Search Central Eastside
Across the Willamette River from downtown, this area blends industrial Portland with new restaurants, microbreweries and riverside recreation.
Criss-crossed with train tracks and lined with old industrial factories, some of Portland’s favorite restaurants, boutiques and events call the Central Eastside home. Read on for our recommended things to do and see in Portland’s Central Eastside.
Where to Stay in the Central Eastside
Across the Willamette River from downtown, the Central Eastside area blends industrial Portland with new restaurants, microbreweries and riverside recreation and offers easy access to other central-city and eastside districts.
Place to Eat and Drink in the Central Eastside
You’ll want to start early if you’re looking to try Southeast Portland’s Delicious Donuts. Often selling out before closing, this low-key, family-owned doughnut shop sneaks under the radar in Portland’s food scene. With their flagship coffee shop in the Central Eastside, Water Avenue Coffee roasts interesting blends and single-origin coffee beans, making you an excellent cup.
Credit: James Berrier
With a year-round patio, live music and DJ, and weekend brunch Produce Row Cafe is a gastro-pub you don’t want to miss. A champion of craft beer in Portland since 1978, pair beer with whiskey and a great meal.
One of the neighborhood’s pioneering restaurants, clarklewis makes the most of its light-filled former-loading-dock location, turning out wood-fired delicacies like oak-grilled rib-eye steak served with local chard, creamed corn and oyster mushrooms.
Kachka brings a little bit of the old world to Portland with traditional Russian cuisine (their dumplings are incredible) and vodka samplers where you can try house-infused vodkas in flavors like horseradish and chamomile. Recently, they’ve opened Lavka, as a market with a deli counter daily, though still continuing their fine-dining by evening — so be sure to make a reservation.
For Italian classics and thin-crust pizza, Nostrana brings complex flavors to simple dishes.
With its own creative take on ramen — think rich, meaty broths with fried chicken, oysters and fresh noodles — Boke Bowl has also earned a devoted following. But despite their meaty servings, vegetarians can get in on the action here too, with Korean fried tofu and eggplant — and everyone loves Boke’s daring miso-butterscotch twinkies for dessert.
Perhaps the most nationally recognized name in the neighborhood, Le Pigeon, turns out French-based dishes with a local twist, like the Paris mushroom carpaccio starter and the entrée of smoked scallops with spaghetti and pig’s ear. Guests sit elbow-to-elbow at communal tables here, packing in for a crack at James Beard Award-winning chef Gabriel Rucker’s ever-changing menu.
When night falls, the Central Eastside offers plenty of entertainment. Hipster biker bar White Owl Social Club serves shoestring fries and rave-worthy beet burgers on its expansive patio, where patrons can roast s’mores on tabletop campfires.
What to Do in the Central Eastside
The Central Eastside knows how to have fun any time of day—even if you’re in the office enjoying one of our convenient coworking spaces. Head to Water Avenue, which runs along the Willamette River, and find shops, restaurants and an old — and renewed — business district, which is easy to reach by public transportation, including Portland Streetcar or the MAX Orange Line. Tucked under the Marquam Bridge, OMSI promises fun for all ages, with permanent draws like a four-story movie theater, a planetarium, high-profile traveling exhibitions like Body Worlds and Mythbusters, or special exhibits on everything from retro video games to nanotechnology.
Central Eastside Attractions
Explore five of this district’s distinguishing landmarks and places to visit.
And those who love trains shouldn’t miss the nearby Oregon Rail Heritage Center, which features three steam locomotives and other train antiquities.
If you want to spend more time outdoors, Kerr Bikes rents any style of bike, including a surrey that will hold the whole family. With nearby trails to explore, bike along the Springwater Corridor or Eastbank Esplanade.
The traditional bowling alley gets a reboot at Grand Central Restaurant & Bowling. Giant projection screens play B movies and music videos to accompany the crashing pins and classic arcade games, air hockey and billiards. Order pub grub and signature mojitos straight from a comfy couch by your lane.
Top Attractions and Things to Do
Find a fun way to spend a few hours — or a whole day — in the Central Eastside.
Latino Arts Shine at Milagro in Portland
Milagro Theatre in Portland’s Central Eastside has been home to Latiné-American arts and culture for over 30 years.
Oregon Rail Heritage Center
The free museum features three vintage steam locomotives, including the one that pulled the U.S. Bicentennial Freedom Train in 1976.
OMSI: Portland’s Interactive Science Museum
With its huge exhibit halls, interactive science labs, multiple auditoriums, “After Dark” events and more, the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) lures visitors of all ages.
