City Cast Portland logo
Advertisement image

Where to Find Portland's Best Food Downtown and the Best Pasta

Posted on March 22, 2024   |   Updated on September 30, 2025
City Cast Portland staff

City Cast Portland staff

plate of pancakes at Fuller's Coffee Shop, Portland, Oregon

Fuller's pancakes. (Giulia Fiaoni / City Cast Portland)

Here’s your food news for the week:

Fire Damage at Ox

🚒 Firefighters cut through the roof of one of Portland’s finest restaurants as they fought a sizable fire that started during dinner service Wednesday night. The flames went up from the grill at Ox, where the James Beard-awarding-winning chefs Greg Denton and Gabrielle Quiñónez Denton serve up Argentinean fare. [Oregonian]

Portland Area Rejected In-N-Out

🍔 Portland Monthly gives a run-down of how In-N-Out really tried to open in the Portland metro area before moving onto Ridgefield, Wash. Tualatin, Beaverton, and Hillsboro all failed to approve applications for proposed In-N-Out locations or scared the beloved burger chain away with community opposition to development. The story also includes this delightful detail: Ridgefield High School’s mascot is the potato. [Portland Monthly]

Downtown Restaurants A to Z

🥇If you’re looking for reasons to go downtown (or if you’re in the area), The Oregonian’s Michael Russell has compiled reviews of 20 tasty restaurants, including in Old Town-Chinatown and the Pearl District. They run the full gamut — Portland institutions like Huber’s and Fuller’s Coffee Shop, new places like Sunrice, expensive spots like Higgins, cheaper eats like Love Belizean, and restaurants like Arden that improved over time. [Oregonian]

City Cast

Portland’s Ultimate Old-School Restaurants

00:00:00

Best Pasta Isn’t Always at Italian Spots

🍝 The best pasta in town isn’t always found at Italian restaurants: check out Xiao Ye (which serves Asian fusion), the cocktail bar Scotch Lodge, and the French pop-up Le Clown for some of the best pasta offerings around, advises Eater Portland editor Brooke Jackson-Glidden. [Eater Portland]

see more:food

Share article

Hey Portland

Stay connected to City Cast Portland and get ready to join the local conversation.

Can't subscribe? Turn off your ad blocker and try again.

Food & Drink

See All
Food & DrinkApril 7

Where To Find the Best Deals for Portland Groceries

For the last year, Stumptown Savings’ Bryan M. Vance has been tracking where to find the cheap groceries in Portland. His one-person medi...

A grocery store aisle.
Food & DrinkFebruary 17

Where To Find Portland's Best Dumplings

Dumplings are a comfort food, a Portland favorite, and perfect for the rain. Eater Portland editor Brooke Jackson-Glidden recently shared...

Bamboo basket of xlb dumplings, Portland, Oregon
Food & DrinkJanuary 26

Portland Kids Eat Well and More Restaurant Updates

Portland restaurants offer a foodie take on the kids menu. Kann hosts a Georgia king of barbecue. Rangoon Bistro is moving its original l...

hush puppies and a dip next to a golden colored basket, Parallel Wine Bar, Portland, Oregpn
Food & DrinkJanuary 6

The 5 Portland Restaurants To Try Right Now

January is a quiet month for restaurants and bars, while everyone minds their budgets and their waistlines after the holidays and New Yea...

bar scene at LaVerne's in Portland, Oregon
Food & DrinkDecember 22, 2025

Portland Restaurant and Bar Closings As 2025 Comes to an End

The end of year is filled with celebrations of the best restaurants in town.

a hush puppy from Parallel Wine Bar, Portland, Oregon
Food & DrinkDecember 17, 2025

The Best Things We Ate in Portland in 2026

Portland had an abundance of good restaurants to choose from. As we head into a new year, the City Cast Portland team is sharing a person...

a white table clothed setting with raw shrimp and sauce in one dish and a curry in another, and empty plate
Food & DrinkDecember 15, 2025

December 2025 Updates on Portland Restaurants and Brewers

The Oregonian names the restaurant of the year, as well as the top 10 new restaurants — places like Paper Bridge, Baum's on Oak. And more...

lanterns along the ceiling
Food & DrinkNovember 25, 2025

The Latest Portland Restaurant and Bar Openings

This month, we have a couple of standout additions to the Portland bar scene: Bone Sine and Madame Bar Bar.

red bricked walls line this bar with half a dozen green bar chairs medium brown wood bar

The latest in Portland

The Weekly Wander by City Cast PortlandJuly 19

Side Quest: Second-Run Stars

Portland’s historic movie theaters are time capsules of cinema-how-it-was, and watching modern films somehow feels less soul-sucking.

Cars are parked on the street outside of Academy Theater in Portland’s Montavilla neighborhood. The blue facade is cylindrical with a marquee lined by blue lights.
The Weekly Wander by City Cast PortlandJuly 19

Your Guide to Montavilla

Long a stopover for travelers between Hood River and Portland, Montavilla is a crossroads of cultures and camaraderie, and every summer,...

Crowds of people browse the stalls at the Montavilla Street Fair. Booths can be seen on both sides of the street.
The Weekly Wander by City Cast PortlandJuly 12

Side Quest: Drinks with a View? Wine Not

Competition in Willamette Valley is fierce, but Amaterra sets the bar high (on top of the West Hills, in fact). It's 15 minutes from down...

People sit in red adirondack chairs at Amaterra Winery, looking out over the Tualatin Valley and a sloped vineyard. The setting sun peeks through a stand of tall evergreen trees.
The Weekly Wander by City Cast PortlandJuly 12

Your Guide to Portland's West Hills

The West Hills are a peaceful place to live with plenty of dining appeal, as restaurants and breweries keep heading to the ‘burbs.

Blueberries, some ripe and some not, weigh a branch down.
The Weekly Wander by City Cast PortlandJuly 5

Your Guide to Hosford-Abernethy

The history of this Portland, Oregon, neighborhood is rooted in the railroad industry, so Hosford-Abernethy is a fitting home for the Ore...

Crowds of people explore the exterior of the Oregon Rail Heritage Center, which has criss-crossing tracks and several locomotives, one of which sits on a working turntable.
The Weekly Wander by City Cast PortlandJuly 5

Side Quest: Tapas? Heck Yes

Meet vya, the Portland, Oregon, Spanish tapas restaurant that opened earlier this year in the former Palomar space, setting the scene for...

A hand squeezes a roasted lemon on top of a pan of paella with shrimp and mussels.
Portland's BestJuly 1

What To Do in Portland in July 2026

A quarter millennium ago, the U.S. got its start. Since then, we've experienced all the promises and disappointments of our country's rhe...

Parade with people in pink and rainbows.
Portland Life HacksJuly 1

Tips for a Better July 2026 in Portland

Find ways to prepare yourself for July in Portland, including tips on farmers markets, swimming, and fire season.

Pink, purple, and red flowers in a bouquet with pink tissue paper.