The Top Restaurants by Cuisine in Portland

by The OpenTable team

Updated February 20, 2020

Where’s the best Mexican, Japanese, Chinese, or Indian food in town? Where’s the best steak, the best pizza, the best plate of oysters? We’ve pulled data from thousands of restaurants to find the top spots among Portland's most expert, seasoned diners, broken down by each type of cuisine.

Davenport

4.8

4.8 (662)

$31 to $50

Contemporary American

Northeast Portland

About the restaurant

AMERICAN: This reasonably priced dinner-only spot has a regularly changing menu of globally-inspired American dishes that celebrate ingredients from the pacific northwest. This is also reflected in the ambiance they’ve created using calming earth tones and lots of wood. The standout menu items (if they're available) are the cauliflower soup, scallops, swordfish, and beef goulash.

Top review

DanielDvip

Dined 6 days ago

Fantastic example of Portland dining as it was back in the day. Chef-driven, great quality and service, lovely space.

RingSide Steakhouse - Uptown

4.8

4.8 (6781)

$50 and over

Steakhouse

Northwest Portland

About the restaurant

STEAKHOUSE: When you walk into this classic steakhouse that’s been operating for over sixty years—with waiters in tuxedos—you’re transported to another time. Wooden beams, a brick fireplace, and red leather booths feel like a storied steakhouse mixed with an old hunting lodge. A perfect intersection for serving prime cuts of meat, like their filet mignon and prime rib, which are popular orders along with oversized onion rings and a great French onion soup.

Top review

OpenTable Diner

Dined 4 days ago

Just a special Portland place, and always consistent and excelent!

Can Font

4.6

4.6 (1001)

$30 and under

Spanish

Northwest Portland

About the restaurant

SPANISH: Beautiful, elegant, and delicately decorated Catalan restaurant in the wonderful Pearl district. Their original location is in Spain, and their menu is specifically inspired by Barcelona, as is some of the design. Their unmistakably authentic food will make you feel like you’re eating at their original location. The octopus appetizer, Spanish rioja, and assortment of paellas (the traditional one with squid is top-notch) are popular choices, and as a bonus, you can see them make most of it from their open kitchen.

Top review

Elspeth1vip

Dined 6 days ago

We had a wonderful meal. We had a delicious variety of tapas.

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4.8

4.8 (3176)

$30 and under

South American

Southwest Portland

About the restaurant

SOUTH AMERICAN: Nestled right alongside the waterfront—with a very rare dining view of the Willamette River—is this sizzling South American restaurant that marries flavors from Argentina, Chile, and Patagonia. Their menu not only features tapas, empanadas, and ceviches, but also has a variety of veggie dishes and grilled seafood and meat. They even have an outdoor pig roast, which is where their smoked and slow roasted pork gets its intense flavor from. Their octopus with chorizo and bacon wrapped duck dishes are also strong standouts.

Top review

Pickietravelervip

Dined 2 days ago

Happy Hour at Lechon is great. Not very many cocktails in menu but they all seem good. 4pm On a Wed is not too busy. I sat at the counter facing the beautiful aquarium. Service was friendly and prompt.

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AFURI IZAKAYA - SE PORTLAND

4.6

4.6 (64)

$30 and under

Ramen

Southeast Portland

About the restaurant

JAPANESE: Afuri is a hugely popular ramen chain in Tokyo, and they were generous enough to bring their savory slurpy goodness to Portland. Their signature bowl of yuzu shio ramen is very unique, because it has a chicken broth instead of the pork-based broth of tonkotsu-style ramen that’s more typical in the U.S. Their lighter broth isn’t as rich as most other ramen, and it has more delicate flavors—like dried seafood with a hint of citrus—that serve as the base for the very tender chicken in it. They also have the only genshiyaki grill (an older, more traditional version of a yakitori or robata grill) in the country, which they use to grill meat, fish, and veggies.

Top review

Russ

Dined on Aug 26, 2023

Absolutely amazing space. The food and service were fantastic.

Darsalam - Portland

4.4

4.4 (23)

$30 and under

Middle Eastern

Northeast Portland

About the restaurant

MIDDLE EASTERN: Dar Salam is about as close as you can get to eating authentic food in Iraq without taking more than a car ride. Behind this beautifully delicious Middle Eastern restaurant there’s a beautiful story too. In 2011, an Iraqi man and his Portlandian wife opened up a very popular food cart called Aladdin's Castle Cafe (where he and his mother made all the food), and then they opened Dar Salam so people could better experience the hospitality that’s at the core of their culture. They expanded their menu to include wonderfully flavorful things like kabobs, large rice plates, stews, and plenty of gluten-free options (like their falafel, which people swoon for). More recently, they opened Dar Salam Lazurdi, which also has live music and belly dancing!

Top review

LindaH

Dined on Apr 8, 2023

We had gluten free, vegetarians, and vegans in our party of six, and everyone was really happy with their food. I chose it for those options but also mainly because it was so close to the event venue we were going to afterwards. We all said we’d plan to go back, so kudos!

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