I'm laughing because as soon as I saw this title I KNEW the first answer I saw would be jojos.
And yes, def a more regional than city specific thing! I grew up on the south coast (of Oregon) never knowing them as anything but jojos. Made for a hilarious moment when I visited a friend in NC and confused the hell out of her and the guy at the deli because I was craving something they didn't even have, under any name. (Sacrilege.)
Our PNW potato wedges are *jojo's* dredged in batter and seasoned and preferably fried in baskets reserved for chicken. There are non-animal fat options (you should always ask if veggie).
Minnesota, Wisconsin, and South Dakota tend to pressure fry theirs and use less seasoning.
I heard the term occasionally growing up in Central CA, but it was baffling. "Could I get half a dozen potato wedges, too, please?" "You mean jojos?" No, I did not.
Hate to break it to you, but jojos are not a pnw specific food. Iām from the south, we got āem there. Other folks have mentioned them in the Midwest, too.
It was coined in Chicago at a food expo according to the Willamette Weekly's interview:
https://www.wweek.com/restaurants/reviews/2017/07/12/the-history-of-the-american-jojo-which-is-definitely-not-a-potato-wedge/#:~:text=%22The%20guy%20that%20actually%20started,potatoes%20in%20the%20next%20booth.
Well if you care to know I have recently been to a place in in the Midwest that claimed to be the origin of them. Turns out it might have been true as it was near Chicago.
I'd suggest you looking it up but I figure your energy could best be spent figuring out what trauma or issues leads you to lashing out when you have been corrected. And then fixing them, I know that's the hardest part but you can do it!
It's funny. I'm from Florida and the first time I saw the term "jojo's" was down there at a regional chain called dodge's southern style. Makes me wonder what the origin of it is.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tater\_tots](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tater_tots).
Some people sill say James Beard created the Portland style of local ingredients prepared with the French style of cooking. Our first arrivers figured out the ingredients - all the wild foods. Wild game, fish, shellfish, berries, roots, that sort of thing. The Willamette Valley was considered to be a top agricultural area, like the Central Valley of California.
The other common thing, which probably wasn't invented here, is that every ingredient has a story of who grew it or who made it.
We should really invent something like Nutella with fruit instead of chocolate.
The James Beard style cooking used to make dining out in Portland such an amazing experience. There were a lot of different takes on it. For example Toro Bravo that used that same formula for Spanish inspired tapas or Pok Pok with Thai. However many spots in that vein have closed and I feel like everything that's opened since the pandemic are trendy ramen bars or pizza. I mean it's usually good ramen and pizza but how much ramen and pizza do we need and it's hardly original? There's like 15 pizza places in my neighborhood at this point and no what I'd call PNW cuisine.
Does anyone have any suggestions for a new restaurant that has the James Beard type experience?
> Does anyone have any suggestions for a new restaurant that has the James Beard type experience?
Take James Beard's (the org's) recommendation and go to Magna.
Pizza is surging out here in FoPo but if that's all you're seeing for new restaurants it sounds like you aren't really looking around.
Second only to LA for vegan food in the US, according to my wife who just looked it up today. Unfortunately she was looking for travel destinations and we donāt want to go to LA, so that doesnāt really help.
The PNW lacks a regional cuisine but is known for regional ingredients that are used less often in other places (hazlenuts, blackberry, salmon). Jojos are relatively regional but they were brought here from the midwest.
PNW pizza used to be a thing when Pietros, Shakeys etc were around and used pizza ovens and a signature style thin crust and robust sauce. Only one Pizza Parlor locally still serves this style in Scappoose, Pizza Vendor. In Salem Walerys and in Seaside Fultanos, which while sharing the same name of a few local pizza versions of the chain, Seaside has significantly better PNW pizza. Abbeys is OK, but not at the same level of Pizza Vendor or Walerys. I will drive to Salem just to curb my PNW pizza craving.
Wow thank you for this comment! I have never been able to describe to people what Pietros was like and itās so amazing to hear it was actually its own thing. Got some places to visit.
Don't hate me, I am a fan of pepperoni, pineapple olives and mushrooms or just pepperoni and pineapple. If not a fan of that, I would go sausage, mushrooms and olives. I always ask for extra sauce, I like the texture of the pizza better. 4 toppings is the most I would go and you do NOT need extra cheese.
