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Stroll through skeletons and other oddities at North Portland’s Paxton Gate.
Enjoy live music, local shops, and popular restaurants and bars on this historic North Portland street.
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Stroll through skeletons and other oddities at North Portland’s Paxton Gate.
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, another hot North Portland street). 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” and 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.
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Lovely’s Fifty-Fifty serves some of the city’s best wood-fired pizzas — chef Sarah Minnick has been honored with multiple James Beard Award nominations and was featured on the hit Netflix series “Chef’s Table.” They also offer homemade ice cream (the salted caramel is especially addictive). For plant-based and allergen-friendly options, Kate’s Ice Cream serves seasonal vegan scoops in gluten-free cones.
Local barbecue favorite Miss Delta runs a hefty smoker behind their restaurant, smoking meats for hours before they’re served.
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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 puu, a pungent combination of fried rice and sweet crab meat.
Things to Do on Mississippi
Urban gardeners love wandering through verdant Pistils Nursery, where they can find plants, pottery and apothecary goods, terrarium supplies, glassware, gardening books and more. The nursery hosts “Living Art Workshops” on activities like staghorn fern mounting, terrarium building and houseplant care.
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A great first stop for lesbian, gay and transgender (LGBTQIA+) visitors is Mississippi’s Q Center, a community gathering place and resource center that hosts regular events.
She Bop offers non-toxic, body-safe adult toys, plus classes and workshops, books, and female- and queer-friendly wellness products in a comfortable, adult atmosphere. During store hours, the shop is 18-plus, but it accommodates binder fittings for teens after hours via pre-arranged appointments.
Sunlan Lighting, the oldest business on bustling Mississippi Ave, is a quirky specialty shop that carries 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.
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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 Bar Bar rounds out the evening with a solid draft list and airy patio dining. The 1905, a jazz club right around the corner from Mississippi Studios, is another venue that’s well worth a visit — it was named one of the world’s 100 best jazz clubs by DownBeat magazine.
If you find yourself on Mississippi in July, don’t miss the Mississippi Street Fair, a fun day of live music, local vendors, delicious food and more.
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 wide selection of comics and graphic novels at Rose City Comics attests to the number of comic book publishers and professionals in Portland — said to be second only to New York City.
The analog era is alive and well at Mississippi Records, which specializes in international, blues and soul recordings. The shop has turntables, listening stations and even its own line of releases on vinyl and cassette.
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Even if you’re not in the market for a new door or bathtub, stop into the 40,000-square-foot (3,716 sq m) 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. Meanwhile, Flutter offers a “delightful disarray” of home decor, 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.
Portland Record Stores
From vintage wax to new European imports, those rare releases you’ve been searching for are surely waiting at one of these rockin’ local vinyl stores.
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