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What to do in Portland - non climbing stuff

Original Post
Steve M · · MN · Joined Aug 2011 · Points: 100

I'm heading to Portland for a business trip a the end of the month. Unfortunately between meetings and client dinners I won't be able to get any climbing in, but will have a few hours here and there to get out and see the town. Where should I go, what should I see? Also, where is the best place to go to find a new favorite IPA? Will be staying downtown and will have a rental car so I'm really looking anywhere within an hour of downtown.
Thanks,
Steve

germsauce Epstein · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jun 2010 · Points: 55

eat. I haven't lived there in a few years, but the food scene is unlike anything else I've experienced.

Will S · · Joshua Tree · Joined Nov 2006 · Points: 1,061

More high quality local IPAs than you can shake a stick at. Portland is Beervana. You'll get a million opinions on this one. If you are downtown, Rogue's place in NW is awesome. If you're in inner SE, the Lucky Labrador is a perennial favorite.

The Washington Park International Rose Test Gardens are very cool, set in the west hills above town with great views and the light rail that runs through downtown takes you right to it. Free admission, hard to beat that. The Zoo is up there right next to it too, which does charge admission.



http://www.portlandonline.com/parks/finder/?PropertyID=1113&action=ViewPark

The Pittock Mansion, an old newspaper magnate's home from the robber baron era, is a stunning place, worth the $8 or so admission. Only open until 4pm this time of year. This guy had like surround jetted showers 90 years ago, just amazingly beautiful architecture, furnishings, and art, and hard to believe some of the amenities for the period. Also in a beautiful setting overlooking the city from the hills.

pittockmansion.org/

Those are a couple places I'd usually take family visiting from out of town. Along with favorite restaurants and such. Great city, great food, great people. Of all the places I've lived (and it's been WAY too many places) this was my favorite town by far.
Brigette Beasley · · Monroe, WA · Joined Sep 2008 · Points: 275

Thanks for asking this question! I, too, am staying in the vicinity but cannot get out climbing, so I've been looking for good things to do in the area.

Dave Bn · · Boise, ID · Joined Jul 2011 · Points: 10

Powell's Books and Washington Park (pay to see the Japanese Gardens, it's worth it).

BIG +1 TO FOOD/BOOZE

Dim sum at House of Louie

Sushi at Saburo's (get there early or risk not getting a table)

Drink a Terminal Gravity IPA (my favorite from 3 years living there)

+1 to Lucky Labrador

McMenamins (any one will do really)

Deschutes brewery near the Pearl

Black Mussels and Gorganzola Cheese Cake at Paragon

Crab stuffed avacado at Andina

Finally, try not to go agro on the hundreds of able-bodied 20-somethings who will ask you for money as you walk anywhere in downtown. This is particularly vexing while pounding the pavement there desperately trying to find a job.

Tyson Anderson · · SLC, UT · Joined May 2007 · Points: 126

Get your hands on a bike and ride it all around the city.

Will S · · Joshua Tree · Joined Nov 2006 · Points: 1,061

Yeah, Terminal Gravity is a great IPA. I've done some ice climbing with the owner out there in the Wallowas. They are out of eastern OR though, but you can find it on tap plenty of places around town.

The public libary system is awesome, especially the downtown central branch. Powell's books on Burnside is probably the best bookstore in the country.

Saburos, yes. When a place doesn't even have a sign to let you know it's there, and has a line down the block every night, they're doing something right. This was the place that made me a sushi lover.

Yeah, the crustpunk beggar scene in Pioneer square can be a bit much. I used to ride the bike from SE 43rd and pick up the train there to get to work in Hillsboro, so I got it almost every morning.

Pho Hung for viet, Swagat in NW 23rd area for Indian...man there is so much good food there. Can you tell I miss it?

Bickle · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jun 2008 · Points: 20

There is a super neat city hike that involves the street car, a lil hiking and then the tram from OHSU. That a great way to see the city and only take a few hours.

