PORTLAND COMMUNITY GROCERY GUIDE

 

EL CAMPESINO PDX

6611 SE POWELL BLVD. PORTLAND 97206

Phone: (503) 774-4124
Hours: 8am-9pm daily
Bus Lines: 2, 9, 14
It’s fitting that small but well-stocked El Campesino occupies the ground floor of a space where Peruvian restaurant Salt and Pepper is right upstairs. The two businesses are unaffiliated yet complement each other well. The market is predominantly Mexican, complete with a carniceria counter, cases of pan dulce, refrigerated salsas made by owner Jose Esparza’s wife, tamales courtesy of his mother-in-law, and bags of tortilla chips fried on site. Lucky shoppers might even snag a warm batch.Close to the Jade District, this area of Southeast Portland has far more choices for Asian groceries than Latin American ones. Even so, Esparza, who moved from the San Fernando Valley to Portland in 2008 after he and his wife fell in love with the city, saw a void in the local market. There were plenty of Mexican options, but there was little in the way of products from Central and South America.

Seeing that opportunity paid off. That’s why shoppers will find more than the usual supermarket suspects. El Campesino stocks sodas from Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, plus countless brands of Peruvian packaged goods like dulce de pechiche, jarred chochos, and aji amarillo paste, which draws shoppers from outside of the Portland area and even out of state.

Notable items: Customers come just for the chips and salsa. There’s also a great soft drink selection, Brazilian starches and flours, Argentine dulce de leche, and Peruvian staples.

CARIBBEAN SPICE

4516 NE 42ND AVE. PORTLAND 97218

Phone: (503) 493-2737
Hours: 10:30am-8pm Tue-Sat, 11am-5:30pm Sun, 12-8pm Mon
Bus Lines: 75, 72

As one of Portland’s only Afro-Caribbean specialists, Cully’s Caribbean Spice is the go-to spot for anyone’s Jamaican or Haitian culinary needs. Owners Aruna and Fitzroy Anderson, who hail from Kingston, Jamaica themselves, have been a reliable source of hard-to-find cuts of meat and dried herbs for the past 20 years. They’ve been serving the local African diaspora in the current location since 2004.While ackee and codfish might share little in common with, say, arroz con pollo, there is a good deal of crossover among commonly used Caribbean ingredients. Legumes like green and brown pigeon peas and tropical fruits like soursop and passionfruit, which they stock pulped and frozen, have broad appeal. Shoppers will also find oxtails, calves’ feet, and goat meat in the freezer section for curries and stews.

Caribbean Spice’s condiment game is also on point. Shelves are filled with a vast array of Marie Sharp’s Belizean hot sauces, as well as Costa Rican Lizano salsa and jerk seasonings and marinades. Grapefruit-flavored Jamaican Ting and ginger beer peacefully coexist with malta beverages from Cuba and Puerto Rico in the soda section.

Notable items: Dried herbs like sorrel, Irish sea moss, and hibiscus. Boxes of frozen Jamaican patties. Oxtails and goat meat.

COME THRU MARKET

831 SE SALMON ST. PORTLAND 97214

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May – October 1st and 3rd Mondays of the month, 12pm-4pm
Bus Lines: 15, 70
Come Thru Market, held outdoors at the Redd on Salmon the first and third Mondays of the month, moved to this Central Eastside location in 2020 after a stint at the Oregon Food Bank. The impetus for creating a market featuring BIPOC businesses was to demystify the process of taking products to market for makers who weren’t already immersed in that world.When founder Allinee “Shiny” Flanary, a Black queer farmer, found it overwhelming to navigate the frequently racist systems, she realized how alien farmers markets can feel to outsiders. That’s why this year, the incubator market added its own Farmer Training Program which prioritizes applications from new and emerging farm, food, and wellness businesses.

Visitors to the market might not find all the 30+ vendors involved present every Monday, but they will find sellers like Lukas Angus, a Nez Perce tribal fisherman and farmer, representing 7 Waters Canoe Family with smoked chinook and coho salmon for sale.

Produce options are often available from farms like Xast Sqit (Good Rain Farm) run by a founder with Sinixt ancestry, and Lomita, operated by Gonzalo Garcia Reyes who has Zapoteco heritage. Both grow mixed vegetables and participate in local CSAs.

The wellness arena is covered by vendors like Mariquita Medicinals, an herbal remedy business owned by Flynne Olivarez, a queer Latinx herbal medicine and flower farmer, and Sinensis Tea, which offers teas and elixirs made by Annette Aispuro, a Mexican and Native American who wants to share her tea blends with a more diverse community.

Notable items: Salmon belly from 7 Waters Canoe Family, chamoy treats from Chinitas Candy, Khalsa Salsa’s Indian fusion salsas.

