Last December, it felt like Portland restaurants had fallen into a rut, the city’s harsh pandemic-time contraction succeeded by a prolonged period of stagnation. Despite a few standouts — Bauman’s on Oak and its fantastic pizza nights , the Indo-Chinese fusion and tiny cakes at Pasar , the bento juice box cocktails and tasty noodles at Toya Ramen — 2024 was the least interesting year for local restaurant openings in decades.

But after a winter and spring that brought us Coquine sister concept Katy Jane’s Oyster Bar , the lovingly made plate lunch at Kau Kau , the hidden-away Filipino breakfast sandwich destination Balong and the big-city neighborhood bistro L’Echelle , it seemed like interesting things were finally emerging. And that’s without counting the various pop-ups

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