What to do in Portland, Oregon: Food, Wineries, Breweries

For One Planet Journey, travel writer Carolyn M. Turner has put together the ultimate deep travel guide of what to do in Portland, Oregon. Carolyn guides us through the Rose City’s unique sustainability-focused culture, including its renowned food carts, spectacular gardens, atmospheric markets, and regenerative Willamette Valley wineries. And don’t miss the interview with a craft brewery founder who epitomises the “maker” culture in Portland.

A Deep Travel Guide to Portland’s Sustainable Culture

As a society, there has been a shift in our travel preferences. Most travellers have historically taken the bucket-list approach, but the tide is changing. Now more than ever, we visit a destination to find more than what is on the surface. We crave a deeper understanding. At its core, deep travel is the desire to experience a new place beyond curiosity, instead nurturing the need for connection.

A deep traveller’s dream is genuine experiences, knowing the destination has implemented sustainable practices for the environment and locals alike. To see all of this in action, I travelled to the American state of Oregon to visit The Rose City. Welcome to Portland.  

Portland is one of America’s most sustainable cities and is roughly 130 kilometres (80 miles) east of the rugged Pacific Coast. North of Portland is the impressive and beautiful Columbia River Gorge, and to the south is Oregon’s most famous wine region: the Willamette Valley. In addition to the multitude of natural wonders, Portland has numerous cultural treasures. They hold local products and food in high regard here, and there are endless ways to enjoy them. 

What to do in Portland 

Food Carts 

As a gastronomic connoisseur, or foodie, I always sample local cuisine when travelling. Food products famous in Oregon include Marionberries (a variation of a blackberry), hazelnuts (the world’s third largest production behind Turkey and Italy) and Dungeness crab (from the nearby Pacific Ocean). For Portland, however, there is not a specific recipe or food genre that defines the city’s gastronomic scene. Rather, it is the vehicle that delivers the cuisine. In this instance, I use the term vehicle figuratively and quite literally. This is because the best food in Portland comes from trucks or trailers, known as food carts. 

According to Atlas Obscura, Portland has had food carts since the 1980s. While traditional food trucks move locations daily, food carts, though mobile, centre around hubs where they often stay months at a time. These small establishments represent an affordable option for local chefs to sell their wares to the masses. Some popular food carts gain so much notoriety that they transition to fully operational restaurants. Such is the case with Portland’s famous ice cream chain, Salt & Straw. 

Food diversity at Hawthorne Asylum 

You generally find ten or more carts in a single hub to satisfy numerous tastes. The variety is vast, from American to Mexican to Scandinavian and more. The best part of a food cart hub is the casual atmosphere paired with highly rated cuisine. Portland’s fine dining scene is impressive, but there is something so satisfying about enjoying an exceptional meal in humble surroundings. After all, your budget does not define deep travel. Furthermore, these businesses often support sustainability efforts by sourcing from local producers, composting food waste and using biodegradable serve ware. 

Hawthorne Asylum, Cartopia, and Hinterland Bar & Carts come highly rated as food cart hubs, so you know what to do and eat when visiting Portland. I visited Hawthorne Asylum and tried Korean, Mediterranean, and Lebanese cuisine. All delicious, however, the Korean bibimbap bowl shined with its crunchy vegetables, savoury beef, fried egg and bold gochujang sauce. 

Portland Gardens 

Given Portland’s long but mild rainy season (September through May), there are an abundance of native plants, flowers and trees to enjoy across the city. The most famous flower that thrives here is the rose, whose cultivation led Portland to gain the title of “The Rose City.” You find rose bushes all over the city, and in the yards of Portland’s picturesque craftsman houses. 

The most impressive display of these flowers is at the International Rose Test Garden in Washington Park. With 10,000 rose bushes in over 600 varieties, this garden is as much a delight to the eyes as it is to the nose. In accordance with Portland’s Ecologically Sustainable Landscape Initiative, they have planted native plants throughout the garden to provide a healthy environment for local pollinators.  

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Close to the International Rose Test Garden in Washington Park is the Portland Japanese Garden. This peaceful, serene escape in the city houses Japanese trees, water fountains and a traditional Zen garden. There is also a tranquil waterfall, known as Heavenly Falls, that cascades into the Strolling Pond Garden while colourful koi fish swim below. The garden utilises multiple strategies to operate responsibly, including an underground tank for rainwater irrigation and geothermal wells to regulate the temperature inside buildings. 

Even on a modest scale, Portland makes strides to introduce sustainable cultivation to public spaces. One of the more subtle but pretty efforts is the insertion of nature patches (small gardens designed with local plants that support native pollinators) into city parks. If you’re looking for suggestions on what to do, I recommend Cathedral Park in North Portland. 

Portland Wineries 

For a scenic day trip one hour outside the city, venture south to the Willamette Valley. Wineries here lead the industry in sustainability efforts. This American Viticultural Area (AVA) has a similar terrain to Burgundy and produces world-class Pinot Noir. There are many varietals to enjoy in the Willamette Valley, surrounded by rolling vineyards. 