You can sing your heart out at Voicebox, a karaoke bar with private rooms, so even shy crooners can slam the door on stage fright thanks to private, soundproof suites. Confidence-boosting beverages like sake cocktails along with pita pizzas and tater tot nachos help feed the need to belt out “Bohemian Rhapsody” until the wee hours. Singers can even order gummy worms and M&Ms by the half-pound — virtually guaranteeing a sweet note to end on.
If you’re in the mood for live music, Central Eastside has many world-class venues from Doug Fir to Holocene. Bunk Bar on Water Avenue, is an intimate, converted warehouse with eclectic bands, pinball, beer and Bunk sandwiches.
Nightlife in the Central Eastside
This area of Portland is a hub for late-night attractions, including cool bars and dance spots.
Shopping in Central Eastside
Fashion Finds
Look out, downtown — East Burnside is beginning to rival the city center as Portland’s fashion hub. Inside a hip, minimalist space, Machus, a tightly curated boutique for men, carries high-end designers from Saturdays NYC to Naked & Famous. Nearby, Una offers a collection of exotic knickknacks, indie clothing and local housewares sourced by thrift-store whiz Giovanna Parolari.
Check out OKO in its new East Burnside location. This small shop specializes in vintage and antique jewelry. It also sells new jewelry by Portland designers, art, a small selection of magical skincare potions and other antiques and rarities.
Books and Trinkets
With plenty of boutiques and small storefronts, Central Eastside provides trinkets of all kinds. The distinctive 811 E. Burnside building, with exposed iron beams and loads of glass storefronts, is home to a handful of fittingly unique shops. Complete a new look at xobruno, which offers one-of-a-kind leather bags. Coy & Co., the city’s first sustainably certified florist shop, is equipped to handle all your floral design needs. It sells hand-tied bouquets, flower subscriptions, robust arrangements and more.
With apparel for hard-working folks, Red Cloud Collective — a group of artists, designers, musicians, woodworkers, motorcycle mechanics, skateboarders and photographers — is full of locally hand-crafted clothing, leather and products.
Mother Foucault’s is a stunning used bookstore, with old-world charms and occasional readings by local or touring independent authors.
More Central Eastside Events
Get to know the Central Eastside neighborhood at these upcoming events.
Jurassic World by Brickman
Get ready for an immersive adventure like no other as Ryan ‘Brickman’ McNaught re-imagines Jurassic World, the blockbuster franchise from Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment, through 6 million LEGO bricks. It features large-scale LEGO brick dinosaurs, props, scenes, and activities, as well as the newest Jurassic World by Brickman® dinosaur, made from over 100 thousand...
Andrew Sleighter
From Conan, James Corden and Comedy Central, Portland’s own Andrew Sleighter records his latest stand-up album live at Kickstand Comedy. Andrew performed on Last Comic Standing, recorded a comedy special for Dry Bar and made his late-night stand-up debut on Conan. He's also written and performed sketch comedy for Comedy Central and wrote and blogged...
RADIANCE : with Maitreya Wolf
Join acclaimed vocalist Maitreya Wolf and a host of special guests for an unforgettable experience of gorgeous original music, story, poetry, and dance performance. These events are rare and precious moments to dive deep into the magic of soul and source in a shared field of presence and prayer, a time to let yourself rest in...
Sleaze Pleaze Video Dance Party
Indie classic and current music videos dance party every Saturday at Swan Dive. Swan Dive is a vintage craft cocktail bar with nightly events and dance parties downstairs and a speakeasy-style live music venue upstairs. Located in a historic building overlooking the Morrison Bridge, offering a unique blend of vintage charm and New Age entertainment....
Swan Dive Diva Drag Brunch
Join Portland’s all-star drag queens and burlesque dancers every Saturday and Sunday for a heart-pumping performance complete with acrobatics, live singing, intricate custom-made outfits and sweat-defying artful makeup. Come prepared to tip generously and have a rowdy good time. The ticket price does not include food or alcohol. Doors open at 11 a.m., and the...
Three on Three Improv Tournament
It's March Improv Madness at Kickstand Comedy. Teams of three will compete against each other in a tournament the likes of which have never been seen before in Portland. 16 teams will compete on Sundays in March, with the top 4 facing off in the finals on April 4th. They will all battle to see...
First Friday PDX
Located in Portland’s vibrant East Side Arts District, the First Friday Art Walk takes place on the first Friday evening of every month year-round. Offering a gateway into Portland’s thriving arts culture, First Friday PDX includes more than 23 independent galleries, shops, and studios and a street exhibition from April to October. The self-guided tour...
