Attending Chain React 2026 in Portland…? Here’s a visitor guide to help you make the most of your stay

A few weeks back, I mentioned that Chain React 2026 — the US React Native conference — is coming to Portland, July 29–31, 2026. Maybe you’re attending. Maybe it’s your first time in Portland. So I figured the hospitable and neighborly thing to do would be to help you make the most of it while you’re here. So if you’re one of the developers flying in for three days in the Pearl District… Hello. Welcome! Consider this your cheat sheet. Some how to get around, where to caffeinate, where to eat, where to grab a beverage, and what to see when the talks let out. Portland is yours for a few days. Hopefully this helps you actually enjoy it.

A quick note before the list, because it’s the whole point: Wherever I could, I’ve pointed you toward the locally-owned and the Portland-born. Not out of some purity thing. It’s just kind of how I roll. And it’s the stuff that actually makes Portland Portland. You didn’t fly across the country to eat at the same old Chili’s you’ve got back home. (Also, fun fact: There are zero Chili’s in Oregon.)

So that’s the admitted bias. For transparency. Onward.

Getting around

Good news first: the Pearl District, downtown, and Old Town core are relatively flat and extremely walkable. I tried to keep most of what’s below to a 10-to-20-minute stroll from the conference venue. Your feet will handle a lot of this. And while I’ve kept it pretty Pearl-centric for your convenience, please don’t let that prevent you from venturing out. Because there are plenty of other awesome neighborhoods to explore. Each with their own incredible lists of food and beverage spots.

And don’t worry about getting lost. In the Pearl, the east-west running streets are alphabetical. And the north-south running streets count up from the Willamette River (Pro tip: We pronounce it “will-AM-ette”). What’s more, that selfsame river divides the east side of town from the west side. And Burnside divides the town north and south.

But then we’ve actually got N, NE, NW, S, SE, and SW. So um… anyway.

For everything else:

• TriMet Hop is the thing to know about. It’s genuinely easy for a visitor. Just tap a contactless card or your phone to board the bus, MAX, or Streetcar — adult fare is $2.80 for a 2.5-hour window. Here’s the magic part: it caps itself. After two rides ($5.60) in a day, the rest of your day is free. Just tap for the bus or train. The system quietly does the math for you. Best of all…? It’s an app you can download now and fill up with cash so you can always get around.
• From the airport? The MAX Red Line runs straight from PDX to downtown in about 40 minutes, every 15 minutes, for $2.80. No rideshare surge. No traffic drama. (Also, the airport. You might want to spend some time here. It’s brand new and gorgeous. And if you’re hungry or thirsty…? No price gouging. Airport pricing is held to the same prices you’d pay in town.)
• The Portland Streetcar loops through the Pearl, Northwest, downtown, and across the river. And it takes Hop, so it’s part of the same tap-and-cap deal.
• Want to feel like a local? Biketown e-bikes (the orange ones) unlock via app + QR for $1 plus $0.35/minute. Or grab a Lime or Lyft scooter.
• And of course, Uber and Lyft are everywhere, airport included, when you don’t feel like doing any of the above.

Coffee

Yes. There is a conveniently located Starbucks right next to the venue. But it’s Starbucks. And it will likely be packed. Please do yourself a favor and try these places instead. Portland happily takes coffee a little too seriously, and you will benefit from that.

