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City Cast Portland

A cheat sheet for getting beyond your block.

Inner Northeast Broadway is an often-overlooked main street, but it’s full of classic Portland shops that have survived for generations.

True, there’s debate among City Cast Portland staff about whether the span from Hollywood to the river is awesome and enticing — or depressing (It does have its rough patches). But here are some-must-stop spots for fun (and errands):

The independent bookshop serves all your reading needs. Buy your books in person or online, and attend a robust calendar of readings, including one by 

The kitchen store has been around for generations, but it serves up some fresh must-have gadgets for Portland’s skilled and enthusiastic amateur chefs.

Go in for hand-pulled noodles that have a loyal following.

The old-school sweet spot has been around for 99 years. There are those who swear by their carrot cake, as well as their chocolate birthday cakes, complete with floral designs.

Stop in for everything your fur baby could want. This shop and the next make up an unexpected and delightful pairing (same owner).

Maybe you don’t want any furballs, so deck out your home with greenery.

This spot is a critical addition to Portland’s love of women’s sports. (They’re even leading the charge to recruit 

a professional women’s basketball team to Portland

You can always try the sub that shares the shop’s name: roast beef, turkey, and ham. But also you can find teriyaki and a side of kimchi, thanks to some 

There’s more, including frozen yogurt at 

Thanks to City Cast Portland audio producer Giulia Fiaoni and host Claudia Meza for some of these recommendations.

Favorite Spot I Didn’t Mention? Email Me.

Correction: I originally misspelled the name of The Sports Bra. Apologies to the coolest new bar in town and its patrons.

Inner Northeast Broadway Is Portland's Overlooked Main Street

Neighborhood Guides

It wasn’t a residential neighborhood till the aughts. Not long ago the area was home to barge manufacturing. Developed from an industrial brownfield, South Waterfront is now full of sleek glass towers, many of them condos or apartments. It also hosts the preeminent medical research center Oregon Health and Science University.

It’s easily accessible, but tucked away south of downtown. Here’s where to go if you pay a visit.

It’s a good neighborhood to visit for a meal.

high marks for some of the best dumplings

For special occasions (or if you’re ready to drop a lot of money on food), the restaurant serves high-quality seasonal Northwest cuisine with a Mexican influence. It’s a notably creative menu that’s new each week.

. It’s got old-school flair and views of the river.

Recognized as one of the best coffee shops in the city, you can get your favorite brew here. (There’s tea too.)

— the country’s first bus, bike, train, and pedestrian bridge (no cars allowed) — is a good way to enter. The neighborhood has protected bike lanes along the main street and waterfront paths that are the envy of other neighborhoods. The neighborhood also has extraordinary access to public transportation: The Portland Streetcar, a MAX line, and bus lines all run through. And it’s got a unique form of transportation:

. Avoid rush hour if you’re there for the views, so that doctors, nurses, and other hospital staff can get where they’re going (and you can be a little less crowded). [$8 round trip]

Proceed at your own risk: The city doesn’t have lifeguards at this location. But 

 is a lovely spot under the Marquam Bridge.

 of the neighborhood’s development. [Oregonian]

Do you have a favorite spot in your neighborhood?

Favorite Spots? Share Your Recs

It wasn’t a residential neighborhood till the aughts. Not long ago the area was home to barge manufacturing. Developed from industrial brownfield, South Waterfront is now full of sleek glass towers, many of them condos or apartments. It also hosts the preeminent medical research center Oregon Health and Science University. It’s easily accessible, but tucked away south of downtown. Here’s where to go if you pay a visit.

Get to know South Waterfront, in Portland, Oregon

South Waterfront Is Portland's Most Recent High Rise Neighborhood

 for an upcoming episode of the City Cast Portland episode and she told us about how she immediately fell in love with the dreamy homes and giant trees in Irvington when she first moved here:

“It holds a special place in my heart because when I first moved to Portland from Florida in 2015, I just loved the old houses,” Carnes says.

“I walked my dog for miles and we would walk up to 

 and just sit on a bench and watch people,” she says.

Take your dog on a walk through the old houses in the neighborhood and you’ll likely make some new furry friends.

One of the best things about Irvington is its walkability. Make a night of it and visit these watering holes:

: For when you’re craving fancy cocktails and upscale vibes.

: Their covered patio is a great place to enjoy a cocktail outside without roasting in the sun.

: Grab a morning cappuccino or an afternoon refresher.

Your Hey Portland newsletter editor wanted me to share her Irvington favorites:

What Do You Love About Irvington?

Get to Know Irvington

 and talked to the City Cast Portland podcast about 

the unspoken rules in Portland establishments

. But she also offered us her recommendation of good neighborhood bars around town, including one of her own:

“You can tell it's run by a woman. You just can. They treat their employees really well. They have decent food for decent prices. It's fun, but it's not like loud and party-all-the-time. There's comfortable places to hang out in there. There's good booths, and heaters on the patio and a nice motif, but it's not a theme bar. It's got good continuity in how it feels in there. It's not like ‘We're an Irish pub and we have Irish flags everywhere.’ It's like, ‘We're a Florida room.’ It means a porch, but also there's a Florida-y theme there that's tropical, but also punk.”

