Tour 11 of Portland's Most Iconic Dining Rooms

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• Quite possibly Portland's most famous dining room, the Portland City Grill — perched atop the 30th floor of the city's highest building — is best known for its low-hanging wood ceilings and large windows offering stunning views of the city (and Cascade Mo
• A glimpse of the view from the dining room of the Portland City Grill.
• Portland's oldest restaurant Huber's Cafe — founded in 1879, and at its current Old Pioneer Building location since 1910 — evokes another era with its arches, stained-glass skylights, and dark-wood paneling.
• Both Huber's Cafe and its building were named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
• Naomi Pomeroy's small but bustling Beast, with nothing but a butcher's block and two communal tables, best represents Portland's "intimate supperclub" aesthetic: a "chalkboard"-style black wall features irreverent scrawls, lights dim and tables glow with
• After the historic Hotel Mallory received a complete renovation in 2006, transforming into the old-Hollywood-inspired Hotel DeLuxe, its first-floor restaurant Gracie’s embodied old-school glamour. Gilded gold accents, hanging chandeliers, and lush leather
• The spot that’s launched an empire, Andy Ricker’s SE Division restaurant famously started as take-out shack, then expanded to feature a proper hidden dining room and one of the city’s most famous outdoor patios.
• The dining room/lounge keeps things simple in terms of decor, but coveted entrance into its hallowed walls — wait times are legendary — grants the space iconic city status.
• Bruce Carey’s well-appointed Pearl District dining room, designed by architect Brad Cloepfil, is the closest Portland gets to a New York City-dramatic aesthetic: stark white leather chairs and geometric chandeliers play off the lush green of floor-to-ceili
• White tablecloths, white chairs in the bar at Bluehour.
• Thanks to a sketch that launched a million media mentions, Gilt Club’s over-the-top dining room will forever be known as the spot where Portlandia’s Fred and Carrie inquired about the organic-ness of a chicken named Colin.
• Emblematic of the new Portland aesthetic — reclaimed dark wood, hanging Edison bulbs, and industrial-looking furniture — the Woodsman Tavern’s dining room simultaneously looks modern and vintage, encapsulating the de rigeuer design trend in one glowing, i
• Chef Gabriel Rucker’s East Burnside dining room is best described as “intimate,” with just three communal tables, but it’s the restaurant’s 10-seat chef’s counter that’s considered an iconic Portland dining spot. In a city full of open kitchens, a seat at
• With a dining room seemingly plucked right out of the LA club scene, the high-flying Departure, on top of the Nines Hotel, juxtaposes a room full of sleek angles with the stunning natural views of the city below.
• Jeff Kovel of Skylab Architecture designed the Departure space, which added a new floor to downtown's historic Frank & Meier Building.
• Another old-school Portland stalwart, Jake's Famous Crawfish was founded in 1892, becoming part of the homegrown McCormick & Schmick's brand in 1972. While many new Portland restaurants recreate the aged look of dark wood panels and vintage fixtures, Jake

All photography by Dina Avila/EPDX; unless otherwise noted

In the vein of the most iconic dishes and most iconic drink guides, here now — and in no particular order — a guide to Portland's most iconic dining rooms. Some are old school, while others are emblematic of design trends this city just keeps seeing more and more. But all are worth a visit at least once (click through the gallery for some major restaurant porn).