Eating Vegan in Portland: A Local's Field Guide

Bye and Bye on Alberta and its sibling Sweet Hereafter on Belmont pour strong cocktails over an all-vegan menu of Southern-leaning bar food. These are the rooms where Portland's vegan culture actually lives — patios full of dogs, bikes leaned on the fence, no lineup of tourists.

Dirty Lettuce in Kenton does vegan Southern cooking — fried chick'n, mac, greens — that draws lines on weekends.

Portobello Vegan Trattoria on Division makes handmade pasta and wood-heat flavors that would hold up in Bologna; it's the city's best vegan date night. For a lighter, vegetable-forward plate, watch for the rotating crop of chef-driven vegan kitchens popping up around the east side.

Portland's vegan strip-mall lunch counters, food-cart pods, and Sri Lankan kitchens are where the city surprises you. If a cart's entire menu is vegan and the line is locals, order whatever the person ahead of you ordered.