Williams
This vibrant North Portland street offers stellar shopping, dining and things to do.
Pack in stylish shopping, delicious international cuisine and quirky bar-hopping in North Portland’s Williams neighborhood. Read on for more of our favorite things to do in Williams.
Eat and Drink on Williams
When the craving for dumplings and noodles strikes, check out XLB on North Williams for classic Chinese comfort food and their namesake xiao long bao.
Named “Restaurant of the Year” in 2019 by The Oregonian, Eem’s Thai dishes, such as sweet and sour fried chicken and fried egg-topped soy curl stir fry, are all jammed with flavor. Cocktails arrive in over-the-top, photo-worthy Tiki glasses, but the cuisine crafted at Eem remains its star component.
More notable meals on Williams include handmade pastries and bacon-flecked baguettes by Dos Hermanos Bakery; beautiful, intricately decorated desserts at Jinju Patisserie; and vegan-friendly, authentic Japanese ramen at Kayo’s Ramen.
Migration Brewing on Williams opened in 2021 with a redesigned airy and open interior. Grab a pint from one of their 18 Migration beers on tap and head out to the 2000 square feet (186 m²) dog-friendly patio with both covered and uncovered seating. Another great place to grab a pint on Williams Avenue is AleFire. While you’re there peruse their highly curated list of hot sauces where you can take home a bottle of Hellfire.
More Tastes to Sample on Williams
North Williams Avenue is home to several eclectic drinking holes and delicious places to eat, including these favorites.
Shopping on Williams
SpielWerk Toys sells new children’s toys, but it transports shoppers to a simpler time. Filled with classic playthings crafted from natural materials, the shop’s simple, kid-powered toys like jump ropes, tea sets, dress-up kits and musical instruments promise timeless fun. Offering ethically sourced clothing made by small-batch designers, Monochromatic is a women-owned business committed to providing pronoun inclusive, simple designs.
Stop by Workshop Vintage where designing duo Audra Santillo and Nate Moore showcase their love for all things vintage and custom-crafted pieces. This quirky boutique is uniquely modern with a rustic interior, boasting both newly created and nostalgic collectibles.
Questions About North Williams Avenue
How far is it to Downtown from Williams Avenue?
What if I don’t have a car?
Activities on Williams
Start a stroll down Williams with a visit to The Wishing Tree. Planted in a neighborhood local’s front yard, the humble tree is strung with thousands of handwritten notes, each fastened to strings threaded through the tree’s branches. (Leave your own note by using the pens and paper stashed in mason jars at the base of the tree.)
Across from the Legacy Emanuel Medical Center is a small park with a big history. Dawson Park is a 2 acre (1 hectare) park that functioned as an unofficial town square for the surrounding African American community and was the epicenter of many political and social movements — like civil rights marches. With a restored 120-year-old gazebo and a splash pad, this park is a great place to enjoy the summer while learning about the history of the surrounding neighborhood.
Events in Williams Neighborhood
Get to know the neighborhood at these upcoming events.