ManiFest
ManiFest is a movement, made up of nail art fanatics from all walks of life, from advanced nail artists to beginners to folks who have only admired nail art online. It is creating a space for this art form — a place to come together. Wrap your arms around this big, beautiful, artistic and wildly...
Scientific Progress Goes Boeyink - Inside the Transmogrification of tyboe
tyboe would like to cordially invite you, the entire universe and all the other dimensional beings to the interconnectedness event of space and time. Join creation at @adxportland Scientific Progress Goes Boeyink — Inside the Transmogrification of tyboe: an interactive and immersive art gallery opening unlike any before, with a beats showcase from @foliagebeats, live...
Rasputin
Since the early 1990’s, a faction within the Russian Orthodox Church has advocated for Grigori Rasputin’s canonization as a saint. David Wagstaff, the author and director of this one-man play “Rasputin,” offers his personal, yet secular, seconding of this move to canonize this much misunderstood and maligned holy man.
Leave Your Troubles at The Door
Leave Your Troubles at the Door is a completely improvised stand-up comedy showcase in which the audience's problems help create the topics of the jokes on stage. Audience members anonymously write down their problems/troubles on pieces of paper and put them in a box before the show, and then many of the best comedians from the Pacific Northwest...
Shelf Life
Shelf Life is a solo show written and performed by Rebecca Berger-Howe, and directed by Brooke Totman. It follows the journey of a woman who revisits her childhood memories, stashed away in the attic of her childhood home. As she slowly opens each box, she takes audiences through her childhood memories via the mementos stored...
Citizen Executioner
The play consists of 8 episodic scenes, in which a cast of 9 actors portray 22 different characters. Most of them real historical figures now finding themselves comically represented in their own history.
3x2: Three Plays. Two Authors. One Hour
Enjoy three short plays by Bill Lynch and Timothy Krause, directed by Scott Stroot. A tent glowing in the dark, the solitude of lockdown, news about a hometown criminal... Home Game by Bill Lynch: A young woman struggles to keep her family together following the death of their mother. Her efforts are complicated by her...
Who's Who
16-year old Onnie Thomas likes to listen to heavy metal music, steal from the convenience store and get high in the cemetery in her hometown of Stafford, Kansas. Her luck runs out when she’s caught siphoning gas. She is ordered to complete community service hours at the library. While archiving books, Onnie stumbles upon a...
Unique Spring Pop-Up Market
Unique World's focus has been to encourage creativity, small business and local economic development, and connection between people in-real-life. They created the first ‘pop-up market’ in the USA in 2008 to shine a spotlight on small businesses, designers and artists, while curating an elevated and interactive shopping experience for the community — showing the masses...
Oregon Otter Beer Festival
Come together at the Oregon Museum of Science & Industry (OMSI) in Portland for an evening dedicated to fundraising for ocean conservation through delicious sea otter-themed craft beer tastings. This event is hosted by the Elakha Alliance, Oregon Zoo, and Straightaway Cocktails. 12 local Oregon breweries have embraced Elakha’s beer challenge, taking on the task...
The Mask I Wear
'The Mask I Wear' is a powerful solo performance that explores the internal struggles of a Latino actor caught in the cycle of typecasting and cultural stereotypes. Set in the dreaded waiting room of a casting office, Actor Jonathan battles with the limitations placed on him by the industry, while confronting Johnny H — a...
A Window into Tennessee
The play portrays Tennessee Williams as a man in his prime, after he's had success and after he's suffered the loss of the great love of his life. Tennessee laughs too loud, drinks too much, and takes too many pills. He appears extroverted to compensate for the introverted, painfully shy Tom inside. Michael shows us...
Nightlatch
The piece was inspired by my time out West working on ranches and the solace wild places provide. The Fertile Ground Festival of New Works is a citywide, multi-week performing arts festival taking place in venues throughout Portland, Oregon and the surrounding areas. This year’s lineup includes site-specific theater, dance, solo shows, aerial performance, puppetry,...
Every Pretty Thing
Structured more like a house party than a traditional performance, Alanna Fagan and Ken Yoshikawa obliterate the fourth wall in this newly devised work. Audiences can expect to dance, mingle, and snack freely on concessions while guided through an immersive narrative as Fagan and Yoshikawa experiment with human interaction. Part social experiment, part avant-garde performance...
