After a two-and-a-half-year spell when local headlines were often filled with landmark restaurant closures, it’s a small relief to suddenly be inundated with so many openings. Still, the glut of new places to eat can be hard to track — I didn’t realize that Langbaan had reopened in Northwest Portland, or that Okta would debut in wine country this week, until working on this list. To help keep track of all the most intriguing new and upcoming restaurants in Portland and beyond, here’s a quick guide to 22 places that have opened since spring 2022, ordered by the month they opened.
Dough Zone
This celebrated Seattle dumpling house brought its pan-fried bao and slinky-like sliced cucumbers to Portland earlier this year, taking over the glitzy, glass-walled building once home to Lucier, a former fine-dining restaurant on the Willamette River.
Where: 1910 S. River Dr.
Opened in: April 2022
La Fondita and Taqueria Los Ponchos
The Republica team recently opened these side-by-side restaurants in the former Park Kitchen space, one built around Janet “Doña Chapis” Vargas’ impeccable tortillas, the other a taqueria highlighting fried quesadillas, suadero and cabeza tacos and al pastor shaved off the spit.
Where: 422 N.W. Eighth Ave.
Opened in: May 2022
Akadi, a West African restaurant, recently reopened in the former Grixen Brewing space on Southeast Division Street.Mark Graves/The Oregonian
Akadi 2.0
Fatou Ouattara closed Akadi’s original Northeast Portland location in 2020, traveled back to Ivory Coast to learn more about the ingredients and recipes of her homeland, then returned to reopen Akadi in a larger space filled with sunset colors and African artwork this spring.
Where: 1001 S.E. Division St.
Opened in: May 2022
Afuri Ramen Lab and Tanaka
The Afuri team has been busy, first opening a Slabtown neighborhood ramen “lab” that seeks to let diners in on the noodle-making process, then opening Tanaka, a full-fledged Japanese bakery and katsu sando shop in the former Blue Star Donuts headquarters.
Where: 1650 N.W. 21st Ave. and 678 S.W. 12th Ave.
Opened in: May and June 2022
Caspian Kabob
This beloved former Portland food cart, which served its last grilled meat kebabs and saffron rice at the Prost pod in 2019, popped up with a full restaurant nearly three years later in Beaverton.
Where: 3807 S.W. Orbit St., Beaverton
Opened in: May 2022
Lilla
The Sudra owner Sanjay Chandrasekaran’s latest project inside Aviv’s former commissary kitchen focuses on plant-based pasta, and is likely the first full vegan Italian restaurant in town since Portobello. Take note: Per social media, the restaurant is on a temporary hiatus.
Where: 960 S.E. Madison St.
Opened in: May 2022
Alouette
This new neighborhood bistro, a collaboration from Sunshine Noodles’ Diane Lam and Stem Wine Bar’s Wei-En Tan, opened in spring with butter-braised brassicas, beef fat pommes frites and hanger steaks cooked in vadouvan-spiced butter.
Where: 2764 N.W. Thurman St.
Opened in: May 2022
Cintli Cantina
This new North Portland restaurant across from the Twilight Room specializes in indigenous recipes from Cha Cha Cha chef-owner Javier Hurtado’s childhood in rural Mexico, with scratch-made corn tortillas, huitlacoche and toasted grasshoppers.
Where: 5225 N. Lombard St.
Opened in: June 2022
Dolly Olive
The latest restaurant from the Sesame Collective group (Mediterranean Exploration Company, Shalom Y’all, Bless Your Heart) focuses on the flavors of Southern Italy, including a daily focaccia, fresh-made pastas, Sicilian wines and Italian aperitifs.
Where: 527 S.W. 12th Ave.
Opened in: June 2022
Bar Cala
This Latin cocktail bar has been serving fish tacos, burgers with caramelized pineapple relish, pisco sours and bourbon and banana liqueur cocktails since late May in the former Station/Siam Society space, updated with tropical plants and lots of pink paint.
Where: 2703 N.E. Alberta St.
Opened in: June 2022
Espresso martinis are back on trend, though Morgenthaler notes he started serving one at Pepe Le Moko, the bar beneath Clyde Common, as far back as 2014.Courtesy of Pacific Standard/Rachelle Hacmac
Pacific Standard
About a year after the Clyde Common’s official closure, award-winning Portland bartender Jeffrey Morgenthaler and longtime running mate Benjamin “Banjo” Amberg opened this “love letter to the West Coast” in the sprawling lounge of Portland’s Icelandic hotel KEX.
Where: 100 N.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Opened in: June 2022
Langbaan
One of Portland’s best restaurants, Earl Ninsom’s Thai tasting menu recently reopened in Northwest Portland, where it shares a space with Phuket Cafe, a popular new Thai restaurant fronted by outdoor seating in a patio designed to resemble a Thai train car.
Where: 1818 N.W. 23rd Place
Opened in: July 2022
Hissyfit
Chef Maya Lovelace’s new concept for the just-closed Yonder space swaps the Southern fried chicken for a globally inspired menu of Korean spring onion pancakes, McFarland Springs trout in guajillo-tomato butter and tempura pickled green beans with a smoked cheddar fondue.
Opened in: July 2022
Where: 4636 N.E. 42nd Ave., Suite A
Canard Oregon City
Portland’s 2018 Restaurant of the Year recently opened a second home for steam burgers, dry-aged Salisbury steak frites and Dole Whip soft serve sundaes passed to a new patio in the lower Oregon City storefront previously home to Grano Bakery.
Where: 1500 Washington St., Oregon City
Opened in: July 2022
Okta
Former Castagna chef Matthew Lightner is set to open Okta, a “progressive dining destination” in McMinnville’s new Tributary Hotel “offering a multi-dimensioned experience inspired by the Valley’s seasonal rhythms and terroir.”
Where: 618 N.E. Third St., McMinnville
Opening in: July 2022
Masala Lab
This new gluten-free brunch spot with both traditional Indian dishes and modern interpretations of classic American breakfast fare, comes from Desi PDX owner Deepak Saxena, who hopes to debut the concept on July 21.
Where: 5237 N.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Opening in: July 2022
Gregory Gourdet stands inside the unfinished home of Bar Sousòl, his upcoming pan-Caribbean cocktail bar.Courtesy of Kann/Zach Lewis
Kann and Sousól
Arguably the most heavily anticipated spot on this list, “Top Chef” star Gregory Gourdet’s wood-fired Haitian restaurant plans to open later in Southeast Portland in “late July,” according to a source. Sousól, the Caribbean bar underneath Kann, will debut a few weeks later.
Where: 548 S.E. Ash St. and around the corner at 227 S.E. Sixth Ave.
Opening in: Late July and August 2022
Jacob & Sons
Noah Jacob, a Portlander who left a career in finance to help launch San Francisco’s popular Wise Sons deli, can already be found downtown most days, overseeing a team baking challah and cold-smoking fish at the former KitchenCru commissary.
Where: 337 N.W. Broadway
Opening in: September 2022
Read more:
9 new places to get sweet treats for summer 2022
Steak sandwiches, saffron rice and other pieces of restaurants news for June 2022
Indian popsicles, Caribbean bar snacks and more Portland restaurant news for May 2022
— Michael Russell, mrussell@oregonian.com @tdmrussell