Pizzaiolo Craig Melillo doesn’t just make his own dough — a slow-fermented sourdough using Pacific Northwestern grain — for his pizzas; he makes his own cheese. Gracie’s, a small pizzeria in St. Johns, makes tangy and distinct pies with char-dotted crusts and house-pickled accoutrement, served alongside pints of house-made ice cream in flavors like amarena cherry or honey and black pepper. Melillo a humble and extremely talented guy, but he doesn’t make a big fuss about being noticed — that’s part of what makes his food feel so special: It’s something people get to discover. Gracie’s is open for takeout, with outdoor dining in a shared patio space.

Nothing feels as celebratory as a meal at St. Jack, where diners marvel at beautifully plates in a humming dining room, glasses of Champagne still bubbling on tables indoors and out. Here, diners will find chef Aaron Barnett’s take on French cuisine: Barnett frosts a craggy mountain range of a crispy-fried pork rind with espelette and a touch of maple syrup, the restaurant’s knockout chicken liver mousse is velveteen and has a sweetness reminiscent of rich ice cream, and a simple plate of steak frites comes with an on-point shallot-red wine demi-glace and tangy bearnaise. St. Jack is open indoor and outdoor dining.

The Paleys have lost almost all of their restaurants during the pandemic, but the flagship remains in a peaceful Northwest Portland house, where chef Vitaly Paley approaches Oregon produce with a French culinary sensibility. In the 25 years Paley’s Place has been open, it has developed a reputation for dishes like escargot bordelaise, served with a luge of roasted bone marrow, or a seasonally shifting seared foie gras. Still, Northwest Portland neighbors tend to stroll into Paley’s to sit on the porch over a glass of Willamette Valley pinot noir and a burger — with seared foie gras as an optional topping. Paley’s is open for indoor and outdoor dining, with takeout and pantry staples available via Tock.

Mucca harkens back to an era of dining — and a caliber of service — hard to find in contemporary Portland, where servers in ties and vests refill water glasses after a sip or two, where dishes meant to be shared are split and plated per person without a second thought, where a bowl of warm focaccia lands on the table just a few moments after diners place their orders. But service is nothing if the food can’t deliver, and Mucca delivers in spades: Ribbons of 500-day prosciutto di parma snugly encase a mound of burrata, a wild-tasting quail leans on a crisp polenta cake and a sprinkle of smoked paprika olive oil powder, a seared scallop sitting on a swipe of parmesan fondue plays pedestal to a dollop of caramelized shallots and garlic blossoms. The restaurant is open for indoor dining on white tablecloths, or outdoor dining just off the tracks of the MAX downtown.

In a casual former taproom, Duck House has finally provided Portland with a dreamy Chinese restaurant in the heart of the city. Since his 2016 arrival, San Diego chef Ivan Liu has played with heat and aromatics like a master, from delicate wontons with savory chile-oil-spiked broth to tingly dan dan noodles with borderline-bitter bite. The restaurant is open for takeout and delivery.

In a pizza cafe that feels casual but intimate, pizzaiola Sarah Minnick embraces paradoxes beautifully: She took something brimming with childhood nostalgia — pizza and ice cream — and gave it a high-end twist. Seasonally rotating pizzas arrive strewn with edible flowers and chanterelles atop an airy-but-sturdy pizza dough made with Oregon whole grains. Portland may not be known for its pies, but if someone is defining Portland’s distinct pizza style, it’s Minnick. She takes pre-orders for pizzas; the instructions can be found on her Instagram.

Since Zoraya Zambrano and her children, Gary and Gloria Marmanillo, opened Casa Zoraya back in 2018, this Peruvian spot has been Piedmont’s under-the-radar destination restaurant: Gary Marmanillo’s ceviches arrive at the table like a work of art, fried calamari adding crunch to the bed of fresh seasonal seafood tossed with a summery leche de tigre. Arroz chaufa, a Peruvian fried rice dish, comes cheerfully paired with a passionfruit reduction for a dose of acid and sweetness. And the pisco sours feel like they’re shipped straight from the pisco bars in Lima, best sipped on Casa Zoraya’s back patio. The restaurant is also open for takeout and delivery.

