Since Zoraya Zambrano and her children, Gary and Gloria Marmanillo, opened Casa Zoraya back in 2018, this Peruvian spot has been Piedmont’s under-the-radar gem: Ceviches land at the table like a work of art, fried calamari adding crunch to a bed of fresh seasonal seafood tossed with a summery leche de tigre. Arroz Chaufa, a Peruvian fried rice dish, gets an upgrade with a passionfruit rocoto sauce, which adds dose of acidity, sweetness, and peppery zip. And the pisco sours feel like they’re shipped straight from Lima, best sipped on Casa Zoraya’s back patio on nice days.

Akkapong Earl Ninsom did it again: After treating Portland to deftly executed Thai cooking at Langbaan and Paadee, the chef —alongside co-founder and co-owner Alan Akwai — created a casual southern Thai compatriot on Northeast Killingsworth with hardcore devotees. Hat Yai’s shallot-fried chicken, salty and crunchy, pairs exceptionally well with Malayu-style curry and crispy roti, all available in the popular combo No. 1. And yet, diners will be rewarded for straying from the top billing: The restaurant’s searingly spicy kua gling ground pork is abundant with aromatics and alliums, and the dtom som shrimp combines seafood with meaty oyster mushrooms in a broth pleasingly sour with tamarind and ginger.

In a period of time where so many Portland restaurants are overwhelmingly earnest, Killingsworth neighborhood Italian American joint Gabbiano’s exudes a good-hearted ridiculousness, a commitment to the bit that feels truly refreshing. Fried mozzarella shot glasses filled with marinara? For sure. Caprese Negronis with sundried tomato Campari and mozzarella ball garnishes? Totally. But if Gabbiano’s were simply a gimmick, it wouldn’t appear on this map; each dish has a true sense of deliciousness, from frisbee-sized discs of juicy chicken Parm in a bright pomodoro, or a Dungeness crab alla vodka with the heat and crunch of pistachio chile crisp. Not every restaurant needs to be serious; this city needs its silly little corners, and Gabbiano’s is one of them.

Farm-to-table is likely the most pervasive of the Portland culinary cliches; every restaurant in town touts some version of its ethos, name-dropping a few farms or grabbing a few seasonal items from the farmers market. But Pasture owners Kei Ohdera and HJ Schaible take their emphasis on responsible sourcing to a new level, seeking out and developing relationships with regenerative farms for whole-animal butchery inside the restaurant. The result: Straight-up delicious sandwiches, ranging from beef mortadella to achingly tender pastrami, served with house pickled peppers. It’s not just walking the walk of sustainability; it’s making it feel approachable (and delicious).

Each day, during lunch hours, Alberta locals line up at this orange-and-green cart in pursuit of chiles en nogada stuffed with ground pork and bowls of lipstick-red pozole, sipping prickly pear agua fresca and horchata while they wait for their orders. The cart’s menu is extensive, with everything from soy curl burritos to cochinita pibil, but it should be no surprise that this cart’s particular specialty is its moles: a sweet and nutty mole negro, an herbaceous and vegetal mole verde. The cart’s fuchsia mole rosa, a rarity at Portland Mexican restaurants made with earthy beets and hibiscus flowers, is available as a coating for tender enchiladas or simply paired with fresh salmon, a smart choice of protein for the sweet-earthy beet sauce. The artful plating — colorful ceramic bowls, garnished with flowers — sets each dish over the top, making this one of the city’s finest Mexican carts.

In a North Mississippi pizza cafe that feels casual but intimate, pizzaiola Sarah Minnick embraces paradoxes: She took something brimming with childhood charm — pizza and ice cream — and gave it a high-end twist. Ever-changing pizzas are a garden of edible flowers and mushrooms, atop an airy-but-sturdy pizza dough made with Oregon whole grains; they’re joined by salads and soups made with peak-season produce. While the menu changes on an almost weekly basis, Minnick’s culinary creativity and attention to detail remains constant. If someone is defining Portland’s distinct pizza style, it’s Minnick.

From morning Danish to evening cannelloni, breakfast porridge to after-dinner panna cotta, Northeast MLK’s Cafe Olli is a haven for gorgeous pastries, char-dotted pizzas, and bubbling pastas al forno, all entering and emerging from the wood-fired oven at the center of the space. Oregon produce plays a major role in dictating rotating menus, though a few dishes have become beloved constants: the simple breakfast sandwich, featuring a juicy house-made sausage patty and a fluffy milk bun; pizza pomodoro, showcasing the flavor of the hearth as much as the tomato and grain in the dough. However, Cafe Olli’s charm is in those fleeting seasonal portraits, from springtime green garlic cavatelli to summery beet salad dotted with Rainier cherries. Dessert is mandatory.

