Portland is home to some of America’s most-acclaimed Thai restaurants, both past and present. But it’s also a town packed with dozens of good-to-excellent Thai spots that don’t require a special occasion or stretch the budget. Full Moon Thai is the Hollywood neighborhood’s anchor Thai destination, reliably delivering favorites like papaya salad, pad see ew, and a bounty of 10 different curries. Patrons dining in after 8 p.m. can enjoy the happy hour pricing: Most dishes are several dollars cheaper, and the already affordable house cocktails are just $8. Dine in the casual but warm dining room or in covered patio seating.

A 2022 addition to the neighborhood, the Shaku Bar is a labor of love from chef Matt Odama and former Trader Joe’s store managers Mark Tucker and Trent Brown. Taking over a former Wasabi Sushi location, the trio transformed the space into an inviting neighborhood bar with a food menu pulling inspiration from the Pacific Rim — think barbacoa tacos, noodle salads, and pork katsu sandwiches — and a lively cocktail menu. Shaku hosts musical acts on the patio, food pop-ups, fundraisers for causes including Planned Parenthood, and weekly trivia nights on Tuesdays. The robust AC makes it an irresistible oasis on scorching summer days.

Taking farm-to-table quite literally, Piccone’s Corner is a butcher shop, deli, and bar specializing in pork directly from owner Austin Piccone’s Wallow & Root Pasture Farm. Piccone’s offers one of the city’s most comprehensive butcher shops, along with a full bar and a kitchen offering breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The grain bowl with chorizo is a breakfast highlight, but for lunch, try a house-cured porchetta sandwich. When dinner rolls around, spring for the beef and lamb ragu bolognese. Piccone’s has a handful of salads and other no-meat options, but vegans and vegetarians are advised to look elsewhere.

Sister restaurant to Northwest Portland’s Kung POW!, Shandong specializes in subtle flavors, generous portions, and house-made noodles drawn from the cuisine of the Shandong region of northeastern China. The decor is similarly understated, with seating at the small bar available during peak hours.

Little sister Oma’s Hideaway may be the recipient of especially splashy praise of late, but the original restaurant from Mariah and Thomas Pisha-Duffly hasn’t faltered as one of Portland’s stellar destination restaurants. Reserve ahead for the restaurant’s freewheeling, 12-plus-course, rice table service, pseudo-Indonesian feast that could feature delights like shrimp ceviche, coconut tomato curry, and orange cardamom apple cider donuts for dessert. Or dive into the frequently-changing a la carte menu, a recent highlight being the charcoal-grilled albacore in a coconut broth. Note: The potentially life-altering Singapore chili crab is available only on Sunday and Mondays, with a minimum 24-hour preorder requirement.

Can a doughnut be truly transportive without butter, milk, or eggs? Vegan Doe Donuts, just around the corner from the Hollywood Theatre, will make converts of even the most skeptical. Oil frying provides plenty of indulgent mouthfeel, and the rotating bounty of creative flavors may include the earl-grey-and-vanilla Portland fog; a rhubarb, rose, and pink peppercorn; and the savory cheeseburger doughnut topped with a house-made pickle. The tiny Doe only offers outdoor picnic table seating and takeout.

In a neighborhood full of chain coffee and bustling cafes, the tiny Bitter Rose is a serene gem for neighborhood coffee lovers. Featuring a few tasty food treats from Sparrow and Farina Bakeries, the coffee and tea drinks here are the main draw, prepared by top-notch baristas. Sip beverages hot and cold inside their tasteful modern cafe or in limited outdoor seating seven days a week.

For more than 70 years, Chin’s Kitchen has served Chinese food in the Hollywood District, but when owners Wendy and Cindy Li took over the restaurant in 2017, the restaurant expanded its menu to include a wide range of rarer dishes from the Lis’ childhood in the Dongbei region of China. During Portland’s long rainy season, regulars stop in for steamy containers of sha guo suan cai dun fen tiao, a hearty potato noodle stew with Chinese sauerkraut and savory pork belly, as well as knobby dumplings stuffed with leeks and pork. On hot summer days, it’s all about the restaurant’s la pi, a colorful salad with a core of tangy, translucent noodles.

Inheriting the light-filled former home of beloved vegan breakfast spot Nectar Cafe, the recently opened Sonder Bar is a neighborhood cocktail bar aspiring to be an oasis for audiophiles from across the city. From deep cuts from the bar’s in-house LP collection to high-demand DJ nights featuring legends like Tony Humphries, Sonder promises to be a destination for Portlanders who want their ears delighted as much as their palates. House cocktails include a caipirinha — Brazilian rum and lime — and a St. Germaine fizz.

The Portland sister to the original restaurant in Salem, Happy Bibimbap brings Korean comfort food and soju to the steps of Hollywood’s busy Max station. Encompassing Korean barbecue, sushi, ramen, hot pot, and much more, the food menu can be overwhelming, making it daunting for solo diners but ideal for larger parties with a diversity of tastes. The spacious dining room features a large sake bar, big-screen TVs playing the latest K-pop hits, and a baby grand piano for the musically inclined.

The Moon, as regulars affectionately dub it, is one of Portland’s few remaining English-style pubs, named in honor of a Somerset Maugham novel. Warm wood surroundings, heavy polished tap handles, side-by-side dart boards, and a conspicuous absence of TVs make the Moon and Sixpence a pub traditionalist’s dream. The tap list is wide-ranging, with a plurality of American micros. The food menu is more narrowly English, including fish and chips, Welsh rarebit, cottage pie, and bangers and mash. Grab a pint before a film at the Hollywood or settle in for the night with a ripping mystery novel.