People Into Trees
Join Third Angle, Portland Percussion Group and accessibility partner CymaSpace beneath the dome of Kendall Planetarium for People Into Trees: a show about appreciating people just as they are. Featuring a groundbreaking new work for American Sign Language poetry and percussion quartet by Meg Day and Molly Joyce — plus an all-percussion program made accessible...
unbound: a bookish musical
This special concert reading of unbound: a bookish musical follows Jane, a recent divorcee who has returned to her hometown and finds herself working at Bookish, a beloved neighborhood bookstore. There, she becomes part of a quirky group of misfits who are navigating both personal and professional challenges. When Bookish and the creative community it...
Mountain Woman
Mountain Woman is a 30-minute solo multimedia performance celebrating the raw power of creation and destruction embodied by a volcano. This piece explores the parallels between the earth’s cyclical movements and humanity's emotional landscape. Through a series of vignettes, it combines expressive dance, recorded narration, video, music, and scent, immersing the audience in the essence...
HONK If You're Horny
Welcome to the wild, unhinged, and undeniably horny world of HONK. Once a month, Kickstand Comedy dives headfirst into the deepest recesses of desires — laughing, learning, and dry humping along the way. Each month HONK invites a guest team of improvisers to get down and unleash their sexy side. Expect steamy surprises — strip teases,...
OMSI After Dark: PNW Forests
The trees, the moss, the lichen, the invasive plants you gotta stop to rip out. You love it, OMSI loves it, so celebrate it for this year’s Earth Day-themed OMSI After Dark: PWN Forests. The vendors, speakers, and activities will all revolve around the ecosystem of the Pacific Northwest. OMSI After Dark is for guests...
Raising the Bar with Brett Adams and Jacob Grier
Join us for an exclusive evening with Raising the Bar authors Brett Adams and Jacob Grier as they host a lively Q&A session and discuss the art of cocktail crafting. The event will also feature a guided cocktail demonstration led by our Cocktail Program Designer, Jonathan Harris, where you'll learn expert techniques and tips to elevate your mixology...
Friday Funday
A night of hilarious improv performance, featuring students from Change Through Play Improv Studio and local Portland all-stars. Join the Change Through Play Improv studio for an evening of live improvisation. Students will demonstrate some of what they’ve been learning in classes on stage. Additionally, the show will feature other notable Portland improvisers and their...
Portland Flea
The Portland Flea + Food is a gathering place for creators, curators and collectors and is held the last Sunday of the month from April to October. Every market features 80+ local artists, makers, and curators of the best vintage, handmade and locally sourced goods in town.
Bloom Tour
The Bloom Tour is part walking tour and part floral show focusing on supporting some of Portland’s unique shops, restaurants and hotels. Participating retailers are also hosting a wide range of Bloom Tour Specials, so follow the tour map and explore them all.
Portland Night Market
The Portland Night Market showcases many unique businesses that call Portland home. Blending food, culture, music, drinks and retail for an adventurous evening in the Central Eastside. Meet some of Portland's best makers and creators. With almost 200 hundred makers, the Night Market offers food carts, drinks, clothing, lifestyle goods, home goods, body care and art. The Portland...
The Bloody Mary Festival
The brunch-time party of the year returns. Don't miss PDX's best Bloody Marys and more - all under one roof - for one day only. TICKETS INCLUDE Bloody Marys, created by the finest bars, restaurants, craft bottled mixes, Food and beverage tastes from local companies, Temp tattoos, photo ops, and more, Meet and connect with...
WasabiFest
Get ready to spice up your life at WasabiFest PDX — a celebration of all things wasabi with food, drinks, and fun activities. Presented by SakéOne, WasabiFest will bring together creators and food enthusiasts in an eclectic celebration designed to ignite the imagination. WasabiFest is a 21+ event
Portland Coffee Festival
Celebrate coffee from the Pacific Northwest with interactive experiences and educational workshops. Expand your coffee knowledge, celebrate the craft and connect with the coffee community. Explore different coffees, roasts and brewing methods. Try everything from single-origin espresso to cold brews and specialty blends., Get to know the people behind your coffee and the journey of...
Portland's Central City
There's a lot more to Portland's urban core than Downtown, a center for retail, restaurants and cultural attractions. Goose Hollow is home to Providence Park soccer stadium, while the Pearl District is famous for upscale bars, boutiques and galleries. Old Town Chinatown offers streetwear shops, Saturday Market and Lan Su Chinese Garden and Northwest/Nob Hill boasts shopping, dining and access to Forest Park and the historic Pittock Mansion. East of the Willamette River, the Central Eastside offers family-friendly attractions, shopping and nightlife, while Lloyd is home to the Oregon Convention Center and the Portland Trail Blazers.
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