Hub to be and I are officially moving to the Portland area come July. Beaverton/Hillsboro/Rock Creek/Cedar Hill/Tanasbourne. West SIDE! 
What shouldn’t we miss while we’re there?
Restaurants, shops, attractions?
Cheap is best. We don’t have jobs yet.
Thanks, in advance.
You have to go the Columbia Gorge and look at the waterfalls. Drive there on the Old Columbia Gorge Hiway and back on I5. Mt Hood and Timberline Lodge are a must. The Japanese garden in Portland is the best I have been in outside Japan. There is a new Chinese Garden in Portland’s Chinatown that has a teahouse. Go for Dim Sum at Fong Chong beforehand.
Powell’s is one of the biggest and best bookstors in the country. Mio Gelato is across the street and has great gelato. If you knit make sure you go to Knit Purl on 11th and SW Alder. It is very near Powell’s. Mother Goose has tons of handcrafted jewelry, furniture, etc. Saturday Market has hand made items, food, and entertainment.
There are tons of microbreweries and the wine country is fun as well.
What do you mean “one of”?
Powell’s is definitely worth some time. Go to the main store at 10th and Burnside.
Touring the wine country is a popular activity in early fall.
McMenamins pubs are also quite popular. One of my favorites used to be the Cornelius Pass Road House, but I haven’t been there in several years.
The Bijou Cafe on S.W. 3rd Ave. in Portland is a must for breakfast on Sunday morning. The omelets are to die for, moist and tender in the middle, not the tough, dried out things you get at most restaurants.
Get familiar with the light rail system. It’s a great way to get downtown without the hassles of parking.
Powell’s is definitely worth some time. Go to the main store at 10th and Burnside.
Touring the wine country is a popular activity in early fall.
McMenamins pubs are also quite popular. One of my favorites used to be the Cornelius Pass Road House, but I haven’t been there in several years.
The Bijou Cafe on S.W. 3rd Ave. in Portland is a must for breakfast on Sunday morning. The omelets are to die for, moist and tender in the middle, not the tough, dried out things you get at most restaurants.
Get familiar with the light rail system. It’s a great way to get downtown without the hassles of parking.
Damn hampsters.
Southwest SI-IIDE!!! (former)…
Please check out the Portland Parks & Recreation site. Forest Park is a must-see. I also strongly recommend Council Crest and Gabriel Park. The Oregon Museum of Science & Industry, along with the submarine USS Blueback, is worth at least one visit.
I second the recommendation for McMenamin’s - they are likely to have a location near wherever you end up. It’s worth visiting more than one, because the buildings themselves are all interesting in different ways - e.g. one is a former elementary school, one a former Masonic retirement home, etc.
The Oregon zoo is also a fun visit.
I spent a lot of time there just hiking around SW Portland with my son in an infant carrier, using the Southwest Portland Walking Map. It was very much worth the $5, and over a period of months I really got to know all the cool spots in the area. I’d suggest a walk along Terwilliger up toward OHSU/the VA, for example.
You really can’t go wrong with the Columbia Gorge for outdoor activities, either. If you’re willing to leave Portland proper, the Evergreen Aviation Museum is the final resting place of the Spruce Goose, as well as a lot of other fascinating aircraft.
Restaurant- wise, I suggest the Bombay Cricket Club for Indian fare. Get a reservation, though.
Enjoy Portland! It’s a beautiful place.
Someone mentioned McMenamins. Unbelievable brew pubs. I can’t remember if someone linked their site, so:
http://www.mcmenamins.com/
They’ve taken over old hotels, schools, a poor house, etc. and turned them into bed and breakfasts. They FILL every square inch with folk art. I know it doesn’t sound good when I say it, but trust me, find your favorite. I prefer the Kennedy School. It’s an old grade school turned into a brew pub. Anyone can use the soaking pool, which is an outdoor “pool” that’s the temperature of a hot tub. It has a movie theater, like many of their establishments, and they show second run movies for $2. Usually on weekends they have afternoon family-friendly matinees.