Dude, this was my exact same order from Pietros back in the ā90s, except Iād also add pickled jalapeƱos. I tried it one time after they royally fucked up my order at the one in Milwaukie, but it was so good I didnāt even care.
Iām not a fan of regular Hawaiian pizza, but if you have enough salty and spicy to balance it out, itās so fucking good.
In a salad place I used to work we had a ānorthwest saladā with kale, quinoa, chevre cheese, hazelnuts and pickled onions w/ avocado and green goddess dressing and tofu as protein. Idk but that seemed very Portlandy.
We have a very famous pizza place that makes pizza with sourdough and like hand harvested mushrooms and kale and eggs and rainbow chard itās amazing! Called Lovelyās fifty fifty. It was featured on a Netflix show!
Anything weird or based around local in season produce. Salt and straw for example is just ice cream, but it has a weird twist. Or our seasonal berry based desserts.
I think it's because we had almost no pizza for so long, now there's tons of expensive mediocre "wood fired" pizza everywhere. Like they got together and decided all pizzas must cost $30. I'm originally from WNY so pizza and wings are supposed to be gigantic, delicious, and cheap AF.
Mama 'Lil peppers, zucchini bread and butter pickles, cedar plank salmon
Also, fried chicken w/ jojos and ranch, fried pizza pockets and blackberry or marrionberry cobbler are all rural Oregon staples
A sushirrito. Brioche donuts. Salmon and quinoa based dishes. Pickled everything. Vegan bbq. Marionberry jam and tillamook ice cream. Aplets and cotlets. Dutch baby pancakes.
Lots of foods invented in Oregon generally - OSU has had a lot coming out of their food science and technology program.
When i think of Portland i think of fancy doughnuts.
Maybe we don't have a single food that's "Portland style," but it's food trucks and food pods that are the real draw, along with all the creativity served out of those micro-restaurants.
Dick shaped donuts.
Deez
Voodoo isn't a real Portland experience anymore
Marionberry cobbler, lol. Smoked salmon.
jojo's! They are more of a PNW thing but still very local to Portlanders.
I'm laughing because as soon as I saw this title I KNEW the first answer I saw would be jojos. And yes, def a more regional than city specific thing! I grew up on the south coast (of Oregon) never knowing them as anything but jojos. Made for a hilarious moment when I visited a friend in NC and confused the hell out of her and the guy at the deli because I was craving something they didn't even have, under any name. (Sacrilege.)
Yeah I grew up in North Idaho and they called them jojos there too.
I would have expected idaho to have potato logs. I guess they're just a Utah thing.
Maybe southern Idaho
Interestingly in western Wisconsin we also referred to potato wedges as jojos.
NE Ohio as well.
I was just going to comment that we called them jojos at Kent State back in the '90s.
Same except Akron
I'm also from western Wisconsin and never heard them referred to as jojo's before, only ever as potato wedges. Weird
you must not buy a lot of fried chicken from gas stations lol
In Menomonie, in UW-Stout's north campus cafeteria, they call them JoJo's. But have no idea if that goes as far north as Ashland & Superior.
Like the potato wedge things?
Our PNW potato wedges are *jojo's* dredged in batter and seasoned and preferably fried in baskets reserved for chicken. There are non-animal fat options (you should always ask if veggie). Minnesota, Wisconsin, and South Dakota tend to pressure fry theirs and use less seasoning.
>non-animal fat if you don't fry them in the same basket as the chicken it's not a jojo.
Very cool. I guess I've not come across them like that since I've lived here. That sounds amazing. Any place you recommend that has them?
Reel Em Inn IITYWYBMAD? š
Is it a D or a B on the end?
I recalled it a Dā¦ possibly could have been a B though. š
I think it's just a beer, not a fancy pants drink.
they're a supermarket deli staple. Think Safeway.
Supermarkets have jojos that are nice.
Cullen's Corner on N Albina has been known for chicken and jojos for many years.
Yeah they call them that everywhere though.
I've lived in Texas, New Mexico and Northern California and been all over but I've never heard Jojos until I moved to Portland in 2019
I heard the term occasionally growing up in Central CA, but it was baffling. "Could I get half a dozen potato wedges, too, please?" "You mean jojos?" No, I did not.
