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During the darkest days of the year, if you can’t get away to somewhere warm, it’s understandable that your first instinct is to get cozy with a nice bowl of ramen, slurp up some matzo ball soup, or bury yourself in mashed potatoes.
But this winter, we propose the best way to cure the winter blues is with a staycation in a restaurant or bar that brings sunnier climes to you. Let a bite of Spam musubi take you back to that time you were in Oahu, or see if a mouthful of perfect mole can transport you to an Oaxacan beach at sunset. We’ve rounded up some of Portland’s best restaurants that serve food that should evoke warmer places to help get you started. And while a trip to one of these spots may be fleeting, it’s sure to buoy your spirits.
Palomar
959 SE Division St., #100, 971-357-8020, barpalomar.com. 5-10 pm Tuesday-Friday, 10 am-2 pm and 5-10 pm Saturday-Sunday.
Sit anywhere in this ode to fine Cuban and Latin American comida and all things rum, and you’ll easily forget it’s winter here on the 45th parallel. Big picture windows let in whatever light there may be, and Palomar’s slick interior design—brass, pinks, and green palm tree wallpaper—create a Caribbean-themed milieu.
Get there at the start of the 5 pm happy hour, and you should be able to catch a tropical sunset vibe via a blended banana daiquiri. Inspired by cocktail programs from 1920s Cuba, the bar at Palomar has always been top notch, but with the addition of chef Ricky Bella, the quality of Palomar’s plates match what’s in the cups.
A ceviche of shrimp and tuna is bathed in tigre de leche, a spicy, citrusy Peruvian marinade, while generously sized camarones chill with coconuts and charred tomatoes on a bed of rice. Go back to the bar menu and grab anything that catches your eye (though I will suggest a Birds of Paradise, a frothy concoction of gin, egg white, raspberry, lemon and cream), and throw in a slice of tres leches. Winter schminter.
Jamaica House
8307 N Ivanhoe St., 503-462-9710. 11 am-8 pm Monday and Wednesday-Saturday, 1-8 pm Sunday.
This St. Johns oasis of island cuisine is awash in murals of palm trees on a sunny beach, pineapples and Bob Marley. Seasonal affective disorder doesn’t stand a chance here, especially if you put a fork full of Jamaica House’s tender, spicy jerk chicken in one hand and a bottle of Jamaican Ting in the other.
The jerk chicken is the classic move, served super smoky with just the right kick of spice. But ordering the oxtails or curry chicken, both fall-off-the-bone braised just right, and sharing is even better. Savor the excellent cabbage cooked in coconut milk until it’s more succulent than you ever thought possible for a cruciferous vegetable. Split a beef patty, a breaded and lightly fried Jamaican meat pie, and every little thing is gonna be all right.
Hale Pele
2733 NE Broadway, 503-662-8454, halepele.com. 4 pm-midnight daily.
Probably the entry on this list that is the biggest no-duh, Hale Pele is a must if you’re looking to shake your sads. This “House of the Volcano Goddess” tiki bar trades in tropical, from fantastic flaming cocktails to island-inspired small plates.
Ahead of the revival of the tiki trend, Hale Pele’s bartenders have always taken the craft of rum and fruits extremely seriously—they make what may be the best mai tai you’ll ever drink. There’s a flowing stream at the entrance, and puffer-fish lights, rattan, coconuts and wood tiki statues abound. Hint: The main space is first come, first served, and usually packed, but if you can get a group of eight or more together, you can reserve the coveted Chieftain’s Hut in the back.
El Yike Oaxaqueño
2727 N Lombard St., 503-206-5313, elyikeoaxaquenoysusazon.com. 10 am-9 pm Wednesday-Monday.
If there’s another place to get yique, a regional Oaxacan goat stew, in the Portland area, I can’t name it. And that’s a shame because it rivals any soup out there. This little hole-in-the-wall in Kenton is putting out yique, moles and other specialities that send you straight to the Southern Mexican state, home to a lot of the country’s finest cuisine.
Think of yique (also spelled yike) as a meeting of pozole and birria consommé, topped with an ample amount of tender goat. Unlike pozole, the hominy in yike is broken down, a process done in house by the mother-daughter duo who own the restaurant. With guajillo pepper and spiced consommé, it’s a heartening bright orange bowl that provides more insulation than Smartwool.
The birria is masterfully constructed: juicy thin-sliced goat combined with crispy cheese and a good dunk of consommé with each bite. Our next trip will include an order of yique along with Oaxacan-style tamales made with salsa verde and wrapped in banana leaf.
