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Caviar service, wagyu nigiri, and other small bites from Janken in Portland, Oregon.
A table of items from Janken.
Thomas Teal/Eater Portland

Portland Special Occasion Destinations for Any Budget

From kid’s birthday party to anniversary dinner

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A table of items from Janken.
| Thomas Teal/Eater Portland

One of the best things about Portland’s dining scene is how unapologetically democratic it is. You can find good food literally everywhere: restaurants that serve bank-breaking tasting menus, random pop-ups from upstarting chefs, and rowdy food cart pods. As a result, finding a spot for the big graduation dinner, anniversary date, or retirement party is relatively manageable regardless of price-point or neighborhood. We’ve rounded up our favorite places to celebrate on any budget, whether you’re looking to impress a hot date with a big blowout dinner or you’re tight on cash but want to get rowdy with a group of friends. For more options, check out our guides for wedding-friendly restaurants and restaurants great for groups. For more vegan-friendly options, this map will 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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Happy Lamb Hot Pot, Beaverton

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This Beaverton location of the popular chain specializes in Mongolian-style hot pot, in which groups dunk slices of lamb, rib-eye, and wagyu beef into pots of broth. It’s best to get the restaurant’s split broth pot, with a bone marrow broth fragrant with alliums and cardamom as well as a Sichuan-spiced broth. It’s a fun, interactive option and shockingly inexpensive, with most meats clocking in under $15 per eight-ounce serving; the restaurant also offers an all-you-can-eat option.

Langbaan

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Scoring a reservation at Langbaan is a special occasion in itself; they can be hard to nab, released monthly. However, those who can get a spot at the tasting counter within Northwest Portland’s Phuket Cafe will be rewarded with some of the city’s most inventive Thai food. Meals begin with crispy rice cups filled with Hokkaido scallops and betel leaves packed with citrus-dotted shrimp; from there, any given meal may involve halibut in fermented fish curry, Snake River Farms wagyu with tea-smoked oysters, and more. Star sommelier Dana Frank handles the restaurant’s wine pairings, so natural wine nerds will be particularly pleased.

St. Jack

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When the celebration calls for Champagne, caviar, and pâté en croûte, those in the know book a table at St. Jack, the Northwest Portland restaurant dripping with French eleganza. Start with a few treats off the raw bar, whether it’s a creamy scallop crudo with spruce tips or plump poached shrimp with vadouvan aioli; follow with a slice of meticulously constructed foie gras tart or a triumphant-looking mushroom vol-au-vent, or go for something classic, like the city’s finest steak frites. For something even more luxe, book the restaurant for a private event.

Marrakesh

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This Northwest Portland Moroccan restaurant has been a birthday party favorite for years, thanks to its immersive setting, lineup of belly dancers, and generous tasting menu. Meals start with lentil soup and salads, followed by a cinnamon and powder sugar-topped b’stilla, a phyllo meat pie. Meals come with a choice of main entree; tagines are the move here, typically, though for something really special, visitors can pre-order a whole lamb roasted over charcoal.

It is obvious that this Pearl District pan-Asian restaurant was specifically designed for special occasions. The artificial cherry tree at its center shades tables of fashionably dressed diners snacking on smoked wagyu nigiri and caviar. Begin with the smoked Pineapple Express cocktail, served under a bell jar, plus an assortment of sushi — the restaurant offers options for most types of sushi eaters, including elaborate maki, flashy rolls with shaved truffle or uni, and elegantly simple nigiri. Afterward, go for the restaurant’s steak tartare, with a subtle truffle aioli and milk toast points, followed by the potato-chip-crispy-skinned Peking duck. Finally, dessert here is non-negotiable; the restaurant’s pastry program is one of its highlights, from the mega-rich dark chocolate cake to the mound of icy strawberry bingsu.