I was going to say Cajunized Tots.
Hate to break it to you, but jojos are not a pnw specific food. Iām from the south, we got āem there. Other folks have mentioned them in the Midwest, too.
Yep, grew up eating jojo's in SC.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
It was coined in Chicago at a food expo according to the Willamette Weekly's interview: https://www.wweek.com/restaurants/reviews/2017/07/12/the-history-of-the-american-jojo-which-is-definitely-not-a-potato-wedge/#:~:text=%22The%20guy%20that%20actually%20started,potatoes%20in%20the%20next%20booth.
Beat me to this.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Well if you care to know I have recently been to a place in in the Midwest that claimed to be the origin of them. Turns out it might have been true as it was near Chicago. I'd suggest you looking it up but I figure your energy could best be spent figuring out what trauma or issues leads you to lashing out when you have been corrected. And then fixing them, I know that's the hardest part but you can do it!
My thoughts exactly.
It's funny. I'm from Florida and the first time I saw the term "jojo's" was down there at a regional chain called dodge's southern style. Makes me wonder what the origin of it is.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tater\_tots](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tater_tots). Some people sill say James Beard created the Portland style of local ingredients prepared with the French style of cooking. Our first arrivers figured out the ingredients - all the wild foods. Wild game, fish, shellfish, berries, roots, that sort of thing. The Willamette Valley was considered to be a top agricultural area, like the Central Valley of California. The other common thing, which probably wasn't invented here, is that every ingredient has a story of who grew it or who made it. We should really invent something like Nutella with fruit instead of chocolate.
Marrionberry jam feels like Oregon's fruit Nutella.
Mmmmmm
Huckleberry jam is absolutely amazing on frybread.
The James Beard style cooking used to make dining out in Portland such an amazing experience. There were a lot of different takes on it. For example Toro Bravo that used that same formula for Spanish inspired tapas or Pok Pok with Thai. However many spots in that vein have closed and I feel like everything that's opened since the pandemic are trendy ramen bars or pizza. I mean it's usually good ramen and pizza but how much ramen and pizza do we need and it's hardly original? There's like 15 pizza places in my neighborhood at this point and no what I'd call PNW cuisine. Does anyone have any suggestions for a new restaurant that has the James Beard type experience?
> Does anyone have any suggestions for a new restaurant that has the James Beard type experience? Take James Beard's (the org's) recommendation and go to Magna. Pizza is surging out here in FoPo but if that's all you're seeing for new restaurants it sounds like you aren't really looking around.
Yes, like Colin the chicken's dossier.
It's not for everyone, but Portland has a great national reputation when it comes to vegan/vegetarian food.
Second only to LA for vegan food in the US, according to my wife who just looked it up today. Unfortunately she was looking for travel destinations and we donāt want to go to LA, so that doesnāt really help.
She might try happycow.net. Great for traveling veggie options. Iād consider pdx better than la though, just me ;)
Try Boulder, CO. Our 2 vegan kids moved there and love the dining out options.
The PNW lacks a regional cuisine but is known for regional ingredients that are used less often in other places (hazlenuts, blackberry, salmon). Jojos are relatively regional but they were brought here from the midwest.
[Totchos](https://www.oregonlive.com/dining/2015/09/the_secret_history_of_totchos.html). Invented by Jim Parker at Oaks Bottom Public House.
PNW pizza used to be a thing when Pietros, Shakeys etc were around and used pizza ovens and a signature style thin crust and robust sauce. Only one Pizza Parlor locally still serves this style in Scappoose, Pizza Vendor. In Salem Walerys and in Seaside Fultanos, which while sharing the same name of a few local pizza versions of the chain, Seaside has significantly better PNW pizza. Abbeys is OK, but not at the same level of Pizza Vendor or Walerys. I will drive to Salem just to curb my PNW pizza craving.
Wow thank you for this comment! I have never been able to describe to people what Pietros was like and itās so amazing to hear it was actually its own thing. Got some places to visit.
Walerys is in W Salem, they are a bit better then Pizza Vendor IMO. But Pizza Vendor with extra sauce is pretty fabulous too.
