Visiting Portland (Spring 2016 update)

I'd really consider Solera in Parkdale too. A picturesque quiet place for a brewery.

A while back they had legitimately one of the best made sour cherry wild ales I've ever had. And the Kriekfest is coming up... So they might have it on again soon in the taproom.
http://www.kriekfest.com/

 

man. i miss living 3 blocks from Random Order....

 

I would actually highly recommend Ecliptic. Their on-premise beer selection FAR exceeds what they bottle, and their food menu is really good. last time I was there i think there were 15-20 beers on tap. Everything from light and refreshing, to dark and barrel aged. Plus its close to a cool neighborhood (mississippi street) and from their patio there is a great view of the city.

 

I second Ecliptic. It is one of the "family" breweries we hit up regularly. (And my wife's favorite burger in town.) Don't judge the beer based on the bottles in distribution as they appear to age on warm(ish) shelves. Never had a complaint about the taps there and as mentioned above, they usually have a wide selection across the beer spectrum. (It isn't just 12 IPAs of various malts and hops with 5 "other" beers.)

 

Well now, after looking at some of the pictures of the mountain view on Yelp I will be 100% sure to hit this place. Wow.

 

Regarding FOTM in PDX, I haven't really been impressed with their beers. Their wings are decent though so if you're going mainly for the food aspect that might be enough.
Otherwise I would consider a "beer-focused" restaurant like Grain and Gristle instead (owned by the head brewer of Upright). One of the great things about PDX is that you don't have to go to a pub or a bar to get high-quality beer, and you get good food as a bonus.

For Bend, I second the suggestions to ditch 10 Barrel and do either Sun River or Bend brewing (Sun River is my personal favorite of the Bend area breweries).
And just a warning, both Deschutes and 10 Barrel tend to be really busy so you might want to plan some back-ups in case the wait is intolerably long.

 

Skip 10 Barrel just because they're owned by ABInBev.

 

Okay, enough consensus to switch from 10 Barrel to Bend. Thanks! We're lining up Deschutes for a early Wednesday or Thursday dinner so hope that may help with the wait time.

 

I'm not familiar with Chicago, so this may obvious to you, but Spaceloaf makes a good point for both Portland and Bend. You don't need to visit breweries exclusively unless that's your jam. Many family friendly restaurants in OR have taplists ranging from good to incredible, and usually local stuff is well represented. For Bend, either Brother Jon's location, Broken Top Bottle Shop, and food cart pod The Lot (plus several others if you want more recs) have great food and beer from multiple breweries and are in the same neighborhoods as the breweries mentioned. You will not have trouble finding great local beer outside the breweries themselves.

 

If you want a FOTM substitute, Lardo is family friendly with great food and on tap beer. (Go to the Williams Ave one to avoid a crowd.)

 

What about a Sunday brunch option with reasonable lines? Does that exist in Portland?

I'm looking at bad habit room because it's close to saraveza but anything within driving distance of the pearl is fine

 

Ringside Grill is now doing Sunday brunch. Prices are pretty reasonable, no clue about wait times

 

I've never had trouble with Sunday brunch anywhere in Portland as long as you get there around opening.

Any later than that, good luck.

 

Cheryl's is quite good and easy to get into while everyone else is lined up at Tasty n Alder a block away.

 

City State Cafe on NE 28th between glisan and Burnside. Longest ive ever waited was 15 min.

Good food!

 

I talked friends of mine that are traveling to Portland this weekend to start a week long vacation In the PNW to bring beer back to Florida with them. They are in town Saturday, is Sticky Hands(or any other block 15) or 3-Way IPA around for purchase? I was going to send them to Belmont Station. Any other must try/available locals I should have them try to get?

 

Luggage for 2 adults with two kids, I'm thinking they can handle quite a bit and said they would bring what they could back. Thinking more cans because the kids are hellions and it will be a week before they get back home