One institution producing excellent wine in a responsible manner is Coeur de Terre Vineyard in McMinnville. They practise regenerative farming, a method that not only sustains the land but also nurtures it. In addition to sustainable efforts in grape cultivation, this vineyard has partnered with Willamette Valley-based company, Revino, to offer reusable wine bottles. Wine enthusiasts can purchase a bottle of wine from Coeur de Terre or another participating winery (there are over seventy to date), enjoy the wine, then return the bottle for reuse. This system substantially cuts down on waste and carbon dioxide emissions.

Abbey Road Farm Winery in the Willamette Valley

Refillable wine bottles at Coeur de Terre Vineyard

Portland Breweries 

Craft breweries in Oregon have also set the stage for responsible fermentation. To discover how, I meet with Christian Ettinger, founder of Hopworks Brewery – Powell Mothership in Southeast Portland. At 19, Christian discovered his passion for the craft beer tradition after moving to Cologne, Germany. Now at 52, he has become an expert both in making artisan beer and in guiding industry professionals on how to do so responsibly. 

At Hopworks Brewery, sustainable design is present in every facet of the business, starting with their building, a 1948 tractor showroom. By using an existing building rather than a new one and by reclaiming and recycling the materials, Hopworks has created a beautiful space with charm and craft. Efforts to maintain what Christian calls a “green building” include high-efficiency heating, cooling and plumbing and drought-resistant native plants for landscaping that require zero irrigation. 

Sustainability continues through Hopworks’ manufacturing channels. They prioritise locally sourced goods that are organic, family-owned and responsibly produced (such as salmon-safe hops). After discovering the substantial waste stream of empty malt bags in the industry, Christian founded the Malt Bag Recycling Program with suppliers Country Malt Group and Great Western Malting. Thanks to this program, they recycle hundreds of thousands of empty malt bags annually.

In recognition of these efforts, Hopworks Brewery received a B-Corp certification (outstanding social and environmental practices) in 2015. It remains Oregon’s first and only brewery with this title. As of today, there are over fourteen thousand breweries in the United States, and only seventeen have B-Corp status.

Shop Local in Portland 

One of the best ways to immerse yourself in a new destination is to experience the work of local artisans. Hopworks Brewery founder Christian Ettinger lovingly refers to The Rose City as a “maker epicentre.” In many major cities, artisanal shops can be few and far between. In Portland, however, craft goods have high value and are widely available.  

At the Portland Saturday Market, there are hundreds of local craftspeople selling their wares along the Willamette River. This is the largest open-air market in the United States. In downtown Portland, brick and mortar businesses selling Oregon-made products include MadeHere, Amity Artisan Goods, and Tender Loving Empire, to name a few. 

Another Portland institution that promotes responsible shopping is Powell’s City of Books. This is the world’s largest bookstore under independent ownership, and it spans the length of an entire city block. In addition to new books, they also stock used books, available for purchase. Powell’s has an impressive array of works written by well-known authors as well as those of local talent. 

Salt & Honey 

For more tips on what to do in Portland, take a day trip to the west – a charming drive on the Three Capes Scenic Route along the Pacific Coast. Here, you’ll find Jacobsen Salt Co. and its processing facility in Tillamook, Oregon. The company harvests salt from the water in the nearby Netarts Bay and produces goods including cooking salt, seasonings and candy. A sweet treat worth indulgence is Jacobsen’s salted caramels. They are chewy, irresistible, and the bag is nearly empty by the time I return to Portland.

Jacobsen Salt Co. also sustainably produces local, raw honey. The Hive Program promotes the health and well-being of regional bee populations. They install bee colonies and hives across Oregon for businesses and locals while also offering educational assistance. 

Portland – A City of Good

In Portland, pleasure and responsibility live in harmony. The legacy of The Rose City is to promote human craft while preserving the environment. I asked Hopworks founder Christian Ettinger to describe the foundations of this legacy. According to Christian, Oregon’s wealth of natural resources, including old-growth forests, the Willamette Valley, mountains, and the Pacific Ocean, is a unique attribute of this wild state. This environment is special, and the people of Portland and of Oregon want to protect it. 

This dedication makes it easy to connect with Portland. You feel like a local shortly after arriving, which is an impressive achievement. You are part of a team, not an outsider. In this way, deep travel becomes more of an exploration of an authentic way of living. So, take my advice- ditch the bucket list. Rather, choose to dive deeper and experience places like Portland, Oregon. You’ll leave feeling a richer sense of the world around you and of yourself. Bon voyage! 

Have you visited Portland, Oregon? Do you have more tips on what to do in Portland? Let us know in the comments. Subscribe to our newsletter and benefit from travel guides, sustainable tourism and luxury travel tips, insightful interviews, and inspirational places to visit. One Planet Journey – The World’s First Deep Travel Magazine.