Dorothy Golson recently celebrated two years of serving Southern food inspired by her childhood favorites at this red-and-white-checkered food truck in Hazel Dell. The daily menu includes classics like shrimp and grits, fried catfish, pimento cheese sandwiches, and sides like crispy disks of fried okra — tender on the inside, crispy on the outside. Golson often adds specials such as smothered pork chops with cabbage and roasted potatoes or sweet potato pie. Everything is made to order, so wait times for food can be long; it’s worth the wait. Orders can be placed ahead of time by phone.

Keri Buhman’s Hazel Dell cafe and creperie offers savory crepes like the figgy piggy with prosciutto and goat cheese topped with fig jam and peppery tendrils of arugula, as well as Monte Cristos and the cafe’s take on “fondue” — cubes of grilled cheese served with tomato bisque for dipping. The store attached to the cafe houses charcuterie board fixings like Cowgirl Creamery’s Mt. Tam and cured meats like mole salami from Elevation Meats, as well as take-and-bake meals like kalua pork on coconut rice with vegetables.

This homey restaurant tucked into an International District strip mall serves Mexican favorites like carne asada platters, tacos, burritos, and quesadillas, as well as Salvadoran pupusas. Made-to-order pupusas come with fresh masa and melted mozzarella cheese, combined with fillings like asada, jalapeno, mushrooms, and loroco, or edible flower buds. Cheese-filled birria tacos served in fresh, grilled tortillas with a side of warm beef consomé are a standout.

The Thirsty Sasquatch feels like a summer camp-like retreat for adults. Fake-grass-covered walls, neon signs, and large day-glo murals of Sasquatch fill the indoor and outdoor spaces. At the Thirsty Sasquatch, bartenders shake and stir drinks like La Granja, with mezcal, black currant, blackberry, cinnamon, and citrus. The pizza parlor side of the business, called the Hungry Sasquatch, serves enormous slices of New York-style pizzas like “the fungus,” with a seasonal mushroom blend, roasted garlic, and onion. In between the pizza parlor and bar sits an arcade with artificial-grass-covered walls filled with pinball machines and classic video games. Minors can dine at the Hungry Sasquatch and play in the arcade until 10 p.m. On Tuesdays, Goon Burger takes over the kitchen serving smash burgers and fries from 4 p.m. until they sell out.

La Bottega has offered a rotating menu of antipasti like roasted tomato bruschetta, fresh salads, and Italian entrees like lasagna bolognese with beef, veal, and pork since 2006. In addition to Italian classics served in a cozy space, La Bottega boasts an extensive deli counter, wine cellar, take-and-bake meals, and imported pantry items for easy at-home dining.

Ella Bakh and her son and co-owner, Nico, opened this bright, cozy space to share the food of their native Tbilisi. The restaurant’s menu features comforting Georgian favorites like khachapuri adjaruli, a boat-shaped bread with fresh cheese, and khinkali, plump Georgian dumplings filled with beef and pork or mushrooms. Any visit should include both, as well as a few fresh salads and a small clay pot of a creamy bean stew called lobio. Dediko’s excellent wine list includes some Georgian wines made in the classic style, fermented in underground ceramic pots called kvevri. Miniature versions of these wine pots are scattered throughout Dediko, giving a traditional Georgian flair to this modern space.

Chef Miguel Sosa’s inspiration for his eclectic menu at this downtown spot stems from his French training, the Mexican culinary influence of his mother and grandmother, a passion for locally sourced produce, and an insatiable curiosity. The rotating menu at this intimate space ranges from Spanish octopus a la plancha with harissa and avocado mousse to a porcini-dusted Kurobuta bone-in pork chop in a port beurre noisette with sweet potato mousseline. Chef Sosa sources produce from local farms like Red Truck Farm, Flat Tack Farm, and Wobbly Cart Farm. Other menu items comes from Mayer’s Custom Meats in Ridgefield and PNW Wild Mushrooms. Reservations are available through Resy.

