BEST MUNCHIES IN PORTLAND

MUCH ADO ABOUT MUNCHIES, DOWNTOWN PORTLAND EDITION

Contributing Author: Anonymous McGee

Six great (cheap!) places to fulfill your munchies and fill your stomach, all without emptying your wallet!

 

VOODOO DOUGHNUTS

The first thing that comes to mind when I think of Portland stoners lining up to devour some delicious munchies is Voodoo Doughnuts, where, as the locals say, “The magic is in the hole!”  (They also say good things come in pink boxes). Indeed, just the sight of a pink box from Voodoo Doughnuts will make any local pastry-lover drool. Voodoo is known for thinking outside of the traditional box of doughnut flavors, such as with a fruit-loops topped doughnut, an Oreo cookie doughnut, a penis shaped doughnut, a doughnut with a vanilla pentagram on it, and a bacon-maple doughnut (this reviewer’s personal favorite). And the doughnuts don’t just look cool, they’re delicious! What started out as a funky voodoo-themed hole-in-the-wall late night doughnut shop in Portland’s sketchier part of Old Town has become a taste bud landmark with multiple shops around town and even a traveling doughnut cart. The heart and soul of Voodoo Doughnuts can be best experienced at the original downtown location, where locals and tourists alike still line up around the block to cram into a tiny showroom of creative and delicious concoctions. And if you’re really in love with Voodoo Doughnuts, rumor is you can still have a legal (yet always weird) wedding ceremony right by the spinning display of goodies. Ah, Portland love. http://www.voodoodoughnut.com/index.php

 

BOMBAY CHAAT HOUSE

Portland is well known for its food carts, and one of my personal favorite carts in downtown P-town has been a staple of the community for years. If you are walking around downtown Portland on a nice day, perhaps to check out Pioneer Courthouse Square or the Central Library, stop by the Bombay Chaat House to experience Portland’s best East Indian food cart. Once upon a time this reviewer lived in London with an Indian host family, so flavorful, homemade Indian food is necessary to make this reviewer happy. The Bombay Chaat House sticks to its reputation of having a $5.50 lunch special big enough for two people to share and good enough for you to not want to share it at all. Vegetarians in particular will like the flavorful food, homemade naan and complementary cup of chai, but no one should complain about the size of the portions, or the price.  Being a food cart, seating is limited, but with so many attractions (and the MAX train) nearby, you’ll find a nice place to sit in no time, and plenty of food to fill your munchiest cravings. http://www.bombaychaathouse.org

 

THE EAST SIDE DELI

Don’t let the name fool you—The East Side Deli can be found on both sides of the Willamette River, with the downtown site close to Portland State University, the Park Blocks, and the Art Museum. I do remember when the East Side Deli first opened a few years back on eastside Portland’s Hawthorne Blvd., and quickly began feeding Portland’s stoniest, munchiest, and perhaps most critical food connoisseurs—the Hawthorne Hippies.  The popularity of the deli exploded, serving everyone from skateboard kids to Portlandia yuppies. Providing what the deli itself calls, “Big, fat, sandwiches” you can get a hearty meal made with the best cheeses, local breads, meats, and vegetarian substitutes available, all for a good price. The atmosphere is extremely casual, so settle onto a stool by a PSU student studying nonviolent mediation, and chow down on a sandwich almost too big to get your mouth around. You can’t beat their meat! http://pdxdeli.com/downtown/index.html

 

LOVE BELIZEAN

Some like it hot. Some like it really hot. If barbecue-style meat with super spicy sauces gets your munch-o-meter going, allow me to recommend my newest favorite spot, Love Belizean (conveniently located next door to my personal favorite head shop, Mellow Mood). Another one of Portland’s food-carts-turned-restaurants, Love Belizean has been hopping ever since it opened its downtown location in autumn 2014, and it has been getting praises from local newspapers and foodie blogs ever since. Indulge in succulent fried chicken, rugged green salads and multiple varieties of habanero hot sauce—not for wimps! And if the hot sauce doesn’t get your blood pumping, try some coconut chicken curry soup, my favorite. Either way, Love Belizean is a good place to sneak outside of the Portland rain and imagine, for a moment, that you are in the depths of sunny Latin America. The price of the food will aid in the illusion. https://www.facebook.com/LoveBelizean/timeline?ref=page_internal

 

SIZZLE PIE

Did you think I would forget about pizza, the quintessential stoner food? With so many good local pizza joints in Portland, choosing a favorite was tricky, but I finally decided on Sizzle Pie, located across the street from Powell’s Books downtown (the country’s largest bookstore). Sizzle Pie sums up everything that Portland foodies are about, such as carnivore/omnivore/veggie/veganism—and experimentism! There are traditional meat pies (take, for example, the 6˚ of Kevin Bacon, i.e. Hawaiian) vegetarian pies (such as the Gold Ring, made with truffle oil goat cheese and green onion—Portlanders love their truffle oil in everything!) and vegan pies (such as Vegan Angel of Doom, with Daiya mozzarella “cheese,” fresh jalapeños, pineapple, shaved almonds and fresh cilantro). The folks at Sizzle Pie know how to be creative. Throw in delicious sides, local craft beers, and a constant flood of hipster servers and customers, and you have a Portland pizza paradise sure to please palates from both coasts. http://sizzlepie.com

 

SALT AND STRAW

There is perhaps one food that stoners like more than pizza or even doughnuts, and that’s ice cream. But I am not talking swirl cones or dilly bars. I am talking about Salt and Straw, the ice cream parlor that will make you rethink your preconceived notions of what good ice cream tastes like. Granted, Salt and Straw is Portland and LA based, but we embrace it as one of our own local business heroes. At first some of the more creative, offbeat ice cream flavors will make you wonder (Pear and Blue Cheese? Strawberry Honey Balsamic with Black Pepper?). Somehow, the magicians at Salt and Straw use such odd ingredients to create treats your taste buds hadn’t even thought of. And that’s not to say there aren’t many incredible flavor options for traditionalists (my favorite is the Stumptown Coffee and Burnside Bourbon). Whether you are nine years old or ninety, Salt and Straw will have you coming back for more. http://saltandstraw.com