They also have quite a few pubs. I prefer the ones in older bars rather than the ones in the new strip malls.
Between Mt. Hood and the beach you’ll find enough to keep you busy for decades. Being so far west, a trip to the beach is going to be easy for you. Start with Astoria and work your way down. Pick up some travel guides at Powells to help you find some of the out of the way places.
And bakeries! My favorite is Grand Central, but there are dozens of artisan bakeries around town.
There are restaurants in every price range and style, too. It won’t take you long to make friends here, and that’s where I get my best restaurant recommendations.
And no sales tax! (Just hold your breath when you pay your state income tax…)
Sorry to say I’ve found McMenamin’s to be overpriced and the service was
mediocre to poor. I’ve only been to 2 or 3, but that was my impression. They are
unique though.
There are lots of inexpensive, free, things to do. The area is bike and hike friendly.
I live in S.W. Washington and just across the bridge is a full sized replica of old Fort
Vancouver. Within walking distance you will also find “Officer’s Row”, 21 beautifully
restored and maintained 19th century houses, including the Gen. O.O. Howard house
and the Gen. U.S. Grant house. Also Pearson Air Park, one of the oldest
continuously operated airfields in the U.S. They also have several vintage aircraft and
a small air museum. This area is also the site of the largest Independence Day
fireworks display west of the Mississippi.
A nice day trip is to take WA. state rte. 14 east from Vancouver to the Bridge of the
Gods (toll), cross the Columbia back into OR. and return to Portland on I-84, a hundred or so miles. Many
scenic sites and views along the way, including Bonneville dam and Multnomah Falls.
There are the two volcanos, Mt. Hood (winter sports) and Mt. St. Helens (summer
viewing).
The coast is only a couple of hours away. There’s a bike rally every summer, Hood to the
Coast. Winter storm watching is a favorite beach pastime in winter, as well as whale
watching and summer beach activities.
With my post, and the others, we’ve only scratched the surface. Lot’s of nightlife,
restaurants, live theater, museums, etc.
I think Dan means I84, which runs East/West. I5 runs North/South. You can access I84 back to Portland right at Multnomah Falls, the largest and most spectacular of the falls in the gorge.
Portland has great brew pubs other than McMenamins. Try the Lucky Lab on about
SE 12 & Hawthorne.
Restaurants: my faves are Esparza’s (Tex-Mex), Fratelli (Italian), Hung Far Low (Chinese), Saigon Kitchen (Vietnamese), and Flying Pie Pizzeria.
Welcome, neighbor! I know very well the exact area of which you speak.
I recommend Happy Panda for really good & inexpensive Chinese. I recommend Lupe’s Escape for Mexican (not a chain - looks like a hole-in-the-wall, but the lines of people waiting to get in should tell you something). Pizza Schmizza has excellent pizza. There’s a little place near Rock Creek called the Mad Greek Deli where you can get good gyros & other Greek food, and the tavern kitty-corner to it, the Rock Creek Cafe & Pub, also has good pizza & Italian food. I’m just listing the cheap places, but there are lots more in the area that are spendier.
There are a ton of shops nearby - the Streets of Tanasbourne, for trendy, upscale shopping, and not to far from it are Target, Mervyn’s, a Safeway, and various other shops. Your bases should be covered there.
Attractions? Not in our general vicinity - the best bets are all Portland-based or farther. Outdoor activities are the cheapest, of course - walking, hiking, biking, snowshoeing are all free (except the equipment & clothing), then there’s skiing/snowboarding, OMSI, the Zoo, museums, etc, if you have some money to spend. Go to the mountains. Go to the coast. Go east & see the high desert (there’s a really cool museum in Bend - the High Desert Museum - a natural history/western art museum/mini zoo). Go to Crater Lake. Go to Silver Falls State Park (you like waterfalls? it has TEN!). Walk around downtown Portland & people-watch; Pioneer Courthouse Square & Tom McCall Waterfront Park are excellent places to do so.
