SLABTOWN

Unlike every other spot in this guide, Slabtown isn’t one of Portland’s 94 formally recognized neighborhoods. It’s a subset of the Northwest District, and its boundaries are a matter of debate, but roughly defined by Interstate 405 to the east, Forest Park to the west, and Lovejoy Street to the south. Go north far enough and you’ll walk off a pier. Anybody who last visited before the pandemic might easily lose their bearings—Slabtown is one of the fastest-blooming apartment gardens in Portland. Fortunately, WW World Headquarters has been planted here since Slabtown was a desert of trucking warehouses. My new officemates were quick with recommendations.

Hidden Gem

Up Northwest Vaughn Street and away from the hustle and bustle of 23rd Avenue, the dumpling house Bing Mi (2572 NW Vaughn St., 503-327-8574, bingmipdx.com) is tucked into the first floor of a four-story apartment building. It can be summed up as big windows and warm noodles. The you po mian noodles are particularly delicious. It’s the perfect place to cozy up and enjoy the rain without actually experiencing it.

Best Breakfast Spot

A block west from the action on Northwest 23rd Avenue is Stepping Stone Cafe (2390 NW Quimby St., 503-222-1132, steppingstonecafe. com). Its muted exterior makes it all too easy to overlook. Inside you will find classic red diner stools, action figures hanging from the ceiling, and an incredible funk playlist. The menu is simple and the portions are massive. A full order of biscuits and gravy with eggs must weigh 2 pounds, and a section of the menu is dedicated to “Mancakes,” flapjacks that are easily 10 inches wide and an inch thick. What’s not to love?

Where to Get Your Partner

a Gift

Pistils Nursery (2139 NW Raleigh St., 503-288-4889, pistilsnursery.com) is a small plant shop along a shopping promenade that didn’t exist five years ago. This isn’t a flower shop you go to on Valentine’s Day. It’s more like a hobby shop for those looking to buy their first houseplant. The entire western side of the store is filled with a variety of small succulents and fun pots to put them in. If you’re looking for an even cozier evening, pop across the street into Afuri (1620 NW 21st Ave., 503-384-2920, afuiriramen. com) and pick up an instant noodle cup—yes, the same Nissin carton you see on a grocery aisle, but with the Tokyo ramen chain’s signature yuzu shio broth blend.

Favorite Meal

The three-story, century-old Craftsman-turned-Vietnamese comfort food restaurant Lela’s Bistro (1524 NW 23rd Ave., 503-719-4744, lelasbistro.com) serves the classics: banh mi sandwiches and bowls of pho. It even has a banh mi and pho combo, knowing that everyone wants both but can’t eat two whole meals. As the menu says, this place is dedicated to Vietnamese comfort food and will leave you feeling sleepy and bloated (in the best way), just like a trip to Grandma’s house.

Outdoor Adventure

The immensity of Forest Park awes newcomers to the westside, but if you’re looking for an introduction, a fun little creek tucked into the Northwest foothills provides an opportunity for a nice waterside hike up to Pittock Mansion. Lower Macleay Park (2960 NW Upshur St.) quickly transitions into the Lower Macleay Trail that leads deeper into the Northwest hills, past a small stone structure called the Witch’s Castle (it’s mostly haunted by Lincoln High students), and up to the mansion. Bring some snacks and a blanket and relax on the back lawn of this iconic Portland landmark before heading back down.

Watering Hole

A neighborhood of newbies drinks in ancient taverns. Joe’s Cellar (1332 NW 21st Ave., 503-223-8825) is a classic dive. It’s difficult to find the entrance and, once you do, the bar’s so dark it’s just as hard to find a seat. The clientele has been coming here for decades, undeterred by brief closures, rumors of its imminent demise, and the seven-story towers closing in on surrounding corners. The encroaching development is even more dramatic where a gleaming office building hugs the Dockside Saloon and Restaurant (2047 NW Front Ave., 503-241-6433, docksidesaloon.com). Long a shiftdrink hangout of longshoremen, the Dockside explains on its menus how it achieved brief national fame thanks to Tonya Harding. The skater’s cronies tossed an envelope containing Nancy Kerrigan’s practice schedule in the diner’s dumpster—where management discovered it shortly after the tire-ironing of Kerrigan’s knee. Portland dumpsters: historically significant even before antifa started setting them on fire! JACOB MOORE.

