Berkeley Salad at Thunderbird. Photo credit: Thunderbird.
Portland is one of the top cities in the U.S. for vegan eating, with restaurants, cafes, and bakeries having won a number of awards for the high quality plant-based food made in this town. For Salad Week this year, we wanted to feature specifically where to get vegan salads in Portland, because they deserve a proverbial seat at the table.
Portland is bursting with reasons to explore what it has to offer, and its exciting food scene tops the list—especially when it comes to Portland’s greatest salads.
The Bridgetown Bites crew had a blast curating this lineup of must-try salads, featuring everything from beloved classics at iconic restaurants to creative newcomers and even standout food carts. You never know where you’ll discover the salad of your dreams, so we invite you to dive into this list all summer long and share your favorites with us, which may or may not be included below.
Google’s “helpful” content update continued to wreck havoc on the blog, but the good news is that it put a fire under me to implement an alternative strategy. Good news: things are better in June. The numbers for May? 8,800 unique visitors and a little over 11,000 page views.
As for the top five posts May, it was a fascinating mixed bag: the real estate angle on food cart pods, some openings, closings … and Salad Week post from 2022 about where to get a big salad in Portland!
Thanks, as always, for reading and sharing stories from the blog.
Over the years, I’ve heard people ask, “So where can I get a big salad in Portland?” If they are a New York transplant, they are probably thinking of those chopped salad and panini spots that were (are?) ubiquitous in Midtown Manhattan. Or the kind of “Big Salad” referred to in Seinfeld. But really—sometimes you just want a big salad, no matter where you come from.
A big salad from Garden Monsters—The Hercules with chicken
Over the years, I’ve heard people ask, “So where can I get a big salad in Portland?” If they are a New York transplant, they are probably thinking of those chopped salad and panini spots that were (are?) ubiquitous in Midtown Manhattan. Or the kind of “Big Salad” referred to by Elaine in Seinfeld. But really—sometimes you just want a big salad, no matter where you come from.
Here are some places where you can get the classic “Big Salad”—but instead of a bowl of “big lettuce, carrots, tomatoes like volleyballs,” a la Seinfeld, you can get a mix of diverse ingredients that will be delicious and satisfying—enough for a whole meal (sometimes two, if you play your lettuce cards right—romaine stands up better overnight compared to mesclun greens).
Note: We’ve updated this roundup of where to find a big salad in Portland for 2026’s Portland Salad Week.
Welcome to the inaugural Portland Salad Week! We are happy to dedicate this week on Bridgetown Bites to celebrating salad in its many forms, highlighting some of the delicious salads you can eat in Portland, ways to make your own salad at home with Portland ingredients, and what’s tasty to kids and adults alike. As we’ve come to understand through this project, salad is a wonderful vehicle for creativity; there are many out there with tasty and memorable flavors, texture, and ingredients.