TIENDA NOHBEC

18929 E BURNSIDE ST. PORTLAND 97233

Phone: (503) 667-4444
Hours: 8am-10pm daily
Bus Lines: MAX Blue Line, 20, 87

Similar to El Campesino, Tienda Nobec (formerly Becerra’s) has a dual personality. At first glance, it looks like a typical Mexican grocer. There’s pan dulce in a self-serve display case and a busy carniceria, offering milanesas and palomillas de res in back. The unassuming mint green building doesn’t stand out on this strip in Rockwood, but those in the know understand there are plenty of South and Central American gems crammed into the small store.The few aisles have entire sections devoted to items from Peru, as well as Argentine goods like yerba mate, complete with multiple brands to choose from, plus mate drinking gourds for good measure.

Nobec also punches above its weight in the beverage department. Anyone who’s ever craved familiar fizzy flavors will have their homesickness cured in an instant with Colombian Postobon, Peruvian Inca Cola, Parrot brand fruit juices, and Cuban soft drinks like pineapple-flavored Jupiña, Materva, and Iron Beer. It’s not unusual to see customers walking out with cases of malta stacked in their arms.

Naturally, the shop offers plenty of Mexican staples, including bulk dispensers filled with black and pinto beans and rice. Nobec also sells bags of its private-label dried chiles and corn, plus piloncillo, tamarind pods, and assorted spices.

Notable items: Hard-to-find soft drinks, bulk goods, and a large selection of Goya products.

DOS HERMANOS BAKERY

4082 N WILLIAMS AVE. PORTLAND 97227

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Phone: (971) 266-8348
Hours: 7am-2pm daily
Bus Lines: 44, 6, 4
Even if locals have never paid a visit to this Northeast Portland takeout counter, they might have tasted Dos Hermanos baked goods. That’s because the bakery is also a wholesale operation that supplies bread to local restaurants like Lardo and Screen Door.Gabriel and Josue Azcorra, the two namesake brothers, honed their artisanal craft at notable Portland bakeries for more than a decade before becoming co-owners of Dos Hermanos in 2018. With a foundation in French baking techniques, they’ve mastered traditional epi baguettes, delicate croissants, and brioche tarts studded with fresh berries.

While Dos Hermanos is a great source for sturdy sesame sourdough loaves, they’ve also become known for delicious hybrid baked goods like habanero and black bean batards and Yucatecan hojaldras, flaky, sweet-and-savory squares of puff pastry stuffed with ham, jalapeño rings, and cheese. The golden delights get dusted with sugar before going in the oven, which results in a brown caramelized top. This popular item is a regional nod to Merida, Mexico, where the brothers grew up.

Their Mexican heritage is also apparent in the conchas they make in Instagrammable neon and tie-dyed hues, as well as soft telera rolls and seasonal specials like the rosca de reyes.

Notable items: Hojaldras, conchas, breakfast sandwiches.

FAVELA BRAZILIAN CAFE

5300 FOSTER RD.
PORTLAND 97206

Phone: (503) 789-1291
Hours: 10am – 4pm, closed Tuesdays
Bus Lines: 14, 71

Foster-Powell’s Favela Brazilian Cafe is more than a place for grabbing a cup of strong coffee and some cheesy pão de quiejo to go. It’s also a gathering space for people who love Brazilian culture. Serving and connecting with people is the business’s primary goal, according to owner Rodgrigo Baena. “Community always has to come first,” he said. “Money is only the consequence.”Favela’s purpose is threefold: It’s one part cafe, one part community center, and one part Brazilian market. While the pandemic paused in-person events, the Brazilian movie nights, live music and poetry readings, and paint and sip parties that were regularly held at the cafe have been slowly returning.

In addition to offerings like fresh cashew and sugarcane juices, savory Brazilian baked goods, and occasional specials like the cachorro quente (a.k.a. Brazilian hotdog), Favela also makes dessert-like specialty coffees, one of which approximates the flavor of fudgy brigadeiros.

The shop also carries a small, curated selection of Brazilian groceries and packaged goods. Shoppers might find bags of farofa and feijão carioca or bottles of Xingu beer and cans of Guarana, the best-selling soft drink in Brazil.

Notable items: Fresh sugarcane juice, pão de queijo, Brazilian beer.

KAAH MARKET

7238 SE FOSTER RD. PORTLAND 97206

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Phone: (503) 523-9747
Hours: 10am-8pm Sun-Thu | 10am-9pm Fri-Sat
Bus Lines: 14, 17, 72
From Colombian arepas to Argentine empanadas and everything delicious in between, the Portland Mercado is a well-known one-stop shop for Latin American food. While the popular food carts might be the biggest draw, the Mercado is also home to Kaah Market, a source for fresh produce, meat, and bulk goods.Owner Erick Caravantes comes from a long line of grocers; his family in Guatemala was also in the business. In Mayan, “kaah” can be roughly translated as “neighborhood,” which makes sense for a store that serves local needs. It also does double duty for Mercado customers in search of items not easily found elsewhere.

One of Kaah’s biggest draws is its large selection of freshly made salsas. The shop sells as many as ten varieties on any given day, which is why they’re often set out for sampling with tortilla chips. Popular varieties include the pineapple mango salsa spiked with habanero and the smoky roasted tomatillo morita salsa.