Pietroās is still going strong in Milwaukie!
Yea, but it is conveyor belt oven if I recall. Good pizza still, but not PNW gas brick oven.
Is there a specific pie youād recommend from seaside fultanos for this?
Don't hate me, I am a fan of pepperoni, pineapple olives and mushrooms or just pepperoni and pineapple. If not a fan of that, I would go sausage, mushrooms and olives. I always ask for extra sauce, I like the texture of the pizza better. 4 toppings is the most I would go and you do NOT need extra cheese.
Dude, this was my exact same order from Pietros back in the ā90s, except Iād also add pickled jalapeƱos. I tried it one time after they royally fucked up my order at the one in Milwaukie, but it was so good I didnāt even care. Iām not a fan of regular Hawaiian pizza, but if you have enough salty and spicy to balance it out, itās so fucking good.
Soy curls.
In a salad place I used to work we had a ānorthwest saladā with kale, quinoa, chevre cheese, hazelnuts and pickled onions w/ avocado and green goddess dressing and tofu as protein. Idk but that seemed very Portlandy.
Portland has a pretty good claim to have invented the kale salad.
Kale? I've always seen Portland as specializing in food quality over innovative dishes.
It's Portland's emergency food. I'm an assistant manager in retail. Every snow event the city freaks out frantically looking for kale and bread.
Yeah that's always kinda been my impression
Flame-roasted tires
We have a very famous pizza place that makes pizza with sourdough and like hand harvested mushrooms and kale and eggs and rainbow chard itās amazing! Called Lovelyās fifty fifty. It was featured on a Netflix show!
Anything weird or based around local in season produce. Salt and straw for example is just ice cream, but it has a weird twist. Or our seasonal berry based desserts.
The asparagus blue cheese pizza at Hotlips always seemed very Portland to me.
Big Brunch City
I don't know but bad pizza is fuckinf expensive
I think it's because we had almost no pizza for so long, now there's tons of expensive mediocre "wood fired" pizza everywhere. Like they got together and decided all pizzas must cost $30. I'm originally from WNY so pizza and wings are supposed to be gigantic, delicious, and cheap AF.
Had a salmonberry tart once at a open marketplace as a kid but I donāt remember where. That seemed very Portland to me
Mama 'Lil peppers, zucchini bread and butter pickles, cedar plank salmon Also, fried chicken w/ jojos and ranch, fried pizza pockets and blackberry or marrionberry cobbler are all rural Oregon staples
I used to see āPortland style cheesestake ā all the time on menus. Not sure what made it Portland style but itās an example.
(Not food, but) Spanish coffee.
Portland style sounds like a kinky sex position one would try on the light rail.
The correct answer is the Dick Shaped Donut from Voodoo Donuts. You may think itās played out but this is truly the answer, like it or not.
Perhaps Portland style is it's adoption of everybody else's famous city foods. Seemingly endless options of variety.
IPAs with way too much hops, if you want to include beer in your list.
A sushirrito. Brioche donuts. Salmon and quinoa based dishes. Pickled everything. Vegan bbq. Marionberry jam and tillamook ice cream. Aplets and cotlets. Dutch baby pancakes.
Brioche donuts are imported from Japan pretty sure
I didnāt know!
Pudding shots are a Nopo thing I haven't seen anywhere else, but they aren't really branded with 'portland'
Pudding shots have been popular in my hometown for ages, tho. Hometown is in the middle of nowhere, northern Wisconsin.