Slater
From seductive club bangers to therapeutic, night-time-cruising tunes, Slater has solidified his role as a tastemaker and star of the new wave of alternative pop. Since 2013, Southern California’s rising underground sensation, Slater, has blended the best elements of alternative, pop, and hip hop into a new, unique sound all of his own. Smooth, groovy,…
Video Age
Video Age make breezy and timeless songs that are so ineffable, they can only be the result of a decades-long friendship and songwriting partnership. Across four albums, Ross Farbe and Ray Micarelli have gleefully worn their influences on their sleeve, writing inviting tunes that reference sounds ranging from disco to pop and indie rock. On…
'80s New Wave Video Dance Attack
Portland’s longest running video dance night is now featuring a special New Wave & Alternative edition of 80s Video Dance Attack at Polaris Hall. 80s New Wave Video Dance Attack dives into our archives to feature videos from artists like Depeche Mode, Yaz, The Cure, A-ha, Siouxsie & The Banshees, Thompson Twins, New Order, Adam…
Israel Nash
Recorded with producer Kevin Ratterman (My Morning Jacket, Ray LaMontagne), Nash’s rousing new collection, Ozarker, is indeed an ode to his roots, but more than that, it’s a meditation on love and family, on the beauty and the pain we pass down through generations, on the ties that bind us through good times and bad. The…
Slow Hollows
After a three-year hiatus, Slow Hollows returns reinvented, sharing a new single and video “Old Yeller.” The genre-defying Los Angeles band founded by songwriter Austin Feinstein is now his solo project. Though the group amicably disbanded in early 2020, the now 25-year-old artist never stopped writing songs. The more he fleshed out new material, the more Feinstein realized it…
Sir Chloe
Dana Foote put Sir Chloe together in college to serve as her senior thesis. She wrote “Michelle” and “Animal,” songs that would become the band’s first major hits a few years later, on the floor of her college dorm. The band recorded the songs in the early hours of the morning, the only time their…
KMFDM
KMFDM (originally Kein Mehrheit Für Die Mitleid, loosely translated by the band as “no pity for the majority”) is a multinational industrial band from Hamburg, Germany, led by Sascha Konietzko, who founded the band in 1984 as a performance art project in Paris, France. The band’s earliest albums were recorded in Germany before they moved…
zzzahara
For most of their life, Zzzahara has been looking backward. Raised in LA’s Highland Park neighborhood, their debut album, Liminal Spaces, confronted the changes the community has endured since Zzzahara’s childhood. That sense of loss, coupled with the persistent memories of a painful coming-of-age, led to many late-night parties and an avoidant relationship with self-reflection. Liminal Spaces chronicled…
Home Front
A distinct sound is made when freshly polished Dr. Marten boots crunch through the snow in northern Canada’s frozen tundra. When the hum of traffic is low, Dr. Marten's boots make a hard rhythm on the cold concrete. Welcome to HOME FRONT, a beat a sound unique to a working-class city like Edmonton, Alberta. For…
High Fade
On a three-man crusade to set dance floors alight with their inimitable brand of razor-sharp funk and disco, Edinburgh’s High Fade captured the attention of a global audience with their music amassing over 30 million views and streams within six months of their first release and, in the process, gaining recognition from music heavyweights including…
Tyler Ramsey
At the core of any great singer-songwriter lies this inherent trait of stage presence, one where an entire room, no matter the size, is pulled in by this lyrical tractor beam — all eyes, emotions and energies aimed in one direction at a single voice. For Tyler Ramsey, it’s being able to honestly connect with…
Meth Math
Meth Math has always been a band of contradictions, of light and darkness, of — in their own words — the “fine and filthy.” The esoteric trio comprises vocalist Angelicá Ballesteros and producers Bonsai Babies and error.error, met and developed their work in the Mexican city of Hermosillo, where they grew up. Chupetones, their debut…
sapphic factory
The Sapphic Factory: Queer Joy Party has partnered with PLUS1 so that $1 per ticket goes to supporting the LGBT National Help Center and their work providing vital peer support, community connections, and resource information for the LGBT community. if you want to go out dancing and celebrate the sounds of eternal longing, we…
