We hopped on a quick hour and a half flight to the Pacific Northwest for the long weekend last week. We met our good friends in Portland for three days, and had the best time! Talk about a city filled with delicious local eats, too much (!) beer, and adorable little shops on what felt like every corner. Portland is definitely a little charmer of a city.
We Stayed at The Hi-Lo Hotel, a Marriott Autograph Collection. Guys, this hotel was the most Instagramable hotel I’ve ever seen. The place was made for your social feed (haha.) Most 4-5 star hotels in Portland are actually very reasonably priced. We were between a few, but a friend of mine who recently visited recommended the Hi-Lo, and we’re so glad she did! They had the best hospitality I’ve seen in awhile – friendly staff (almost too friendly!), a gorgeous restaurant bar with…wait for it…CBD beer, and beautifully designed rooms, with, of course #robelife, my favorite. The location was smack dab in the middle of everywhere we wanted to go.
The first night, we walked to Bamboo Sushi, a highly rated sushi bar with many locations in Portland and Denver. It did not disappoint. I am not a sushi aficionado, but my sushi lover friends said it was some of the best they’ve had. They also had a lot of vegetarian options, a wagu truffle burger that looked insane, and other different choices. After dinner, we popped into Clyde Common for drinks, which happened to have a late night happy hour, then tried to get into the ultra cool basement cocktail bar Pepe Le Moko, but couldn’t. Next time!
We took advantage of a leisurely coffee in bed, basically what I live for, then worked out at the hotel gym before a day of lots of beer, and lots of junk food. We spent the morning walking along the river, first stopping at Pine Street Market for a green juice at Kure Juice Bar cart (they have a bunch of great food vendors in here), then fueled up on Stumptown Coffee. Our walk led us to the famous Blue Star Doughnuts, where we completely inhaled five doughnuts between the four of us. Oy. On a sugar rush, we headed over to Powell Books, which I forgot how incredible of a place it is. You could easily spend all day here! After browsing for an hour, I let my friends check out, and stopped into a few thift stores nearby. Portland is very into their thrifting — love it! I found the cutest snake skin booties at Buffalo Exchange for 30 bucks. Score.
When it hit 1pm, we decided it was time to start drinking. Ha! I mean, we were in the beer mecca. We made our way to the Pearl District, stopping first at Deschutes Brewery for lunch and a tasting, the pretzel is a must. Then headed across the street to Blackwood Brewing Company, and stopped at Barista for a much needed Americano. We finished out our marathon beer tasting day at 10 Barrel Brewing, and also had the potato chip steak and gorgonzola nachos, told you it was quite the day of eating!
After freshening up, we made our way across the river with other friends that live near the city. We unfortunately got turned away from the infamous Pok Pok, but luckily came across the best Italian restaurant. Casa Italia On Division was the cutest little hole in the wall with very authentic food and friendly service! We grabbed a nightcap at The Whiskey Soda Lounge next door after dinner, which is owned by Pok Pok.
Not surprisingly, everyone woke up a bit sleepy the next morning. We walked over to Cafe Bijou for brunch. The french omelets and homemade cinnamon toast here seriously hit the spot! After, we…..headed to more breweries! This time, on the other side of the river, close to where we had dinner the night before. We stopped at Basecamp Brewing, and Cascade Barrel House, a brewery known for their sour brews, which were surprisingly tasty. We also had a quick snack here, the local cheese plate and the cheddar ale soup — I always order this at breweries whenever I see it on the menu, delish. We took an Uber to the Nob Hill neighborhood for the rest of the afternoon, which we thought was very similar to Union Street in San Francisco’s Marina District. Tons of shops, bars, and restaurants. I checked out a few adorable boutiques with local goods, Tender Loving Empire was a favorite. After, I needed a pick-me-up and we came across the trendy Good Coffee. We finished our awesome quick jaunt to PDX over guacamole at the Hi-Lo bar before heading out early the next day. Until next time…what are your Portland favorites?!
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