With lots of new and seasoned businesses to explore, this lively neighborhood is always worth a visit
From handcrafted pottery and inclusive bookstores to nationally-acclaimed restaurants, this whimsical corner of Northeast Portland will inspire you to try something new.
YAOWARAT
Yaowarat Road, the main artery of Chinatown in Bangkok, Thailand, comes vividly to life at this acclaimed Stark St. restaurant, which opened in 2023.
“[Yaowarat Road] is a dense, lit-up stretch packed with gold shops, shrines, traffic and some of the most famous street food in the city,” said co-owner Eric Steven Nelson. “It’s loud. It’s cramped. It can be smelly. It’s chaotic. And it’s deeply communal more than anything.”
Nelson says his team — which includes co-owners Akkapong ‘Earl’ Ninsom, Kyle Linden Webster and Sam Smith — wanted to capture the spirit of the street by overwhelming their clientele’s senses the minute they walk in.
“We want loud banging woks, music a little louder than normal, lights darker, tables cramped together. We want smoke and steam and chatter and excitement,” Nelson said. “Most of all we want to invite Portland to trip along with us in our culinary exploration of one of the world’s most incredible neighborhoods.”
Since opening three years ago, Yaowarat has been named Best Restaurant in Portland 2024 by Portland Monthly and profiled by the The New York Times among other accolades.
“No matter the award, we’re just glad our guests vibe with us and felt how personal and transportive the experience of Yaowarat was meant to be.”
Ready to transport yourself halfway around the world without leaving Rose City?
Nelson says restaurant goers should definitely start off their culinary adventure with their chive cakes which are fried twice so the outside is crispy crunchy, and the inside is this really luscious mochi texture.
“Dip these little flippers into a salty and sour black soy and vinegar sauce,” he recommends. “There’s variations and shapes all over Bangkok, but we had this style that was cut into cubes and crispy at a little stall off the main strip in Yaowarat. Every table needs an order.”
Other standout dishes include the pickled cabbage salad that Nelson says is like a Thai version of Kimchi, but a little brighter and more sour.
“We toss those with an unapologetic amount of Thai chilies, onions, celery, crispy fried dried shrimp, fish sauce and lime,” he said. “It’s the perfect foil to our rich noodle dishes and curries.”
Room for a main course? Their Kuay Teow Kua Gai — rice noodles and chicken cooked in pork fat, laid over leaf lettuce and topped with a steamed egg, chili vinegar, sugar, dried chilies and scallion is another standout.
“Easily a dish I've eaten my weight in and one I’ll never get tired of,” Nelson said. “It's our best-selling dish and we can't make them fast enough.”
He continues: “The idea is that people leave a little dazed, crazy full, energized by the chaos and feeling like they got briefly dropped into another city, then taken care of in a way that still feels very Portland and very neighborhood.”
Speaking of neighborhoods, Nelson says the Montavilla community has been beyond receptive to what they are trying to do.
“I love this community,” Nelson said. “They've welcomed us and we're so thankful we’re becoming a neighborhood spot. It is every restaurateur's dream to open a space that can become a part of the beating heart of the neighborhood it's in.”
Address: 7937 S.E. Stark St. Website: yaowaratpdx.com Instagram: @yaowaratpdx Don’t miss: Guay Job, a thai noodle soup, is back on the menu!
GLAZE
The next time you’re walking down Southeast Stark do not glaze over Glaze, an adorable gift shop and pottery studio.
Co-owners Jenn Gauer and Meghan Radick met at Lincoln High School in the 1990s, and have been friends ever since. The duo have been creating pottery together for more than 20 years but it wasn’t until 2023 they decided to take their business one-step further and open the store. Now they run JaMpdx Ceramics, which is their pottery business, and Glaze, a customer-facing store in Montavilla. Gauer is the house potter while Radick decorates. She worked as a cake decorator for 15 years and still gets inspiration from pastry arts.
“Inspiration is everywhere!” Radick said. “We are inspired by the seasons, by nature, by holidays and celebrations and by combining unexpected elements from our other crafts.”
While they’re known for whimsical, bright designs that involve cutely placed ladybugs and lilies of the valley on teapots, cake platters and dishware, Radick says some of their most popular designs incorporate more colorful words, mainly one that starts with the letter ‘F.’
“We are delighted that our profane pottery line resonates with so many people,” Radick said. “These mugs are ones that we try to keep in stock and always seem to need to make more. It seems to resonate with a lot of people these days.”
In addition to making pottery on-site, the duo highlights other local artisans with gift ideas throughout the store.
“We love Portland and the artistic community here,” Gauer said. “We have curated our shop to feature things we love and things that are locally made, designed, and/or sourced, with thought given to what combines well with our ceramics.”
Customers can browse chocolates, cards, soaps, lotions and tea to pair nicely with their hand-crafted teapots.
Visit their website for more details on upcoming events.
ENDLESS WONDERS BOOKS
Like many avid readers Zo Nicole and Mags Burke often dreamed of owning their own bookstore one day. This June that dream became a reality when they opened Endless Wonders Bookstore inside the Hungry Hearts Bakery.
“I think I had always romanticized the idea of working in a bookstore or opening a bookstore,” Nicole said. “I was working remotely and was ready to do something that I felt like had a more direct impact on my local community.
The shop, which seeks to amplify marginalized voices, started as a pop-up, but quickly grew in popularity and is now a permanent fixture.
“Our mission for Endless Wonders Books is to connect readers to diverse books and to their communities,” Nicol said. “We believe that seeing ourselves represented in media in general and literature in particular makes a huge difference in our own development as a person. We also believe that reading stories from communities or identities different than our own increases empathy and can help combat negative stereotypes and biases.”
Nicole says another hard part of the job is picking out which books to feature in the shop because they get so many great recommendations.
Says Nicole: “It is so hard to choose books for such a small space, but it is one of my favorite parts of the job. We exclusively carry books written by or featuring marginalized communities, so that helps.
“We're lucky to be in such a literary powerhouse of a city like Portland. We have so many amazing local authors and it has been a dream to meet and get to work with some of them.”
They say one of their goals for this year is to host more local author book fairs and events.
“When we vended at the Montavilla Street Fair this summer, we met so many people who were so excited at the possibility of having a bookstore in the neighborhood. Montavilla is such a community-oriented neighborhood and we just generally love the vibe and community. People have been so welcoming and gracious and we are so honored to be part of a wonderful community.”
Address: 414 S.E. 80th Ave. Website: endlesswondersbooks.com Instagram: @endlesswondersbooks Don’t miss: Analog Sundays give people the chance to carve out some offline time and connect with others.
