Eating Vegan in Portland
Since first becoming vegan, Portland was somewhere I always wanted to visit - primarily for how many vegan options are constantly opening up there, but also because it just looked beautiful. When I finally got to visit, as the last stop of my travels across the US, I was determined to visit as many vegan food havens as possible, and I managed to tick a fair few off of my list. However the ones I didn't get a chance to visit are just another reason to visit again soon! Hope you enjoy!!
BACK TO EDEN BAKERY - 100% VEGAN
This bakery was one of the top on my list for when I visited Portland, purely because I love bakery style foods - you can never go wrong with pastries and cakes right? We visited to get snacks, which included a pizza roll, peanut butter brownie, and a mint chocolate cake. They have a few locations around Portland, and typically sell breakfast bowls, mac & cheese, salads, pizza, bakery items of course, smoothies and desserts, and at their dessert bar they also sell milkshakes and sundaes! I definitely recommend their food, the pizza roll just reminded me of my childhood school days, which is one of the best feelings when trying new vegan food imo! If you wanna check out their menus and full website you can here; www.backtoedenbakery.com.
HOMEGROWN SMOKER - 100% VEGAN
When browsing all the vegan food websites back in December before visiting the US, Homegrown Smoker was one that particularly stood out to me as the menu promised BBQ ribs - which is one of the foods I've most been excited to try since turning vegan 4 years ago! The premise of this restaurant is comfort style BBQ foods, with their menu offering buffalo wings, mac & cheese, burgers, cheesy grit sticks, sandwiches with fillings varying between golden fried 'fish', philly cheesesteak, ham and cheese, vegan chicken and more. Homegrown Smoker also offers their famous mac & cheese burrito, which we tried, and also sides such as loaded fries, BBQ beans, hush puppies and stewed greens. It took us an unsuccessful Uber ride, a 20 minute long queue and a lot of great views to get here but the food, and memories made on our last night in Portland was definitely worth it! To see the full extent of their southern style comfort food, and check out their website in full, you can view it here; http://www.homegrownsmoker.com/.
SIZZLE PIE
If you're looking for huge slices of pizza complete with melty vegan cheese, right opposite one of the most iconic bookstores (bar the Strand), then Sizzle Pie is the place to visit! You can get full vegan pizza's for around $20-$30 dollars, but if you buy by the slice they're only a fraction of the price and you can try multiple flavours! I got the 'Void', which was their version of a vegan margarita, and the 'Spiral Tap', which was laden with layers of caramelized onions. As this restaurant isn't 100% vegan its a great place to visit with non-vegan friends and family as you know you'll all be able to enjoy great food! They have a range of vegan options, such as the classic pepperoni, sausage, pepperoni and tofu cheese, and lots of veggie options! The garlic knots are also vegan, and I'm so sad I didn't get to try them, yet another excuse to return to Portland. Sizzle Pie have locations in both Oregon and Washington, and you can view them alongside their full menu at their website here; https://www.sizzlepie.com/.
VITA CAFE
I managed to stumble across this cafe with my friends on the first morning in Portland, as I was exhausted and food deprived after the 12 hour coach journey from Vancouver, and it ended up being on the same street as the air b&b! After having lived in America for almost 5 months at this point, I thought it would be a good idea to finally try the infamous biscuits and gravy. So at Vita Cafe, I went for the 'Sloppy Biscuit Sandwich', which consisted of; fried tofu, 'turkey', vegan cheese, and gravy served in a biscuit alongside fried potatoes. Now considering I had no idea what to expect with this breakfast, it was actually really tasty, especially the fried tofu which really brought everything together. Once again this cafe isn't 100% vegan, which was good for me traveling with 2 non-vegan friends, but they have a wide range of vegan breakfast items like cooked savoury breakfast options full of fried tofu, vegan sausage, bacon and french toast, as well as porridge, smoothies, 'chicken 'fried steaks, corn cakes, tofu scramble and breakfast burritos. They also sell vegan friendly sandwiches and wraps for lunch, a variety of main meals for dinner and a selection of cakes. If you're looking for good veggie and vegan comfort food, especially for brunch, then this is a place to add to your must see list! You can view their full menu and website here; http://www.vita-cafe.com.
SWEET HEREAFTER - 100% VEGAN
Whilst I was in Portland I had the opportunity to meet up with a friend who lived there and who I hadn't seen in years, and we ended up at this all vegan bar with an extensive food and drinks menu! I ended up getting the Buffalo Sub after glowing recommendations from my friend, and even though it was horribly messy to eat it definitely was delicious! Their menu is also full of burgers, Jamaican, Thai and Eastern inspired bowls, and they have a pretty good happy hour menu too! The owners of Sweet Hereafter actually own a selection of bars throughout Portland which all boast vegan menu's and hipster interiors, including one called 'The Bye and Bye', which is apparently a must visit! Their menus vary throughout their locations, so you can compare them at their website here; http://hereafterpdx.com/.
There are still so many places I want to visit in Portland, such as the all vegan grocery store, but that will have to wait until next time! If you have any other recommendations for me in preparation for next time I visit, or any further questions please comment down below or send me an email at positivesoph@gmail.com! Hope you enjoyed! - Sophie :)