Beer my favs:
Coalition Brewery
Roscoes Bar
Hair of the Dog
Burnside Brewery is good too

New favorite IPA: Double mountain, both the Hop lava and the ClusterF*ck are amazing. Lots of great hard ciders here in pdx too!

Skip Saburos for Sushi, i think it is the claim super of sushi, all filler no actual fresh fish. My favorite is Yoko';s on 28th and gladstone.

Check out the food carts on Jefferson and 9th

Wanna catch a good concert show go see something at the DougFir.

Have a great one.

Bryan S

Healyje · · PDX · Joined Jan 2006 · Points: 422

All the in-town suggestions are ok, but if you want to 'see' the area then drive up to Hood River and back on I-4 through the Columbia River Gorge.

Bill Shubert · · Lexington, MA · Joined Jul 2012 · Points: 55
Ben Beckerich wrote:No one has mentioned Hopworks Urban Brewery? 23rd or 26thish and Powell... Organic IPA on tap, good food.
I was there last night. The organic IPA is indeed excellent. The food is mixed; some is good (calzones), some is mediocre (some of the pizzas).

Lucky Lab has good beer but I'm not a fan of their food. At least their Hawthorne location; I think they have different menus at each bar, but I've only been to the one on Hawthorne.

The McMenamins bars are all over and have good beer but again mediocre food. The exception is the Crystal Hotel, along Burnside, that has pretty good food and the same beer.

There's my take on a few of the bigger/more well-known brewpubs. There are tons more. It's pretty rare to find great food in a brewpub; there are lots of great brewpubs, and lots of great or at least interesting places to eat, but rarely do they mix. For non-brewpub things to do, driving out on I-84 and stopping to see the waterfalls is pretty good. The Chinese garden (right in the city) and Japanese garden (right on the edge) and rose test garden (right next to the Japanese garden, and free to visit) are all worth seeing. Powell's is a lot of fun if you like to browse books. Etc.
Paul Trendler · · Bend, Oregon · Joined Sep 2011 · Points: 111

Food -
BIWA
Tin Shed
Screen Door
St. Honore (French Bakery)

Beer -
as mentioned... HUB is great beer. Deschutes is great beer. The posts above about Double Mountain's IPA's are definitely worth noting again. Getting your hands on a RPM, or Hop Venom from the Boneyard Brewery could very well make your new #1. I bet you could get a pint at Beer Mongers.

That, the airport, and IKEA are pretty much all I ever do in Portland. Have FUN!

Ryan Palo · · Bend, oregon · Joined Aug 2006 · Points: 605

Sassy's is a must visit for any Portland adventure. They have a lot of the above mention taps and quality music.

Steve M · · MN · Joined Aug 2011 · Points: 100

Wow, thanks for all the responses! I think I've got good start for bars/brewpubs here. One thing I forgot to mention is that I'd love to hit up a good seafood place. I'm thinking local oysters and some crab if it's still in season. No white table cloth necessary, in fact I'd prefer it if my server was wearing a t-shirt and shorts and it's even better if my tablecloth is made of newspaper.

Dave...the crab stuffed avocado sounds awesome, I'll definitely hit that up.

Tyson, a bike is a great idea. Here in Minneapolis we've got them all over, you just pick one up and drop it any any one of several dozen drop off sites around downtown. The bikes suck but it's great for a night of boozing around town. Anything similar there?

Thanks,
Steve

Alex Baker · · Salt Lake City, UT · Joined Sep 2009 · Points: 5

Agreed with Ryan - don't miss Sassy's.

Will S · · Joshua Tree · Joined Nov 2006 · Points: 1,061

Seafood? Jake's Famous Crawfish, at 12th and Stark in SW is great. 100+ year old, great bar, great food, cool ambiance. The original McCormick and Schmicks was hard to beat, closed I heard. Same people own them both, went corporate in the mid 00s then taken back private.