Erika de Casier
Erika de Casier isn’t searching for perfection — she’s just trying to show you where she’s at right now. The 33-year-old Danish singer, songwriter and producer built a cult following with her 2019 debut album Essentials, and emphatically built on that “cult” designation with 2021’s Sensational, her first album for 4AD. In the past few years, she’s performed…
R.A.P Ferreira
R.A.P. Ferreira, f.k.a. Milo, a.k.a. Scallops Hotel, is an MC, producer and theorist in the Black arts tradition commonly categorized as rap. Having founded the label Ruby Yacht in 2015 and since releasing all his music through this channel, Ferreira has earned a sizable following within independent hip-hop through rigorous, constant touring and an elevated,…
Laura Veirs
Laura Veirs announces the release of her first live album, Laura Veirs and Her Band – Live in Brooklyn, coming out worldwide on April 12, 2024, on limited edition colored vinyl on her label Raven Marching Band. The five-piece band recorded the album over two nights in March 2023 at the Owl Parlor in Brooklyn, NY. The…
Charlie Parr
In the music of Charlie Parr, there is a sincere conviction and earnest drive to create. The Minnesota-born guitarist, songwriter, and interpreter of traditional music has released 19 albums over two decades and has been known to perform up to 275 shows a year. Parr is a folk troubadour in the truest sense: taking to…
Ruby Waters
Although her mellow manner is entirely disarming and comforting in the best way possible, Ruby Waters is a powerful artistic force set on a path that is wholly her own creation. Ruby’s music is an extension of her most authentic self — good times, good friends, and honest storytelling. Add in a few cases of…
Tinsley Ellis
According to Atlanta-based blues guitarist, singer and songwriter Tinsley Ellis, his new, first-ever solo acoustic album, Naked Truth, is both “a departure and an arrival.” Ellis has been recording and traveling the world for over four decades, delivering his feral, guitar-fueled, original electric blues-rock to ever-growing audiences at concert halls, festivals, and clubs. Naked Truth…
Andrea von Kampen
Deemed “a fine singer with guitar work reminiscent of the cult hero Nick Drake” by the New York Times, singer-songwriter Andrea von Kampen is known for her captivating melodies and introspective storytelling. After releasing a handful of EPs, von Kampen released her independent debut album Old Country, in 2019 and her sophomore album, That Spell, with Fantasy…
Fiddlehead
Formed with the most modest of expectations, Fiddlehead has unexpectedly become one of the most vital groups in rock music. Their fervent audience responds to the urgency of their music, but also the intensely human exploration of loss that’s colored so much of the band’s output. Fiddlehead’s previous albums, 2018’s Springtime and Blind and 2021’s…
Great Good Fine Ok
Change precedes evolution. By embracing it, we not only expand our potential but we also actualize it. Rather than shy away from change, Great Good Fine Ok has generated a new mindset by embracing a fresh beginning, not because they’ve grown tired of their ways, but because they have grown, period. The Los Angeles-based duo — vocalist Jon…
Michael Seyer
Currently in Los Angeles, singer-songwriter Michael Seyer was originally born in the Philippines. The 28 year old musician produces everything in his bedroom and takes pride in it. With hazy guitars, airy synths, and introspective lyrics, descriptions of his music have ranged from atmospheric, bittersweet, and emotional. However, his unique take on the emerging bedroom…
Smallpools / Grayscale
Specializing in shimmery, ebullient, and effusive electro-pop in the vein of Foster the People, Passion Pit, Fun., and Jukebox the Ghost, Los Angeles-based indie rockers Smallpools formed in 2013 around the talents of Sean Scanlon (vocals), Mike Kamerman (guitar), Joe Intile (bass), and Beau Kuther (drums). The quartet made waves with their first single, "Dreaming,"…
Boeckner
Daniel Boeckner understands the grit and gravel that accumulate in the heart and that it takes unwavering courage to crack through that clutter and burrow to the other side. And in Boeckner’s hands, that quest comes via postapocalyptic synth and guitar heroism, a rallying cry for those always coming home through the scorched clouds. Throughout…
Sweet Pill
