I call Portland the A- city because it has a very high standard for typical places and when a chef sets out to make something, it may not be quite as good as the original in some other city but it’s close. So you end up with a plethora of very good to excellent options using some of the best quality produce in the U.S. where locals expect a high degree of quality. We also lack a lot of good high end options and so the food scene may fit well what you are looking for.
As there is no Michelin guide and there are no restaurants that require any kind of dress code and Portlanders as a group are non-formal with attire there shouldn’t be any restaurants that won’t fit your criteria aside from a few places that are $$$$ though maybe a bit less than in CA. Nodoguro is great but very pricey these days with only a tasting menu.
In general downtown is struggling since Covid and the best of everything is mostly on the east side of the river. I highly recommend spending most of your time there.
A few ideas for food trucks:
Sorbu (already on your list)
Matt’s bbq tacos and a hang at the Hinterland food carts (you could follow up with dinner at one of many places on or near Division inc Rangoon Bistro,
Ava Gene’s, Someday bar with its patio and Ruthie’s food cart). A slice of pie at Lauretta Jean’s to finish the night.
The original Matt’s bbq at Proust food cart pod on Mississippi (many great bars, cafe and restos to try after/before)
Frybaby - Korean fried chicken
Restaurants:
Seafood: for seafood done with PNW flair, Jacqueline. Flying fish seafood company has good casual options. Other higher end places with good oysters include Street Disco (really excellent creative PNW cooking) and Coquine (French inspired PNW, had been many times a James Beard nominated place). Longtime high end Le Pigeon is tasting menu only but his bistro next door has a similar French-pnw flair with good oysters and great wine/spirits options.
In the cocktail category but also with great oysters and some other excellent seafood dishes in Malpractice, my favorite cocktail bar in the city.
I know you said no Mexican but one of my fav spots is PNW-influenced small plates at a nanobrewery called Duality (really interesting experimental styles). Their food partner Astral does everything well. Think huarache with black bean puree, summer vegetables and grilled octopus, roasted Japanese sweet potato with salsa macha and miso.
Another fav is L’orange. Seasonal PNW with some French technique, ingredient driven.
More casual and a better option than Lardo is Bluto’s by the same chef. It’s Greek inspired PNW.
Pasture PDX is a butchery with excellent sandwiches
Also great for small plates is Bauman’s on Oak which is the taproom for Bauman’s cider (won many awards internationally) but the food offerings are on a very high level). Great outdoor patio. The crab toast is one of their classics and maybe the best in the city. All breads, charcuterie and cured seafood are made in house. Typical in Portland to see this kind of higher standard of food even at local bars, something you don’t find in every city.
Lovely’s 50-50 is a nationally acclaimed pizza place using high quality local ingredients in creative ways. Beyond that we also have top notch pizza in many styles, so good several legit publications and pizza people have said it’s the best pizza city in America. I don’t know if that’s true but growing up in NY and living on the east coast in my 20s the options here are excellent.
For brunch: fair weather. Cafe olli, Maurice
Coffee: push and pull, extracto, GOOD coffee. The original Coava is still excellent. There are many many independent roasters and the quality is very high on average.
Breweries: Ruse, Duality are my favs but I can elaborate more if you are interested.
The farmer’s market on Saturday at PSU (not the Saturday market along the river) will be in full swing and is worth visiting.
That’s a start. If you have particular interests in one thing or another I’m happy to recommend more in that category.