Bullard Tavern

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The leather and wood touches of this downtown Portland restaurant evoke stylish steakhouse vibes, but the actual menu lands at some intersection between the Pacific Northwest, Texas, and Mexico. For pomp and circumstance, Bullard Tavern does offer show-stopping seafood towers; however, when it comes to starters, it’s hard to beat the restaurant’s nacho carpaccio, topping thinly sliced wagyu with crumbles of cotija and chipotle crema. The main event should be the restaurant’s beef rib, a hulking smoked Painted Hills number served with tortillas, guac, salsa verde, and pickled jalapeños.

Le Pigeon

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Le Pigeon, the home of opulent treats like foie gras profiteroles and beef cheek bourguignon, is perhaps Portland’s quintessential French restaurant — though now it has strayed far from France. Within James Beard Award-winning chef Gabriel Rucker’s tasting menu, foie may appear in fajitas and pigeon may come confit in rangoon; still, this tiny Burnside institution is essential for romantic special occasions, a go-to for proposal dinners or big-deal anniversaries. Make sure to spring for a bottle of wine or pairings — co-owner Andy Fortgang is a wine-world legend for a reason.

With its old-fashioned Soviet decor in a bright and modern space, Kachka is still one of the most fun places to celebrate with oh, so much vodka. To kick off a rowdy night, order a vodka flight, several plates of Russian dumplings like pelmeni and vareniki, and the Ruskie Zakuski Experience, which will cover your table with small plates of cured fish, tartares, and more. Mains like whole grilled trout and rabbit in a clay pot are worthy punctuation to any meal here.

Cartopia

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Of Portland’s dozens of top-notch food cart pods, Hawthorne’s Cartopia is one of the city’s longest standing and most party-friendly. The pod’s fire pits, string lights, tents, and lengthy picnic tables make it a favorite for get-togethers and birthday meetups, and the pod’s eclectic collection of carts, serving everything from pad thai to tacos, make it a smart option for a group of picky eaters. Visitors can order booze from the burger cart Bottle Rocket.

Han Oak

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It always feels like a party within Han Oak, the cool Kerns restaurant hidden behind a seafoam green door — some days, kids might be playing with toys in the restaurant’s courtyard; on others, chef Peter Cho may be snapping open beer cans with a dish rag. The meals here are meant to be communal and convivial, shifting seasonally: Currently, Han Oak is in its DIY hot pot era, in which guests gently cook thin slices of dry-aged beef, petals of coppa, and Oregon-grown mushrooms in a bubbling broth, but last summer, the restaurant switched its service to something more Korean-barbecue-esque, specializing in tableside grilled meats. However the meal looks at Han Oak, it’s sure to feel special, without feeling pretentious.

Hale Pele

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One of the country’s best tiki bars, Northeast Broadway’s Hale Pele delivers all the classic pyrotechnics and flashy cocktails expected from the genre at an elevated level. Yes, Hale Pele makes a mean scorpion bowl, here called a Volcano Bowl, laden with baking spice and citrus; it’s available at a variety of sizes, depending on the size of the group. Snack on crab rangoon dip or lumpia, and for birthdays, stick a candle in the bar’s pineapple upside-down cake. For parties of eight to 12, it’s best to reserve the Chieftain’s Hut, a festive, semi-private area.

Abyssinian Kitchen

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Going out for Ethiopian food often feels like a special occasion, groups gathering around to rip at a sheet of tangy and spongy injera. While the city is home to a number of strong Ethiopian restaurants, Abyssinian Kitchen often feels like a strong option for special occasions, with a stacked cocktail menu, cups of cinnamon-and-clove-scented black tea, and a lovely dining room. It’d be a mistake to miss the Beyaynetu, an assortment of subtly spiced alichas and stews, followed by Abyssinian Kitchen’s kitfo or kilwa begge.

Urdaneta

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A blend of a hip tapas bar and a cozy cocktail bar, Alberta Street’s Urdaneta evokes the vibe of a festive pintxo spot in San Sebastian. Pick a bottle from its eyebrow-raising wine list; if you’re feeling especially jolly, you can even opt for a vermouth flight. Start with a selection of small bites like foie flan or Dungeness crab ensalada rusa, in addition to standards like croquetas and jamon iberico. Meals should finish with a slice of Basque cheesecake, if available. It’s probably best to keep your group smaller and more intimate in this tiny Basque restaurant.