In a nondescript lot off Albina, Kabba Saidikhan quietly serves exceptional Senegalese and Gambian dishes out of a black-and-silver food cart, from flaky fataya (meat pies) that satisfyingly stretch and tear apart to reveal a core of intricately spiced ground beef, to an acid-laden, whole-fish yassa, balanced with the addition of yellow rice. The cart’s mafe yapp, a creamy tomato-peanut stew with tender hunks of beef, is particularly nice paired with the shop’s bissap. The cart is open for takeout and delivery.

This red food cart and its massive “#Loaded” sign attracts hoards of customers as soon as it opens. Owner Kiauna Nelson and her staff load up gargantuan containers of saucy-and-smoky pot roast and garlicky macaroni and cheese; the menu changes per Nelson’s whim, and her fans usually go along with whatever she feels like serving. There’s a reason for that: Nelson’s food evokes shouts for how flavorful it is, from the fried chicken tossed in a seasoning reminiscent of Buffalo Bleu potato chips to her slices of cake, thrown in with the order for good measure. Plus, Nelson has consistently offered free food to her neighbors throughout the pandemic via her Feed Black Portland events. One meal is enough to feed four, and make no mistake: This is some of Portland’s finest soul food.

The Berlu that opened in 2019 and the Berlu open today are two completely different restaurants. The Berlu of 2019 was a daring, minimalist fine dining destination unlike any other in Portland. The Berlu of today is softer: Instead of serving strawberries with tofu or vials of shellfish stock, the restaurant opens each weekend morning with sweet and delicate Vietnamese pastries, joined by the occasional pop-up of Vietnamese noodles, street foods, and snacks. Both showed off chef Vince Nguyen’s tenderness as an artist; Berlu has somehow retained its intimacy while operating as a takeout-only counter. Berlu is open for walk-up pastry sales on Saturdays and Sundays.

The original carts are gone, but Nong's Khao Man Gai’s restaurant space on SE Ankeny is still kicking, despite everything. Chef Nong Poonsukwattana’s signature dish, a deceptively simple take on Hainanese chicken, takes center stage here: Ask five acolytes their favorite part of the dish and each will offer a different answer: the soul-satisfying broth, the rice, Nong's ginger-heavy sauce, or the chicken itself, skins or no. Poonsukwattana’s story is one of dogged perseverance; that has not changed. Nong’s is open for onsite dining, takeout, and delivery.

Scotch Lodge, when it opened in 2019, was easily one of the most exciting new bars in Portland — not just for the hard-to-find whisky selection and creative cocktails, but for its menu of truly inventive bar snacks. The menu has retained some of those standouts: a soft shell crab sandwich gets its energy from a white kimchi slaw, the mushroom fettuccine comes coated in fiore sardo and a house Fresno spice, and fried brie sticks rolled in pumpernickel crumbs will rule over any mozzarella stick you’ve ever eaten. The bar is open for indoor dining, with reservations.

Twenty-somethings in t-shirts and jeans sit at teal tables in this airy, cool dining room, surrounded by stormy blue walls printed with seahorses. The decor nods at the restaurant’s vaguely oceanic theme, which the kitchen enforces with dishes like Pacific Northwestern oysters with horseradish granita, or a scallop-shrimp ceviche swimming in an aromatic coconut-pineapple leche de tigre. Surprisingly, some of Normandie’s most memorable dishes rely on land-locked ingredients, from spare ribs that easily release from the bone in a silk glove of maple-bourbon glaze, to a miso deviled egg with a filling whipped smooth and dusted with furikake. Then again, those eggs come with just a few dots of tobiko — a little briny touch never hurt anyone, after all. Normandie is open for indoor and outdoor dining, as well as takeout.

