With many of us relying on delivery apps and fast food joints to satisfy late-night hunger pangs, it sometimes seems impossible to find any Portland dining options open past the seemingly ubiquitous 10 p.m. closing time. We ponder and scroll and ask ourselves: Where do we go? The students going on break from their all-nighters, the dates who just got out of the movies and the concerts, the workers from those restaurants that all closed at 10 p.m.?
At the moment, the answer seems to be food carts and bars. Portland’s food cart scene continues to thrive after dark, as pub-crawlers and night-shifters flock to pods in search of some quick takeout. And because of the state’s liquor laws, all bars are required to have some sort of food on offer; some spots have more fun with that requirement than others, serving everything from Peruvian lomo saltado to ahi tuna poke. In our latest update of this map, we’re only including restaurants closing 1 a.m. at the earliest, at least a few days of the week. If none of these spots appeal, the dive bar map might be worth a perusal; many hole-in-the-walls continue to fry mozz sticks and flip burgers late into the evening.
It should also be noted that since COVID hit, many of the city’s famed after-hours restaurants that survived the brutal sweep of closures have shifted to earlier bedtimes. That’s okay, but just in case they ever decide to return to their previous hours: Stammtisch, Luc Lac, we miss you, come back to us (the people who want to eat your food at midnight before immediately falling asleep). Also, honorary shout-outs go to some strong spots that close when the clock strikes midnight, including Sheesh Shawarma, Plumb, and Libre.
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