“When they started out, they had just like this little tiny bar and their front patio was all gravel and they had this little vintage teardrop trailer out there that they served food out of.  Over the years they've expanded. They've got a venue now. And it's a really great venue with excellent sound, and their staff is great. Their staff all love their jobs. You know, you can feel it when you walk in that everybody there loves it — also woman-owned, coincidentally.”

“I think the B Side is special because it was built by the neighborhood, for the neighborhood. Before we first opened, we were there for three months working and a bunch of people that lived in the neighborhood, or our friends, or were our regulars from other bars we worked at would just come by. The shelves behind the bar are welded because the day we were trying to figure out what we were going to do about them, our buddy showed up and he was like, ‘Oh yeah, I brought my welder.’

“Things like I'll be sitting out on the back patio and my buddy who lives in the neighborhood who's an artist will just poke his head out and he's got a drill under his arm. And he's like, ‘Oh, hey, Tanya, you got some new art.’ And then he leaves. The people who work there are excellent professional bartenders and they all have very distinct personalities and styles, but they want [it] to be a safe place and a fun place, and they want it to be fair and equitable and easy and comfortable.”

How to Behave in Portland Bars

This segment was contributed by City Cast Portland lead producer John Notarianni.

Local bar owner Tanya Frantzen wrote a book on bar etiquette and talked to the City Cast Portland podcast about the unspoken rules in Portland establishments. But she also offered us her recommendation of good neighborhood bars around town, including one of her own.

The Best Neighborhood Bars in Portland, Oregon

The Best Neighborhood Bars in Portland

It is possible to wander through the streets that inspired the fictional world of Beverly Cleary’s classic children’s books, as if through the set of a movie.

The Grant Park and Hollywood neighborhoods are speckled with the places that inspired the fictional universe of Ramona Quimby, the spunky little girl who is so beloved she is honored with a statue in the neighborhood park.

That’s where Beverly Cleary lived from fourth to eighth grade. The street served as a model for the imaginary Klickitat Street where both her fictional protagonists Ramona Quimby and Henry Huggins lived. It is still possible to imagine a curious child, pumping the pedals of her tricycle on that sidewalk.

🧶 Next Stop: Northeast Klickitat Street at 37th Avenue

The real Klickitat Street was up the hill from one of the homes Cleary’s family rented. In this neighborhood, it’s a stretch of larger houses than the working-class residences of the Quimby’s life. Cleary chose her fictional street name because it reminded her of the sound of knitting needles, I learned in my tourings.

🍨 Final Stop: Paulsen’s Pharmacy (4246 NE Sandy Blvd.)

Not all remains the same, of course, in Portland. There’s now a Tesla parked in the driveway where Cleary imagined Ramona playing “brick factory” (aka pounding bricks into dust) with her friend and neighbor Howie Kemp. The street that Henry would sled down (Northeast 33rd) is far too busy these days. And Paulsen’s Pharmacy (the basis for the fictional place Ramona ordered ice cream sodas) 

, though you can still look in the window at the bar.

Thanks to the readers who pointed me in the direction of the 

Multnomah County Library’s self-guided tour

. Consult that map for more information, including the schools where Cleary attended 

For a more comprehensive tour, there’s also a book: 

“Walking with Ramona: Exploring Beverly Cleary’s Portland.”

It is possible to wander through the streets that inspired the fictional world of Beverly Cleary’s classic children’s books, as if through the set of a movie. The Grant Park and Hollywood neighborhoods are speckled with the places that inspired the fictional universe of Ramona Quimby, the spunky little girl who is so beloved she is honored with a statue in the neighborhood park.

Visit the Portland, Oregon, Neighborhood That Inspired Ramona Quimby's Universe

Visit the Neighborhoods That Inspired Ramona Quimby's Universe

We’re the Rose City, after all. It’s occasionally time to hit the hot spots for fragrant and colorful blooms. Here’s a reminder of how lovely they are even after a few heat waves.

Four rose gardens (north, south, east, and west) are part of the unique layout of the neighborhood, formed from the land of former mayor William Sargeant Ladd. The gardens include more than 

3,000 rose bushes and 60 varieties that date back to the early 1900s

The site of Portland’s first public rose garden is still going strong 110 years later. 

300,000 people visited the year it opened

; more people than lived in Portland at the time. It was where the city’s official rose, Madame Caroline Testout, was cultivated. It’s still blooming there today (see the last image in today’s newsletter).

The city acquired the 6.9-acre site in 1917 as part of an effort to 

save some European roses from extinction during World War I

, though the garden wasn’t formally dedicated until 1924. It has more than 10,000 rose bushes. There are daily tours at 1 p.m. if you want to get a more in-depth introduction.

 every local should see. [City Cast Portland 🎧]

Stop and Smell the Roses at Portland, Oregon's Official Gardens

Stop and Smell Portland’s Roses

We’ve been asking Portland City Cast guests which spots make Portland feel like home. It’s a way to get to know the guests and the city at the same time.