Ok Omens is one of those places that successfully straddles the line between fine dining and casual wine bar, thanks to the rockstar duo of Castagna chef Justin Woodward and sommelier Brent Braun. Woodward’s menu covers everything from airy cheddar-filled beignets and fried chicken Caesar salads to raw Oregon albacore in a lime-leaf guacamole and chicken liver mousse served with house-pickled vegetables. The wine list at Ok Omens isn’t only one of the city’s best, it’s also one of the most fun, written in Braun’s nerdy-cool voice; many of these wines are elusive — rare or from small producers — but Braun makes them feel accessible. The restaurant is open for onsite dining on the patio, as well as takeout and delivery.

Gumba seemed like an impossibility: How could someone successfully make gorgeous ribbons of pappardelle in a food cart, let alone pappardelle tossed in mind-bogglingly complex braised short ribs? Now, Jesse Martinez, the man behind the noodles, and business partner Robin Brassaw have moved their pastas, salads, and house-made burrata into a roomy new restaurant space, with additions like killer fried chicken sandwiches and saba-braised beef. Martinez and Brassaw display the same remarkable culinary skill and creativity in the new kitchen as they did in their tiny cart. Gumba is open for indoor and outdoor dining, with takeout and delivery as well.

Chef Cody Auger’s SE Hawthorne sushi counter has become a national destination for Edomae-style sushi: meticulously cured and delicate slivers of fish, potent and pristine in flavor and texture. During the pandemic, Auger transitioned his restaurant into a more takeout and delivery-accessible format, which means the restaurant’s salt-and-vinegar-cured salmon and wild bluefin tuna can arrive alongside maki filled with things like crispy salmon skin, mackerel, and natto. However, the restaurant’s stellar omakase experience has also returned, with limited reservations available via Resy.

Recently, vegan restaurant Ichiza Kitchen moved into a new locale on NE Killingsworth, but the intoxicating smell of sesame oil and ginger permeating the space traveled with them to the new location. Here, Cyrus Ichiza creates nuanced vegan dishes representing various corners of Asia: shockingly meaty wontons in a balanced chili oil sauce, noodle soups with the complexity of a top-notch pho, and mapo tofu with porky flavor to ground its mouth-tingling ma la. Ichiza is open for takeout and delivery on the weekends.

At this intimate pintxo bar, Javier and Jael Canteras have developed a reputation for straight-up goofy dishes winking at Northern Spanish staples, whether it’s an absurdly tender lamb skewer glazed in kalimotxo, a combination of Coca-Cola and red wine, or a ham-and-cheese sandwich made with jamon serrano and American. Still, the traditional Spanish dishes on the menu remain true to the originals, whether it’s a crispy croqueta de jamon or the blackened slice of Basque-style cheesecake. Urdaneta is open for indoor and outdoor seating.

Portland’s Texas barbecue scene has become nationally significant in recent years, from the brisket at Matt’s in North Portland to this up-and-coming Southeast Portland cart. Kyle Rensmeyer is a newer kid on the block, but his 14-hour-smoked brisket, savory and captivating smoked sausage, and cheesy green chile grits have made him a star. Holy Trinity is open for pre-order takeout and walk-ups, with tables available at the pod.

The Pisha-Dufflys went through a lot last year: Mariah Pisha-Duffly and Tom Pisha-Duffly, the couple at the center of eclectic Indonesian restaurant Gado Gado, opened a second restaurant, had a baby, and lost Tom’s grandmother, all while weathering the challenges of working in the food service industry in 2020. It is astounding, more than anything, that they pulled off what they did: Gado Gado’s colorful takeout stand and patio became a welcoming and cheery respite during a grueling year. The food, of course, is as creative and free-wheeling as ever, from the handmade dumplings fragrant with aromatic ginger and leeks to noodle soups piled high with seafood and funky house-made condiments. Gado Gado is open for patio dining, as well as takeout and delivery.

Dirty Lettuce’s Alkebulan Moroski is meticulous and exacting with the meat-free proteins at their vegan cart, Dirty Lettuce: The chef goes down to the very foundations of the protein structure, mimicking the balance of fat and muscle that gives chicken its juiciness or pork ribs that “fall off the bone” quality. But at the core of Dirty Lettuce is an allegiance to the true Southern classics, be it a Cajun mac and cheese that boggles the mind with its faux sausage, or a fried “chicken” with a crackly skin indistinguishable from the real thing. The mission is to make vegan comfort food that feels true to the original, in an effort to get people more interested in eating less meat — non-judgmental, but still intent on excellence. And trust us: Eating those sour cream and onion mashed potatoes won’t feel like any sort of sacrifice, even without the dairy. Dirty Lettuce is open for takeout.