Ice Queen
2012 SE 11th Ave., icequeenyouscream. 3-9 pm Monday and Thursday, 3-10 pm Friday-Sunday.
Native- and Chicana-owned pop-up Ice Queen has been a summertime go-to for vegan paletas for years. Now that it’s cold outside, you can thankfully take shelter in the newish brick-and-mortar near Ladd’s Addition. Get a cup of vegan soft serve, hit the toppings bar for some chamoy and sprinkles, and pretend it’s 90 degrees outside. But what will really send you back to sunny days is a couple of signature fresa paletas—a tart, frozen pop that promises “the freshest summertime strawberry frozen in time” and delivers with a whole slice of the fruit inside.
Phuket Cafe
1818 NW 23rd Place, 503-781-2997, phuketcafepdx.com. 11 am-2:30 pm and 5-9 pm Wednesday-Thursday and Sunday, 11 am-2:30 pm and 5-10 pm Friday-Saturday.
This Northwest 23rd Place Thai restaurant, awash in millennial pink and red, promises a cheery time as you spot it from halfway down the block. Another gem in the crown of Portland Thai restaurant magnate Earl Ninsom, Phuket Cafe offers a solid rotation of small plates to share, like pork belly bites, salted and glazed with sticky, spicy Thai chile and makrut lime.
The restaurant puts a whole fried pompano fish with lettuces and herbs in the salads portion of the menu, which I love. And, like all Ninsom restaurants, there are signature plates so good they can now never come off the menu. At Phuket Cafe, that’s the Lan-Roc pork chop, a gargantuan 18-ounce bone-in cut served sliced to share with laab, a funky fish sauce tomato relish, herbs and smoky lemongrass essence. If eating it solo weekly weren’t a sure recipe for gout, I’d do it.
GrindWitTryz
2017 NE Alberta St., 971-865-5160, grindwittryz.square.site. Noon-7 pm Wednesday-Thursday, noon-8 pm Friday-Saturday, noon-4 pm Sunday.
The beauty of GrindWitTryz is that by the time you leave, you’ll be too full to remember that it’s cold out. This former food cart turned popular Alberta Street brick-and-mortar piles plates sky high with classics like loco moco, poke and a version of ono chicken—thighs lightly fried in a tangy sauce that I think about more often than I do any ex-boyfriend.
Owners Tryzen Patricio and Candace Lachesis promise to create ohana through ono food, and their dedicated customers prove they’ve done just that. The massive trio plate is enough food to last three meals and costs only $32 (I like the combo of ono chicken, kalua pig, and kalbi short ribs, served with rice and a mac salad that is oh so creamy without being mayo-laden.) Add an order of wonton nachos and you’ve got aloha for the week.
Ki’ikibáa
3244 NE 82nd Ave., 971-429-1452. 11 am-9 pm Tuesday-Saturday, 11 am-5 pm Sunday.
Ki’ikibáa’s location, inside a strip mall near McDaniel High School and a McDonald’s, is nothing to write home about. But Manuel Lopez’s epic Yucatecan cuisine will have you sending cross-town postcards raving about lunch.
The former Angel Food & Fun chef reemerged in early 2023 with this restaurant, which has colorful punched paper banners on the walls and a counter-service menu brimming with treats. Warm yourself with a bowl of relleno negro, a charcoal-black stew with a Scotch egg of sorts, as ground pork and turkey is wrapped around the yolk. The broth is smoky and hearty, and comes with beans and shredded turkey as well as tortillas on the side.
Panuchos and salbutes are a draw as well, but now that we’re adding meat to our weary bones, a substantial tamale, painfully moist masa surrounding well-spiced achiote pork or chicken, is the right move. Always include a burrito, even if you must eat it later, or slice it up for the table. Lopez’s is probably my favorite in the city: grilled meat folded together with black beans and spices, which are accompanied by sour cream and guacamole. But what keeps me coming back is the layer of crispy griddled cheese, which sneaks up with a pop of flavor and motivates me to continue eating no matter how full I am.
Janken
250 NW 13th Ave., 503-841-6406, jankenrestaurant.com. 4-10 pm Tuesday-Thursday, 4-11 pm Friday-Saturday, 4-9 pm Sunday.
You may not have seen a green leaf in weeks, but inside this buzzy Pearl District spot, there’s a never-ending blossoming cherry tree. Do your best to book a seat underneath the centerpiece and enjoy the food and people watching in equal measure.
The glitz of Janken will distract you from the dismal drips outside: Get swept away by the smoke billowing out from under a cloche lifted tableside to reveal a pineapple mezcal cocktail; splurge on scallop nigiri topped with uni that provides the essence of the sea. And if you’re really looking to go full-on summer, order bingsu for dessert, the Korean condensed milk snow with a texture that’s somehow fluffy and crunchy, disappearing on your tongue as quickly as a passing memory of sunbathing on Sauvie Island in July.
Oregon Winter is Willamette Week’s annual winter activity magazine. It is free and can be found all over Portland beginning Wednesday, December 6, 2023. Find your free copy at one of the locations noted here, before they all get picked up!