Portland is not Austin. Yea they both have the same "Keep <insert city> Weird" slogan but I found the two to be pretty different.

Getting Around

Pretty easy to hop in an Uber and get to where you need to go. I highly recommend picking up a Car2Go membership if you're going to be moving a lot. Just found it easier for transportation, they have a pretty large fleet. It's also perfect if you're wanting to venture out of the city. You can do a day rental

Where To Eat

A lot of variety here. Food heads will get their fix, fire up the IG.

  • Pine Street Market - Solid indoor market with a bunch of food options.
  • Miss Delta - Hybrid New Orleans/BBQ style establishment
  • Pok Pok - Supposedly this is a tourist trap but their wings are bomb. Multiple locations too, your best bet is to go to one of the non-downtown spots.
  • Tasty & Sons -  Ridiculously good brunch. Best meal we ate. Tons of options.
  • Eisenhower Bagels - Nice bagel spot.
  • Tusk - Trendy ass middle eastern food. Looks super hip from the outside. It was aight.
  • Blue Star Donuts - Locals say to go here instead of Voodoo's. I ate 3. I was also inebriated.
  • Bamboo Sushi - Above average sushi place. I think there's some other options.
  • Pinky's Pizza - This was meh.
  • Food Carts - Austin calls them food trucks. Portland calls them food carts. There's a lot of them. We destroyed some gyros from a shady one.

Where To Drink

We crushed some breweries. Portland has tons of them and they're located throughout the city. Didn't go to too many bars so probably don't have the full picture on the scene there.

  • Stormbreaker (brewery) - Cool spot off Mississippi. That street has a pretty vibrant bar scene too. Good beers.
  • No Bones (bar) - It's a vegan tiki bar that plays rap. That is all.
  • Deschutes (brewery) - Pretty well known brewery. We went to the one downtown. Felt a little franchisey but fun.
  • McMenamins (brewery) - I talk more about this one in a below section. Feel like this is a must-do for the experience. Multiple locations.
  • Full Sail (brewery) - This one was in Mt Hood about an hour and a half outside of Portland. Pretty well known, had nice views and good beerz.
  • Fermented (brewery) - Also in Mt Hood. This spot just opened up. I like what they're doing.

Stuff To Do (And Not Do)

Since you're not going to be boiling in the summer, Portland is great for outdoor stuff.

  • Rose Garden - Thought this was actually pretty neat. Skip the tour and just walk around. Free admission.
  • Japanese Garden - Skip this one. Pretty underwhelming and costs $.
  • Fields Park - Nice little park downtown.
  • Portland Saturday Market - If you've been to a downtown market before, you can skip it. Some homeless dude tried to steal my hat and fight me.
  • McMenamins Kennedy School - If you like off-beat/weird experiences like me, go here. McMenamins renovated an old elementary school and turned into a hotel/brewery. Creepy as hell to walk around, they still have all the school pictures from the 1950's. They also turned the gymnasium into a theatre. We caught a showing of the classic, "I Know What You Did Last Summer". As an added bonus, they have a bunch of little bars you can hop around from.
  • Powells Books - Must-see. Just insane.
  • Mount Hood - If you have a rental car, I'd recommend making the trip. Beautiful views and it was nice getting out of town. A bunch of breweries out here too. Also check out Draper Girls Peach Farm. Fucking tasty peaches.