Gado Gado

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For some, a celebration dinner means covering the table in food, tangles of arms scooping and grabbing and yanking at the spread in front of them. This Hollywood neighborhood Indonesian restaurant’s “rice table” is specifically designed for those people, a flurry of snacks, grilled meats, curries, and braises served with the restaurant’s tasty clove-scented rice. If the dinner in question happens to fall on a Sunday or Monday, diners can also reserve the restaurant’s elaborate Singaporean chile crab, available as an add-on to the rice table or as a meal in itself.

Pizza Jerk

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The famous Northeast Portland pizzeria Pizza Jerk takes major inspiration from the ’80s pizza parlors home to soccer game dinners and birthday parties, complete with plastic checkered tablecloths and peeling leather booths. It’s a great space for big groups with kids, especially if you can take advantage of the large outdoor patio. The pizzas impress with a thin and crispy crust and high-quality toppings — for a good time, be sure to order a boozy slushie and the It’s Always Sunny in Cully pie, topped with pepperoni, hot peppers, basil, pineapple, and hot honey. 

Clyde's Prime Rib Restaurant and Bar

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Rose City Park’s old-school steakhouse is still the place to be for some straight-out-of-the-1960s realness. Sitting in lipstick-red booths, visitors sip on dry martinis awaiting a parade of prawn cocktails, creamed spinach, wedge salads, and — of course — thick slabs of prime rib. Pop by the lounge before or afterward for live music and a Manhattan.

K-Town Korean BBQ Restaurant

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Korean barbecue has always been a fun, interactive dining experience and is one of the best ways to eat lots of juicy, tasty meat on a budget. At K-Town Korean BBQ, the interior is a bit like going to an Asian dance club, with lots of blue and purple neon lights, smoke and haze from the barbecue grills, and K-pop blasting on the stereo. Bring a group of friends, order glasses of soju and Korean beer, and pick your meats — a la carte or all-you-can-eat. Just be sure to get there early, especially on the weekend; K-Town does not accept reservations.

Excellent Cuisine Chinese Food Restaurant

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Dim sum always seems to feel festive, metal and bamboo steamer baskets opening like presents to reveal handmade dumplings and buns. While this Southeast Division Chinese restaurant is known for its dim sum service, the restaurant offers a wider selection of options great for special occasions, like Peking duck and various clay pot dishes. Waits can get lengthy on weekend mornings, so it’s best to arrive early.

Happy Lamb Hot Pot, Beaverton

This Beaverton location of the popular chain specializes in Mongolian-style hot pot, in which groups dunk slices of lamb, rib-eye, and wagyu beef into pots of broth. It’s best to get the restaurant’s split broth pot, with a bone marrow broth fragrant with alliums and cardamom as well as a Sichuan-spiced broth. It’s a fun, interactive option and shockingly inexpensive, with most meats clocking in under $15 per eight-ounce serving; the restaurant also offers an all-you-can-eat option.

Langbaan

Scoring a reservation at Langbaan is a special occasion in itself; they can be hard to nab, released monthly. However, those who can get a spot at the tasting counter within Northwest Portland’s Phuket Cafe will be rewarded with some of the city’s most inventive Thai food. Meals begin with crispy rice cups filled with Hokkaido scallops and betel leaves packed with citrus-dotted shrimp; from there, any given meal may involve halibut in fermented fish curry, Snake River Farms wagyu with tea-smoked oysters, and more. Star sommelier Dana Frank handles the restaurant’s wine pairings, so natural wine nerds will be particularly pleased.

St. Jack

When the celebration calls for Champagne, caviar, and pâté en croûte, those in the know book a table at St. Jack, the Northwest Portland restaurant dripping with French eleganza. Start with a few treats off the raw bar, whether it’s a creamy scallop crudo with spruce tips or plump poached shrimp with vadouvan aioli; follow with a slice of meticulously constructed foie gras tart or a triumphant-looking mushroom vol-au-vent, or go for something classic, like the city’s finest steak frites. For something even more luxe, book the restaurant for a private event.