Portland’s status as a pizza city is, frankly, not worthy of debate any longer; enough international pizza experts have confirmed our pizzaiolos are world class. As such, standing out within an already saturated, talent-packed market is difficult. And yet, this unassuming cart off Northeast Sandy, run by Roberto Hernandez Guerrero, adds a fresh voice to the city’s pizza scene, one that takes an exceptional crust — Neapolitan in approach, soft and char-kissed with a good rise — and combines it with a Latin American culinary palette. The genius appears on the specials board: past pies have included black garlic supporting the gentle funk of local huitlacoche, a corn smut grown in Gresham; nutty Oaxacan mole rojo juxtaposed with a mild huancaina; and a nettle, arugula, and pepita pesto offering bitter, nutty contrast to ricotta and burrata. For something more classic, the cart’s simple, cheery margherita is a simple pleasure, missing nothing.

Akkapong Earl Ninsom is the restaurateur behind several stars in Portland’s culinary constellation, but Langbaan — his supper club within Northwest Portland’s Phuket Cafe — is the brightest. Here, tasting menus pull inspiration from regions, time periods, and styles of dining throughout Thailand’s culinary history, though a few dishes remain as constants as menus change: Jewels of cara cara orange mingle with plump shrimp and peanuts, cradled in a betel leaf with fish sauce caramel, while a crispy rice cup supports Hokkaido scallop, coated in a sweet coconut cream. Every meal ends with a dessert from pastry chef Maya Erickson, one of the city’s finest.

Louis Lin and Jolyn Chen’s first-generation cuisine — drawing from their experiences growing up Asian American and working in restaurants across the country — means dishes like salted egg yolk shrimp and rigatoni all’Amatriciana find a home at the same table. Mini madeleines, a menu staple, are fashioned from masa and mochiko and serve as a sweet-savory start to the meal. Once a month, diners are drawn in for a burger special, ephemeral creations like jalapeno popper burgers and Lin’s take on an In-N-Out double double. Xiao Ye translates to midnight snack, which captures the restaurant’s mission to welcome diners to connect with loved ones and friends over unexpected flavor combinations.

This stylish Pearl District restaurant’s kitchen is the domain of longstanding Portland chef Erik Van Kley, a talent with a singular perspective on classic Pacific Northwestern ingredients. For example, the chef once took inspiration from both Portland’s love of foie gras and the abundance of chanterelles spotted within the state’s damp forest floors, but not in the typical torchon or risotto preparation, respectively — rather, the foie ended up in a tea sandwich with onion jam, with roasted chanterelle soup for dipping. A recent preparation of the ubiquitous early spring English peas and morels here arrives as a pasta with dashi brown butter. All of the food works well with the exceptionally detailed wine list, which includes a few long-cellared options hailing from the Willamette Valley.

When it opened in 2009, East Burnside’s Laurelhurst Market was emblematic of the current state of Portland dining, celebrating whole animal butchery and in-house everything: The market’s butcher shop supplied the restaurant with then-uncommon cuts like culottes and cured things like bacon and charcuterie. Fifteen years later, Laurelhurst remains a bastion of truly inventive steakhouse fare, yuzu-mustard jus adding zip to marinated hangar steaks and pickled green garlic cutting the richness of a grilled New York strip. Visitors should go for the wonderfully intricate (but not overly complicated) starters and salads — on a recent visit, crispy maitake mushrooms arrived with a miso green goddess, balanced by marinated cucumber, while a harvest salad reined in its pickle-y acidity with a bed of romesco. Another must: The cornbread, skillet crisp and so savory with whipped lardo and rosemary honey.

Jazz plays while pots of pu’erh and mugs of coffee land at tables around this charming French-Scandinavian cafe in downtown Portland. Recent visits to Maurice harken back to its early days: Scones and cookies bookend savory meals of kohlrabi-topped smorrebrod or fluffy quiches with the subtle flavor of chives and fromage blanc. Meals at Maurice feel luxurious in their simplicity, thanks to its leisurely pace and minimalist plates, be it a bowl of mussels enlivened with mint or a briny brandade served with rose potatoes and baguette. Peppery cheesecakes and souffle pudding cakes fragrant with meyer lemon are a must for fika, the Swedish tradition of a coffee or tea break with something sweet on the side.

Burnside’s Flying Fish Company makes a compelling argument for sustainable seafood in the form of Korean jjamppong abundant with shellfish and wild Sockeye poke. Yes, the market sells Pacific Northwestern essentials like house-smoked salmon, rockfish and chips, and bracingly briny and sweet Washington oysters on the half shell; however, the restaurant also illustrates the versatility of the fish owner Lyf Gildersleeve sources. Chef Erik Englund dollops delicate mounds of Dungeness on shiso leaves, the faintest hints of brine and acidity highlighting the quality of the crab, while seasonal market catch fish — recently, white fish — shows off its heartiness in a luxurious saffron-miso butter, served with coconut jasmine rice and citrus kale slaw. Gildersleeve has developed personal relationships with many fishers throughout the region, so passionate about sustainable fishing and the health of our oceans that he has a full attached nonprofit dedicated to policymaking, advocacy, and education.