• Good Coffee — locally-owned by the Purvis brothers, right in the Pearl at 1114 NW Couch (Pro tip: We pronounce it “COO-ch” not “COW-ch”). Walkable. Start here.
• Sisters Coffee Company — Oregon-born, roasted in the town of Sisters, with a beautiful two-story cafe in the Pearl (1235 NW Marshall). About as walkable as it gets. And amazing pastries too.
• Deadstock Coffee — Former Nike janitor turned shoe designer Ian Williams. It’s sneaker culture in a cafe. Now tucked inside The Hoxton in Old Town (15 NW 4th). Walkable. And a genuine only-in-Portland stop.
• Courier Coffee — A tiny downtown micro-roaster (923 SW Oak, around the corner from Powell’s) where owner/roaster Joel Domreis will happily walk you through each single-origin. Walkable. Worth it. Pair it with a stop at Powell’s.
• Case Study Coffee — locally-owned, downtown at 802 SW 10th. Walkable.
• Never Coffee — Portland original with a downtown outpost (537 SW 12th) and a thing for wildly creative, colorful lattes. Walkable, and unlike anything you’ve had at home.
• Stumptown Coffee — this one was born here in 1999, and it’s fair to say it put Portland coffee on the map. (It’s since been acquired, so I won’t call it locally-owned but the roots are ours.) Original-feeling spot downtown at 128 SW 3rd.
• Caffè Umbria — full disclosure, it’s Seattle-based (the Italian-roasting Bizzarri family) rather than Portland-local — but this is a genuinely gorgeous, old-world Italian caffè right in the Pearl (303 NW 12th), and the space has deep neighborhood roots. Walkable, warm, and a proper espresso.
• Barista — locally-owned by Billy Wilson, a two-time NW Regional Barista champ who basically invented the multi-roaster café here. Instead of one house roast, a rotating chalkboard of the country’s best beans (Intelligentsia, Verve, Stumptown). The original is right in the Pearl (539 NW 13th). Walkable. And a proper coffee-nerd stop.
• Less and More Coffee — a tiny, glass-walled Korean-inspired café (Fun fact: The SW 5th flagship is a converted transit shelter.) with a devoted following for its ube, black sesame, and tiramisu lattes. Downtown at 1003 SW 5th, with a second spot at 811 SW 6th. Walkable from the Pearl
• Willing to hop a short rideshare? Coava (1300 SE Grand), Heart (multiple locations), and Roseline (multiple locations) are locally-owned and roast some of the best coffee in the city. Worth planning the trip if you’ve got a slow morning or need variety in your caffeination.
• Not a coffee person?
  • Tea Bar — locally-owned, everything made fresh (no powders), with a spot in Northwest (1055 NW Northrup). Walkable, and a genuine tea program rather than an afterthought.
  • Mako Matcha Mill — one of the rarest things in American matcha: a café that mills its own matcha in-house, fresh every morning. (They even worked with an Oregon farm on the leaf). Downtown on the Pearl’s edge (414 SW 13th). Walkable.
  • Project Matcha — Portland’s viral one, hand-whisked to order by the Gen-Z crew who made it a phenomenon; expect a line on weekends. Central Eastside (555 NE Couch). A bridge hop, bike or rideshare. Go for the spectacle as much as the drink.
  • Yunomi Matcha — the specialist’s pick and many locals’ consensus best, pouring a prized Yame/Fukuoka blend. Eastside. At 304 NE 28th, it’s not exactly walkable.

Food

Portland basically invented the food-cart pod — a cluster of independent, focused-menu kitchens sharing one lot — and it’s the best low-stakes, high-reward way to eat here.

Start with the Midtown Beer Garden, downtown at 431 SW Harvey Milk, an easy walk from the Pearl. It’s the city’s oldest pod. Started in the early ’80s. Now 27 carts around a full bar with covered seating and a stage so a group with wildly different cravings can all eat what they want and still share a table and a beer. It’s run by Expensify, the same folks hosting the Chain React after-party.

Two more walkable pods if you want the open-air version: Pioneer Courthouse Square downtown and the PSU pod on the South Park Blocks. Prefer it indoors and a little polished? Flock is a newer downtown food hall (917 SW Alder in the ground floor of the Ritz-Carlton) that brings the same street-food-under-one-roof idea inside.

And if you’ve got a rideshare and some curiosity, the eastside is chock full of cart pods:

• Cartopia on SE Hawthorne has been at it since 2008.
• Hawthorne Asylum (SE 10th & Madison) packs 20-some carts behind a wrought-iron gate with fire pits and plenty of seating.
• Prost Marketplace on N Mississippi sits next to the Prost German beer hall and is home to Matt’s BBQ, routinely called some of the best barbecue in the city. Any of those three is worth the short trip.
• WonderLove — a newer, elevated spin on the cart pod at SE 2nd & Main (262 SE Main): a cluster of food carts plus a craft cocktail bar, live-music stages, fire pits, and even a heated sports lounge, all in one place. Central Eastside. A short bike or rideshare. Great for groups from lunch to late night.

