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In Southeast, you can get anything from a fresh bánh mi to tortillas made daily to gorgeous imported olive oils in bulk. The quadrant is your oyster—or your big shopping cart. So let’s get to it.
Wellspent Market
3402 SE Division St., 503-987-0828, wellspentmarket.com. 10 am–8 pm daily.
You might’ve been around Portland long enough to remember Wellspent Market as Real Good Food, or just long enough to remember the store under its current name, living in its former Northeast Couch Street location. Or maybe you just got here and have fallen in love with the gourmet market in its location on Southeast Division Street, where it’s been since summer 2024 (all acceptable). Jim Dixon started the business back in 1999 simply as a way to have good olive oil on hand at home. He didn’t know anything about business, but he learned how to import and started his side gig, selling oil, vinegar and beans out of his garage. Flash forward a couple decades: Dixon now runs the business with Noah Cable, though he’s much less involved these days. The offerings have expanded, along with the deli in the back (grab a muffuletta for $14, or mortadella, burrata and pistachio pesto on focaccia, also $14). There are events too, like the annual tomato fest, celebrating dry farming practices and new tomato varieties. And, as a bonus, you can keep up with Dixon’s eating habits through his weekly recipes at wweek.com. ROBIN BACIOR.
Grab one: The olive oil, of course. Take your pick.
El Campesino PDX
6611 SE Powell Blvd., 503-774-4124, instagram.com/elcampesinopdx. 8 am–9 pm daily.
Breezing by on Southeast Powell Boulevard, you might not clock El Campesino PDX, as the windowless storefront sits tucked in a mini parking lot next to a weed shop. But inside, the market is a technicolor beauty. Piñatas line overhead like party balloons, shiny bags of Takis sparkle on the aisle cap, pop music bumps over the speakers. The market has been there for nearly 20 years, and when Nancy Salgado took over in 2018, she expanded the offerings from Mexican focused to include South American products as well. Pick up marinated meats or housemade bright salsas and pastries, perfectly puffed shells coated in pink and yellow sugary crusts. Salgado’s husband, Jose Esparza, manages the store and makes fresh tortillas and chips daily—except for Tuesdays, his day off. There’s a Peruvian restaurant, Salt & Pepper Perumex, inside the building a short staircase up, but it’s a separate business—meaning you can grab a meal, do your shopping, and support two local spots in one errand swoop. ROBIN BACIOR.
Grab one: On cool spring days when the dregs of winter gray clouds clot up the sky, instead of scowling into the ether, pop over to Campesino and grab a cup of champurrado from the slow cooker by the door ($4.99).
Hong Phat Food Center
101 SE 82nd Ave., 503-253-4411, hongphatsupercenter.com. 8 am–9 pm daily.
You’ve got a few options with Hong Phat: the supercenter down the way on Southeast 82nd Avenue, the market on Northeast Prescott Street. But let’s talk about the midsize guy, the Food Center location. This store, still bigger than most in our roundup, is a beloved staple for good reason. Start in the back with the fish—there’s loads of it, thick catfish and salmon steaks coming in at $4.95 a pound. Tofu will run you $1.95 a pack. The store’s left corner walls are fridges rowed with beverage delights: bubble milk, lychee, coconut juice. Take your dreamy pick. Then there’s the Lotus Kitchen, the bounty of prewrapped bánh mi and a hot bar, packages of pickled bean sprouts ($6.95), and kimchi ($4.95) in little clamshell plastic containers. This is just scratching the surface here. Go dive in for yourself. ROBIN BACIOR.
Grab one: You can pick up a special combo—a sandwich and any drink, for $5—or upgrade to the lunch special combo, which offers salad rolls, fried egg rolls or chicken rice for a modest $10.
Good Neighbor
4107 SE 82nd Ave., 503-771-5171. 10 am–8 pm daily. 491 SE 162nd Ave., 503-254-1811.7 am–midnight daily.
Russian is the fifth-most-spoken language in Multnomah County, with Ukrainian right after. But if you’re still brushing up, some of the offerings at the two corner markets serving East Portland’s Slavic émigrés may get lost in translation: The labels are all in Cyrillic, although most of the packaged products have an English name stickered on with such fine print that you might want to bring along a magnifying glass. Also, bring your appetite: I’ve never seen such an array of pickles, sausages and fish, including a refrigerated case of herring and sprats packed in brine ($7.99). In the back corner of the Southeast 82nd Avenue outpost is a shelf of rye breads ($3.29–$4.99 a loaf) with a surprisingly delicate flavor. The clerk, who ripped open a bag of maize pops (basically sweetened corn puffs, $3.49) for sampling, said she was still learning English—she was fluent in Russian, Ukrainian and Romanian. And yet, as I stared at the dumpling case, she still managed to talk me into buying a 3-pound bag of Siberian mini pelmeni too large to fit in my freezer. “The best!” she said, giving a thumbs up. AARON MESH.
