A Local’s Guide to 85+ Date Night Spots, Coffee Shops, and Must-Visits in Portland

My complete, local guide and a downloadable map!

I came to Portland by kismet ten years ago, when my boyfriend at the time won a sweepstakes to fly here for a food festival. We had been living in New York,¹ and my hot-trash-asphalt walk to the subway was beginning to smudge my rose-colored glasses. I was entirely unfamiliar with Portland but craving nature, so as soon as we dropped our bags off at the hotel, I went for a long run towards a large swath of green on the map. I had no idea what to expect, but it certainly wasn’t Forest Park—a sprawling forest that hugs downtown, with criss-crossing trails I still, to this day, haven’t explored in their entirety. I knew, on that run, that I would move here one day and seven years later, I did.

It’s been five years since I moved to Portland, but my love for this city has only grown. Its proximity to nature—the Oregon coast! the Columbia River Gorge!—continues to astound me. But it also has such a strong arts and book culture (with the largest independent bookstore in the world, and a thriving literary arts organization), and every neighborhood has at least one phenomenal coffee shop, restaurant, and bar. As a writer, student, addictions counselor, and outdoor enthusiast, I’ve had the unique opportunity to explore so many parts of this city I’m lucky to call home. Read on for:

• My top dinner spots and coffee shops, plus 85+ personally vetted recommendations

• A downloadable Google map, with even more recommendations

• The clothing stores and wine bars worth planning a trip around

• By popular request, I shared my favorite gourmet grocery shops and health food options!

Basically, I take my travel guides very seriously, just as I did with Tokyo, Seoul, Paris, and so many other destinations!

Clockwise from top left: Xiao Ye, L'echelle, Phuket Café, Lovely's Fifty-Fifty