From a food cart, an obsession is born. Nong Poonsukwattana started out making one thing, and making sure it was perfect, and in the process she turned a Thai comfort food staple into Portland's comfort food staple. Since then, her famous khao man gai has spawned two permanent restaurants, a bottled sauce, and deep, visceral craving among everyone who tries it.

Oregon has no grand barbecue tradition like Texas or Kansas City, but it’s beginning to develop its own reputation throughout the country, partially thanks Matt Vicedomini, the owner of the Matt’s BBQ cart within Prost Marketplace. His perfectly tender, slick brisket has introduced the age of Texas-quality barbecue in Portland, ushering in a new group of barbecue stars.

Portland’s a coffee town, there’s no doubt about it, but when it comes to coffee drinks you could really only find in Portland, it’s hard to beat the Lebronald Palmer at this sleek Old Town coffee shop. Owner Ian Williams blends the coffee he roasts himself with sweet tea and lemonade for a drink you think would clash; instead, it’s one of the more creative — and tasty — cold coffee drinks in Portland.

Whether you're a Voodoo lover or a Voodoo hater, you must admit that few Portland eats are quite as iconic as the maple bacon bar. We'd argue it kicked off the nationwide bacon craze and turned pink boxes into the most popular Portland souvenir.

House-made charcuterie is ubiquitous on Portland menus, thanks in part to the astronomic rise of Olympia Provisions and its USDA-certified curing facility, which is now distributing its sopressatas, chorizos, and saucissons nationwide. At its flagship Southeast Portland restaurant, the charcuterie board could feature a wide range of products, from mortadella to salami to head cheese terrine, depending on the chef's whims of the day.

Some might lobby for the beef cheek bourguignon at Gabriel Rucker's Burnside bistro, but this savory-leaning dessert, on the menu from the very beginning, is a better representation of the what has made the restaurant famous: It's playful, experimental, rich, and mind-blowing.

Old-school Portlanders know: Before Lardo, before Sammich, before Bunk, before Stacked, there was Taste Tickler, a sub-shop-meets-teriyaki-restaurant that has held its spot in Portland for decades. Taste Tickler sometimes combines its bento fare with its subs, throwing teriyaki chicken on a hoagie; however, for many who have visited the restaurant over the years, the go-to is the Famous Tickler, the restaurant’s take on an Italian sub with ham, pepperoni, and salami. The standard toppings on a Taste Tickler sub include things like pepperoncinis, pickles, and provolone, but the thing that makes a Taste Tickler sub a Taste Tickler sub is the shake of parmesan that finishes off each sandwich. Is it the fanciest sub in Portland? No, but it is certainly one of the most beloved.

Chef Earl Ninsom is by all accounts crushing Thai food in Portland, and that includes fried chicken. Hat Yai's star dish, the $13 fried chicken leg quarter, Malayu-style curry, and roti combo, provides the best of all worlds: crispy chicken and pan-fried bread with rich and spicy curry for dipping. And note: dipping should be mandatory.

Eating fried chicken and thick-cut potato jojos is a sacred ritual in Portland, whether you’re getting them at Sadie Mae’s, Jojo, or Alberta Market. But often, when Portlanders talk about chicken and jojos, one name comes to mind: Reel M Inn, also known as the Reel, is a true Portland institution, standing in one form or another for 50 years. Sure, big-deal chefs and writers have praised the colorful dive for years, but it’s also treasured by locals, who happily spend an evening playing pool, knocking back shots of whiskey, and dunking crispy hunks of potato and chicken into ranch and Frank’s hot sauce.

Initially, these two starters on the Langbaan tasting menu — the miang som and kanom krok — held on as the menus changed season to season. Now that Langbaan is a more casual experience, with customers sitting out on the outdoor patio for a la carte Thai dishes, Portlanders can buy those little bites on their own. The miang som is a multifaceted mixture of shrimp, citrus, alliums, and crunchy bits, best complemented by the the kanom krok, sweet scallops self-contained in a crispy rice cup filled with coconut cream and galangal.

This city is happily drowning in good pizza these days, so you can't talk about Portland icons and not have a pizza place on the list. Apizza Scholls is the granddaddy and gold-standard of the blistered crust movement. You could argue the Margherita is the icon, but when it's topped with capicollo you realize it's called Amore for a reason.