Crisscrossing angular blocks make up the crux of the historic Woodlawn neighborhood, the oldest settled community in old Albina. The arrangement definitely has a bit of a labyrinthine, locals-only energy, but getting lost around here is entirely encouraged, and a perfectly charming way to spend an afternoon.

Hidden Gems

The Woodlawn neighborhood unfurls in all directions from the Dekum Triangle, where Classic Foods has occupied the iconic IceHouse building since 2011. Here, attached to commercial kitchens where they pump out fresh-made pastas, sauces and spice blends to a number of the city’s best restaurants, stands a Classic Foods Outlet Store (817 NE Madrona St., 503234-9387, classic-foods.com) where visitors can score the same handmade artisan raviolis and fragrant seasonal pesto sauces served at some of the city’s favorite pubs, cafes and cloth-napkin restaurants. Notable mention: Black Rose Market (6732 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., 503-894-9698) features unique bottles from local and Black-owned wineries, as well as an exceptional house-roasted coffee served from the north side of the building.

Best Breakfast Spot

The archetypal coffeehouse experience is alive and well at Woodlawn Coffee & Pastry (808 NE Dekum St., 503-9542412, woodlawncoffee.com) where a concise breakfast menu (quiche, oatmeal, eggs and bacon, etc.) is supplemented with all manner of fresh-baked pastries and espresso drinks. Reclaimed-wood tables line the high walls, where bespecta- cled MacBook users sip lattes and pick at slices of lemon loaf while the open kitchen in the rear of the space hums with activity. Vibe: dreams, ’90s, etc.

Place to Get a

Gift for Bae

Custom, no-minimum, made-to-order T-shirts, hats and totes are the pillars of business at Urban Kingdom (6359 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., 503-954-1837, myurbankingdom.com), but its MLK storefront is more than a tidy custom print shop. It’s also a garment district-direct department store full of fast fashions, candy-colored luggage, sparkling costume jewelry, trendy shoes, and racks of racy lingerie.

Favorite Meal

Visitors from other ’hoods regularly cross into the Triangle to sip Breakside beer from its flagship location, dine on American classics at the top-rated Firehouse, or sample the singular thin-crust pies from Good Neighbor Pizza, but my personal favorite Woodlawn plate comes from P’s & Q’s Market (1301 NE Dekum St., 503-894-8979, psandqsmarket.com), a market-deli-cafe with sidewalk and back patio seating. The plate in question is the housesmoked brisket sandwich, a supple meat mountain sopping wet with sweet-hot barbecue sauce and exploding with coleslaw confetti from inside the most pillowy potato bun of all time. Pro tip: It’s messy, so enjoy it in the seclusion of the back patio with a pint of the seasonal draft and a side of shoestring fries.

Outdoor Adventure

Start at the top of the Ainsworth Linear Arbore - tum (2105 NE Ainsworth St.), locally known as the Park Blocks, at Northeast Grand Avenue and Ainsworth Street, and work your way east towards 8th Avenue. Turn left into the residential neighborhood and, depending on the season, the third house from the southwest corner on 8th might be displaying its extensive, street-facing miniature dioramas (so get your camera ready). Keep heading north toward Holman Street, the next intersection, where a right turn will deposit you into Holman

Pocket Park , a small garden lined with concrete benches that enclose the neighboring streets, creating a tiny bike boulevard. Follow the concrete curves of the park to the left and stroll straight down 13th Avenue to Woodlawn City Park , an 8-acre greenspace, playground, sports field and baseball diamond, where, on a clear day, you can see the flat, snowy peak of Mount St. Helens.

Watering Hole

While live music fans crowd Woodlawn’s dive bar the High Water Mark and beer aficionados flood Breakside Brewing, folks who prefer a less raucous environment can order boozy slushies and curry noodles while they nestle into cozy couches, playing NES games on a vintage tube TV at Retro Game Bar (6720 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., 971-271-8079, rgbpdx. com) Alternatively, faux-dive, pro-mixologist bar Tough Luck (1771 NE Dekum St., 971-754-4188, toughluckbar. com), a few blocks east down Dekum, hosts events like drag queen bingo nights and the occasional drag brunch.

BRIANNA WHEELER.