For today’s installment, Ivan McClellan, a Portland-based photojournalist, who started the Eight Seconds Juneteenth Rodeo, answered our questions. (He also talked to the City Cast Portland podcast about 

why he chose Portland to host his — and the city’s — first Black rodeo

“I actually like the Lloyd Center. My kids go ice skating there. I like the building, and it reminds me of being a kid, trolling the mall. We go there every Saturday.” 

“They make good juice. You sit there and watch them make it, and it's fresh. The building is really big so you can kind of spread out and have meetings there. I don't drink coffee, and I don't drink alcohol, so if I have to have a meeting somewhere, the juice spot makes the most sense.”

“In the summer, our kids go there and it's just so much energy. There's so many Black folks out. There's kids playing basketball, there's people barbecuing, there's a big dog park there. There's people either roller-skating or playing soccer. It's just a really good vibe and a lot of good energy. I love taking the kids there in the summer.”

City Cast Portland lead producer John Notarianni contributed this segment.

How Portland Came to Host Its First Black Rodeo

Get to Know the Black Rodeo Founder Ivan McClellan’s Portland

We invited Mary Peveto, executive director of Neighbors for Clean Air, who was 

a guest on the City Cast Portland podcast earlier this week

, to share what she likes best in and around Old Town:

“We're on the brink of Old Town and the North Pearl along the water. I get to live on the Willamette River. They were the first residential places built right on the river, and it is so magical. I have the best of everything that Portland offers.”

], walk right down on a beach but still all the wonderful parts of just great restaurants close by.”


“The trail isn't right out my back door, but it's just about a mile, mile and a half away. But I still get to be up on the trails in 

“I love Old Town. The mix of all the good and bad right now that the city of Portland's. 

“I'm right under the Broadway Bridge and right across the street from the 

 which I think has been a fabulous addition to our community.” 


“Even with everything I know about diesel emissions and how bad Amtrak and our railyards, I love [that] I'm right across the street from the 

 and I walk over and I jump on a train. And I've gone to Glacier National Park, or I go to Seattle or go up to Bellingham.”

Why Portland Has Some of the Worst Air

Get to Know Old Town

Eden Dawn, author of “The Portland Book of Dates” and co-host of the “We Can’t Print This” podcast, recently gave the City Cast Portland podcast her formula for a perfect date, as well as 

We also asked Dawn for her favorite spots in and around her neighborhood, Concordia:

“It is just a really cute little neighborhood bar where a lot of creatives in the area [hang out]. In the summers, we have a little weekly night. I'm not gonna say which night, it's already too big. But a lot of friends from bands and other writers, we all come together. And I always think, ‘What a special thing that all these people live in my neighborhood and we come to this bar [owned by] this nice person we know and everyone gets together.’ Such a lovely thing.”

“I specifically love the garden in the back of P’s and Q’s. That's such a nice thing in the summer to just go for a neighborhood walk and sit in the garden and drink coffee and see everybody else. It's just a really sweet thing.”

“So there's this tiny, cute nursery right off the corner of Alberta. It has gorgeous plants. It's a really sweet spot, and I'm a gardener, so I love having a place that I can walk to in my neighborhood. It's just like, overflowing with plants and right there.”

Spring Date Night

Get to Know a Dating Expert’s Favorite Spots

 has become a nearly instantly iconic Portland spot. Could the nation’s only bar focused on women’s sports have started anywhere else? When owner 

Jenny Nguyen appeared on the City Cast Portland podcast to talk about the bar and the effort to recruit a WNBA team to Portland

, we also asked her about the places that make Portland feel like home. Here are her picks:

“My parents used to take me up there all the time. I got bit by a squirrel up there; that I'll never forget. And it's just so beautiful up there.”

“It connects to the zoo; the Japanese Garden and the Vietnam Memorial is all up in that same area. So I love being up there. Any time of year it is gorgeous. And in the last — I would say — seven years I've been into birding.”

“For breakfast, I love Stepping Stone Cafe. That's a diner, kind of a little greasy. And I just love it.”

“My favorite pho place is Phở Oregon. There's some regions [of Vietnam] that like it slightly sweeter, like with sweet spices: more cardamom, more cinnamon, more clove, or whatever. And then some regions like it on the saltier side. Phở Oregon is definitely on the saltier side, which is my preference. A lot of the places in Portland go toward sweet, which is fine if that's your jam. But I like the salty pho.”

“It's a Vietnamese coffee shop. [The owner is] in her thirties and just so young and scrappy. To see a lot more people of color opening small businesses has been rad. And that's been happening the last two years, I would say.”

One reader, Esther, wrote in on last week’s featured neighborhood: “Woodlawn Park is my favorite part of the Woodlawn neighborhood. Also, the Firehouse restaurant has good food and nice ambiance (inside and on the patio). Also don’t forget the lovely little store at the Classic Foods wholesaler where we can shop for special spices, fresh pastas, cheeses, etc.”

Email me your favorite neighborhood spots

 or the places that make this place feel like home.