Shoppers can also find Guatemalan brands of spices and seasonings like Malher and fresh produce like tomatillos, purple potatoes, and chiles, including poblanos and habaneros. The meat counter offers chicharrones and chorizos made in-house and popular Mexican cuts of meat like arrachera.

Notable items: The vast selection of salsas, chorizos, Guatemalan products.

LA PERLITA / REFORMA ROASTERS

721 NW 9TH AVE.
PORTLAND 97201

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Hours: 9am-3pm daily
Bus Lines: MAX Blue Line, 20

The Pearl District’s Ecotrust Building not only houses Republica, a creative restaurant showcasing Mexican ingredients, it’s also where visitors will find La Perlita, a stylish lobby coffee shop marked with cursive pink neon. During the pandemic, it served as a space for BIPOC-fronted food pop-ups, which drew much-needed foot traffic when the nearby offices shut down and regular customers dwindled.The cafe is also a retail space for Reforma Roasters, a small roasting company owned by Mexican American Angel Medina. Originally focused exclusively on Mexican producers, he’s since branched out to cultivars from countries like Colombia. But more than anything, the focus is on coffee and culture, without the gate-keeping nature that can be endemic to the local coffee scene. He likes to downplay language like small batch and single origin to avoid terms used by an industry with a “savior mentality.”

Matutina, helmed by Gabriella Martinez, was one of the bakeries involved with the series of pop-ups and now regularly supplies goodies like funfetti conchas for the cafe. Seasonal treats like bolillo con cajeta and empanadas filled with candied sweet potatoes are on the horizon.

People have been known to come from outside the Portland area just for the cafe’s True Mexican mocha, an espresso-based take on cafe de olla, topped with cocoa nibs. La Perlita’s signature drink is also a counterpoint to local cafes calling any spiced coffee drink a “Mexican mocha.”

Notable items: Any seasonal drinks like the Cebada Syrup Latte, puerquitos, the chocolatey Abuelita Blend coffee beans.

THREE SISTERS NIXTAMAL

7475 SE 72ND AVE. PORTLAND 97206

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Phone: (503) 616-0853
Hours: 1am-1pm Tue-Fri | 10am-12pm Mon
Bus Lines: 71, 72
Like Dos Hermanos Bakery, Three Sisters Nixtamal is a success story where its products are now carried by local supermarkets like New Seasons and happily used by restaurants all over the city.The operation is run by Adriana Azcárate-Ferbel, her husband Pedro Ferbel-Azcarate, and business partner Wendy Downing. None are the three sisters in question; rather the name refers to maize, squash, and beans, three crops that were traditionally planted together as part of a rotation plan.

Corn tortillas are the company’s core offering, but they’re not just any tortilla. Most commercial corn tortillas are made with masa harina (a.k.a. Mexican Bisquick,) but here they source heritage corn grown in Mexico, which is steeped and cooked in an alkaline solution, i.e. nixtamalized, and ground on site. The process brings out the natural corn flavor and makes all the difference taste-wise.

Depending on availability, the tortillas are sold in versions made with yellow, white, or blue corn (and sometimes even green) at the PSU farmer’s market and local supermarkets, but the Lents-area production facility also sells bulk masa, hominy, whole corn, tamale husks, and packaged tortillas for pick up, if ordered online.

Notable items: Chile-flavored corn tortillas when they have them, and the versatile fresh masa for turning into sopes, tamales, and more.

TORTILLERIA Y TIENDA DE LEON

16223 NE GLISAN ST.
PORTLAND 97230

Phone: (503) 255-4356
Hours: 10am-6pm daily
Bus Lines: MAX Blue Line, 74, 77, 20

Like many enterprises run by immigrants, Tortilleria Y Tienda De Leon is truly a family affair. The store was established in 1999 by Anselmo and Francisca De Leon, migrant workers who originally came from the state of Tamaulipas and ultimately ended up in Oregon. Now, daughter Lucy De Leon manages the business and is responsible for its transformation from an everyday Mexican grocery store to a food-lovers destination.Of course, it’s still a supermarket, complete with a selection of dried chiles and pinatas, but the big draw is the deli counter filled with steaming trays of braised guisados sold by the pound. Standouts include the spicy pork and nopales and the meltingly tender carnitas.

Located in a strip mall right on the border between Portland and Gresham, the store staked its claim when there was still a dearth of options for Mexican food and groceries in the area. Competition has heated up over the past two decades, but thanks to Lucy’s entrepreneurial spirit, Tortilleria Y Tienda De Leon has been able to differentiate itself.

Spurred by a class at Portland State University, she decided to start the family’s salsa business, and Salsas Locas was born. A handful are usually available in the refrigerated case, from larger tubs of pico de gallo to smaller containers filled with crimson salsa de chile de árbol en aceite.

Behind the counter, more than half the space is devoted to tortilla production. These corn tortillas are bagged up and sold in massive bags in the store–the smallest size available for purchase is three pounds, so it’s worth stocking up and freezing some for later.

Notable items: There’s no going wrong with any of the guisados, and don’t forget the corn tortillas and housemade salsas.
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