Portland Epik eats

There's so much great coffee in Portland but Stumptown is the OG and still making great coffee. This is the first original location (and bonus! Kim Jong Grillin' Korean food cart across the street) but if you need decent coffee while downtown there's one in the Ace Hotel.

Top-tier quality BBQ meat stuffed into homemade tortillas topped with a choice of two exceptional salsas (green/red). These are my favorite tacos in the world. How did a tiny food cart make it onto Bon Appetit best new restaurants a few years ago? Eat here and find out.

The best fried rice that you may ever put in your mouth - I declared that if I had been pregnant when living in Portland I would have made my husband buy it for me EVERY DAY. BBQ brisket white curry is also a must. Cocktails are on point. Eem is just one of those places that are hard to fully describe except to say that if you love good food you just have to go there no questions asked.

An "only in Portland" sui generis place in a converted neighborhood home. Chef here takes an "everything but the kitchen sink" approach to ingredients and flavors - I'm serious, like 40 things in every dish - but it ends up just as one of a kind deliciousness. The Medusa "fries" starter is so perfect that I will get a whole order just for myself for dinner and not share. Umami bombs away!

Platonic ideal of breakfast sandwiches. If you need hangover help, or just a really fucking delicious comforting breakfast sandwich, go here. Get pickled onions and aardvark aioli on whatever you order.

Tiny spot with ZERO ambiance and whatever location on Powell but the best soup/soup noodles I've had in this city. Rotating special of two soups a day - all bangers.

Look - I haven't even been able to eat gluten for five years but I still need everyone else to eat these tiny rounds of goodness. I never was a huge donut person even in my gluten-full days but these little babies are another category of just perfect baked good on their own. They transcend "donut" to something else. Independent proprietor is so positive and supportive of his community - I just love when a business has a product this good AND a good soul.

Extremely high end provisions/deli/wine store with the best of everything. You'll be poor when you leave but eating/cooking like a king. Best cheese, salami, chips and chocolate selection in the city if you're looking to stock up on best road trip snacks. Also the only place I know that sells retail the Best Chips of All Time - Juanita's Chilipeno flavor tortilla chips.

Are you a person who has to try the best pizza in every town you visit? Then go here. Also a perfect Caesar.

Salt and Straw gets more press but purely based on delicious ice cream in classic and slightly more interesting flavor combos, Fifty Licks is where it's at.

Reliable quality Vietnamese

Sushi so good my brother proposed to his wife here. Taka's Tuna - crispy fried rice "sled" with spicy ahi mounded on top is more than the sum of its parts.

PEERLESS gelato/sorbetto. I've never been a huge ice cream person but this place has me coming back regularly. The Italian owner makes thoughtful and DELICIOUS flavor creations. Term "artisinal" is overused I know (especially here in Portland) but it applies here. Don't miss the lemon sorbetto if it's there.

Fresh, seasonal, perfectly prepared brunch, lunch, baked goods and coffee/drinks tucked in a little neighborhood just on side of Mt Tabor. Coquine is perfect, it has my heart.