Grab one: A tray of zefirs, a kind of Russian marshmallow flower made with fruit purée, is $5.99, and you might finish them on the drive home.
La Bouffe International Gourmet
8015 SE Stark St., 503-256-9576, instagram.com/labouffepdx. 10 am–7 pm Monday–Saturday, 10 am–5 pm Sunday.
Need some Mediterranean beauty in your fridge? Think crumbly, refined cheeses, tin fish bursting with minerals and bathed in oil, or malban sweets filled with pistachios—that’s what you’ll find at La Bouffe. The Montavilla market, owned by Lamia Attar, has been around for more than 20 years and feels both approachable and posh. The offerings are a mixture of worldwide refined taste and local pride—Bulgarian goat milk cheese in the fridge, lavash in the freezer, Nossa Familia coffee down the aisle. You can get your staples too—bulk grains and beans along with a modest collection of condiments and drinks. The wine selection is simple but plentiful for the size of the store—Oregon makers like Ilahe alongside a plethora of European vineyards. Even just a few things from the store makes your home pantry feel all the more elevated. ROBIN BACIOR.
Grab one: Get some of La Bouffe’s bulk olive oil. The Lebanese oil runs $16.99 a bottle (750 ml bottles are available at the shop), and $14.99 for a refill, while the Spanish oil goes for $21.99, but $19.99 for your refill pour.
Tan Sang Fruit
332 SE 82nd Ave., 503-980-8965, instagram.com/tan_sang_tropical_fruit. 10 am–8 pm daily.
Your best bet for keeping up with Tan Sang Fruit is checking its highly active Instagram account. There you’ll find hands working through the store’s bounty—tearing open Bưởi thanh trà (a kind of pomelo) or teal skin grapefruit; and on the nonfruit side, things like jumbo crawfish or purple sweet potatoes (no seeds, it’s a veggie). Inside of the small shop, the smell is bright and sweet, like mangos left in the sun. And you’ll find those mangoes, and jumbo atemoyas, and honey mandarins waiting to be peeled. Go stock up. ROBIN BACIOR.
Grab one: It’s a hard choice, but there’s something about the way the dragonfruits reach their wings out, beckoning you to pick one up (for $6.95 a pound).
Spice Pilgrim
5915 SE Milwaukie Ave., 503-477-1413, spicepilgrim.com. 10:30 am–5 pm Wednesday–Sunday.
When Dolly Singh and her husband moved to Portland from Delhi they noticed a certain something lacking in cuisine. The spices didn’t quite sing the way they did back home, and at times included added sugar, a problem for Singh’s diabetic husband. So, Singh began grinding her own spices and herbs for home. That interest grew into selling at farmers markets for a little over a decade. Then, in 2024, Singh moved a full-fledged business into a 1903 bungalow brick-and-mortar on Southeast Milkwaukie Avenue. If you’re lucky, Singh will be there to greet you as you step inside, inviting you to sample one or two of her tea blends, bright and sweet from the freshness of the herbs themselves. Singh sources as much as she can locally—paprika, cayenne and spearmint all Oregon grown—then uses stone grinders instead of steel for her blends to keep any heat from compromising the potency of the herbs and spices. The fragrance alone proves the difference—gram masala that’s spicy and earthy, turmeric packed with a sweet heat. No salt or sugar added, no dyes or additives or preservatives, just plants being glorious, delicious plants. ROBIN BACIOR.
Grab one: Feeling a little stressed lately? (Do you live on planet Earth?) Try Singh’s relaxing tea blend ($15 for a tin), made with rose petals, dried ginger, peppermint leaves and lemongrass. The potency of the fresh herbs almost gives off the juicy flavor of hibiscus, but that’s just the soft sweetness of the hips in full, fresh form.
This story is part of Pantry Companion, our guide to filling your kitchen cupboards. Pantry Companion is a small magazine, distributed free throughout Portland. Find out where to get yours by checking this map.
