Skip to main content
1. Lazy Susan
7937 SE Stark St., 971-420-8913, lazysusanpdx.com. 4-9 pm Friday-Sunday.
At Lazy Susan, the dust—proverbial and literal—hadn't yet settled when Hat Yai owner Earl Ninsom and chef Andrew Mace realized things might not go as planned. The duo took over the former Country Cat space, hoping to convert it into a family-style restaurant that would become a culinary anchor for the neighborhood. COVID-19 threw those plans off course, but the eatery is finally open for outdoor dining, serving flaky dinner rolls, farm-fresh veggies and charcoal-grilled proteins.
Read more: Lazy Susan Planned to Become the New Dining Anchor of Montavilla. Then the Pandemic Happened.
2. Street Disco
1305 SE 8th Ave., street-disco.com. 3-9 pm daily.
Summarized simply, Disco Snacks is a multifaceted snack bar concept at White Owl Social Club comprising a series of distinct ideas. That includes Taco Tuesdays, a public school cafeteria homage to tacos of the hard-shell variety, and pizza inspired by the suburban food court experience, currently available for pre-order on Fridays and Saturdays. The stunner is the cheeseburger pie, a heavyweight concoction made of pickles, ketchup, onions and American cheese. There is nothing else quite like it in Portland.
3. Piggins Outdoor Bistro
1239 SW Broadway, 503-222-9070, higginspiggins.com. 11:30 am-8 pm daily.
The pandemic has pushed one of Portland's most storied restaurants into the food cart game. Piggins is effectively an extension of Higgins' storied downtown farm-to-table kitchen, serving 16 tables spaced 8 feet apart in the plaza of the Oregon Historical Society. The grass-fed burger and beer list are both legendary, and you can access both here, along with dozens of other sandwiches and seasonal specials that earned namesake chef Greg Higgins a James Beard Award.
4. Portland Pizza Peddler
Orders placed through direct messages at instagram.com/portlandpizzapeddler. Pickup only.
Chicago native Jerry Benedetto started quarantine-learning how to cook the thin-crust, square-cut pizza of his youth in the oven of his Southeast Portland townhouse. After Benedetto posted a few pictures on Instagram, people wanted to place orders. He's filled about 300 so far, taking donations, deducting the cost of ingredients and sending the rest to nonprofits. His most popular pie? The "Jerry Special" with bulk sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms and a side of hot giardiniera.
5. Kachka Alfresca
960 SE 11th Ave., 503-235 0059, kachkapdx.com/alfresca. 3-10 pm daily.
A pop-up in the truest sense of the term, Kachka's outdoor spinoff is so utterly of its time and place in this shared moment that it feels like a vital addition to the food landscape. It has allowed owner Bonnie Morales to dive into the nostalgia of her childhood spent watching her Soviet émigré parents run a 1990s bistro in the Chicago suburbs. It doesn't all necessarily make sense—it's like a trans-Siberian TGI Friday's—but it is damn fun.
Read more: Kachka's Outdoor Spinoff Is Like a Trans-Siberian TGI Friday's.
