Spencer's Food Adventures

  • 2025 Restaurant Closures

    2025 was a tough year for the Portland food scene. Lots of high profile closures and hopeful re-openings of numerous favorite restaurants, sandwich shops, food carts, bakeries, bars and breweries. Here’s to hoping that 2026 brings new locations for those who are looking to move, and something new and exciting for those that are closing…

  • Sugarpine Drive-In

    Along the banks of the Sandy river in Troutdale is the greatest little old drive-in restaurant you could ever hope for. Started in 2018, this place has quickly become an Oregonian favorite and a must for any trips out to the Gorge. They specialize in seasonal, thoughtful, scratch-made menus utilizing local produce as well as…

  • Ki’ikibáa

    One of my favorite restaurants in Portland is Ki’ikibáa. Specializing in regional Yucatecan food, they won restaurant of the year from the Oregonian in 2023, their first full year open. The name means “delicious food” in Mayan and the name is spot on. Located in an unassuming strip mall on 82nd, this restaurant holds special…

  • Lardo Chefwich

    Lardo, the venerable and iconic Portland sandwich restaurant helmed by Rick Gencarelli has a monthly special, the “chefwich” where he invites a local chef to craft a special sandwich that sells for the month and part of the proceeds go to a charity of the chef’s choosing. I’m not sure when exactly this started, but…

  • The Meddling Lime

    Some of my favorite Mexican inspired food of recent memory has been from the food cart The Meddling Lime located at 6200 SE Milwaukie Ave in Portland, OR. Tacos, burritos, pozole, breakfast burritos/tacos, but also fare like bowls and crispy rice dishes. They have a really deep menu that is executed flawlessly and is built…

  • Better Half

    One of my favorite neighborhood sandwich shops, Better Half is closing this week so I decided to make a long overdue post about them. Hopefully they find a new place so that this post isn’t a swan song. Let me set the table: I moved in 2019 from Grant Park to Irvington. In my old…

  • Taco Roundup

    Tacos are some of my favorite food, and we have some killer tacos here in Portland! I decided to do a roundup of my favorite tacos the last few years now that we are transitioning out of taco season and into soup season here in the PNW. Each photo will be accompanied by a short…

  • Bark City BBQ

    Bark City BBQ serves up some of the finest BBQ in Portland. Texas inspired smoked meats, southern inspired sides, Bark City used tradition as inspiration to move the cuisine forward. They have some of the best meats, sides, and increasingly sandwiches in town. They operate out of the Heist food cart pod in SE PDX…

  • Pasture PDX

    Pasture PDX is a sandwich shop and whole animal butchery that opened up on Alberta in 2022. Right out of the gate they were making some of the best sandwiches in town. As the sandwich scene in Portland continues to grow and evolve, Pasture remains steady in making some of the most delicious sandwiches in…

  • HarBQ

    One of my new favorite traditions this summer has been to go to HarBQ on Fridays for whatever sandwich special they are running. They offer up full bbq menus on the weekends, but on Fridays have a smaller menu and a few sandwich specials. They’ve all been great, and the ones I have had recently…