Sweet Pill has a style earmarked by an earnest ingenuity that many young artists are quick to romanticize and aspire to but slow to cultivate and execute. It takes time. For singer Zayna Youssef, guitarists Jayce Williams and Sean McCall, bassist Ryan Cullen, and drummer Chris Kearney, however, their five years together have seen their…
Gustaf
Gustaf began without a name or, for that matter, many official members. In 2018, after someone’s tour bound for South by Southwest collapsed, Brooklyn musician Tarra Thiessen suddenly had a van headed to South by Southwest with no band. When she told friend Lydia Gammill about the conundrum, Gammill jumped at the chance to get…
bbymutha
Brittnee Moore, known professionally by the stage name of bbymutha, is an American rapper. She was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee. In a 2017 interview Moore described herself as a 'stay-at-home mom' who earns her income through rapping. She began her career through SoundCloud, where she released her first track, "Slut". In 2017, she rose to prominence…
Joy Again
For Joy Again, inspiration indiscriminately bounces around like a superball. It ping-pongs between the Philadelphia band before it settles and crystallizes in one capriciously catchy bop after another. These six lo-fi alternative pop outliers — Sachi DiSerafino [vocals, guitar], Arthur Shea [vocals, guitar], Blaise O’Brien [keys], Zachary Tyndall [keys], Will Butera [drums], and Kieran Ferris[bass]…
The High Hawks
The High Hawks are a group of musical friends who hail from various jam and Americana bands: Vince Herman, frontman and festival ring leader from Leftover Salmon; Tim Carbone, ace fiddler and multi-instrumentalist from Railroad Earth; Adam Greuel, ring leader and guitarist from Horseshoes & Hand Grenades; Chad Staehly, keyboardist from Hard Working Americans; Brian…
Paco Versailles
Paco Versailles is a collaboration between guitarist/composer Vahagni and songwriter/producer Ryan Merchant (Capital Cities).Their sound is a mix of flamenco guitar rhythms with disco-leaning electronic production and captivating vocals, a new genre they call Dancemenco. The name Paco Versailles was conceived while imagining a collaboration between their biggest influences, the legendary Spanish guitarist Paco De…
Los Angeles League of Musicians, LA LOM
JThe Los Angeles League of Musicians, LA LOM, are an instrumental trio formed in Los Angeles in 2021. They blend the sounds of Cumbia Sonidera, 60’s soul ballads and classic romantic boleros that emanate from radios, backyard parties and dance clubs of Los Angeles with the twang of Peruvian Chicha and Bakersfield Country
Chris Pureka
It’s rare for an artist to bridge the divide between critical acclaim and dedicated fan engagement. Chris Pureka is a Portland-based singer-songwriter whose work has resonated deeply with these seemingly disparate milieus. Their music has straddled the folk, Americana and indie rock genres over the course of their 20 year career, and over that time,…
Aaron Lee Tasjan
Over his past decade-plus of writing, recording, and producing, Tasjan has released four excellent and critically acclaimed solo albums, touring the world on his own and as the guitarist in the New York Dolls. He co-founded and co-wrote all the material for the band Semi Precious Weapons. In 2021, he was nominated for a Grammy…
Fox and Bones
Scott Gilmore and Sarah Vitort are Fox and Bones — energetic offbeat folksters with a retro pop-rock bent who have been setting the world alight with a handclapping, foot-stomping good time since 2016. The indomitable duo has brought their optimistic Americana polish to international stages shared with Rayland Baxter, The Dead South, ZZ Ward, The…
VIAL
What happens when you give musicians KT Branscom and Taylor Kraemer a Tinder account? They find a third and start a band. VIAL is a Minneapolis-based indie punk band made up of keytarist and bassist Taylor Kraemer (she/they), guitarist KT Branscom (they/them), and drummer Katie Fischer (she/they). VIAL brings their genre-bending cascade of sound into…
Major Tomboys
Ziggy Stardust fell to Earth once upon a time. It is the mission of Major Tomboys to pay tribute to his god-given ass. Major Tomboys is Portland’s all-femme David Bowie tribute band, founded by Renée Muzquiz (lead singer/guitar) and Lauren Hatch (keyboard) in the summer of 2018. There was a flash of lightning, an explosion…
Greyhounds
Greyhounds are the Austin trio of Anthony Farrell (vocals, keyboards), Andrew Trube (vocals and guitar) and Ed Miles (drums). Many music fans remember Farrell and Trube as key members of JJ Grey’s band MOFRO for many years.
