Mississippi
Enjoy live music, local shops and popular restaurants and bars on this historic North Portland street.
North Mississippi Avenue features a long stretch of vibrant shops, unique bars, music venues and restaurants (and is only a half-mile away from even more acclaimed eateries and bars on North Williams Avenue). Read on for our favorite things to do and see in Mississippi.
Where to Eat and Drink on Mississippi
Fried egg sandwiches and fluffy biscuits headline at Gravy. The signature gravy, served veggie or “country-style” loaded with sausage crumbles, is almost a meal on its own.
Prost Marketplace provides a delicious introduction to Portland’s vaunted food cart scene, with mobile vendors serving inventive cuisine. You can enjoy your grub with a pint at on-site German pub Prost.
Local barbecue favorite, Miss Delta runs a hefty smoker behind their restaurant, smoking meats for hours before it gets served.
Lovely’s Fifty-Fifty serves some of the city’s best wood-fired pizzas and homemade ice cream — the salted caramel is addictive.
Blue Star Donuts, a Portland mainstay uses a traditional French brioche recipe as the base for classy pastries in creative flavors like blueberry bourbon basil and Cointreau crème brulee.
One of the district’s oldest businesses, Mississippi Pizza, serves its slices with generous sides of karaoke, trivia, bingo and live music — much of it geared toward kids.
Fans of Mee-Sen Thai can’t get enough of the Asian-market-in-a-warehouse vibe or the khao pad poo, a pungent combination of fried rice and sweet crabmeat.
Things to Do on Mississippi
Urban gardeners love wandering through verdant Pistils Nursery, where they can find plants, terrarium supplies, glassware, pottery and apothecary goods, gardening books and more. The nursery hosts “Living Art Workshops” on activities like staghorn fern mounting, terrarium building and houseplant care.
A great first stop for lesbian, gay and transgender (LGBTQ+) visitors is Mississippi’s Q Center, a community gathering place and resource center that hosts regular events.
At the homey Mississippi Studios, you’ll feel like you’re getting a private show — from major acts that could easily pack much larger venues. The attached BarBar rounds out the evening with a solid draft list and airy patio dining.
Sunlan Lighting the oldest business on bustling Mississippi Avenue, is a quirky specialty shop carrying light bulbs of all colors, shapes and sizes. Owner Kay Newell is also happy to share local lore and scrapbooks of vintage photographs and clippings with curious visitors.
Learn the basics of insect pinning at Paxton Gate, which includes materials and hands-on instruction on how to hydrate, preserve and display your beetle, grasshopper or butterfly. You can also shop for exotic plants, taxidermy, crystals, animal skulls, curios and mounted insects.
Shopping on Mississippi
Gourmet chocolate, wine, flowers — The Meadow stocks everything you need for a romantic picnic, along with specialty salts from around the world. Worn Path equips wilderness wanderers with sleeping bags, beanies, slingshots and other woodsy essentials.
The analog era is alive and well at Mississippi Records, specializing in international, blues and soul recordings. The shop has turntables, listening stations and even its own line of releases on vinyl and cassette.
The wide selection of comics and graphic novels at Rose City Comics attests to the number of comic book publishers and professionals in Portland — thought to be second only to New York City.
Even if you’re not in the market for a new door or bathtub, stop into the 40,000-square-foot ReBuilding Center to marvel at the array of recycled home materials, as well as the impressive tree sculpture surrounding the front entrance.
For the discriminating toddler, there’s Black Wagon, a boutique that stocks high-end clothes and gifts for babies and kids.
Chock-full of locally crafted wall prints, tees and vintage-themed jewelry, Land makes it easy to curate a Portland aesthetic. (You may also recognize it as the place where over-zealous crafters “put a bird on it” in the first season of Portlandia.) Meanwhile, Flutter offers a “delightful disarray” of home décor, jewelry and fragrances.
For local shopping and fun, every July you’ll find the Mississippi Street Fair with live music on multiple stages, more than 150 local vendors, kids’ activities, a beer garden and more.
Mississippi Events
Explore what Mississippi Neighborhood has to offer at these upcoming events.
