I went to Portland, Oregon for the first – and second – time this year. My eyes were so wide ahead of that first trip: so many places for a gluten free gal to eat! There weren’t enough hours (or meals) in the day to possibly visit everywhere on my list… so it’s a good thing I’m planning a third visit in a few months. Hopefully I can visit another new-to-me place or two.

Zilla Sake: gluten free sushi

I visited Zilla Sake during both of my visits this year. I certainly hope my friends and I will visit again during the next visit. Although, yes, I’ve been able to find similar menus with Celiac-safe options in the Twin Cities, there is no better feeling than walking into a restaurant that is a dedicated to being 100% gluten free. No fear of cross contamination! Being able to share any entrees with my dining companions! Being able to pick anything on the menu that sound good to me. Honestly: these are all qualities that I didn’t realize were so valuable to me in my pre-Celiac days.

And this is a theme that continues for so many places in Portland! There are countless restaurants that are 100% gluten free! Maybe I’ve been asking my husband if we should move… because I’m just going to keep wanting to visit in order to support this kind of dining accommodation.

El Pilon: Colombian empanadas and arepa sandwiches

During my second visit to Portland, I wanted to try out something else that the city is known for: food cart pods! El Pilon has a food cart located in a pod in the Old Town neighborhood of Portland. I mis-judged how easy it would to navigate this area, but I was able to find parking* a couple blocks away, and the walk gave me the ability to take a little extra time to actually see this downtown area.

What I like about this kind of dining: there is absolutely something for everyone! It was a bustling area with lots of people chatting, some people working on laptops, but everyone was enjoying some kind of food or beverage. It was also September when I visited, so although it was a little bit of a chilly day, it was still nice enough to dine outdoors.

* Make sure you’ve got the Parking Kitty app for parking anywhere in Portland!

Portland Fish Market: gluten free fish & chips

Jason and I found gluten free fish & chips in both Ireland and Scotland, so I don’t know why I’m surprised that I could find it in Portland. And unlike those other experiences, the only fish options were gluten free! (Malt vinegar is available for the non-gluten free folk.)

This was a very nice lunch experience on a sunny day in March!

Schilling Cider House: a place to relax

One more place I have to mention in this post (though I could go on and on, so I might have to make this a two-part topic) is Schilling Cider House. Before Celiac came into my life I wasn’t really much of a beer drinker, but I had just started to get into sour beers with a good friend. I think that phase was very helpful to find my way to hard ciders I could enjoy — because I hadn’t had many good experiences with them in the past.

Another type of place I’ve enjoyed discovering on recent travels is a place to just sit and relax. You’re not necessarily beholden to a dining time table, there’s nothing else on the schedule to rush off to, and you have a space to enjoy (with the benefit of a little bit of people watching). This is very helpful when, say, you’re on a yarn shop crawl with your friends and you want to sneak in a few stitches between discovering so many lovely yarn experiences. Just sayin’.

While I was gathering place to share here, I did notice that the current Portland cider house is closed and they are in the process of opening a new space soon. I hope I can check out the new space in March!

So what’s on my wishlist for the next visit? I unfortunately missed visiting Mikiko Mochi Donuts during my last visit, so I’ll definitely need to get there for some fun and tasty donuts. I also have Masala Lab/DesiPDX food cart at the top of my list. Bastion sounds really delicious so I’m hoping we can make time to visit (their menu photos are a treat for the eyes, too). It would also be a delight to try other global flavors while I’m in the pacific northwest: Haitian cuisine at Kann, Latin American cuisine at Mestizo, and Mexican cuisine at Verde Cocina.

And, if you can believe it, I’m still on the hunt for other suggestions of must-dine spots in PDX. If you know of other places with amazing gluten free accommodations: I want to hear about them!