12 Best Restaurants in Portland, Oregon

This pie-focused operation began as a stall at Portland's Saturday Farmers Market at PSU and is now a charming, homey, brick-and-mortar café along Division Street in Southeast. Though it's the delicious pies—with feathery-light crusts and delicious fillings like tart cherry, salted pecan, and chocolate-banana cream—that have made Lauretta Jean's a foodie icon in Portland, this cheerful eatery also serves exceptional brunch fare, including the LJ Classic, a fluffy biscuit topped with an over-easy egg, Jack cheese, bacon, and strawberry jam. In the evening, it's a popular spot for desserts and coffee, or even cocktails.

Described by baker-owner Kristen Murray as a "modern pastry luncheonette," this dainty West End café has just a handful of wooden booth and counter seats and a minimalist-inspired white-on-white aesthetic. The menu features exquisite French–Scandinavian pastries, cakes, and sandwiches, as well as a full gamut of drinks, including wine (interesting flights are offered), beer, cocktails, teas, and coffee.

At the center of Portland’s locally steeped tea scene is Smith Teamaker, founded by the late entrepreneur Steven Smith, who the New York Times said “helped transform the nation’s tea-drinking habits.” Duck inside to learn about the tea’s origin stories, sample different varieties at the tea bar, and leave with a few gift boxes.

A first-rate independent café on a heavily trafficked Downtown corner by MAX and streetcar stops, Case Study serves small-batch, house-roasted coffee in a variety of formats, from Chemex to Aeropress to crowds of regulars. There are additional locations in Nob Hill, Hollywood, and Alberta.

With hardwood floors, Jacobethan brick walls, and rotating work from local artists, Coffeehouse Northwest is the quintessential Portland café—and one of the city’s pioneering specialty shops, the first to serve single-origin beans. Expect first-rate drinks made with shots of espresso from Dovetail Coffee Roasters.

If you're seeking a comfy spot serving great local coffee brands and exceptional baked goods—both savory and sweet—consider this light-filled bakery-café in the bustling Burnside and 28th section of Buckman. Drawing young families, laptop-toting freelancers, and hoodied hipsters, the kitchen turns out delicious breakfast sandwiches with candied bacon in the morning, and a wide range of sandwiches at lunchtime. There's a newer branch in Inner Northeast's Burnside Bridgehead development.

Inside this sleek Woodstock café, with additional locations Downtown and on East Burnside, patrons sip fine coffees sourced from Central America, South America, and Africa, and indulge in breakfast and lunch fare, such as savory and sweet porridges, granola, toasts, and salads. Finnish owner Wille Yli-Luoma brings a modern, minimalist aesthetic to this striking space with plenty of tables for working and socializing.

Golden crusts are the trademark of Ken's rustic breads, croissants, tarts, and puff pastries, perfect for breakfast and lunch. Sandwiches, barbecue pulled pork, and croque monsieur are served on thick slabs of freshly baked bread, and local berries fill the flaky pastries. If the dozen tables inside the vibrant blue bakery are crammed (they usually are), you can sit outside at one of the sidewalk tables.

Named for the patron saint of bakers, this French bakery on a quiet corner in Slabtown serves light meals and pastries. Start the day off with a plain or chocolate croissant, or café au lait, but return for lunch (or dinner) and the delicious quiche, sandwiches, salads, savory puff pastries, and tarts. St. Honoré has outposts Downtown, on S.E. Division Street, and in Lake Oswego.

A pioneer in Portland's artisanal coffee experience, Stumptown Coffee Roasters has expanded into a nationally revered brand. There are several local cafés—including this bustling storefront space in Old Town—where hip baristas, well versed in all things coffee, whip up delicious espresso drinks. Not far away, the Harvey Milk Street location adjoins the trendy Ace Hotel.

This busy, informal restaurant on Alberta Street is known for its hearty breakfasts—namely, its biscuits and gravy, shredded-potato cakes, egg and tofu scrambles—but the lunch menu offers plenty of creative choices as well, like a creamy artichoke sandwich and a mac and cheese of the day. With a large stone fireplace and chimney, the covered, comfortable outdoor area doubles as a beer garden on warm spring and summer days, and the adjacent garden rounds off the property with a peaceful sitting area.

Step into an old-school slice of Portland's circa-1999 coffee-shop scene. This pioneering roaster continues to serve organic coffee and espresso at its flagship Nob Hill location as well as at the coffee bar within Powell's City of Books on Burnside.