PDX Jazz 2023

Mark

Brandee

Capitol Highway, 503-2460053, annieblooms.com). If Powell’s is the city’s bibliophile temple, Annie’s is one of those mountaintop abbeys where the nuns brew their own beer. The lovingly curated shelves take you on a journey from Willy Vlautin to Michelle Zauner. Plus, there’s a store cat, Molly Bloom, named after the joyful Ulysses. Yes.

Best Breakfast Spot

Something of a fraught topic ’round these parts, since Mar(7910 SW 35th Ave., 503-245-0199, marcoscafe. sits at the foot of the village and Fat City Cafe (7820 SW Capitol Highway, 503-2455457, tomswbs2.wordpress. com/menu) a block upland.

The ceiling of Marco’s is carpeted with umbrellas; the walls of Marco’s are lined with license plates. (Look, if you have a low tolerance for whimsy, you’ve wandered into the wrong part of town.) Want a greater array of Benedicts? Go to Marco’s. Over 55 and in search of a deal? Fat City has the Geezer Grub, a $9.99 plate of bacon and eggs.

Place to Buy Your Child a Gift

Just visiting Thinker Toys (7784 SW Capitol Highway, 503-245-3936, thinkertoysoregon.com) feels like a reward for chores well done. There’s no children’s wonderland in Portland to rival this one: tin buckets overflowing with plush crabs and hedgehogs, one wall of Playmobil sets and another of scooters, even a thatchedroof cottage where kids can test the merchandise while playing house. It’s a one-stop shop for birthdays, Christmas and feeling young again.

Favorite Meal

You can go old school (the schnitzel at Otto and Anita’s), new school (smoked brisket and eggplant at the latest Sesame Collective joint, Yalla) or out of school (Yoshi’s Sushi sea scallop nigiri is served at a handmade Parisian food court called Multnomah French Quarter). But it’s telling that Tastebud (7783 SW Capitol Highway, 503-245-4573, tastebudpdx.com) serves pizzas out of a window, for just three hours each evening, and people can be spotted carrying away their boxes as if they struck gold. The woodfired masterworks are topped with seasonal vegetables—this spring features an asparagus and pecorino pie that’s out of this world.

Outdoor Adventure

Even by the generous standards that have spoiled Portlanders, Gabriel Park is enormous: 89 acres, much of it

LIVE AT MUSIC MILLENNIUM!

Calendar Of Events

Ty Curtis

ALBUM RELEASE PERFORMANCE & SIGNING

FRIDAY MAY 12TH AT 6PM

‘ASCENDANT BLUES’ IS A CULMINATION OF A MUSICAL JOURNEY THAT BLENDS BLUES & ROCK WITH SKILLFUL GUITAR & SOULFUL VOCALS a former dairy farm owned by the Swiss immigrant founders of Alpenrose. Half of the park is rolling meadows dotted with baseball diamonds, the other is an old-growth Douglas fir forest crisscrossed by hiking trails. All of it is comically idyllic. Is this heaven? No, Gabriel.

Watering Hole

Like an extinct antediluvian creature preserved in Jell-O shots, Renner’s Grill (7819 SW Capitol Highway, 503-246-9097) parties like it’s 1959 in a dark room that exactly resembles the best barroom you ever wandered into while tooling down the Oregon Coast. Don’t let the crusty vibes scare you off: There’s an array of local craft brew here, and an excellent club sandwich as big as your head. On a recent Sunday, the regulars watched Steph Curry demolish Sacramento while the barback described America’s most overrated cities. A lot of Portland institutions are inflated by nostalgia. Like Steph, Renner’s is the real deal. AARON MESH.

Fingers Of Funk

ALBUM RELEASE PERFORMANCE & SIGNING 5

SATURDAY MAY 13TH AT 3PM

THE NEW ALBUM ‘PORTLAND SAY IT AGAIN’ IS THE BAND’S FIRST RELEASE WITH THE ORIGINAL MEMBERS SINCE 1998!

PERFORMANCE & SIGNING

SATURDAY MAY 20TH AT 1PM

THE NEW ALBUM ‘THE SUN’ FEATURES IRRESISTIBLY VIBRANT SOUNDS RANGING FROM MOODY GRANDEUR TO PURE ANTHEMIC GLORY!