Hood strawberries just might be the Portland area’s most famous food product other than Voodoo Doughnuts or Salt and Straw ice cream. But as any local strawberry lover will tell you, Hood season is sweet but painfully short—about ten days, according to Megan Hallstone, vice president of Columbia Farms on Sauvie Island. In fact, Hoods […]
Katherine Chew Hamilton
Posted inFood and Drink
Farewell to Foie Gras
City Council voted 7-5 to ban the force-fed luxury food.
After multiple months of debates and delays, Portland City Council passed a foie gras ban Thursday, June 4. The ordinance prohibits foie gras, or fatty liver that is produced by force-feeding ducks or geese, from being served in restaurants and sold in retail stores within city limits. Those who violate the ordinance can, after a first […]
Posted inFood and Drink
Three Must-Try New AAPI-Owned Eateries: Dear Lola, After Ours, and Bangkok Belly
These newcomers offer Filipino diaspora food,
Vietnamese bar snacks, and Thai street skewers.
What follows is one of the many articles in the Mercury‘s 2026 Music Issue. Find a print copy here, subscribe to get a copy mailed to you here, and if you’re feeling generous and want to keep these types of articles coming, support us here.—eds. Dear Lola When Danté Fernandez was growing up in Portland, many other Filipinos told […]
Posted inMusic Issue 2026
The Food That Keeps Portland Musicians Playing
We asked six local artists about their
favorite places to fill their bellies.
What follows is one of the many articles in the Mercury‘s 2026 Music Issue. Find a print copy here, subscribe to get a copy mailed to you here, and if you’re feeling generous and want to keep these types of articles coming, support us here.—eds. If music be the food of love, play on. But what’s the food that […]
Posted inFood News
Food News: Longtime Güero Cook Detained by ICE
Plus, a new Thai-inspired cocktail bar with Trinidadian bites opens, and Alpenrausch will close.
Just a couple weeks ago, we wrote that ICE had detained Khao Niew Lao food cart owner “Nong” Thavatsay Phimmoungkhoun, known by many as a fixture of the PSU community. And this week, another ICE detention has hit another Portland family and the local food community hard. Torta restaurant Güero posted on Instagram on May […]
Posted inFood and Drink
Highlights from Portland City Council’s Foie Gras Ban Hearing
The juiciest quotes from 90 minutes of testimony discussing force-fed poultry products.
The future of foie gras is on shaky ground in Portland. A proposed ordinance would ban the sale of foie gras within city limits, with restaurants receiving a fine of $1,000 to $5,000 for each violation. Foie gras is a luxury ingredient made by force-feeding ducks until their livers become fatty and enlarged. Proponents believe […]
Posted inFood News
Food News: Portland Food Cart Owner Detained by ICE
Plus, city council considers banning foie gras, Pamana launches dinner service, and In-N-Out is now open in Vancouver.
This week, we have devastating food news to report: a local food cart owner was detained by ICE last week and is being held in Tacoma’s ICE facility. The cart will close permanently, and the owner is expected to be deported to Laos. It feels silly to talk about restaurant openings and closings in the […]
Posted inFood and Drink
Pipe Dreams and Pizza Crusts Will Dive into the Wacky World of Organ Grinder Pizza
An upcoming documentary explores the Portland pizzeria that may have once been the largest in the world.
Amid the strip malls and used car lots along SE 82nd, one big building, now home to Super King Buffet, looks out of place: glass walls stretching tens of feet tall, ceilings sharply sloping in different directions. Turns out these glass add-ons, designed by none other than Pioneer Square architect Willard K. Martin, were once […]
Posted inFood and Drink
Nice Time Makes Nice Pasta, Indeed
This Hawthorne food cart cranks out handmade pasta with Korean-Italian flair.
Making handmade pasta is a feat in itself, but rolling out sheets of dough, cutting noodles, and stuffing ravioli all while inside a little food cart is quite another matter. Not only does Nice Time serve the best pasta you’ll find from a food cart, it’s also some of the best pasta in town—and there’s […]
Posted inFood and Drink
Food News: Smashburgers at Steely’s and Chicago Tavern Pizza at Proof Launch This Week
Plus, famed farm-to-table restaurant Higgins is up for sale, and other food news from the past two weeks.
The past couple weeks have been booming with restaurant openings. Steely’s looks like a promising new spot for smashburgers, while Proof Pizza’s thin-crust, square-cut Chicago tavern-style pizza is finally available for dine-in. Plus, Pipsqueak Bagels is open at long last. Here’s what’s new, what’s changed, and what’s closed since our last food news roundup. Upcoming […]
Posted inFood and Drink
Red Hen Bagelry Brings Delightfully Chewy Bagels to Northeast Portland
Look for offerings like sweet-salty sesame and the mythical egg everything bagel.
Northeast Portland has an under-the-radar, weekends-only spot for killer bagels. After about a year of doing wholesale baking for local coffee shops and holding occasional pop-ups, Red Hen Bagelry launched its residency at Red Sauce Pizza a couple months ago, selling bagels and bagel sandwiches every weekend for the foreseeable future—including some unusual varieties. Egg […]
Posted inTransportation Issue 2026
Feasting to the MAX
Eating like transit royalty at the end of the light rail system.
What follows is one of the many articles in the Mercury‘s 2026 Transportation issue. Find a print copy here, subscribe to get a copy mailed to you here, and if you’re feeling generous and want to keep these types of articles coming, support us here.—eds. Is it just me, or does riding the MAX make […]