Dent May
Every morning when Dent May wakes up, the first thing he says is, “What’s for breakfast?” For the Los Angeles-based songwriter and pop auteur, this question is part inside joke with his girlfriend, part sitcom-style catchphrase, and part mantra about getting up every day and persevering in the face of good or bad is happening…
Therapy Gecko
After embarking on a sold-out world tour last year, multi-platform internet sensation Lyle Forever brings his beloved Therapy Gecko live show on the road again in 2024. Fans will get to converse with Lyle live on stage as they share their hopes, dreams, and anything else in the recesses of their mind with the internet's…
Francis Of Delirium
Francis of Delirium, AKA 22-year-old Luxembourg-based Jana Bahrich, is the loudest voice in a very quiet country. From recording and self-producing 3 EPs brimming with alt-rock angst and lockdown nihilism in abasement next to the washing machine, Francis of Delirium is on the precipice of releasing her highly anticipated debut album, Lighthouse via Dalliance Recordings. With fans…
Babehoven
Babehoven is a band fronted by singer-songwriter Maya Bon and collaborator Ryan Albert in Hudson, NY. Their new album, Water’s Here In You, is available everywhere on April 26 via Double Double Whammy. Written and recorded at the duo’s home studio throughout the winter of 2022–2023, ‘Water’s Here In You’ comes close on the heels of…
Lip Critic
Formed in 2018 in New York, Lip Critic is the project of Bret Kaser, Connor Kleitz, Daniel Eberle, and Ilan Natter. The band is comprised of two samplers, two drummers and vocals. Through their unconventional instrumentation, Lip Critic executes an eclectic blend of punk, hardcore, club, and modernistic pop sounds and structures without inhibition. Paired…
Oliver Hazard
Oliver Hazard is an American indie folk band from Waterville, Ohio. Their music is a ramshackle of uprooted- folk stomp. Three childhood friends — a maintenance worker, a salesman, and an adventure guide — reconnected in their hometown of Waterville, Ohio. They met up, wrote some songs, happened to win some studio time in a…
Allie X
Alexandra Ashley Hughes, known by her stage name Allie X, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and visual artist. She began her career as an indie pop artist in Toronto in the mid-2000s, playing with local bands and writing and recording a handful of self-released albums.
Omni
The music of Atlanta trio Omni has always swung fast and hit hard. And Souvenir, their fourth album and second for Sub Pop, packs their biggest punch yet. Inactive during most of the pandemic — the longest downtime in their history — they approached this recording with lots of pent-up energy. Guitarist Frankie Broyles, singer/bassist…
The Sweet Lillies
The Sweet Lillies' music is, first and foremost, heartfelt and collaborative. Those defining traits are given life by the quartet of musicians who make up the Lillies, Julie Gussaroff, Becca Bisque, Dustin Rohleder and Jones Maynard. Together they have combined their individual strengths to deliver powerful narratives of life in song. With their newly formed…
Illustration by Subin Yang
North Portland Neighborhoods
Sometimes called the “Fifth Quadrant,” North Portland encompasses a range of neighborhoods and commercial districts, including St. Johns, Mississippi/Williams and Kenton. Attractions include the St. Johns Bridge, Portland International Raceway, Peninsula Park Rose Garden and Smith and Bybee Wetlands Natural Area.
More North and Northeast Portland
Discover two city quadrants at these local spots in North and Northeast Portland.
Mississippi
Enjoy live music, local shops and popular restaurants and bars on this historic North Portland street.
The Grotto
This serene woodland sanctuary in Northeast Portland features 62 acres (25 hectares) of lush botanical gardens. No matter what time of year you visit, the Grotto offers calm, peace and introspection, transcending boundaries.
Alberta Arts District
Lined with street art, galleries, restaurants and bars, this Northeast Portland neighborhood is best known for its colorful monthly street fair.
Was this page helpful?