This Is How To Do A DIY Pizza Tour In Portland For Under $25
After New York and Chicago, Portland, Oregon is said to be the third best city in the USA for pizza. That’s right, this city is bringing in pizza aficionados from around the world thanks to the access to heritage grains which make the pizza dough that extra bit special. With that in mind, it would be almost rude not to do a pizza tour in Portland.
You can go on a guided pizza walking tour to sample the best slices in the city which is a great way to learn about Portland’s pizza history. Or you can do what I did and do your own DIY pizza tour in Portland – not only does it save you a few bucks but you can choose exactly where you want to go.
Our own DIY Portland Pizza tour took us to the North West District of Portland to the area of Nob Hill near Slabtown. Only a 20 minute walk from downtown Portland, you can easily walk here with a coffee stop or two along the way (Never Coffee and Sterling Coffee Roasters are both great places for a pre-pizza drink).
The north west district is also a good area to do a pizza tour of Portland because there are a lot of pizza places in easy reach of each other. All the following places you can order by the slice too which is ideal for sampling loads of different pieces of pie.
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Here’s how to do your own DIY Pizza Tour In Portland
Ranch PDX
Start At Ranch PDX. As the black board outside says, “This pizza is square” and oh my goodness, what a good slice of square pizza this is. Serving up pizza Sicilian style, these chunky delicious portions of pizza might be one of the best pizzas I’ve ever eaten.
The thick dough is so light and airy and the edges are deliciously crispy. If I knew I didn’t have more pizza to sample, I would’ve got a whole pie. We tried out the Quarter Cheese and Quarter Pepperoni but also on the menu by the slice are Quarter Hawaiian, Quarter Gourd Thymes, Quarter Veggie and Quarter Vegan. Ranch PDX is the best place to start, you wouldn’t want to miss out on this slice if you’re feeling too full later in the day.
Slices from $7.50
Opening Times: Sunday to Thursday, 11am to 9pm and Friday to Saturday, 11am to 10pm
Address: 916 NW 21st Ave, Portland, Oregon, 97209
Escape From New York Pizza
You can’t do a DIY pizza tour in Portland and not go to the city’s first by-the-slice shop. Escape From New York’s thin, floppy, easy-to-devour pizza slices are made with whole milk mozzarella, a unique sauce recipe made from whole tomatoes and fresh garlic, and handmade dough that’s made from scratch 7 days a week.
Get yourself to the counter as soon as possible, watch the chefs throw pizzas in the air and pick a slice from the many flavors each day. As well as standard favorites, there is also a featured slice of the day which you can eat in the sticker laden shop or on the chairs outside. Alternatively, grab a slice to go and enjoy on the way to your next stop…
Slices from $4.95
Escape From New York Pizza Menu
Opening Times: Monday to Friday, 11:30am to 11pm
Address: 622 NW 23rd Ave, Portland, Oregon
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Wild Child
Detroit style pizza? Yes please. Get yourself to Wild Child for scrumptious square (yes, another square pizza place) slices. The 72-hour aged sourdough creates the perfect base for regular toppings such as Cheese, BBQ Chicken and Pepperoni or more wild flavors like Maui Wowie or Pesto Chicken Ranch. We loved this place, the pizza was great, the staff were friendly and it was the ideal third stop of the day after a few drinks.
Slices from $6.75
Opening Times: Monday to Sunday, 12pm to 9pm
Address: 2309 NW Kearney St, Portland, Oregon, 97210
Scottie’s Pizza Parlor
Full disclosure, we didn’t stop at Scottie’s Pizza Parlor. We did try the Division Street location but unfortunately they only do full pizzas and we were already stuffed from whatever food we’d eaten on that day of our trip. However, if you do have a bit of room in your belly. Grab a slice from Scottie’s to end your pizza tour in Portland and choose from Burrata, Pepperoni, Suprema, the Hawaii 5-0-5 and so many more. If the sun is shining, take advantage of the outdoor seating area before heading out for some post-pizza drinks.