Marrakesh

This Northwest Portland Moroccan restaurant has been a birthday party favorite for years, thanks to its immersive setting, lineup of belly dancers, and generous tasting menu. Meals start with lentil soup and salads, followed by a cinnamon and powder sugar-topped b’stilla, a phyllo meat pie. Meals come with a choice of main entree; tagines are the move here, typically, though for something really special, visitors can pre-order a whole lamb roasted over charcoal.

Janken

It is obvious that this Pearl District pan-Asian restaurant was specifically designed for special occasions. The artificial cherry tree at its center shades tables of fashionably dressed diners snacking on smoked wagyu nigiri and caviar. Begin with the smoked Pineapple Express cocktail, served under a bell jar, plus an assortment of sushi — the restaurant offers options for most types of sushi eaters, including elaborate maki, flashy rolls with shaved truffle or uni, and elegantly simple nigiri. Afterward, go for the restaurant’s steak tartare, with a subtle truffle aioli and milk toast points, followed by the potato-chip-crispy-skinned Peking duck. Finally, dessert here is non-negotiable; the restaurant’s pastry program is one of its highlights, from the mega-rich dark chocolate cake to the mound of icy strawberry bingsu.

Bullard Tavern

The leather and wood touches of this downtown Portland restaurant evoke stylish steakhouse vibes, but the actual menu lands at some intersection between the Pacific Northwest, Texas, and Mexico. For pomp and circumstance, Bullard Tavern does offer show-stopping seafood towers; however, when it comes to starters, it’s hard to beat the restaurant’s nacho carpaccio, topping thinly sliced wagyu with crumbles of cotija and chipotle crema. The main event should be the restaurant’s beef rib, a hulking smoked Painted Hills number served with tortillas, guac, salsa verde, and pickled jalapeños.

Le Pigeon

Le Pigeon, the home of opulent treats like foie gras profiteroles and beef cheek bourguignon, is perhaps Portland’s quintessential French restaurant — though now it has strayed far from France. Within James Beard Award-winning chef Gabriel Rucker’s tasting menu, foie may appear in fajitas and pigeon may come confit in rangoon; still, this tiny Burnside institution is essential for romantic special occasions, a go-to for proposal dinners or big-deal anniversaries. Make sure to spring for a bottle of wine or pairings — co-owner Andy Fortgang is a wine-world legend for a reason.

Kachka

With its old-fashioned Soviet decor in a bright and modern space, Kachka is still one of the most fun places to celebrate with oh, so much vodka. To kick off a rowdy night, order a vodka flight, several plates of Russian dumplings like pelmeni and vareniki, and the Ruskie Zakuski Experience, which will cover your table with small plates of cured fish, tartares, and more. Mains like whole grilled trout and rabbit in a clay pot are worthy punctuation to any meal here.

Cartopia

Of Portland’s dozens of top-notch food cart pods, Hawthorne’s Cartopia is one of the city’s longest standing and most party-friendly. The pod’s fire pits, string lights, tents, and lengthy picnic tables make it a favorite for get-togethers and birthday meetups, and the pod’s eclectic collection of carts, serving everything from pad thai to tacos, make it a smart option for a group of picky eaters. Visitors can order booze from the burger cart Bottle Rocket.

Han Oak

It always feels like a party within Han Oak, the cool Kerns restaurant hidden behind a seafoam green door — some days, kids might be playing with toys in the restaurant’s courtyard; on others, chef Peter Cho may be snapping open beer cans with a dish rag. The meals here are meant to be communal and convivial, shifting seasonally: Currently, Han Oak is in its DIY hot pot era, in which guests gently cook thin slices of dry-aged beef, petals of coppa, and Oregon-grown mushrooms in a bubbling broth, but last summer, the restaurant switched its service to something more Korean-barbecue-esque, specializing in tableside grilled meats. However the meal looks at Han Oak, it’s sure to feel special, without feeling pretentious.

