One of my favorite conversations to have with people is when they ask me what I love most about Portland. I love a lot of things about Portland, but I always launch into how awesome the food and drink scene is here. We have such amazing access to local food, and many of the restaurants source the ingredients from their menus from local farms. Noble Rot just kills this; they even have their own rooftop garden that’s got way more than a few herbs.
Portland is also smack in the middle of a number of wine regions, including the Willamette Valley, the Columbia River Valley, Hood River, and others. The spirits scene is exploding here, and there are many awesome cocktail bars and respected mixologists, as well as a distillery scene that’s spreading like crazy.
Additionally, we’ve got some of the best coffee and beer around, and while I’m sure you may be familiar with Stumptown Coffee and Rogue Beer, we’ve got way more than just those. Here are a couple of my favorite local spots, out of the many, many that I love and frequent here.
Bunk Sandwiches
If you follow me on Foursquare, you probably see me check in here at least once a week. No shame here, it’s my favorite breakfast sandwich I’ve ever had, and the ingredients are hella local.
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The bread comes from the local Fleur de Lis bakery, they hand-press the sausage in house, and the cheese is the ever-addictive, Oregon-local Tillamook Vintage White Cheddar.
Bean & Tree
Portland boasts a lot of great coffee shops, but this one’s closest to home for me and I walk up here at least a couple of times a week. The baristas are friendly, the music’s always great, and the Stumptown Coffee is always really, really hot.
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Portland Farmers’ Market
Because, obviously. And it’s not just for produce.
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We’ve gotten some great local honey, olive oil, drinking vinegar, meat, cheese, wine, and beer here.
Some Non-Food Nods AKA Let’s Go Shopping!
Yes, I do more than eat and drink here. Sometimes I look for really cute Portland-related prints. Sometimes I want to send someone a postcard. Other times, I’m just wandering around somewhere and find a great-looking shop with window displays filled with owls and pictures of trees and bridges and just begging me to come in. These are a few of those shops:
- Canoe [SW Alder]
- Radish Underground [SW 10th]
- Crafty Wonderland [SW 10th]
- Flora [SW Washington]
As a note and in the spirit of keeping it in the neighborhood, these are my favorite SW Portland picks, because I live in Southwest Portland. Those of you on the east side or in the northwest or the Pearl, feel free to weigh in on your favorite spots over there; I know I’m only skimming the surface here. For what it’s worth, my favorite non-SW spots are: Ford Food + Drink, Ken’s Artisan Pizza, ¿Por Qué No?, Portland Juice Press, Urban Waxx, all of the vintage shops on Hawthorne, Frock Boutique, and the best tacos in Portland (that I know of) are tucked away in the back of a north Portland market called La Tienda Santa Cruz.
Make Your Money Matter
This post is a piece of the Make Your Money Matter campaign, a grassroots campaign introduced by eight credit unions from across the country and PSCU that aims to educate a new generation of consumers about the wealth of benefits credit unions provide over big banks, and takes a closer look at some of the great reasons for shopping local and keeping your money in your own community.
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This collaboration was a really solid one here, actually. While my food and wine choices are easy ones to make locally, I’ve been thinking about this (credit unions vs. banks) for awhile, but I’ve had a few questions about it. For instance, I travel a lot. Will I have easy access to my money when I’m out of town, or will I pay high ATM fees? What about the fact that I’m self-employed and get paid not from direct deposit from an employer, but by sending invoices and being paid either through PayPal or good old-fashioned checks in the mail? Is direct deposit still an option for me? Who ARE my local credit unions, anyway?
I took a look at the Make Your Money Matter website, and first of all, it’s addictive and playful, and super informative about a lot of these questions. I learned that direct deposit could be an option, and there’s a super useful checklist for what to do when you’re ready to switch (AKA How to Break Up With Your Bank).
Wherever you live, how do YOU shop local? And if you’re a credit union member vs. a bank customer, what made you switch?
Disclosure info: This post is sponsored by Make Your Money Matter, in association with PSCU, though all views expressed are my own. I don’t accept sponsorship dollars from causes I don’t support, and I definitely support shopping local, and found this to be a really informative website and campaign for something I was already considering. If you’re the least bit curious about credit unions vs. banks and/or you’re committed to supporting your local community, I’d highly suggest you check out Make Your Money Matter.
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