12851 Wed Jun 16 13:27:32 -0700 2004 6 4 Pacific Northwest 0 24857 Reassure me on this point, Portland hounds. I'm planning to come up there from the Bay Area July 4 weekend. I'd like to do it without a car if that's reasonably possible. I'm planning to stay at the Heathman, so I'll be centrally located and am happy to go to places downtown, but I'll want to get out of downtown too. I'm not looking for fine dining but good, moderately priced food--good bakeries, good breakfasts, good sandwiches, good beer, places with true Portland character (as you guys define that). Since I'll be on foot it would be nice if the good food were in pleasant, interesting neighborhods, but if it's not, it's not. I'm happy to ride MAX, the streetcar, and buses reasonable distances--maybe 20 minutes or so. It seems like Broadway, Hawthorne, 23rd Ave. ought to be within reach, maybe some other places too. I've looked at Tri-Met's website, which is encouraging, but I'm interested in people's experience with it. Wed Jun 16 13:27:32 -0700 2004 0 Nathan Landau 1 24859 Our public transit is pretty decent for a city our size. It doesn't run as often in the off-hours as might be nice, though. So be-warned about late night transit. Check out the schedules. (And late night here can be after 9 pm.) The best thing for you will be that the Max is free in downtown to Lloyd Center, the first couple stops across the river east. The streetcar can take you to The Pearl, NW Portland, and PSU, where the Portland Farmer's Market is on Saturdays. The Pearl and NW have most of the best dining and best bakeries in Portland. If you like bakeries, you should stop by The Pearl Bakery, Ken's, and St. Honore. A couple other areas of note should be pretty easy to get to. eg, the Laurelhurst area at Burnside and E 28th has several small-plate/winebar places, plus Esparza's, Staccato Gelato, Taquerai Nueve, and Pambiche not far (at Glisan and 28th). Burnside is a major road and shouldn't be a problem getting to by public transit. Hawthorne, one of our biggest nose-ring neighborhoods (plus it has Powell's for Cooks and Gardeners, Pastaworks, a couple decent cafes, and other restaurants) is also on a major street and shouldn't be a problem via bus. In fact, most major streets should have a pretty direct route bus that will cut through them from downtown. Trimet's trip planner on their website can be very useful for the bus, which is what you'll probably want to use to get to neighborhoods like Hawthorne from downtown. btw, you can buy a 3 day pass that covers all forms of public transit, I think, for about $10. Link: http://www.extramsg.com Wed Jun 16 13:56:48 -0700 2004 24857 0 Nick 1 24868 Transit won't be a problem. The buses are fairly prompt (you can usually trust the schedule) and the city is small enough that not much is out of reach. We don't have a car, and use transit to pretty much go everywhere (but after 9 pm sucks like Nick mentioned). When we have to have a car, we use Flexcar. I'm not sure how quickly they could approve you, or what their policy is for for out-of-towners, but it looks like they're expanding into the Bay Area so it might be worth a look. Also, you can get real-time bus info on your cell phone, if it has that capability. www.trimet.org/wap For pdx neighborhood places, you should check out the whole Burnside/28th area, it has a lot going for it in terms of food related stuff. My favorites there are Taqueria Nueve, Navarre and Stacatto Gelato. The New Old Lompoc is a nice neighborhood place to hang out and drink beer and it's just around the corner from Pix Patisserie. Bridgeport is where everyone will tell you to go, but I like NOL better. The Clinton St area around the theater is really nice to hang out (indie theater, record stores, movie rental places, vintage clothing etc) in and they have a very good breakfast place, Henry's Cafe. Karam makes better lebanese food (especially the falafel) then I ever had in the Bay Area (but things have changed since I lived there) and it's within walking distance of the Heathman. Powell's on Burnside and the one in the Hawthorne are definately worth checking out, the cook's one is the size of Green Apple on Clement (when I lived there anyway). Ken's bakery has good sandwiches, especially the croques. No matter what anyone says, don't let them talk you into eating Asian food here. regards, trillium Link: http://www.flexcar.com/default.asp Wed Jun 16 15:51:06 -0700 2004 24857 0 trillium 2 24870 Except, perhaps, sushi. Wed Jun 16 16:31:04 -0700 2004 24868 0 Robert 3 24880 Thanks folks, you are raising my comfort level. A good bus schedule is one thing, a bus that actually stays on it is quite another! It sounds like after 9 p.m. maybe I'd be best off downtown where I can walk. I didn't figure to focus on Asian food since there's so much of it in the Bay Area. Wed Jun 16 18:04:30 -0700 2004 24870 0 Nathan Landau 4 24905 You're still ok after 9 pm, but the buses start coming every half hour or hour depending on the line. And after the 12:30 one, that's it. It doesn't mean you can't venture out of downtown on the bus, just that you'll need to plan a little. Please come back and tell us what you liked and didn't when you're done, ok? regards, trillium Thu Jun 17 13:25:22 -0700 2004 24880 0 trillium 1 24886 Hello! You should have very little problem with the transit system getting you to good eats in this town. Tri Met is a wonderful way to get around Portland, if you ask me. I use it every weekday (on weekends I do tend to get lazy and use my vehicle more). Some routes run more frequently than others and Nick is right about service after 9:00pm, though MAX is pretty consistent most of the time until midnight or so. Way back when I was young Tri Met had owl bus service that ran at least hourly after midnight, but that is a thing of the past. You're better off getting your non-downtown cahorting done earlier in the evening and do the late night stuff closer to your lodgings. Best regards, Amanda Wed Jun 16 19:27:47 -0700 2004 24857 0 Amanda