Matta chef Richard Le refers to his food cart as a Việt Kiều experience: Việt Kiều, a term that refers to ethnically Vietnamese people living outside the country, is how Le identifies, a first generation Vietnamese American chef from California. Thus, his food is a representation of that identity: He recreates fast food classics like Filet-O-Fish with Thai chili tartar sauce and breakfast sandwiches on pandan milk buns, while also making dishes his mom, aunt, and grandmother made while he was a kid, like thit kho, a caramel-y pork belly reined in with a hit of fish sauce. Le is a deeply casual, instantly likeable chef, and his dishes reflect his creativity, charm, and honesty. Matta is open for takeout.

Kim Jong Grillin, a Korean cart that has probably earned its spot in the city’s hall of food cart fame, still nails every “bibim box” it sells, from the lightly charred japchae to the lipstick-red kimchi. Han Ly Hwang, the cart’s owner, has been slinging bulgogi and kimchi fried rice for free on and off throughout the pandemic, feeding food insecure and unemployed restaurant workers. When he’s not doing that, he’s raising money for the Black Resilience Fund or celebrating other restaurants on his cart’s page. Kim Jong Grillin is open for takeout and delivery.

Hawthorne’s no-frills pizza cafe still produces some of the town’s best pies. Brian Spangler shows respect for his dough, refusing to overload his crisp, quick-fired crusts with more toppings than they can handle. Thankfully, there's no need for DIY concoctions given the pizzeria's meticulous equation of sauce, fresh mozzarella, pecorino romano, and, in the case of the Pizza Amore, salty capicola scattered on top. Apizza Scholls is open for takeout or delivery.

Tucked into a mini strip mall on SE Powell, Rose VL is the cheerful sister restaurant to Ha VL, serving those famous traditional Vietnamese soups with unending depth. Two to three different soups or noodles are served for takeout daily, along with brace-yourself strong Vietnamese iced coffee. Portlanders often flock on Saturday for cao lầu, a regional Vietnamese noodle dish with piles of herbs and a tangy, savory sauce. It’s open for takeout and delivery.

In one of the most talent-packed restaurant alcoves off SE 82nd, this Vietnamese restaurant — with its line of shiny Vespas near the counter — has no formal menu; instead, customers walk up and order pho (chicken or beef) or the restaurant’s namesake dish, bún bò Huế. Pros know to go for the latter, extra spicy: In a dark-but-pristine broth, meaty pork knuckles, thin ribbons of beef and pork shank, and slippery rice noodles swim below a floating layer of alliums, joined by the accompanying mound of herbs and vegetables. Bún bò Huế is a perfectly multifaceted dish, with the soprano notes of lemongrass and mint given body with the brooding flavors of pork blood and beef bones; Teo makes the city’s best. It’s open for indoor dining, takeout, and delivery.

This Chinese restaurant in deep Southeast is as casual as they come, but the dishes that roll out of Amy and Kang Zhu’s kitchen are deftly executed and profoundly flavorful — juicy pork dumplings lovingly made by hand, the interplay of ginger and pork in a bowl of congee, and the pile of herbs tucked into a jianbing keep the memory of a meal at Master Kong in mind long after it’s finished. Master Kong is open for takeout and delivery.

Tijuana-style quesabirria, a cheesy take on the braised beef dish birria de res, is a national sensation for a reason: Melty, gooey, and sometimes crispy cheese is objectively delicious when paired with a slow-braised beef. But Birrieria La Plaza, the truck serving crisp and cheesy vampiros, takeaway cups of steamy consomme, and plates of snug tacos topped with scattered cilantro and onions, is so much more than a cart capitalizing on a trend; the tacos coming out of this cart could be some of the city’s best — the foundational birria is a gently spicy and grounded masterpiece. Birrieria La Plaza remains open for takeout.