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1. Craft PDX
320 SW Harvey Milk St., hi-lo-hotel.com.
Inhabiting the space formerly occupied by Hi-Lo Hotel's "modern Mexican" restaurant Alto Bajo, Craft swaps overpriced chips and guac for a more honest approach to garden-variety bar food. The right side of the menu features what Craft refers to as a "burger lab," which starts with a 4-ounce smash burger that contains an entire spectrum of fatty flavors and a crispy, charred exterior, minus the gut-busting girth. Add CBD olive oil for $1.
Read the full review: A Trio of New Restaurants Have Opened in Downtown Portland Hotels. We Went to All Three.
2. Magna
2525 SE Clinton St., 503-395-8542, magnapdx.com.
It's past time for a food city like Portland to have its own great Filipino restaurant, and with Carlo Lamagna's Magna, we've got one. To a first-gen Filipino who grew up eating this food at every meal, Lamagna's dishes are both intimately familiar and achingly cool. In his hands, even the humble tortang talong—a simple fried eggplant omelet—is coddled with as much care as an Escoffier-style omelet, served with a spray of quick-pickled watermelon radishes, onions, and fresh tomatoes.
Read the full review: Magna Is like Being Teleported into a Filipino Family's Sunday Dinner.
3. Little Bird
215 SW 6th Ave., 503-688-5952, littlebirdbistro.com.
It's the end of an era in Portland dining: Little Bird, Gabriel Rucker's downtown bistro, is closing for good on Oct. 27. It'll be mourned for several reasons, but none more so than the double-brie burger—thick and juicy yet sturdy, and available for an absurd $7 during happy hour, it's a true local classic. Get it while you still can.
Related: Little Bird, Gabriel Rucker's Second Restaurant, Will Close at the End of the Month.
4. Twisted Croissant
2129 NE Broadway, 503-477-5514, twistedcroissant.com.
Originally operating out of local farmers markets, owner and chef Kurt Goddard now makes his 27-layer laminated dough in the back of a pocket-sized Irvington brick-and-mortar, and his plain butter croissants and pain au chocolat already have such a loyal following they frequently sell out. But Goddard's buttery-light touch shines best in the savory options, like the Loaded Corn Bread Croissant, which is basically patisserie as empanada.
Read the full review: Twisted Croissant's Decadent Pastries Already Have a Cult Following, but Chef Kurt Goddard Can Do Savory Just as Well as Sweet.
5. Berlu
605 SE Belmont St., berlupdx.com.
Chef Vince Nguyen elevates fine dining to the astral plane: delicious, mysterious, stylish without pretension, invariably thoughtful and focused. Each presentation is a work of visual artistry, bursting with bright, sometimes psychedelic colors. But it's not just the food that makes this one of Portland's best new restaurants. A meal here is a fully formed experience, where everything from the music to the David Bowie-themed restroom plays a part.