If you haven’t visited Portland, I say make some time to do so. Last Weekend was my first time visiting – and they have amazing food selections, really awesome beers, and the vibes are SUPER friendly.

DGB & I booked a random 72-hour trip two weeks prior… that is 72 hours COUNTING from TAKE-OFF to the LANDING back in San Francisco. So really, I guess you can say it was actually a 2-Day Trip!

I’ve shuffled through, prepped, and have done tons of research on what to do and to fit in what time-frame, and I’ve found the one.

There was a huge selection of places that you must see/eat/drink in Portland – which I will post up my recommendations soon, but the lucky places that I’ve chosen for this first-ever trip are found below.

Before we start, here is this blog’s places-to-go-to recommendations (and as our trip went as followed):

• ScreenDoor, Eat
• Belmont Station, Drinks
• Pok Pok Wing, Drinks
• Eb & Bean, Eat
• Burnside Brewing Company, Drinks
• Nong’s Khao Man Gai, Eat
• Rose City Food Park, Places to See
• Voodoo Doughnuts, Eat
• Cheryl’s on 12th, Eat
• Portland Japanese Garden, Places to See
• International Rose Test Garden, Places to See
• Portland Aerial Tram, Places to See
• Deschutes Brewery, Drinks
• Powell’s City of Books, Places to See
• Glowing Greens, Things to Do
• Hopwork’s Urban Brewery, Drinks
• Oh yeah, Moda Center (Go Warriors! Sorry Trailblazers)

Stop #1 : ~2 Hours

The first thing we did after landing and picking up the rental car was head straight to ScreenDoor. Now this place is known to be the BEST brunch spot in town due to their famous Chicken & Waffle. 

Perfect time to go when you’re visiting – Saturday, right when it opens. We arrived here around 10am.

and oh. my. word. This was the BEST chicken & waffle I’ve ever had (Can’t you see the deliciousness?!). This place gets really packed, so we were really lucky to wait for a seat for only 45-minutes. Yeah – that’s “long” but the lady that was assisting us at the rental spot that she waited for 2.5 hours at on Mother’s Day so the time frame was perf!

Stop #2 : ~1.5 Hours

After enjoying ScreenDoor, we went straight to Belmont Station. This spot was on our list significantly because it has received an award for the best beer bar/bottle shop of 2016 and 2017. It’s a

It’s a really nice low-key spot – and I hear that it’s not as low-key once evening hits. Great selections of beer, definitely a lot of pale ale, but I was definitely feeling the second beer selection on their menu. They also offer a beer flight of 4. We were here for about an Hour to an Hour and a Half.

Stop #3 : ~5 mins

After some quick chill and trying out some beers, we made a quick trip to Pok Pok Wing (which supposedly is the home to the best wings in Portland).

Pok Pok has several locations in Portland, however, we chose Pok Pok Wing since it was relatively accommodating for us to travel to during this trip.  I called in for a pick-up order for the Wings and Papaya Salad. DGB loved the chicken and he specifically said it wasn’t better than San Tungs from SF (Sorry Portland, you gotta try that one!), but it was definitely worth the grab. I didn’t get to take a pic of the wings, but I did take a picture of this!

Stop #4 : ~10 mins

We also stopped at Eb & Bean yogurt, Portland’s Organic Frozen Yogurt Spot. Definitely no lines and a great-tasting dessert to pick-up. Yes. It was very yummy.

Salt & Straw was not on our list for our first trip since they’ve just opened a new Salt & Straw location in SF – but if you don’t have it in your town, you definitely should try Salt & Straw.

Stop #5 : ~30 mins

After yogurt and a little walk around at Lloyd Center (such a small mall), we moved onto the next. We chilled, ate the Pok Pok Wing – & Moved on!

Stop #6 : ~1.5 Hours

I didn’t know if it was just an exaggeration, but Portland is reallllyyy known for their food carts – which is literally everywhere. I kid you not, these food carts are found almost every corner and also open late. I felt that it served us right to stop by a food park to make sure we actually did grab food from a food cart out there, so we stopped by Rose City Food Park.

This place is pretty chill. We mostly were there for the beer garden, but we did finally did get a bit hungry and grubbed the Grilled pork and spring rolls noodles from Vivi’s Yummy Rolls (didn’t know that was the popular item but am so happy that we grabbed it cuz it was worthhhhh it and suh suh suh gewd.)

Stop #7 : ~2 Hours

After much chill here, we took our beer drinking to the next level and went to Burnside Brewing Company. Here we challenged ourselves to the beer flight (19-count!)

