This is hands down my favorite service of ANY restaurant ever. We hit it off with the server like we had all been best friends for years, our jokes were like inside jokes and we even got a few high fives in. Beyond his friendliness he was also polite, and very aware of gluten free needs. Lucky for us there wasn’t much of a question about what was gluten free as the ENTIRE menu was gluten free. Not only that but their Thai Iced Teas (one of my beverage weaknesses) had free refills served in metal mugs that became moist with condensation. I was in heaven. We ordered a few things to share including the Pad Thai, the Calamari with sweet and sour sauce, and the Pad Kee Mao. Just as with the service everything was phenomenal, although we may have made ourselves sick with far too many Thai Ice teas.

The next morning our adventures started with a visit to the famous 100% gluten free Petunia’s Pies and Pastries. I have never seen a more beautiful bakery, gluten free or otherwise. The food was as lovely as the bright and colorful decor, and we set down to eat a breakfast of  a variety of pastries including donuts, tuxedo pie (chocolate and vanilla cake with coconut frosting), cinnamon rolls, hummingbird baby cake (made with carrots, pineapple, zucchini etc.), biscuits with gravy and sausage  and teas and coffees. The food is amazing, albeit a bit dense, but I personally thought everything was a bit too sweet for breakfast. It was exactly what we needed for a sugar surge to take on our packed day in Portland.

Our first adventure of the day as an expansive walking tour of the city that was full of fascinating history and witty cultural commentary. We passed by many of the city’s bubblers (water fountains built so the workers would be less inclined to drink booze during the hot work days), the worlds smallest park, voodoo donut (which is unfortunately not gluten free), several haunted hotels, the Portlandia Statue (the namesake of the show!), and ended at the Downtown food truck site. Those of us who are gluten free don’t have to worry about missing out on some food truck action. I saw several trucks that offered gluten free options including the Georgia food truck, Anna Thai Basil (and bubble tea), Chez Dodo, and Wolf and Bear’s. There are a few places that offer gluten free to be weary of thought, such as the Grilled Cheese Grill which has gluten free bread but is so popular that they don’t clean the grill between sandwiches (at least not when I asked). I myself ordered a falafel salad bowl (often served on a pita) at Wolf and Bear’s, which was a light and flavorful mid day meal. I still crave the pleasing mix of their falafel and caramelized onion.

Next up we walked our way down towards the river, first stopping at the Lan Su Chinese Gardens which was a lovely juxtaposition between traditional and urban living:

We wandered then through Riverwalk Park and an art festival, and crossed the Hawthorne Bridge over the Willamette River towards Ground Breaker Brewery and Gastropub two miles away. This walk was a milestone for my husband, who made it across the bridge without a full on panic attack (he’s been afraid of heights since a car accident almost sent him over the end of bridge back in the early 2000’s) so a beer was much needed by the time we made it to Ground Breaker.

This 100% gluten free kid friendly brewery and gastropub originally opened as just the brewery, but expanded in the past 3 years to incorporate a fully functional restaurant that offers not only foods made on site but also gluten free fare from partnerships with other gluten free establishments across the city. The inspiration for the brewery came from the Owner (James) who’s wife has Celiac Disease, and they love promoting and inspiring the gluten free community. We gladly ordered a beer flight (YES A GLUTEN FREE BEER FLIGHT) of all of their beers on tap (8 to be exact), a New Cascadia bakery Baguette with olive oil, and a side of corned bread with greens and beans. The three of us hands down agreed that the Olallie (tasted almost like a wine), Strawberry, and Cancellation were or favorites. Unfortunately, these three are no longer available on tap at the gastropub but the ones that are sound amazing. This was definitely worth the walk!

For dinner we made our way, partially by Uber this time due to the five mile distance, into the  Northwest District of Portland which is full of funky shops and delicious food. We ate at the sushi counter of Bamboo Sushi, the worlds first certified sustainable seafood sushi restaurant, where we had an array of rolls including a philly roll, plum roll, avocado nigiri, tuna roll, avocado nigiri with truffle oil, salmon asparagus roll, quail eggs (a bit weird), and a complimentary bowl of edamame. All were paired, of course, with gluten free soy sauce and sake. It was fascinating sitting at the sushi counter, where you really get to experience the skill of the sushi craft and the freshness of the ingredients. Everything was great! We finished our night with a three mile walk back to our hotel, passing a variety of funky night spots and Powell’s Books along the way.

The next morning, before making our flight home, we had breakfast at another 100% gluten free bakery back across the river: New Cascadia. This site opens very early in the morning and offers a variety of pastries and desserts which I found to be wholesome and a bit more appropriate for breakfast than Petunia’s. We ordered tea, an everything bagel with cream cheese, Brazilian Cheese rolls (light and fluffy- I HAD to order more than one), and Strawberry Pie (flaky and amazing). It was a perfect breakfast:

Because everything was so amazing I also ended up buying a baguette and several chocolate sandwich cookie back home to New York. And with that our Northwest trip was over, but this was surely a vacation that would forever fill our minds with flavorful and fun memories. After this trip I would say that Portland is hands down my favorite gluten free destination thus far. How have your Portland experiences been?