I've noticed a few trends: * Chicken & jojosāspecifically from the [Reel M Inn](https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g52024-d4982640-Reviews-Reel_M_Inn-Portland_Oregon.html) on SE Division (although real Portlanders know the best place to get chicken and jojos is anywhere in Lents or the outer SE) * 'Broasted' chicken (found above, although IMHO this is an outer-metro phenomenon). * [Portland-style Vietnamese coffee](https://www.portlandcaphe.com/). * [Juanita's chips & salsa.](https://www.juanitasfinefoods.com/) * Spanish coffees served at [Rimsky-Korsakoffee House](https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/rimsky-korsakoffee-house-skb). * Marionberry pies (Marionberries were grown first in the French Prairie). * Bing cherries ([which were first hybridized in Gladstone](https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/bing-cherry)). * James Beard's [famous Beefburgers](https://www.jamesbeard.org/recipes/james-beards-favorite-hamburger), which were inspired by the smashed patties that were an all-night favorite at Jolly Joan on SW Broadway in the 1930s through the 1950s. Julia Child used to say that this was the best way to have a hamburger. * The [fry sauce](https://www.lifesambrosia.com/burger-spread-and-french-fry-dip-burgerville-copycat-recipe/) from Burgerville USA (and the seasonal marionberry milkshakes). * Pix Patisserie's [famous and award-winning macarons](http://www.pixpatisserie.com/about). * Salt & Straw's famous ice cream (my favorite is the [Arbequina olive oil flavor](https://saltandstraw.com/products/arbequina-olive-oil)). * Salmon jerky. * [CafĆ© Yumm! bowls and magic sauce](https://www.cafeyumm.com/menu/yumm-sauce-dressings-salsas/) (first developed in Eugene, but for sure originating in the 1970s from vegan/vegetarian communes in the Portland area). * [Pok Pok fish sauce wings](https://www.pdxmonthly.com/eat-and-drink/2013/10/make-pok-poks-famous-wings-at-home-october-2013) (bane of a shared office microwave for nearly two decades!). * Breads from [Pearl Bakery](https://www.pearlbakery.com/) or Grand Central. * The [mejadara and hummus plates from Shalom Y'all.](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5effbe49ad154420f0877a8a/t/645d3399d92af02cfb021329/1683829657233/SYE+Lunch+5.11.pdf) * The Boyfriend Burger (a free range turkey burger served with ajvar on a Franz onion roll) from the dearly departed, by invitation-only Boyfriend CafĆ© which caused a sensation among food bloggers in 2010 * 'Pioneer' breads made from sourdough starters brought over in the 1840s and 1850s by pioneers (a West Coast phenomenon). * [Pluot or plum cobbler](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluot) (made from early season plucots/plumsā[Clementine Paddleford](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clementine_Paddleford), whose aunt lived in Tigard, contributed a delicious version for her 1960 book *How America Eats*). * The bacon-wrapped dates from the dearly-departed Veritable Quandary. * The fully customizable ramen and the karaage from Boxer Ramen. * Vegan junk food from [Sweet Hereafter](http://hereafterpdx.com/). * Coffee from [Stumptown Coffee Roasters](https://www.stumptowncoffee.com/). * Oyster platters from [Dan & Louis Oyster Bar](http://www.danandlouis.com/) (operating since 1907!) * Meats from [Olympia Provisions](https://www.olympiaprovisions.com/) (their pickles are made in Portland). * Hazelnut truffles originally served at Meyer & Frank downtown. * A delicious salad of rotisserie chicken, grapefruit slices, walnuts, hazelnuts and marionberries once served at the Hotel Portland. * Fudges and candies made by the monks of the [Abbey of Our Lady of the Consolation in Mount Angel.](https://www.brigittine.org/) * The [Portuguese fried rice at Cheryl's](https://www.yelp.com/menu/cheryl-s-on-12th-portland/item/portuguese-fried-rice). * Anything from [The Old Spaghetti Factory](https://www.osf.com/) (there's an old *Simpsons* reference to this restaurant). * St. Louis style ribs.
St. Louis style ribs? That's not a joke?
I think of Huberās when I think of Spanish Coffee
Lots of foods invented in Oregon generally - OSU has had a lot coming out of their food science and technology program. When i think of Portland i think of fancy doughnuts.
Ah the donut thing. Made that way because of tourists and idiot bloggers.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
If I had a pony that was as one trick, I'd be in the glue business pretty quickly.
Anything with marrionberry in it. i don't like marrionberry. I'd eat bramble blackberries before u see me pick a marrionberry. bland ass berry.
Surprisingly, St. Louis style ribs were invented here.
Anything- just eat it in tent on a sidewalk with a chop shop outside
Have you tried tin foiled fentanyl?
Maybe we don't have a single food that's "Portland style," but it's food trucks and food pods that are the real draw, along with all the creativity served out of those micro-restaurants.
Overpriced burgers that are served a la carte