Slices from $3
Opening Times: Tuesday to Sunday, 12pm to 8pm
Address: 685 NW 21st Ave, Portland, Oregon
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6 Top Tips For Your DIY Pizza Tour In Portland
Portland Pizza Tour Tip 1: Do your pizza tour in the order above. You can easily hop from one to the other in less than a couple of hours. Doing Escape from New York Pizza after Ranch PDX does mean you have to double back on yourself to reach Wild Child Pizza. However, it means you can alternate thick square pizza with thin slice and you can stop for a coffee at Barista along the way.
Portland Pizza Tour Tip 2: Make sure the pizza places you visit are within walking distance. That’s the beauty of going to Ranch PDX, Escape From New York, Wild Child and Scottie’s Pizza Parlor. You can easily walk from one to the next which makes it a whizz if you only have a couple of hours to cram in a Portland pizza tour.
Portland Pizza Tour Tip 3: Make sure the places on your pizza tour are open. And also check what time they’re open! You’d be gutted to find out the pizza place you’re looking forward to trying is shut on a Tuesday if Tuesday is the day you’d picked for a pizza tour.
Portland Pizza Tour Tip 4: Check the pizza places you want to visit serve up pizzas by the slice. Unless there’s a few of you, and unless you’re really great at eating pizza, I’m guessing you won’t want to be eating full pizzas at each stop!
Portland Pizza Tour Tip 5: Check you don’t need to book. There are some pizza places in Portland where they’re definitely more of a restaurant rather than just a grab and go spot. It’s likely you’ll have to reserve a table beforehand, so definitely double check before you go.
Portland Pizza Tour Tip 6: Another top tip, is to drag this pizza tour out across the whole day, interspersing pizza with coffee, beer, cocktails and ice cream. If you want to do this, I’d recommend going to the following places in this order:
Sterling Coffee: Try their Chai Latte, it’s one of the best I’ve ever had.
Ranch Pizza: Go for the margherita and pepperoni!
Breakside Brewery: Take a pitstop for a tasty beer or two from their choice of 16 taps in this Slabtown brewery.
Escape From New York Pizza: Delicious, floppy, huge, New York style slices from the first shop in Portland to serve pizza by the slice.
Salt and Straw: Grab a sweet scoop of ice cream to break up the day from Salt and Straw.
Barista: Give the belly a break and grab an energising cup of coffee from Barista.
Great Notion Brewery: If you like your beer, take a walk to this place. It might feel like you’re heading into the middle of nowhere but on the industrial estate near Powell’s Books Warehouse, you’ll find Great Notion Brewery.
Freeland Spirits: If cocktails are more your thing, please make the journey to Freeland Spirits, a women owned and operated distillery that honestly makes some of the more beautiful cocktails I’ve had. What’s more, if you can’t choose, they serve up a flight of cocktails which I highly regret not trying!
Pizza Thief: We didn’t try here but this would be a great stop after some beer and cocktails. Ran by old housemates, Pizza Thief serves pizza by the whole and slice.
Wild Child: The reason we didn’t try Pizza Thief was because we were fully focussed on getting to Wild Child, a great place to end your day of pizza eating.
Other Pizza Places In Portland To Visit
As the USA’s third most popular city for pizza, you’d expect there to be a ton of places to find a good slice. And you’re right, there is. Here’s a list of other pizza places in Portland – why not pin them on a map and create your own pizza tour in Portland if you don’t fancy doing the above!
- The Star
- Lovely’s Fifty Fifty
- Pop Pizza
- Dimo’s Apizza
- Nostrana
- No Saint
- Paladin Pie
- Ken’s Artisan Pizza
- Red Sauce Pizza
- Apizza Scholls
- Vincenzo’s Pizza
- Reeva
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And there you have it. That’s how to do a DIY pizza tour in Portland. Either do the first few that are recommended at the top of the post, or pin a load to Google maps and come up with your own. Happy pizza eating everyone!
Hey, I’m Emma!