Hale Pele

One of the country’s best tiki bars, Northeast Broadway’s Hale Pele delivers all the classic pyrotechnics and flashy cocktails expected from the genre at an elevated level. Yes, Hale Pele makes a mean scorpion bowl, here called a Volcano Bowl, laden with baking spice and citrus; it’s available at a variety of sizes, depending on the size of the group. Snack on crab rangoon dip or lumpia, and for birthdays, stick a candle in the bar’s pineapple upside-down cake. For parties of eight to 12, it’s best to reserve the Chieftain’s Hut, a festive, semi-private area.

Abyssinian Kitchen

Going out for Ethiopian food often feels like a special occasion, groups gathering around to rip at a sheet of tangy and spongy injera. While the city is home to a number of strong Ethiopian restaurants, Abyssinian Kitchen often feels like a strong option for special occasions, with a stacked cocktail menu, cups of cinnamon-and-clove-scented black tea, and a lovely dining room. It’d be a mistake to miss the Beyaynetu, an assortment of subtly spiced alichas and stews, followed by Abyssinian Kitchen’s kitfo or kilwa begge.

Urdaneta

A blend of a hip tapas bar and a cozy cocktail bar, Alberta Street’s Urdaneta evokes the vibe of a festive pintxo spot in San Sebastian. Pick a bottle from its eyebrow-raising wine list; if you’re feeling especially jolly, you can even opt for a vermouth flight. Start with a selection of small bites like foie flan or Dungeness crab ensalada rusa, in addition to standards like croquetas and jamon iberico. Meals should finish with a slice of Basque cheesecake, if available. It’s probably best to keep your group smaller and more intimate in this tiny Basque restaurant.

Gado Gado

For some, a celebration dinner means covering the table in food, tangles of arms scooping and grabbing and yanking at the spread in front of them. This Hollywood neighborhood Indonesian restaurant’s “rice table” is specifically designed for those people, a flurry of snacks, grilled meats, curries, and braises served with the restaurant’s tasty clove-scented rice. If the dinner in question happens to fall on a Sunday or Monday, diners can also reserve the restaurant’s elaborate Singaporean chile crab, available as an add-on to the rice table or as a meal in itself.

Pizza Jerk

The famous Northeast Portland pizzeria Pizza Jerk takes major inspiration from the ’80s pizza parlors home to soccer game dinners and birthday parties, complete with plastic checkered tablecloths and peeling leather booths. It’s a great space for big groups with kids, especially if you can take advantage of the large outdoor patio. The pizzas impress with a thin and crispy crust and high-quality toppings — for a good time, be sure to order a boozy slushie and the It’s Always Sunny in Cully pie, topped with pepperoni, hot peppers, basil, pineapple, and hot honey. 

Related Maps

Clyde's Prime Rib Restaurant and Bar

Rose City Park’s old-school steakhouse is still the place to be for some straight-out-of-the-1960s realness. Sitting in lipstick-red booths, visitors sip on dry martinis awaiting a parade of prawn cocktails, creamed spinach, wedge salads, and — of course — thick slabs of prime rib. Pop by the lounge before or afterward for live music and a Manhattan.

K-Town Korean BBQ Restaurant

Korean barbecue has always been a fun, interactive dining experience and is one of the best ways to eat lots of juicy, tasty meat on a budget. At K-Town Korean BBQ, the interior is a bit like going to an Asian dance club, with lots of blue and purple neon lights, smoke and haze from the barbecue grills, and K-pop blasting on the stereo. Bring a group of friends, order glasses of soju and Korean beer, and pick your meats — a la carte or all-you-can-eat. Just be sure to get there early, especially on the weekend; K-Town does not accept reservations.

Excellent Cuisine Chinese Food Restaurant

Dim sum always seems to feel festive, metal and bamboo steamer baskets opening like presents to reveal handmade dumplings and buns. While this Southeast Division Chinese restaurant is known for its dim sum service, the restaurant offers a wider selection of options great for special occasions, like Peking duck and various clay pot dishes. Waits can get lengthy on weekend mornings, so it’s best to arrive early.

Related Maps