Skip to content

The Official Guide to Portland

  • Attractions
    • View All Attractions
    • Attractions Open Now
    • Museums & History
    • Parks & Gardens
    • Family Friendly
    • Shopping
    • On a Budget
    • EVEN MORE THINGS TO DO
  • Culture
    • View All Culture
    • Arts
    • Beer
    • Biking
    • Cannabis
    • Cultural Communities
    • Craft Spirits
    • Food
    • Makers
    • Music
    • Nightlife
    • Outdoors
    • Sports
    • Weird
    • Wine
    • MORE CULTURE
  • Neighborhoods
    • View All Neighborhoods
    • Alberta Arts District
    • Belmont
    • Central Eastside
    • Division/Clinton
    • Downtown
    • Hawthorne
    • Lloyd
    • Mississippi
    • Northwest / Nob Hill
    • Old Town Chinatown
    • Pearl District
    • St. Johns
    • Sellwood-Moreland
    • Williams
    • ALL NEIGHBORHOODS
  • Region
    • View All Region
    • Near the City
    • Columbia River Gorge
    • Mount Hood
    • Oregon Coast
    • Willamette Valley
    • ALL REGIONS
  • Plan
    • View All Plan
    • Maps
    • Where to Stay
    • Tours & Itineraries
    • Transportation
    • When to Visit
    • International Resources
    • Portland Weather
    • COVID-19 FAQ
    • Plan a Meeting
  • Events
  • Search
Primary Menu 31 Events Near Me Search
  • Attractions
    • View All Attractions
    • Attractions Open Now
    • Museums & History
    • Parks & Gardens
    • Family Friendly
    • Shopping
    • On a Budget
    • EVEN MORE THINGS TO DO
  • Culture
    • View All Culture
    • Arts
    • Beer
    • Biking
    • Cannabis
    • Cultural Communities
    • Craft Spirits
    • Food
    • Makers
    • Music
    • Nightlife
    • Outdoors
    • Sports
    • Weird
    • Wine
    • MORE CULTURE
  • Neighborhoods
    • View All Neighborhoods
    • Alberta Arts District
    • Belmont
    • Central Eastside
    • Division/Clinton
    • Downtown
    • Hawthorne
    • Lloyd
    • Mississippi
    • Northwest / Nob Hill
    • Old Town Chinatown
    • Pearl District
    • St. Johns
    • Sellwood-Moreland
    • Williams
    • ALL NEIGHBORHOODS
  • Region
    • View All Region
    • Near the City
    • Columbia River Gorge
    • Mount Hood
    • Oregon Coast
    • Willamette Valley
    • ALL REGIONS
  • Plan
    • View All Plan
    • Maps
    • Where to Stay
    • Tours & Itineraries
    • Transportation
    • When to Visit
    • International Resources
    • Portland Weather
    • COVID-19 FAQ
    • Plan a Meeting
  • Events
  • Search
Tuck Woodstock

Tuck Woodstock

Tuck Woodstock has been writing and editing content for Travel Portland since 2014. Read More

The Portland Mercado offers a neighborhood grocery, meat market, coffee shop, food cart pod and more. The Portland Mercado offers a neighborhood grocery, meat market, coffee shop, food cart pod and more.
i
The Portland Mercado offers a neighborhood grocery, meat market, coffee shop, food cart pod and more.
Credit: Isaac Lane Koval
Culture / Food

Portland Mercado

This new dining destination is also a hub of Latino culture and local entrepreneurship.

Updated Apr. 30, 2020 2 min read Lents
Tuck Woodstock

Tuck Woodstock

Tuck Woodstock has been writing and editing content for Travel Portland since 2014. Read More

¡Bienvenidos! Painted in vibrant shades of pink, yellow and turquoise, the Portland Mercado shines brightly as an innovative cultural hub for Portland. Opened in April 2015, the complex provides affordable launch space for local Latino-owned businesses. With 19 enterprises — including a neighborhood grocery, meat market, coffee shop and food cart pod — in place, the Mercado has also become one of the city’s most delicious destinations.

For diners, the fun begins inside the Kaah Neighborhood Market, where fresh-baked concha pastries, chili-coated candies and creamy fruit salads perfume the air. Shoppers stock up on spicy sausage and Latino imports — think dried chilies and Nestle Abuelita Mexican chocolate — and fill growlers with wine, beer and sangria at the adjacent bottle shop, Barrio. Piñatas from Fiesta Tradicional decorate the communal seating area, where patrons linger over cups of chocolate champurrado and mango chai from the mercado’s resident coffee shop, Sandino Coffee Roasters.

Menus represent five regions of Mexico, as well as Colombia, Cuba, Argentina and El Salvador, each with distinct cuisines.

Outside, a row of rainbow-colored food carts plate up traditional recipes infused with Portland flair. “Let’s try something different!” declares the banner on Colombian cart Que Bacano, and the carts make that easy, with menus that represent five regions of Mexico, as well as Colombia, Cuba, Argentina and El Salvador, each with distinct cuisines. Order an earthy vegan mole, belly-warming pozole, thick and cheesy Salvadorian pupusas or pizza-like Oaxacan tlayudas (14-inch crispy tortillas topped with queso fresco, fresh veggies and pork rinds). In other words, this is way beyond standard Tex-Mex fare.

“It is an opportunity to celebrate and appreciate our diverse backgrounds through food and other goods and services.”

Senator Ron Wyden

In addition to providing tasty, authentic food and incubating new local businesses, the market serves as a touchstone for Latino culture: The Mercado’s calendar of public events includes community festivals featuring mariachi music, Aztec drumming, salsa dancing and other regional arts.

“This market is more than just an opportunity to support our local economy,” says Senator Ron Wyden, who helped champion the Mercado. “It is an opportunity to celebrate and appreciate our diverse backgrounds through food and other goods and services.”

Whether proudly Latino or eager to explore diverse cultures, visitors from all over the world can find plenty to love about this unique neighborhood market. ¡Vamos al mercado!

Attractions, Cultural Communities, Food, Food Carts

7 Great Latinx-Owned Eateries in Portland

Portland is home to plenty of authentic eateries from every corner of Latin America. Read on for some of the best Latinx-owned restaurants and food carts in Portland.

Read more

Was this page helpful?

Visitor’s Guide

cover of Travel Portland's visitor guide, 2019-'20, featuring a woman walking through Portland Japanese Garden

Get the Guide

 

Newsletter Signup

Get your monthly guide to Portland's events, attractions and news.

Follow Us

  • Instagram
  • Facebook
  • YouTube
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn

Information For

Local Businesses
Media
Meeting Planners
Travel Industry Professionals
Event Organizers

Brought to you by

Travel Portland Logo

We are a promoter and steward of this evolving city and its progressive values, which have the power to transform the travelers who visit us.

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Jobs
  • Español
  • Français
  • Deutsch
  • 日本語
  • 汉语
  • 漢語
  • 한국어
Copyright © 2021 Travel Portland
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookies Policy
  • Copyright Policy
Visit The USA Logo