When you want an actual table, the walkable Pearl-and-downtown list is deep:

• Fuller’s Coffee Shop — an old-school Portland counter diner slinging no-frills breakfast in the Pearl since 1960 (136 NW 9th). U-shaped counter, eggs done right, zero pretense. (Breakfast and lunch only.)
• Screen Door — One of the many inspirations for the Portlandia brunch line skit. Famous for its fried chicken and chicken & waffles, with a Pearl location right in the neighborhood (1131 NW Couch).
• Nong’s Khao Man Gai — locally-owned, Portland-famous, started as a single cart, and makes one gloriously simple thing (Thai chicken and rice) better than anyone. Cheap, delicious, and downtown (417 SW 13th).
• Thai Peacock — a longtime locally-owned downtown Thai favorite (219 SW 9th, at Oak),a couple blocks from Powell’s. Generous portions, reliably great curries and noodles, and an easy walkable lunch or dinner between talks.
• Charlie’s Deli — the beloved Old Town sandwich shop (since 2014), now at 32 NW 5th after a flood pushed it off NW 4th. Big, no-nonsense sandwiches done right. Locally-owned and walkable.
• Grassa — fresh handmade pasta, counter-service, easy on the wallet, downtown (1205 SW Washington). Perfect quick lunch between talks.
• Que Dice — a genuinely one-of-a-kind Latin-and-Asian fusion kitchen in Old Town (121 NW 5th). Korean BBQ next to Ecuadorian ceviche, soju margaritas, mangonadas — nothing else in town looks like it. Locally-owned and walkable.
• Andina — family-run modern Peruvian, a Pearl institution since 2003 (1314 NW Glisan). The kind of dinner you remember.
• Oven and Shaker — wood-fired pizza and serious cocktails from six-time James Beard nominee Cathy Whims, in the Pearl (1355 NW Everett).
• The Star — a Pearl pizzeria that refuses to pick a lane: thin crust, Detroit, and deep dish, all on a signature cornmeal-dusted base (1309 NW Hoyt). Locally-owned, walkable, and a genuine neighborhood standout.
• Mediterranean Exploration Company — Eastern Mediterranean small plates from chef John Gorham, family-style around an open hearth, Pearl (333 NW 13th).
• Mother’s Bistro & Bar — comfort food done right (chef-owner Lisa Schroeder since 2000), downtown (121 SW 3rd). Great for a big group breakfast.
• Verde Cocina en la Perla — farmers-market-inspired Mexican, locally-owned since 2009, with everything gluten-free and generous vegan and vegetarian plates alongside the omnivore ones. Right in the Pearl (NW 12th & Hoyt). Walkable, fresh, and the easy call when your group has mixed dietary needs.
• Pizza Kat — Neapolitan-style pizza that quietly nails the hard part: any pie can go fully vegan, and there’s a house-made gluten-free crust (not a dedicated GF kitchen, so celiac folks should ask first). 2174 W Burnside. The easy yes when your table has a vegan, a GF eater, and a pizza craving all at once. [Editor: The pizza is fantastic but what keeps me coming back is the ridiculously good vegan ranch. And I’m not even vegan. But I would bathe in that stuff if I could.]
• Southpark Seafood — locally-owned, Pacific NW seafood and oysters, downtown by the Park Blocks (901 SW Salmon). A bit of hike.
• Higgins — James Beard chef Greg Higgins has been doing farm-to-table since 1994, before it was a phrase people said. Downtown (1239 SW Broadway). Coming from the Pearl, you’ll have a little bit of hill to climb.
• Nodoguro — if you want the splurge: chef Ryan Roadhouse’s Japanese tasting menu, and he just won the 2026 James Beard Best Chef Northwest. Downtown (515 SW Broadway). Book well ahead.

