Potbelly Sandwich Shop (SW 6th Ave.) - Portland - Oregon

My dad's been down in SoCal for the past few weeks working on the house so I thought I'd go home and and surprise my mom. A few days before, one of my childhood friends checked into Potbelly Sandwich Shop on Facebook. What?! There's a Potbelly now in Oregon?! I was all over that.

A few years ago when I was in Washington, D.C. and stumbled upon a Potbelly, I literally jumped for joy. Mmm. A Wreck with extra peppers. One of the things I missed about living in Chicago and in which I indulged in regularly the summer I lived in Madison, Wisconsin. It's pretty funny to see the Yelp page littered with Midwest transplants all waxing nostalgic too.

But first, there was pie. Mmm. Pie.

Stumptown Coffee Roasters (SE Division St. Original Location) - Portland - Oregon

After brunch at Random Order Coffeehouse and Bakery - Portland - Oregon, Gourmet Pigs and I decided to get some work done at Stumptown Coffee Roasters.


Of course, I insisted that it be at their original location on Division Street.

Random Order Coffeehouse and Bakery - Portland - Oregon

Let's backtrack a little to the beginning of my trip. While looking for some places to take Gourmet Pigs, a quick Google search for Portland and pie turned up this Travel+Leisure article on "America's Best Pies" mentioning a vanilla salted caramel apple pie. 

Pie! In Portland! I was all over that. Since it was on the northeast side of town, I figured we'd stop off for a late afternoon snack after a morning chasing waterfalls in the Columbia River Gorge.

Of course we had to order the aforementioned vanilla salted caramel apple pie.

The Tao of Tea - Portland - Oregon

After dinner at Toro Bravo - Portland - Oregon, I suggested one last stop before we finally ended the night. In the late 1990s, a college friend introduced me to The Tao of Tea when we were looking for a place to just sit while catching up.


I really enjoyed the quaint tea house with fresh brewed teas, including a foamy matcha green tea shake before it became so popular and ubiquitous. I've gone back a few times over the years, and even visited their tea house at the Portland Classical Chinese Garden. So, a nice calming cuppa seemed just the thing to end what was a long day of too much out and about.

Toro Bravo - Portland - Oregon

While having our third round of cocktails at The Secret Society - Portland, Dylan's phone rang, signaling that our table at Toro Bravo was ready.


Tapas in Portland! OK, I know I've been away too long, or just left good old PDX way too young because the thought of a yummy tapas bar in Portland was just too exciting.

The Secret Society - Portland - Oregon

After round two of drinks at Teardrop Cocktail Lounge - Portland - Oregon, we headed across the river for dinner at Toro Bravo. There was a bit of wait, so Dylan left his phone number and we went upstairs to The Secret Society for more cocktails.





Although, it's not much of a secret any more if there's a big old sign pointing the way. :P The Secret Society is a 1907 Victorian-era hall that once housed two men's clubs. These days, it's a lounge, ball room, and recording studio.

Teardrop Cocktail Lounge - Portland - Oregon

After the first set of drinks at Clyde Common - Portland - Oregon, Gourmet Pigs and I took Wandering Chopsticks reader Dylan's suggestion and hit up Teardrop Cocktail Lounge for its old-fashioned cocktails and homemade bitters and tinctures.

The bar was pretty small, with some stools at the counter and along the wall. So we sat at the bar, overlooking the array of Teardrop Cocktail Lounge's homemade bitters and tinctures.

Clyde Common - Portland - Oregon

After leaving Hawks View Cellars - Sherwood, Gourmet Pigs and I made our way to downtown Portland to cross off #3 on her list of things to do in town -- cocktails. Actually, we ended up hitting up three cocktail bars this evening. And yes, if you were keeping track, that's after two wine tastings.

I should preface this post, and the subsequent drinking ones, by telling you that since I was driving, I merely took a sip to taste and handed off the rest of my drinks to others.




Gourmet Pigs wanted to check out Clyde Common because the bartender/bar manager, Jeffrey Morgenthaler, has gained quite a bit of renown for his old-fashioned cocktails. Unfortunately, he wasn't in the day we visited.