This is a great place to live. (Don’t tell any Californians. They just screw the place up.)
West side is too Californiated for my taste–I work there but live in Southeast, baybee! Beaverton cops are nitpicky petty tyrants and the city makes way too much money from the traffic courts, be very aware.
Indian food - Abhiruchi next to the Grocery Outlet on Murray between Milliken and Canyon, boss seven buck lunch buffet. India House in downtown Portland, tenth and Morrison, has an excellent buffet as well.
Second for Saigon Kitchen, wowza! Chicken and Asparagus if it’s available, pork in peanut sauce is so good I’d drown myself in a bathtub full of it if I could.
When you go to Powell’s, say goodbye to your afternoon and your available discretionary income–trust me, I know whereof I speak…
Raccoon Lodge on Beaverton-Hillsdale highway near Scholl’s Ferry–Copper Ale and kettle o’french fries with various dipping sauces.
Jake’s Famous Crawfish at SW 12th and Stark is not cheap, but the food is incredible and they’ve been there for well over a hundred years. The late happy hour in the bar is really reasonable for small plates of dinner entrees, and if you want to get laid bigtime buy a woman a chocolate bag to share (grocery bag made of milk chocolate filled with white chocolate mousse, whipped cream and fresh blueberries, strawberries and raspberries, surrounded by raspberry sauce and more berries. Should be called “Orgasm With Two Spoons.”) You’re very likely to see local celebrity types here–Gus Van Sant, Art Alexakis and Chuck Pahlaniuk are regulars.
Sandy River through Troutdale in summer–chill water, hot sand, happy stick fetching Labradors.
Rooster Rock and Sauvie Island for the nudists, Bagby Hot Springs for the nudists who like to hike.
Go to Multnomah Falls early in the morning during the week. Hike to the top (.8 mile, pretty steep but paved switchback path the whole way up), then hike a mile or more up the path that follows the creek, it’s incredibly beautiful. Hike back down and have breakfast at the Lodge (surprisingly inexpensive for breakfast and I can’t recommend the chicken fried steak too highly) sitting in front of the fireplace (in winter) or in the sunroom (if it’s warm.)
The Big River Grill in Stevenson WA has home brewed root beer and a killer spinach salad with grilled portobello mushrooms. Make sure you cross the Bridge of the Gods on at least one leg of the journey. Hang your head out the window as you cross and look straight down… heh…
I love this town–welcome!
Maybe I’m crazy, but I didn’t like Powells. I like my bookstores small and dusty. I get overwhelmed in crowds and in places with lots of signs. Though I did find like, 8 books to buy in the 20 minutes we were in there, and we only hit the sci-fi section.
Early morning, FilmGeek–I’m just sayin’! One year we had a horrible ice storm going on and the coffee bar at Powell’s was the only place open on Christmas Eve–they donated all proceeds to Sisters of the Road, and it would not have been an inconsiderable sum… I love Powell’s!
Go get this book from Chuck Palahnuik. It’s a travelogue of all the odd little things in and around Portland, where he grew up.
It’s a great “Must see” list of things in Portland, and a fun read as well.
One of my favorite sections is “Talk the Talk”. It’s a list of pronunciations and words that native Portlanders use.
Agreed - when (Beaverton Mayor, paid more than the damned governor)Drake gets his claws on Aloha, I’m moving - maybe to Tualatin. Not within Portland city limits/Multnomah county, though - y’all can keep your damn high property taxes and personal income taxes!
Eat at Skippers.
Oh yeah. How do you pronounce Tualatin? Tigard?
Aloha is - ah-LOW-ah, right? Not Ah-low-HA.
And The Dalles is The Dales. These things I’ve learned. Everything else seems to be prononced differently too. It’s like another country.
Too-AL-a-tin.
TIE-gurd.
Yup.
Not quite. Rhymes with “gals”.
You’ll get the hang of it.
wuh-LAM-it, not WIL-a-met
Ori’gun, not Ori-gahn
But I’m sure you knew those already…