And a few worth a short bike or rideshare, because Portland’s marquee dining spreads across the entire city:

• Kann — Gregory Gourdet’s Haitian restaurant, James Beard Best New Restaurant 2023. Central Eastside (548 SE Ash). Book ahead. It’s likely impossible to get in.
• Eem — Thai barbecue and tropical cocktails from a Portland dream team: Langbaan’s Earl Ninsom and Matt’s BBQ pitmaster Matt Vicedomini. Smoked brisket curry, the legendary burnt-ends fried rice, and a frozen cocktail to put out the fire. Over on N Williams (3808) — bike or rideshare, and a genuine only-in-Portland original worth the trip. (Also, their Instagram is hilarious.)
• Lovely’s Fifty Fifty — Sarah Minnick’s wood-fired, vegetable-forward pizza is some of the most celebrated in the country (Netflix’s Chef’s Table: Pizza came calling): hyper-seasonal, local, and unlike anyone else’s. The “fifty fifty” is the house-made ice cream you finish with. On N Mississippi (4039), a couple doors from Prost — bike or rideshare, worth every minute.
• Le Pigeon — Gabriel Rucker, another James Beard name. Nuff said. 738 East Burnside.
• Jeju — Peter Cho’s Korean-American room, wood-fired and whole-animal, and the visitor-friendly one: closer in (626 SE Main, just across the river) with walk-ins welcome. (His beloved Han Oak is smaller, further out, and tough to book. This is the easier. And if you are an omnivore the bao cheeseburger is AMAZING.)
• AFURI — the celebrated Tokyo ramen house (bright, citrusy yuzu-shio broth) that chose Portland for its first US outpost. Two spots: ramen + dumpling in Slabtown (1620 NW 21st, Streetcar-reachable from the Pearl) and a fuller izakaya on the eastside (923 SE 7th).
• The Paper Bridge — Northern Vietnamese cooking you rarely see done this well in Portland, from co-owners Quynh Nguyen and Carlo Reinardy (opened 2023). Bright, herb-forward, built around dishes like bún chả. Central Eastside in Buckman (828 SE Ash).
• Kachka — Bonnie Morales’s love letter to the food of the former Soviet republics, and one of Portland’s most nationally-acclaimed restaurants. Come for the zakuski spread, the dumplings, and an absurdly deep vodka list. Central Eastside (960 SE 11th). Bike or rideshare, and book ahead.
• Pizza Thief — some of the best NY-style in the city, tucked into Slabtown (2610 NW Vaughn). A 15-minute walk or a quick Streetcar hop from the Pearl. Worth the wander.
• Ranch — outstanding Detroit-style, thick with those lacy crispy edges, over on NW 21st (916). Locally-owned since 2019, a short walk or ride from the Pearl.

Brew pubs

You had to know this was coming.

• Deschutes Brewery Portland Public House — Bend-born (1988), employee-owned, and about a 5-minute walk from the venue in the Pearl (210 NW 11th). They pour Portland-exclusive brews here.
• Breakside Brewery – Slabtown — locally-owned and a repeat Oregon Brewery of the Year (2026 included). About a 20-minute walk to Slabtown (1570 NW 22nd), or one of those Streetcar taps.
• 10 Barrel — Bend-born (2006) and a couple of blocks from the hotel, so it’s the convenient one. 
• Migration Brewing — locally-owned, seriously good IPAs, over on the eastside (2828 NE Glisan). Bikeable, and a nice excuse to try Biketown.
• Backwoods Brewing — family-owned out of Carson, WA in the Columbia Gorge (brewing since 2012). A Pearl pub right in the neighborhood at 231 NW 11th (the Everett corner).

And that’s just the Pearl. For a more exhaustive list, check out The New School — Beer + Cider which has been documenting the local industry for 10+ years running. It’s the go-to for new releases, brewery openings, and “what’s on tap right now” across Oregon and SW Washington.