The original carts are gone, but Nong's Khao Man Gai’s restaurant spaces on Southeast Ankeny and Southwest 13th are still kicking, serving chef Nong Poonsukwattana’s signature dish: a deceptively simple take on Hainanese chicken. Ask five acolytes their favorite part of the dish and each will offer a different answer: the soul-satisfying broth, the truly perfect rice, Nong's ginger-heavy sauce, or the chicken itself, skins or no. Poonsukwattana’s story is one of dogged perseverance; that has not changed.

In a sunny yellow cart in Southeast Portland, next to a restaurant worker hangout, Erica Montgomery tosses wings in maple barbecue sauce while peanuts boil on the stove. Montgomery caught the attention of greater Portland thanks to her Atlanta-style hot lemon pepper wings: One bite into a crispy-but-saucy wing induces a tangy pop of acid, blended with a gentle-but-present heat that coats the mouth. The menu rotates consistently, exploring the nuances of soul food —  one week, the chef may braise venison until ultra-tender to serve with fluffy cornbread; another, she may top sweet potato waffles with hot fried chicken or pair shrimp and grits with gouda and roasted tomatoes. Wings are a must, no matter what.

Gregory Gourdet’s reputation within Portland dining was already well established before he opened his first restaurant — the Top Chef regular and James Beard Award-winning cookbook author had been making shaved ice-topped desserts and Christmas ducks at Departure for years before he opened this resoundingly lauded Southeast Portland restaurant. Now, the stylishly appointed, energetic Kann is the hottest reservation in town, groups gathering at round tables to share peanut creamed greens, herby king salmon with plenty of saucy stewed peppers, and coffee-rubbed rib-eyes. Occasionally, you may spot echoes of Gourdet’s past lives throughout the menu — a cane syrup-glazed duck, a granita-topped cured kanpachi — but as it has evolved over time, Kann has developed its own identity, an amalgamation of its star-studded team’s culinary prowess. Plan ahead — reservations disappear minutes after they drop.

This downtown Portland Italian restaurant could earn its spot on the map based on hospitality alone, harkening back to an era of dining when servers in ties and vests refilled the water glasses after a sip or two and warm focaccia landed on tables just a few moments after guests placed orders. The food meets the quality of the service, whether it’s a mound of burrata nestled in ribbons of 500-day prosciutto or sea scallops with dollops of caramelized shallots and chive blossoms, placed over a swipe of Parmesan fonduta. Pastas are made in house, with gentle bite and egg yolk-silky texture.

Portland was home to plenty of exceptional fried chicken when this Stark food cart opened in 2023. Still, Sunny Hatch’s fried wings shot up the leaderboard, arguably taking top honors as the city’s finest. The genius comes in the batter: The acidity of the makgeolli gives the meat a buttermilk twang without the heaviness, paired with vodka to draw out moisture from the coating; the combination of rice, potato, and tapioca flour makes for a super-crisp exterior that can withstand a sticky gochujang or soy garlic glaze. The result is a South Korea-meets-the South chicken with a chicharron-esque crunch and meat so juicy it drips as you bite. Hatch’s Korean Texan heritage also appears in the cart’s sides, with things like mashed potatoes in curry gravy and kimchi mac and cheese.

Mother-son duo Bibi and Michael Singh celebrate the cuisine of Guyana, underrepresented not only in Portland’s restaurant scene but also in the country, at their food cart within the Central Eastside pod Wonderlove. Here, the Singhs emphasize the culinary influences on the South American country — particularly the Indian and Chinese influences — with dishes like a creamy house dal and chow mein made with imported Guyanese noodles; however, the true draw of this cart is its namesake bakes: fluffy pockets arrive filled with everything from salt cod to Nutella, though the bake stuffed with chana aloo, where layers of garlic and ginger intermingle with Guyanese curry powder and tender chickpeas, is Portland food cart dining at its finest.

Cody Auger and Dwight Rosendahl’s Southeast Hawthorne sushi counter has become nationally acclaimed for Edomae-style sushi: delicate, cured slivers of fish, potent and pristine in flavor and texture. The chefs here introduce so many nuances of each fish that are often lost: lightly cold-smoked, salt and vinegar-cured saba is salty and sweet and smoky in individual acts. Hotate from Northwestern Japan gets a spritz of yuzu, its perfume-y citrus complementing the creaminess of the scallop. And, outside the world of seafood, A5 wagyu is hit with a hand torch so the fat renders silken, but doesn’t cook; the result is a delicate, decadent bite of beef that’s hard to forget. For those unable to nab a reservation, the counter takes walk-ins.

