Mexican and Latin American
It's impossible to discuss Mexican food from a Reed perspective without first mentioning Taqueria Uruapan. Best known for their splendid Renn Fayre burrito cart – a tiny gastronomic haven amid all the delirium and debauchery – the rest of the year has them selling tacos, tortas and more from a corrugated shack on SE 82nd. Take the grimy setting as reassurance of the owner's adherence to the basics. Everything here is estimable, but the carne asada and al pastor tacos are exceptionally delicious and an astounding bargain at a dollar a piece. If you know what to ask for, you can procure non-menu items. But even if they served nothing except tacos, Uruapan would be worth frequenting. Next to Uruapan's bold flavors, the dishes at Cha Cha Cha can seem anemic. However, if you take it for what it is – watered-down budget pseudo-Mexican – the food is actually quite reasonable.
For more authentic and elaborate Mexican cuisine, turn to either La Calaca Comelona or the audaciously named Autentica. Long-running La Calaca, with a strictly no burrito policy, has some impressive and seldom seen offerings including cochinita pibil (slow-roasted pork) and blackberry mole. A special appetizers menu even features grasshoppers! However, La Calaca also has a tendency to be over-priced, and an overall lack of consistency makes it easy to feel indifferent about the place.
Autentica, on the other hand, is the kind of restaurant that readily inspires devotion. Well worth the extra effort it takes to get up to NE Portland, Autentica is so superb that their salsas (especially the rapturously nutty chile de arbol) are good enough to eat by themselves, albeit not without a certain amount of sweet suffering. Aside from a seafood cocktail of octopus “in its own broth” that's disturbingly reminiscent of placenta fluid, there's hardly a bad dish on the menu. The moles are incredible, and on Thursdays they serve pozole blanco, a traditional pork and hominy soup that's apparently rather special.
Looking beyond Mexican borders, Pambiche might be the most popular Latin American restaurant in Portland – and rightly so. Strange as it may sound to fixate on the desserts in a Cuban restaurant plying impeccable ropa vieja (stewed shredded beef) and arroz con pollo (chicken with rice), the postres are truly remarkable. Don't miss their cheesecakes. The best time to go is during happy hour (2-6pm) when plates are reduced to $3 or less.
Autentica: 5507 NE 30th Ave $$ R
La Calaca Comelona: 2304 SE Belmont $$-$$$
Cha Cha Cha: 3433 SE Hawthorne Blvd; also at 1605 SE Bybee Blvd $
Pambiche: 2811 NE Glisan $-$$
Taqueria Uruapan: 5703 SE 82nd Ave; also at 5222 SE Foster Rd $ R