Nonetheless, even without the famed bartender, one of the best parts of going to Portland bars during happy hours and late nights is the cheap eats. Seriously. I'm talking $2 to $5 for appetizers and desserts. So I was really more excited to try the food than the drinks anyway.

Hawks View Cellars - Sherwood - Oregon

After our sparkling wine tasting at Argyle Winery - Dundee - Oregon, Gourmet Pigs and I took the wine guy's suggestion and visited Hawks View Cellars in Sherwood, Oregon. As we approached the winery, row after row of grape vines spread out in front of us. If only spring didn't come so late to Oregon, I'd love to see the vineyard in full bloom.

Isn't it just so gorgeous? And we hadn't even gotten to the tasting room yet. Trust me, it got even better.

Argyle Winery - Dundee - Oregon

After lunch at Thirsty Lion Pub and Grill - Tigard - Oregon, we continued making our way along 99W. Our first stop was Argyle Winery, which Gourmet Pigs chose for its sparkling wine tastings.




Since I had never gone wine tasting in Oregon before, I asked cousin T if she had any recommendations. She hadn't been either, so she asked a coworker, who emailed her a list of recommendations. I forwarded the list to GP, who looked them up and narrowed down our choices. I was armed with an old wine guide from the Oregonian and some pamphlets put out by the tourist information office from when I stopped in to ask for the cross street of the smallest park in the world, but it was still nice to have a list of wineries to work from.

We passed a lot of wineries along 99W, so I was pleased to see that the tasting room for Argyle Winery was in a quaint converted house. Sparkling wine is great, but the aesthetics make it better.

Thirsty Lion Pub and Grill - Tigard - Oregon

When we last left off, Gourmet Pigs and I had hiked the waterfalls along the Columbia River Gorge and then enjoyed a Vietnamese venison and rice paper wrap dinner at home with my parents.

On her list of things she wanted to do in Oregon, eating at Bunk Sandwiches - Portland was #1. Second was going wine tasting. Since were going to be on that side of the river for the wineries, we also met up with my cousin T and baby M3 at Thirsty Lion Pub and Grill in Tigard, a restaurant my cousin had been wanting to try.




GP was a little weirded out that my cousin wanted to meet us at a pub with her baby, but I reassured her that Portland pubs are very family-friendly, leaning more toward restaurants than bars actually.

Nai Xao Xa Cuon Banh Trang (Vietnamese Sauteed Lemongrass Venison Rice Paper Rolls)

I've mentioned before that when I'm home, I try not to eat out for dinner, but save it for spending time with my parents. And so after a long day of chasing waterfalls in the drizzle and a late afternoon snack of pie, we sat down to Nai Xao Xa (Vietnamese Sauteed Venison with Lemongrass) to cook at the table and to wrap with rice paper. The venison was shot by my dad. The wine was made by my mom from blackberries she picked in the hiking trails around the neighborhood.

Bunk Sandwiches - Portland - Oregon

Since Gourmet Pigs had never been to Oregon before, she had a list of three things she wanted to do. Eating at Bunk Sandwiches was one of them.

Why do they call themselves bunk? According to the Bunk Sandwiches website, with so many places proclaiming they're "the best," Bunk would rather you decide for yourself. That unpretentiousness was rather endearing in a very PDX kind of way that made me miss home. Then I clicked on the link to see their press. Getting written up by local press is a given, but once you hit the New York Times, or appear on "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives," or get proclaimed by Mario Batali to be one of the world's top 100 contemporary chefs (that would be Tommy Habetz, former sous chef at Batali's Lupa in New York City, who currently co-owns Bunk with Nick Woods), hype is unavoidable.

Potato Champion (Food Cart) - Portland - Oregon

After ordering our pies at Whiffies Fried Pies (Food Cart) - Portland - Oregon I couldn't help but notice the crowd in front of Potato Champion. I had to go see why it was so popular.