When identifying Portland’s “essential” restaurants, it seems only fitting to include Murata, downtown’s Japanese stalwart. Since 1988, Portlanders have stepped into its tatami rooms for dinners of miso soup, tonkatsu, and broiled mackerel, pots of soothing zosui filled with ribbons of egg, chirashi sporting generous slices of salmon and scallop. Murata is old-school in the best way, a style of Japanese restaurant becoming rarer and rarer with time; sitting in its dining room, mulling over crispy tempura or chicken teriyaki, induces a reinvigorating nostalgia hard to find elsewhere.

From its days as a food stand to its current two-restaurant operation, Rangoon Bistro has held fast to using farmers market produce throughout its menu. Thokes, Burmese salads, arrive in a satisfying, crunchy jumble of ingredients like fried fava beans, pickled ginger, and shredded cabbage. David Sai, Alex Saw, and Nick Sherbo, the three friends behind the restaurant, anchor the menu with warming curries and tangles of noodles with different preparations — draped in chickpea tofu sauce, tossed in tamari, or wok-fried. Malaysian-style fried chicken served with coconut rice and belacan pays homage to Sai and Saw’s time living and working in the Southeast Asian country.

Chef Fatou Ouattara has become the city’s unofficial West African culinary ambassador, hosting cooking classes and selling sauces out of her Southeast Division restaurant. In a dining room lined with art, occasionally hosting spoken word poets and DJs, diners tear apart intricately spiced samosas and dunk them into Ouattara’s tomato and mustard-based sauces, balancing their acidity with ample use of alliums. Any meal should involve one of the restaurant’s stews — menus change, so one day, that might be Senegalese, peanut butter-rich mafe yapp, while other visits may involve fall-apart tender goat in a tomato-y base. Sides of supremely flavorful jollof rice and springy fufu are both musts.

The legacy of the space now home to Excellent Cuisine — a Southeast Division dim sum hall, loud and bustling on Saturday mornings — is a hard one to live up to; Wong’s King’s status as Chinese food royalty in Portland is well known. But the piping hot, delicately folded dim sum served here is at a caliber that may supersede its predecessor. Wrappers of har gow retain the right spring, teeth ripping through to a core of juicy shrimp. Chiu Chow dumplings are clearly hand-made, filled generously but not too tightly for the right consistency after a steam, while red rice rolls are satisfyingly springy with a deep shrimp flavor. Sunny egg tarts, jiggling mango pudding set in duckling molds, and glistening buns make for a fine finish, easy to savor.

When Jacqueline opened on Southeast Clinton, it slowly became known as a Pacific Northwestern seafood restaurant, a place for $1 oysters and Dungeness crab toast. Both are still available at Jacqueline today — the former during happy hour, the latter on the dinner menu. However, this restaurant is far more than its blockbusters. Begin with a flurry of raw dishes, like hamachi crudo, matched with the caramelized char of grilled pickled pineapple and the salty funk of mam nem. From there, lean heavily into vegetables, whether it’s the marinated asparagus and morels paired with a gooey burrata or the blistered, sweet snap peas providing contrast to soft nettle-ricotta gnocchi. The restaurant’s family-style tasting menu, at $90 per person, is worth every cent.

When the highly anticipated Filipino restaurant Magna opened in 2019, it was a great restaurant, one that got better every visit with homey bowls of pancit bihon and calamansi-scented sisig, still sizzling when it arrived at the table. But it seems that chef and owner Carlo Lamagna reaches a new level each time his restaurant passes an anniversary, not just as a chef but as a community leader — whether it’s organizing a fundraiser, serving as a mentor for a young chef, or hosting a pop-up. Magna holds space for both the supremely casual and the festive, whether it’s a skewer of charcoal-grilled pork intestine or silky squid ink noodles with just enough bite, coated in a beautiful crab fat sauce. Lunch at Magna is an exploration of impeccably executed comfort food, congees and noodle soups adorned with quail eggs and fried garlic.

Tucked into a mini strip mall on Southeast Powell, Rose VL is the cheerful companion restaurant to 2024 James Beard semifinalist Ha VL, serving those famous traditional Vietnamese soups with unending depth. Two to three different soups or noodles are served daily, along with brace-yourself strong Vietnamese iced coffee. Portlanders often flock on Saturday for cao lầu, a regional Vietnamese noodle dish with herbs and a tangy, savory sauce. It is simply impossible to go wrong, regardless of the soups available any given day.