This post is actually about restaurant recommendations for Portland but I couldn’t resist the title! Check out the link of this picture of a mouth-watering burger from Violetta. Yumm!
Our friend Dave in Portland suggested several places for lunch, before we landed, so of course, the first thing I did was inspect the menu of each restaurant.
To be honest, after having only coffee and a smoothie for breakfast, I was so hungry for lunch on Saturday before Christmas, that I don’t remember the details of all the menus, but what I do remember, and appreciate so much, is the effort that our friend made to send us a brief list of suggestions ahead of time. And, once we arrived, I was surprised that he had his Garmin GPS navigator programmed for us with directions to each of the restaurants so we could drive in the loaned vehicle to downtown Portland without any delays or hassles.
Along with Violetta, here are some more suggestions:
Tasty N Sons has great and unusual breakfast items. For example, brown rice, Kim Chi, steamed vegetables topped with a fried egg. It is located in North Portland close to downtown.
Violetta is in SW Downtown, has really good burgers and is in a great location if you want to do some shopping. Many nice stores and good for walking around.
Papa Haydn is in NW Portland and has good sandwiches, salads and desserts. Also good shopping and easy walking distance.
The Saturday Market for shopping was going on along the waterfront and it has some unusual folks to look at as well as fun gift ideas.
We ultimately ended up at the counter at Ping, in Chinatown. From 2-5:30, they have happy hour and served a menu of small plates ranging in price from about $1-$3 average. Such a deal! They also make an unusual, but delicious, drink from fruit vinegars and seltzer, with flavors like Pomegranate, Rhubarb or Tamarind. I’d go back there just for those…
Food Outside The Box 
Kim, My friend owns Violetta and he also has a truck out on SE Belmont with the same name and menu…the fries come with lots of special sauce options you’d love.
You should stop by the next time you’re in Portland.
What great ideas Kim. Dave is a very helpful guy. We hope to visit him this coming year and we will definately keep yours and his suggestions in mind. By the way, would you have Wendy send her email to me? I would appreciate the opportunity to get in touch with her.
Have a wonderful New Year and look forward to more posts.
Hi Dene, I sent Wendy your email. Happy Happy New Year!