Whiffies Fried Pies (Food Cart) - Portland - Oregon (Closed)

One late night, we're talking around 11 p.m., I asked youngest Argentinian cousin if he wanted to join my siblings and me on the corner of SE 12th Avenue and Hawthorne Boulevard.

Umm. What are we doing hanging around street corners, he asked?

Whiffies!

There's a food cart there with fried pies that I've been meaning to try, I said.

Mmm. Pie. You know how I feel about pie.

At that hour, most of the businesses in the area are closed. So it's a little weird to see this food cart pod so happening. But, most of the food carts here look like they're open until 3 a.m. so I guess that works for them.

Behind the Scenes: Bob's Red Mill - Milwaukie - Oregon

Almost a decade ago when I was home in Oregon for an extended period, I noticed a lot of Bob's Red Mill grains and other products on the grocery store shelves. No wonder since the company is based in Milwaukie, just outside of Portland.


While I liked the whole grains and ground flax seeds and other products, I especially liked the story behind the business. Bob Moore retired in 1978 and moved from Redding, California, where he had operated a small mill in the 1960s, to Oregon City, Oregon. One day while out for a walk, he saw an old mill for sale and decided to buy it. That mill was lost to a fire in 1988, and the business was relocated to Milwaukie where it now occupies a 320,000-square-foot building on 17 acres. The maintenance guys use tricycles to move from one place to another. And all employees get a coffee break at 10 a.m.

Bob's Red Mill now has 400 products, including 50 gluten-free products made in a separate facility so there is no contamination. Last year, 7.5 million pounds of flax were sold.

The mill still uses old-fashioned quartz milling stones to grind grains.

Since Bob's Red Mill was so close by, I had to tour the facilities. Fortunately having a food blogger friend, namely Darlene of Blazing Hot Wok, around was handy since my siblings weren't interested in seeing it at all. Tours are held every Friday at 10 a.m. at the World Headquarters. We mistakenly went to the Bob's Red Mill Whole Grain Store, Restaurant, and Bakery (pictured above) first by mistake.

Behind the Scenes: Tillamook Cheese Factory - Tillamook - Oregon

After lunch at Pacific Oyster - Bay City - Oregon, we headed over to the Tillamook Cheese Factory. I had briefly mentioned visiting the Tillamook Cheese Factory before, but let's go for a real tour this time.




On that previous visit, my cousins didn't arrive until several hours after we did. So we ended up going twice. Hey, who can pass up free cheese samples! :P

Pacific Oyster - Bay City - Oregon

If you've been here from the beginning, you might have remembered Pacific Oyster from my post about Why Oregon Will Always Be Home. It took just that many years later to revisit one of my family's favorite spots whenever we're on the coast.


My parents like to buy bags of oysters and fresh fish when the boats come in.

Oriental Food Value Supermarket - Portland - Oregon

On my last night in town, my mom asked me to pick up some cilantro and bean sprouts because she was making Bun Bo Hue (Vietnamese Hue-Style Beef Noodle Soup) for dinner.

For quick Asian grocery store trips, I go to Oriental Food Value. It's owned by a Chinese husband and Korean wife, so there are Chinese and Korean groceries, as well as Vietnamese. But located just off SE 82nd Avenue and Foster Road, in a heavily Russian area, there are Russian and Polish groceries as well. Kinda cool, eh?

(I won't even go into how much I hate the word Oriental and how behind the times it seems that it's still used in Portland. See the last few paragraphs of this post for the more detailed explanation about why the word Oriental is offensive.)

Look! There's even an aisle dedicated to Russian food.

Tabor (Food Cart) - Portland - Oregon

After a few snaps of Mill Ends Park (Smallest Park in the World), Darlene of Blazing Hot Wok and I decided to grab a snack at one of the many food carts around Portland.

I wanted to try a new cuisine so we ended up at Tabor, the Czech food cart. They're known for their Schnitzelwich, a breaded pork loin sandwich, but we only wanted a light snack so the Schnitzelwich will just have to wait until next time. The Bohemian goulash sounded mighty tempting too...