Tim and Melissa McCusker, of Feast 316 in downtown Camas, opened their updated speakeasy in the heart of downtown Vancouver at the tail end of the pandemic. The menu ranges from smaller bites like harissa-roasted cauliflower or duck fat fries with manchego and a duck-fennel-peppercorn gravy, to larger plates such as a decadent coffee-and-coriander-crusted Delmonico steak with sauces like pine nut mustard puree. The Sedgwick also offers a daily yakitori menu and desserts like a make-your-own s’mores platter served with skewers and a small fire pit to roast marshmallows.

This intimate hideaway tucked from the traffic of Main Street offers a rotating seasonal cocktail list and a well-executed slate of pub fare. Dishes range from seasonal salads to the hedonistic Grocery burger, a Cascade Natural beef patty with bacon jam, sweet onions, garlic mayo, and American cheese on a potato bun served with hand-cut fries.

When Noble Rot’s Mychal Dynes and Nodoguro’s Mark Wooten opened this palace of mezcal and tacos in September 2017, it quickly became a destination. The menu ranges from tacos with fillings like oyster mushrooms and frico’d cheese to crispy carnitas as well as hefty tortas like the brisket americano with braised beef and melted American cheese. Smoky mezcal cocktails accompany the food menu, with an impressively long mezcal list.

This upscale barbecue spot serves bonafide Central Texas barbecue based on family recipes from co-owner Bryan Rodgers. ‘Meat butter’ best describes the velvety texture of Smokin’ Oak’s tender smoker brisket; other standouts include pulled pork, chicken, sausage, and pork spare ribs, smoked until the inside is tender and the outside is pleasingly crisp. All of the above go great with traditional sides like mac and cheese, collard greens, and cornbread as well as smoky whiskey-based cocktails from the well stocked bar.

Rick Gencarelli’s pasta palace recently opened on the Vancouver Waterfront, serving fresh pasta in shapes from bucatini to rigatoni in sauces ranging from meaty Sunday pork ragu to cherry tomato pomodoro. Wine by the glass or bottle as well as craft beer and cocktails are available to sip while gazing out the floor-to-ceiling windows at the Columbia River. The house red, a blend made by Coopers Hall winery in Portland, pairs well with the red sauce pastas.

Entering Dosalas Latin Kitchen and Tequila Bar feels like a visit to a distant sparkling otherworld. The large glittery chandeliers, enormous bar, and cushy white leather-covered booths overlooking the water provide a bit of Vegas glitz mixed with flourishes of old Hollywood glamour. The menu includes a variety of small plates like ahi tuna tostadas and a deconstructed Mexican street corn with chipotle cream, cotija cheese, and Peruvian spice over tostadas, as well as large shareable plates like ancho-spiced lamb chops or bone-in tomahawk rib-eye. Showy cocktails like the Purple Rain with gin and St. Germain infused with a combination of butterfly pea powder and gold glitter flow from the sleek bar. Reservations are available through Open Table.

Pho Vi Van, found in an unassuming space in an East Vancouver strip mall, consistently serves a wide range of fragrant pho. Pho Vi Van’s vegetarian pho comes with a rich and complex broth filled with rice noodles, puffy fried tofu, shiitake mushrooms, and a rainbow of crisp vegetables. Other highlights include a spicy bún bò Huế — thick swirls of rice noodles and tender meat in a luscious broth — and a comforting egg noodle soup with plump pork wontons.

La Sorrentina Pizzeria — which received high praise from Portland Monthly food critic, Karen Brooks, for their Neapolitan pizzas at their Hazel Dell food truck — opened its brick-and-mortar restaurant in a strip mall off 164th Avenue in the midst of the pandemic. Owner and chef Daisuke Matsumoto bakes fire-roasted red sauce pizzas like the classic Margherita, as well as white sauce pies like the Terra Mia with eggplant parmesan, sausage, mozzarella, pesto, and basil on traditional or gluten-free crusts. The specials menu varies based on chef Matsumoto’s whims. Past offerings range from black truffle and wild porcini mushrooms served with freshly made tagliatelle to delizia al limone, a lemon pastry with fresh whipped cream from Sorrento, Italy, where chef Matsumoto trained with celebrated international chef Biagio Longo.