Alex Frane

3 weeks ago | pdxmonthly.com | Alex Frane

Pastry chefs have birthdays, too, as it happens. And unless they want to work through their special day (and who does?), they have to find a cake worthy of holding their candles. If you’re reading this, you’re probably facing your own cake-shopping conundrum. Thinking a good baker ought to be a good cake shopper, we turned to the experts to find out where they get their birthday cakes.

3 weeks ago | pdxmonthly.com | Alex Frane

At a narrow, 20-seat cocktail bar just off the train tracks in Portland’s Central Eastside Industrial District, a drink asks a question: If it’s called a dirty martini and tastes like a dirty martini, is it a dirty martini? What if it has neither gin nor vodka, but Mexican rum? What if the vermouth is sherry vermouth, and the olive brine is replaced with a mix of lactic acid and saline the drink’s inventor, former barista Rick Munro, calls “pseudo seawater-brine”? Is it still a dirty martini?

1 month ago | pdxmonthly.com | Alex Frane

Aaron Franklin is one of the biggest names in barbecue. Since opening his eponymous Franklin Barbecue in Austin, Texas, in 2009, he’s fed the likes of Anthony Bourdain and Barack Obama—and daily hordes of hungry Austinites. He’s a New York Times best-selling author and the first barbecue chef to win a James Beard Award. He’s even become something of a household name here in Portland thanks to his annual appearances at the bygone food and drink extravaganza Feast.

1 month ago | pdx.eater.com | Alex Frane

Portland may be widely regarded for its craft cocktail scene but, tucked up in the Pacific Northwest, it’s not exactly lauded for its margarita game. That being said, some stand-out restaurants and bars make no-joke versions of the agave-centric drink, from the classic tequila, lime, and triple sec to outlandish beer-spiked and fruit-and-pepper-infused versions. We’ve done the arduous task of tasting through them, and here are 14 of our favorite places to grab a margarita in Portland.

2 months ago | pdxmonthly.com | Alex Frane

If this list of anticipated openings looks a little familiar, you’re not alone. Spring 2025’s lineup of “new” restaurants is more of a parade of reopenings, expansions, and that old Portland chestnut, pop-ups opening brick-and-mortars. But hotly anticipated they remain—we’re talking nationally celebrated sushi, wacky pizzas from a Chopped alum, bacon-egg-and-cheese bánh cuốn. All of them exude a warm and breezy approach to hospitality, even when tackling caviar service and tasting menus.