Chatham County Line
Launched a little more than twenty years ago in Raleigh, North Carolina, Chatham County Line built a devoted local following on the strength of their genre-bending live show — an intoxicating blend of bluegrass, folk, country, and rock and roll — before breaking out internationally with their 2003 self-titled debut. In the years to come,…
Cedric Burnside
When Cedric Burnside prepared to record Hill Country Love, the follow-up to his 2021 Grammy-winning album I Be Trying, he set up shop in a former legal office located in a row of structures in the seat of Tippah County, a town with 5,000 residents that’s known as the birthplace of the Hill Country Blues…
Colby Acuff
Sometimes, it seems like country has forgotten its wild roots — or at least outgrown them, changing as it has to reflect an ever-evolving world. Then there’s a guy like Colby Acuff. A fourth-generation Idaho native with a rugged spirit true to his mountain home, honest-to-a-fault lyrics and a sound as raw as the remote…
Minority Retort: The Grande Finale
For nearly a decade, Minority Retort has been Portland's premier stand-up comedy showcase featuring Black and Brown comedians and a fixture on the Portland comedy scene. Now… it’s enough already. Join The Siren Theater and celebrate Minority Retort’s homegoing with an all-star lineup of some of the show’s favorites from over the years: Nathan Brannon,…
John Craigie
Portland, Oregon based singer-songwriter John Craigie covers the entire Beatles album 'Rubber Soul' with his unique "Lonely" blend of wit, humor, history and stories told between each beloved song. Five special guests will open the show, each playing one non 'Rubber Soul' Beatles song. Much like community, music nourishes us mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. It…
dada
Since the release of dada’s groundbreaking 1992 debut Puzzle, the trio has created an array of songs boasting progressive rock musicianship, dazzling vocal harmonies and melodic power pop layered with inspired psychedelic and experimental rock impulses. Adding to the trio’s groundbreaking line of attack are the marathon-length shows that deliver on the promise that every…
Allison Adams Tucker
Multi-lingual vocalist, composer and recording artist Allison Adams Tucker comes to Portland to celebrate her latest album, "RETRO Trilogy," featuring Randy Porter piano/keys, Patrick Golichnik bass, Brent Follis drums, and Ben Graves guitar. Recorded in New York City with a heavy-hitter band and nominated for Best Jazz Album 2024 by San Diego Music Awards, "RETRO…
Yard Act
What do you do when everything you’ve ever wanted suddenly lands in your lap, but the questions still keep on coming? Since first steering their golden Rover into swift public acclaim back in 2020, Leeds quartet Yard Act has become one of the great indie success stories of the decade so far. Along the way, they’ve…
Beyond The Blinds
Beyond The Blinds is the love child of two pop culture lovers, Troy and Kelli. The two take you beyond the "celebrity blinds" and dive deeper into the dark side of Hollywood. This podcast is full of scandal, intrigue, and gossip surrounding your favorite celebrities. Beyond The Blinds is consistently in the top 10 under…
William Elliott Whitmore
A man armed only with a banjo and a bass drum can be a formidable force, especially if his name is William Elliott Whitmore. With his powerful voice and honest approach, Whitmore comes from the land, growing up on a family farm in Lee County, Iowa. Still living on the same farm today, Whitmore has…
Ghostly Kisses
Music has always been around Margaux Sauvé, born in Quebec to a family of musicians; she picked up the violin at the tender age of five. Moving on to the Conservatoire in Quebec, she quit due to “missing the fun part of it” but still loved music so started to play violin in local bands….
Were You Raised By Wolves? The Podcast LIVE
"Were You Raised By Wolves?” cordially invites to an evening on the hilarious how-to's of any slippery social situation with hosts Emmy Award-winning journalist Nick Leighton and stand-up comedian Leah Bonnema (Late Show with Stephen Colbert and Don't Tell Comedy), who will discuss personal pet peeves, mortifying stories of public embarrassment, and true tales of…
Middle Kids
There is a question at the heart of Faith Crisis Pt 1, the third album from Sydney’s emotive indie trio Middle Kids. Over 13 propulsive, ecstatic and gorgeous tracks, songwriter and vocalist Hannah Joy attempts to tease out the question of belief, the breaking of it, and how it is rebuilt. Co-produced by Tim Fitz and…
Radiation City
Radiation City was a lovely force, relentlessly touring, playing their guts out all over the US, Canada, Mexico, and EU for the seven years they were a band. Their DIY approach made lasting connections with those who listened and attended shows. Now, after seven years apart, and after much change in their lives and the…
Horse Lords
Almost all bands do it backward and upside-down. They start with years of playing live, creating their music in the crucible of performance with all of its impurities and in-the-moment inspirations, before committing said music to a recording that fixes it into an ostensible, exemplary form that eternally serves as an ultimate reference. And then…
Mississippi Street Fair
Bustling North Mississippi Avenue closes down for a day of food, vendors, music and fun at Portland's largest street fair, Mississippi Street Fair. This year the fair will have the following: Three Music Stages, Kids Zone, Grandfathers Rib-Off Competition, Hundreds Of Vendors, Shopping and Dining,
Sarah Shook and the Disarmers
It’s obvious when listening to Sarah Shook and the Disarmers’ clear-eyed, biting, and unafraid songs, that integrity is the most important thing to the Chapel Hill, North Carolina, country-punk outfit. “A lot of artists are in this industry for fame, recognition, and money, but those things don’t mean anything to me,” says bandleader River Shook….
Jah Wobble
Jah Wobble, born John Joseph Wardle on August 11, 1958, is an English bass guitarist, composer, and music producer. He gained prominence as the original bass player for Public Image Ltd (PiL), a post-punk band formed by former Sex Pistols frontman John Lydon (Johnny Rotten). Jah Wobble's distinctive bass lines and experimental approach to music…
Owen
Spanning more than two decades, Mike Kinsella's widely influential songwriting has steadily sharpened and evolved with each new chapter. In his solo vehicle as Owen (in addition to his roles along the way with American Football, Cap'n Jazz, the more recent LIES, and other collaborative ventures), Kinsella’s ability to seamlessly stitch jagged emotional currents into…
King Buzzo & Trevor Dunn
King Buzzo, the iconic founder and lead vocalist/guitar player for the Melvins, and Mr. Bungle bass player Trevor Dunn join forces this Summer, teaming up for the “King Dunn Tour.” Osborne and Dunn have collaborated several times over the years, including Dunn’s participation in King Buzzo’s 2020 album, Gift of Sacrifice, as well as both being…
Marika Hackman
Songwriter and multi-instrumentalist known for her emotionally honest and personal lyrics, Marika Hackman first made a name for herself with a spare, acoustic-oriented approach. Receiving acclaim for her musical talent, lyrical depth, and unique style, Marika has been recognized through interviews, reviews, and profiles in publications like The Independent, The Guardian, Pitchfork, Dazed, The New…
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