From covered patios to individual cabanas, here’s where to dine outside in Portland during the winter
Portland has always been proud of its patios, with restaurants and bars across the city sporting outdoor seating year round. During the pandemic, that flexibility has become more crucial: While the state allows for indoor dining, many restaurants opt not to offer it for the safety of their staff and diners. In winter months, it becomes trickier. The question becomes: How does one offer the right balance of safety and comfort? If a place is too enclosed, it’s not much different from indoor dining, only with less ventilation. Too open, and no one will want to sit in the cold. The state requires that all outdoor dining spaces have 50 percent of its walls open to the air, to allow for ventilation; however, not every restaurant is going that route, instead using full-blown tents with a single entrance.
While there are dozens, if not hundreds, of restaurants around town offering a few seats outside where they are able to, these offer an extra level of comfort and access during the winter months. And while this map focuses primarily on restaurants, those looking for outdoor bar seating can find that map here; those looking for options on the other side of the Columbia can peruse our Vancouver map.
Sharing a space with Oakshire Beer Hall, Biba serves everything from weekend oxtail soup to crispy lumpia to eat on the shared space’s large, well-heated outdoor tented area. Plenty of Biba’s classic dishes, endemic to the Mariana Islands, are well-suited to the cold, including the restaurant’s steamy red rice and barbecue chicken; however, those looking for something else can also bring food from nearby Italian cart Sorbu or pizzeria Pizza Jerk under the tent.
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