After all, the Mingo family feels as though it is feeding family at every table, every time. Tasty favorites include the pan seared scallops, Capasante, and the Gnocchi alla Romana. In true Italian fashion, an ongoing series of winemaker dinners introduce guests to noteworthy varietals as they feast on savory fare and sultry sounds. Only …

Reasonable in price, but certainly impeccable in taste, Thai Lahnna is Portland's destination for authentic Thai cuisine that won't break your budget. Featuring house specialties such as Pad Thai, House Curries, and other vegetarian-friendly items, this cozy, romantic eatery exposes a simple elegance that is common in Thai cuisine, down from the tableware and decor to the entrees and appetizers. Able to fit a any dietary need, dishes can be altered to your preferences, whether it's chicken, seafood, or tofu. They also offer a line of healthier, low-sodium dishes, meaning an inexpensive, flavorful meal that is priced appropriately. With catering …

Veritable Quandary, located right in the heart of the busy city, is a charming dining garden with an “Old Portland” feel. The dining room’s glass walls can be opened to the outdoor elements, allowing for fresh air and the scent of blossoming flowers or they can be closed to keep guests cozy on a rainy day. The abundance of greenery surrounding Veritable Quandary changes with the seasons, as does Chef Annie Cuggino’s menu. Chef Cuggino uses fresh ingredients from local farmers to create a unique Northwest cuisine that is mixed with some flavors from her past, having previously worked in …

With a menu worthy of an Italian grandmother’s famed home cooking, Iorio Restaurant honors its genre with the finest local organic produce and sustainable meats. Affordable favorites such as the cornmeal-crusted Wild Caught Calamari or Butternut Squash Pizza will please the foodie palate in this small but intimate Hawthorne eatery. Whether you come as part of a couple or with a large party, Iorio encourages a variety of group sizes with their amply-spaced tables. The friendly and inviting décor, low lighting, attentive service, and unpretentious comfort food is sure to give this a permanent place on your list of regular …

Standing out from the crowd of typical a la carte restaurants is Beast, serving up thoughtfully genuine meals in a uniquely intimate setting. With a weekly 6-course prix fixe dinner menu highlighting the season’s freshest and finest produce, and a true appreciation for all things carnivorous, Beast creates a dining experience focused squarely of the joys of communing over great food. In addition to the orchestrated menu, Beast only offers two seating times for dinner; this practice ensures that quality of food and service is not compromised to mass turn-out. And on Sundays, all are welcome to join around the …

Le Pigeon’s burgeoning chef Gabriel Rucker has a knack for turning the ordinary into the extraordinary. Having flown the coop from Gotham Building Tavern a few years back to open this small and unfussy eatery, he’s met with nothing but success ever since. His nose-to-tail philosophy of cooking has produced specialties such as Duck-Duck-Pigeon, a pan-roasted squab with duck confit, and Poussin (a young, small chicken) with shell beans, corn, and chanterelles. With his desserts, Rucker veers away from traditional sugar-laden concoctions and opts for savory treats; Apricot Cornbread with Bacon and Maple Ice Cream is one option. With a …

The quintessential neighborhood bistro, Park Kitchen is located in a historic building on the North Park Blocks. With sidewalk seating looking out over friendly games of bocce and roll up doors leading into a subtle and airy dining room, it’s hard to imagine the food and service living up to the ambiance. It does precisely this however under the cool control of chef and owner Scott Dolich’s masterful direction. The menu takes advantage of the Northwest’s finest bounty to create delectable American dishes that reflect their urban and pastoral surroundings.