With a side of fries and more chillaxing and laughs, this had to be the best flight of beers I had while on this trip (scroll down for the comparison of two more). I’m more of a wheat-loving beer type of person, so if I plan to chug some flights, I for sure would stop by Burnside Brewing Co.

Stop #7 : ~10 mins

After chugging those down, we then walked over for another pickup of Chicken & Rice at Nong’s Khao Man Gai. Yes, we called in for this in advanced as well. We didn’t have this on the itinerary because we saw their food cart was closed, but a local said that they do have a restaurant open! Yay! Their Chicken & Rice is very particular to eat apparently also. You first have to drizzle the sauce all over the chicken, then use their soup/sauce as a “dip” before you eat it. Here I go again failing at taking a picture of the food, but of course, I did take a flick of a random sign.

Stop #8 : ~3.5 Hours (A NAP!)

After a long day of drinking, we finally decided to check-in at our hotel. We honestly we’re supposed to get ready for the night out and drink more…. but the drinking got to us and we accidentally fell asleep. 

Stop #9 : ~3 Hours

But no need to fear! Our dinner plans transferred over for the next day and we woke up in time to go dance out at Downtown/Chinatown area. Man, the people out there are full of good vibes. In this area, we found more spots to drink, food carts to eat, and Voodoo Doughnuts. Dirt & Old Dirty Bastards were the doughnuts that have been luckily chosen by us and we brought some home for our friends as well.

DAY 2 – Stop #10 : ~1.5 Hours

For day 2, we decided to sleep in since we didn’t sleep until 4am. We went out and tried to make it to Tasty n Alders (1.75-hour wait, definitely not waiting for that) and the lady said that wait time to us so nonchalant like it happens often. When all else fails, we yelped and instead went to Cheryl’s on 12th down the street. Now this place is known for their Portugese Rice – and it’s amazing. Nom nom nom.

Stop #11 : ~1.5 Hours

After brunching it up with a few mimosas, we went to Portland Japanese Garden for some relaxation, tourist time. It’s $15/adult, but with the sun shining in our favor and the weather treating us right – it was a great place to drop by and sightsee for a bit.

Stop #12 : ~5 mins

And sadly, the International Rose Test Garden had no roses (how depressing) but at least it’s a free visit and right across the street of the Japanese Garden! So we were only here for 5 mins 😦

 

Stop #13 : ~20 mins

And to take a better look at Portland, we drove to the Portland Aerial Tram to check out some views. The cost of the fare is $4.55 roundtrip. No shops, it’s Oregon Health & Science University at the top, then head back down. BUUUUT, very chilling moment to be on the aerial tram hovering over the freeways. You also get to see all the bridges and pass by Tilikum Bridge!

Stop #14 : ~1.5 hours

Enough with the sightseeing, now time to drink more. We went to eat at Deschutes Brewery, known as the biggest brewing company in Portland. They serve flights of 6, an amazing cheeseboard tray for an appetizer, and a yummy Elk Burger. Their beers are real bitter man, so if you love that bitter beer and like flavored beer as well, this is the place for you. And on another note, they do brew their beer there as well.

 

Stop #15 : ~30 mins

To walk it out a little more, we chilled around Pearl District and visited Powell’s City of Books. This is the World’s largest independent bookstore, so even though we weren’t planning on buying any books, we still felt the need that we had to stop by there (because we’re tourists).

Stop #16 : ~1.5 hours

Also! We felt like playing a little game with each other and thought it would be pretty awesome to mini golf at Glowing Greens. Glow-in-the-dark Mini golf! How can you say no to that? Pretty cool that they’re considered one of the best miniature golf courses in America (per what Men’s Journal thinks) but DGB was excited to go so it was worth a go! We chugged down a pitcher of beer at the Pizza Schmizza across the street then hit the course.

Stop #17 : ~1.5 Hours

Finally, we went to Hopwork’s Urban Brewery, which I hear is a must-go-to spot when you visit Portland. They have a 15-flight of beer selection and good wings.

FINAL STOP :

After HUB, we called it a night and went back to the hotel. Clearly, the picture below shows how early we went back to the hotel, but considering we had to fly out at 5 am and go straight to work once we land, we needed to rest up a bit.

Portland is absolutely beautiful and the air felt so refreshing. It was a great experience for the first-time trip, but I have a tons load of recommendations for when I head back. So if you’re visiting Portland for the first time, or feel like planning to visit for 72-hours, let me know! I have recs for ya

Until Next Time!

**All Gifs not designed by Me**