Portland has several restaurants representing Mexico, Central American countries, and much of South America, but the cuisines of the islands scattered throughout the Caribbean are limited to a handful of spots around the city. In recent years, however, newcomers like Haitian restaurant Kann, Guyanese food cart Bake on The Run, and Cuban cocktail bar Palomar have joined the ranks of longer-standing Caribbean favorites like Pambiche, showcasing the region’s distinguished cuisine.
The cuisines of the Caribbean are an an amalgamation of countless culinary influences — including West African, Latin American, European, and South Asian — incorporating ingredients like rice, beans, cassava, peppers, and plantains; however, cooking styles and dishes vary greatly between each island. From a cocktail bar serving Trinidadian doubles to a Northeast Portland spot plating ackee and saltfish, these are the Caribbean restaurants and carts every Portlander should know. For more options throughout Central and South America, feel free to check out the larger Latin American cuisine map; for more specifically Cuban dishes, this map may help.
Note: Health experts consider dining out to be a high-risk activity for the unvaccinated; it may pose a risk for the vaccinated, especially in areas with substantial COVID transmission
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