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 musicians love? These musicians’ tastes in local eats are just as refined as their tastes in music.

What do you eat to give you energy before a show?

Ethiopian food has lots of protein and fiber. Enat (300 N Killingsworth) is great. I am an absolute fiend for doro wat, which is the Ethiopian national dish, a chicken stew. They make the sauce out of a shit ton of onions, which I love. I grew up in an Italian-American family, and Italians have a pasta called genovese, which is also a shit ton of onions. If it has lots of onions, I’m usually pretty sold on it.

What’s your favorite late-night spot?

We’ve gone to Short Round/Crying Tiger (3962 SE Hawthorne) a few times. It’s Vietnamese style street food. They have one of my favorite dishes in the world, which is bo la lot. It’s like beef kebabs that are wrapped in betel leaf and grilled, so you get all this char.

What do you eat to fuel up before a show or a long day of recording?

Pie Spot (521 NE 24th) has this breakfast sandwich, and you can get it with Spam. Sunrice (4090 N Williams) has a whole fried fish that you can get with a side of rice, but you can also get it on a milk bun, like a breakfast sandwich. I almost felt embarrassed because of how often I was going to get it.

What’s a place whose food feels really comforting to you?

I love Kau Kau (2026 NE Alberta). If I go with friends, we’ll each get a plate and split everything up. I love having your rice, your mac salad, meat jun, mochiko chicken, or lau lau all on one plate. You just pull in a bite from this, a bite from this, you get the savory, the sweet, the tangy.

What’s your favorite place for a treat-yourself meal?

Grits ‘N’ Gravy (215 SW 6th) is quintessential Southern food, and I’m from the South, so I’m very picky about my Southern food. I always get their fried catfish or their fried trout plate with rice and gravy. That’s me and my boyfriend’s spot. Or if I’m going for a solo brunch date moment, I’ll go to Sweedeedee (5202 N Albina), and I’m getting a nicoise salad with a big piece of what they call Grandma’s bread with butter and jam—yes, honey—and a matcha or vanilla latte. And I’m taking home some kind of to-go pastry. Last time I got a honey cake.

Are you a dessert person?

I love dessert. I don’t know what kind of sorcery they’ve got over at Kate’s Ice Cream (3713 N Mississippi and 1430 NW 23rd), but my boyfriend and I got the cookie monster ice cream sandwich and the salted peanut brittle sandwich. It was expensive, not gonna lie. Whole way home, we’re like “This better be the best damn ice cream sandwich I’ve ever had.” And we got home, and we’re smashing these ice cream sandwiches, they were so good.

What’s your favorite spot to eat after a show?

My favorite spot is Ka-Te (3554 SE 82nd). It’s a Vietnamese spot, and they’re open till 2 am. So after a show, we head over with the band and get some fried rice and snails. The flower snails especially are so good—super garlicky and buttery with salt and pepper. You eat them with a toothpick and just go to town.

Where do you go for special occasions?

If you’re a musician, you might not have the budget to go out and eat a really fancy meal. So when I want to celebrate, I go to Nostrana (1401 SE Morrison) for their happy hour. They have a really good margarita pizza for $10, red sauce pasta for $12, and the most delicious little radicchio salad for $7.

What’s one of your most-visited spots in town?

One of my favorite taco places in Portland is La Sirenita (2817 NE Alberta).Their carnitas and their pastor are amazing—it’s street style, simple, with a double tortilla dipped in oil so the tortilla isn’t dry. They’ve been around for like 20 years. I’m from Los Angeles, but I’ve lived in Portland since ’99, and I’ve been living off of Alberta forever.

Where do you like to go out to eat with the band?

We usually have to separate into two tables, but if we get lucky, all 11 of us from Orquestra Pacífico Tropical can all sit at one table at Hat Yai (1605 NE Killingsworth). We love their whole fried chicken plate with the sauce and the roti. They also have an amazing brisket curry that’s out of this world. It’s incredibly spicy, and for me, the spicier the better.

What’s one of your frequently visited restaurants?

I love Korean BBQ, so I go to K Town (5450 SE 82nd) a lot. I just went there last night for all-you-can-eat, which is ridiculous—it’s so good. I get galbi, pork belly, and these little rice cakes that you grill.

Which venue has the best food?

A lot of times I’ll go to the LaurelThirst (2958 NE Glisan) after work for food. I play gigs there at least one or two times a year, and it’s kind of my go-to venue for seeing shows. I like the banh mi salad.