Cocktails & mocktails

• Sousòl — Gregory Gourdet’s pan-Caribbean basement bar under his James Beard-winning Kann, with a zero-proof cocktail program as serious as a boozy one. A genuinely great night out whether or not you drink. Central Eastside (227 SE 6th).
• Teardrop Lounge — an acclaimed independent cocktail bar not too far from the Cambria in the Pearl (1015 NW Everett). If you make one bar, this is an easy one.
• Scotch Lodge — Portland’s whisky temple, and fresh off winning the 2026 James Beard Award for Outstanding Bar in the country. Subterranean, a staggering whisky list. And genuinely good food to go with the pours. Central Eastside (215 SE 9th, at Ash).
• Rum Club — independently owned, in Buckman (720 SE Sandy). Teeny tiny, bikeable, beloved.
• Hey Love — independent, woman-owned, and named the best hotel bar in the country back in 2023. On East Burnside. Bikeable.
• The Coffin Club — Portland’s best-known goth nightclub. All skulls, fog, tarot readings, burlesque, and new wave, with two “vampiric” backrooms and an all-vegan food cart. LGBTQ-friendly. Central Eastside (421 SE Grand), Thursday–Saturday nights.
• Malpractice — Portland Monthly called it the city’s coolest new cocktail bar, and it earns the title: a narrow 20-seat room in the Central Eastside doing house-fermented, genuinely experimental drinks with elevated bar food. 77 SE Yamhill.
• Summer of Slushies — “For the entire month of July, more than 25 of your favorite watering holes, restaurants, and cafes across the city are serving up their take on piñas, daquiris, frozen negronis, and other boozy, fruity, slushie creations for just $10 each!”

Things to do

When the last talk wraps and you’ve got an evening or a morning to spare:

• Powell’s City of Books — This is the obvious but still critically important one. Born here in 1971, it’s the largest independent bookstore in the world. An entire city block. And it’s a 5-to-10-minute walk in the Pearl (1005 W Burnside). Give yourself more time than you think you need. You’re guaranteed to lose yourself — and track of time — in the stacks.
• Lan Su Chinese Garden — an authentic Suzhou-style walled garden built by artisans from Portland’s sister city, tucked into Old Town (239 NW Everett). About a 7-minute walk, open 10 to 5:30 in summer. A quiet reset in the middle of the city.
• Forest Park — one of the largest urban forests in the country: 5,100-plus acres and 80-plus miles of trail. The Lower Macleay trailhead is a walkable/bikeable mile-and-a-half from the core if you want actual trees.
• Portland Art Museum — one of the oldest art museums on the West Coast, downtown (1219 SW Park), a 15-to-20-minute walk. Open Tuesday through Sunday.
• Portland Japanese Garden — often called one of the most authentic outside Japan. It’s up in Washington Park, so not walkable. And it’s up on top of a big hill so bike if you’re brave. Otherwise, grab the transit or a rideshare. But if you have the time, it is definitely worth the trip. And an amazing oasis of calm after a busy event.
• If you’ve got lots of time — because service is ultra casual — check out one of the many McMenamin’s dotting the city. It’s our original brewpub chain. And part of the crew who changed the law so that brewpubs could even exist within the city.

One housekeeping note for anyone extending the trip: Portland Saturday Market runs weekends, and since the conference is Wednesday through Friday, it’ll be closed during the show. But if you’re sticking around into that first weekend of August, it’s a fun couple of hours down on the waterfront. PSU Farmers Market is also worth the trip if you stay for the weekend.

That’s a list. It’s not the list. Because it is, of course, wildly incomplete. (A city as amazing as Portland never fits in one blog post.) But it’s more than enough to keep you fed, caffeinated, and pointed somewhere interesting between sessions. Need more…? You can also check out Bridgetown Bites and Eater for other recommendations. (And if you’re already in Portland and have other suggestions, please feel free to share them with me on social — I’m @turoczy most places — or over on Portland Startups Slack.)

Welcome to Portland. Thanks so much for visiting us. Please enjoy!

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