The Five Restaurants We’re Most Excited About This Week

Our Restaurant Guide picks the best restaurants in Portland every October. We hem and haw and fuss to recommend 50 restaurants we think best represent the city.

This is not that list.

Rather, these are five spots we're excited about right now. Maybe that's a taqueria we've loved forever, maybe that's a seafood spot with a special menu this week or a new burger joint we stumbled on Friday night. It's designed to answer that age-old question: Where should we go out to dinner tonight?

Where to eat this week.

1. Han Oak
511 NE 24th Ave., hanoak.com.

Han Oak just did the smartest thing ever and merged its prix-fixe and dumpling nights: all the dumplings, all the ssam, all the cocktails, all the time. Cool. $-$$$.

2. La Leña
1864 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 503-946-1157, lalenapdx.com.

Peruvian spot La Leña isn't perfect—but that chupe de camarones seafood chowder pretty much is. $$.

3. Jackrabbit
830 SW 6th Ave., 503-412-1800, gojackrabbitgo.com.

Celebuchef Chris Cosentino's super-meaty downtown hotel spot has a 60-deep gin selection and great sauces, wheather seasoned bone-marrow sauce or fermented black bean "angry sauce." $$$$.

4. Aviv
1125 SE Division St., 503-206-6280, avivpdx.com.

Aviv pretty much revolutionized hummus in Portland, with eight distinct preparations including hatch chile, zhoug and harissa versions. $$.

5. Ara Restaurant
6159 SW Murray Blvd., 503-747-4823.

After 10 pm on a Saturday, this may be the most hoppin' Korean spot in all of Portland. $$.