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. However, sometimes a night calls for something special — a proposal dinner, a birthday party, an anniversary date. Some people love to celebrate with a ritzy tasting menu or omakase, something serious and special in an intimate space. Others want to get interactive and lively, dunking slices of lamb in a hot pot, housing a pizza at a checkered table, or wrapping gimbap over bottles of wine or cans of Hite. Below, we rounded up our favorite places to celebrate, whether you’re looking to impress a hot date with a big blowout dinner or you want to get wild with a group of friends. For more options, check out our guides for wedding-friendly restaurants, tasting menu spots, and restaurants great for groups. For more vegan-friendly options, this map will help.
Read MorePortland Celebration Restaurants for Any Type of Special Occasion
From kid’s birthday party to anniversary dinner
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, but be forewarned: Waits can get lengthy on the weekends.
Langbaan
Those who reserve 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 hamachi crudo with ramp vinegar or plump poached shrimp with vadouvan aioli; follow with black garlic escargot or albacore in preserved citrus beurre blanc, or go for something classic, like the city’s finest steak frites. For something even more luxe, book the restaurant for a private event.
RingSide Steakhouse
If “steakhouse” is shorthand for “special occasion” in your book, this long-standing Portland palace of dry-aged beef and cellared wines is probably the move. In a dining room lit with tableside lamps and flames in the fireplace, all the classics land at tables: prawn cocktail, crab cakes, and bone marrow precede wedge salads and French onion soup before main events like rib-eyes and filet mignon emerge from the kitchen. Sides like lobster mashed potatoes and James Beard’s favorite onion rings are crowd-pleasers, as well.
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 celebrations. 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.
Queen Mama's Kitchen
Gilded and coated in cerulean and Tiffany blues, this downtown Portland Saudi Arabian restaurant looks as regal as its name suggests — and its food matches the decor. Meals here should begin with meze, particularly the velvety and tangy stuffed grape leaves; afterward, the special of the day is a must, whether it’s a silken saleeg — similar to a risotto with chicken — or a smoked lamb shank with mandi rice. Desserts are essential here, particularly slices of the sauce-smothered cheesecakes; when served on a platter alongside gorgeous brass dallahs filled with delicately roasted Arabic coffee, they’ll scream “celebration” more than most dessert courses in town.
Kann
Scoring a reservation at Kann is a special occasion in itself; they can be hard to nab, released monthly and selling out within minutes. Those who are able to do so, however, will celebrate with platters of glazed duck with pineapple and tamarind or bone-in rib-eyes in a Haitian coffee rub. The best way to enjoy Kann, if possible, is to score one of the beautiful round tables in the center of the dining room, ordering as many of the entrees as possible; be sure to load up on both of the restaurant’s rice varieties, as well as the rich and decadent peanut creamed greens.
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.
Nodoguro
This Kerns omakase is likely Portland’s most expensive tasting menu at $250 per person, but those willing to shell out the big bucks will be rewarded with around 20 courses of everything from chanterelle dashi to uni miso butter rice to firefly squid with pickled shiitake mushrooms. Menus are highly conceptual and change often; they’re teased on Instagram, pulling inspiration from seasons, places, poetry, art. Let’s put it this way: If Questlove is coming to Portland, he’s getting a reservation at Nodoguro.
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 gimbap party, in which guests wrap bulgogi, koji-cured coppa, and seared albacore in nori and rice, with an alarmingly extensive selection of kimchi, pickles, and other accompaniments. It’s always a blast, and exudes celebration without feeling pretentious.
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.
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.
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.
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