Sassy's? Sure. But Mary's is hard to beat for a dive ass strip club. First time I was in PDX, friend from college lived right by PGE park, we walk down for some mexican food at a little bitty place with about 5 tables, mostly a takeout shop, and he says, you gotta check out the bathroom. "What? Ok, must have funny decoration or something". Didn't know, but the mex restaurant bathrooms were shared with the club, actually inside the club through a connector hall, walked through the door and was inside a thumping titty bar...WTF?!

Bickle · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jun 2008 · Points: 20

PDX: has some of the best strip clubs around. I vote Sassy's and the Acropolis for sure.

I second the Boneyard Beer, even though it is from bend.

The screen door as suggested is some of the best southern food I have ever had.

Pok Pok is great.

For seafood, seasons and regions is pretty damn good and a lot less expensive than jakes.

Dave Bn · · Boise, ID · Joined Jul 2011 · Points: 10
Will S wrote:Seafood? Jake's Famous Crawfish, at 12th and Stark in SW is great. 100+ year old, great bar, great food, cool ambiance. The original McCormick and Schmicks was hard to beat,
+1 to Jakes. I worked at Jakes Steakhouse for close to a year and really have to say the quality of that organization is pretty top notch.

The McCormick and Schmicks at Harborside is a pretty sweet experience. Their beer selection is lacking (They are partnered with Full Sail) but they have a kick-ass happy hour menu, awesome seafood and a menu that changes every single day based on what kind of fish is available on the market. Plus you can sit outside right on the Willamette, watching boats drift pass.

They usually have at least 6 different types of oysters as well.

ETA - yes, the Acropolis is the shit! Eggs and legs, tits and grits! Best $3 12-egg omelet in the world!
Ryan Palo · · Bend, oregon · Joined Aug 2006 · Points: 605

Oh right! I totally forgot about the A-crop. Their steak bites are not to be missed. Tho I must say they dont have the talent that Sassy's does and it's really in Milwaukee(Gross!) Mary's is great if you're into freakshow-style entertainment. Another must visit is Union Jacks on Burnside.

Quite a few breweries in that area. Last time I went home, I stopped by Base Camp Brewery. Great location. Good variety of beer. Cool layout. And there's a few climbers who own and operate the joint.

Tom-onator · · trollfreesociety · Joined Feb 2010 · Points: 790

A little past your hour's drive window Steve.
But a trip to Portland is not complete without a visit to Cannon Beach.
Sand dollars strewn about the crystalline black sandy beach are amazing.
One of the prettiest places I've seen.

Not my photo, but damn!

Cole Morgan · · Portland,Oregon · Joined Jan 2013 · Points: 5

Some great food ideas in there but you guys are missing the best ones! The food carts! You can find large groups of them all throughout downtown and I haven't found a cart that I haven't liked yet. There's also Cartlandia over in Clackamas with some great food.

Voodoo doughnuts is also a cool place to visit. Ill admit, not the greatest doughnuts, but a really cool place to see.

If your looking for some genuine Portland weirdness, check out Rimskys. Neat little coffee house with some amazing deserts. They have live music a lot of the time as well. Its only open 7pm-12/1am so not a place for a morning coffee. If you do end up going, you need to go to the bathroom. Even if you don't actually need to go. Its worth the trip for sure.

As for non food options, Powell's Bookstore is a great place to visit. I believe it covers an entire block by itself. A really cool place and its hard to leave without a really good book.

Another great thing to do is go watch the Portland Winterhawks! They won the WHL last year and are super fun to watch.

The saturday market is also fun to explore. Always a great place to find random objects you don't really need!

Have fun exploring Portland!

Peter Franzen · · Phoenix, AZ · Joined Jan 2001 · Points: 3,730
Bickle wrote:PDX: has some of the best strip clubs around. I vote Sassy's and the Acropolis for sure.
Union Jack's!

If you're into running you should head up into Forest Park via Mcleay Park; it's the best way to get out of the city while still being in the city. Lower Macleay trail to Wildwood and up to Pittock Mansion is a fantastic hill climb if you're looking for a good burn.
Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

Pacific Northwest
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