5 Pizza Places Worth Checking Out In Portland Oregon

Picture the perfect pizza. Admittedly your mind probably doesn’t go to Portland, Oregon; or anywhere in the Pacific Northwest for that matter. The East Coast and Mid West have a stranglehold on the pizza world. New York has their big pepperoni covered slices just begging to be folded in half. New Jersey has tomato pies where the sauce is held in the highest regard and each shop has their own secret recipe. Chicago has the famous deep dish which often times is so thick that you need a fork and knife to eat it. Detroit has their famous square pies with an extremely crispy crust. So what about Portland? Because Portland isn’t held to a single style of pizza shops seem to take the best parts from all over. Portland pizza is a myriad of different styles, toppings, and cooking techniques and here’s a list of five shops you should check out.

Dove Vivi

Locally grown stone-ground organic cornmeal makes up the base of this amazing deep dish pie. Forgoing flour for the slightly gritty consistency of cornmeal gives this pizza a one-of-a-kind taste. Sticking with originality, Dove Vivi cures all of their bacon, ham and corned beef right in house; they also case their own sausage and chorizo. Must trys include the sausage classico topped with mozzarella, house-made fennel sausage and tomato sauce. But what really had me hooked on this place was their vegan pie and I’m not even close to being a vegan. 

Lonesome Pizza

You’re bound to find yourself downtown at least once during a trip to Portland and if you’re in need of a quick slice, than Lonesome is the place to go. Located on busy Burnside Street, this pizza place is actually nothing more than a tiny window that you order at. While they lack any sort of actual restaurant, they more than make up for it in their extensive menu. Classic, meat, vegetarian and vegan options will make it hard to choose, so order a few slices. The Vingt Deux is a fan favorite with its Ethiopian spiced tomato sauce, braised leg of lamb and crumbled goat cheese. For those looking for a vegan option, try the Treize made with creamy Daiya cheese, roasted cherry tomatoes, house-made seitan sausage, scallions, and chopped basil. Beyond their amazing pizza, the best thing about Lonesomes is the fact that they’re open until 3 am.

Stickmen

On the fringes of the city lies Stickmen Brewing, originally known for their exciting and inventive beers, they now also cook up a mean pizza. Using an oven that was built in Italy and imported to their beer hall, this is the place to check out if you’re looking for that authentic Italian taste. With an oven that burns at a blazing 900 degrees, pizza cooks in less than two minutes. For the full experience, order the nido dell’Aqui featuring fontina, mozzarella, salami, arugula, and burrata. Burrata is a highly unusual Italian cheese that uses mozzarella as an outer shell but is filled with a soft cream, cutting into releases all that inner deliciousness onto your pizza.

Pizza Nostra

At a quick glance Pizza Nostra can look like another run of the mill small pizza place but take a look at their menu and you can see why they fit right in with the Portland scene. Of course, you could come here for a classic cheese or pepperoni, but what you’ll really want to try is one of their original flavors. Take the cashew chicken for instance, topped with savory grilled chicken, mushrooms, their house made spicy red sauce, and roasted cashews. And unlike the other places on this list Pizza Nostra offers delivery for those days where you just can’t seem to get yourself off the couch!

Please Louise

Located in the historic Slabtown neighborhood of Portland, this is the pizza place you want to bring a date to. Giant windows and an open kitchen set the mood, and the food does the rest. Freshness is the name of the game here and most of the ingredients in the food are sourced locally from farmers around the Pacific Northwest. Start with one of their vegetable based appetizers, move on to their artfully crafted charcuterie board, and then round it all out with one of their wood fired pizzas. The clear standout here is the wild mushroom pie, topped with porcini, pancetta, fontina, gorgonzola, sage, honey, and cracked pepper.