The Sports Bra has become an instantly iconic Portland spot. Could the nation’s first 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:
International Rose Test Garden (Washington Park)
“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.”
Hoyt Arboretum (Washington Park)
“It connects to the zoo; the Japanese Garden and the Vietnam Memorial are 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.”
Stepping Stone Cafe (Northwest)
“For breakfast, I love Stepping Stone Cafe. That's a diner, kind of a little greasy. And I just love it.”
Phở Oregon (Madison South)
“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.”
Kim Dam founded Portland Cà Phê with Alex Tang. (@portlandcaphe)
Portland Cà Phê (Creston-Kenilworth)
“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.”
Email me your favorite neighborhood spots or the places that make this place feel like home.
