Portland (the one in Oregon. Sorry Maine, I’m sure your Portland is great, too) is a magical land. Delicious food abounds, which is notably cheaper than Seattle options, with less random mediocrity: even the nondescript unknown eateries are usually pretty solid. Portland’s hipsters seem friendlier than Seattle’s. And gas station attendants pump your gas for you, for free, by law. Amazing!

Will and I ventured south on I5 a couple weeks ago to visit his parents and gorge ourselves, as is our usual plan of attack vis a vis Portland. We finally made it to Pine State Biscuits and it did not disappoint. The line at the Alberta location was heinous, even at 10:30am on a Monday, but the biscuity goodness was on point.

Chicken Club

We shared The Chatfield, The Chicken Club and, since neither of those featured gravy and we are kind of disgusting, the Biscuits and Gravy. The salt induced preggo bloat, which left me with cankles for a good 48 hours, was well worth it.

The Chatfield, Biscuits and Gravy

Also worth the wait in Portland, IMO? Salt and Straw. Their ice cream kicks Seattle ice cream’s ass. The seasonal berry pie flavor was particularly amazing. Ugh, I just looked at their website and a couple of the August flavors look just ridiculous…Chocolate Caramel Potato Chip Cupcake anyone (yes that is one flavor)?