This shoebox-size dream of a cheese shop sits behind a garage door in a row of warehouses in the Central Eastside Industrial District. Most of Cowbell’s business is as an importer and distributor of European and American cheeses. But its retail shop stocks about 75 cheeses (see: the city’s most tantalizing Instagram) cut by some of the best cheesemongers in the world, and that’s not hyperbole. Pretty much everything is cut to order, which—and this is a good thing—means you have to chat up the cheesemongers. They also stock baguettes from both Little t (long and skinny, all crust) and Café Olli (scented with a blend of grains), and a million curios you didn’t know you needed: olive oils, jams, and candies from around the world. And those daily sandwiches you see sitting on the counter hold the fanciest cheeses and cold cuts you’ll find in any sandwich, anywhere.

231 SE Alder St

Grown from a pandemic move to put local farmers in touch with civilians (our food system has a hard time doing that), this picturesque Mt. Tabor storefront adjacent to one of the city’s finest restaurants—that would be Coquine—has since expanded into a quaint marketplace serving daily bread, pastries, and coffee. Those gorgeous vegetables are still around, as are curated wines and condiments; local meat, dairy, and eggs; and even a selection of cookbooks. You can’t leave without the famous Coquine cookie.

6833 SE Belmont St

Think “vegan bodega” and you’ll have a good idea of Food Fight’s vibe. It’s a devoted vegan convenience store with an expansive hot deli. Made-to-order plant-based pizzas are a star and serve as a good warmup for the soft-serve cones and shakes. In terms of groceries, it sells koji salami and deli “meats,” a run of plant-based sashimi substitutes, and even “bone-in” steaks. Snacks and sweets are a strong suit, too, especially for vegans who like to participate in food- and candy-centric holidays.

11155 NE Halsey St

The name is Vietnamese, as is the hot food counter serving banh mi, but ingredients from across East and Southeast Asia impressively fill the shelves at Hong Phat. Both locations have a large, supermarket feel (the Montavilla store used to be a Safeway) with plenty of room to stock whatever you’re after. The produce section is filled with rambutan and cherimoya, gai lan and rau ram and lotus root. Meat and seafood are equally abundant, with cuts such as chadolbaegi—thin-sliced brisket for Korean BBQ—that can be hard to find at American grocers. In contrast to, say, Safeway, the options for fresh and frozen noodles and dumplings, kimchis, and rice varietals are abundant.

101 SE 82nd Ave & 9819 NE Prescott St 

The counter-service café above Kachka’s dining room is great for a quick herring under a fur coat or piroshok bun, but it’s also a well-stocked Eastern European pantry. Find retail versions of the restaurant’s staples, like frozen pelmeni, Russian-style mustard, and black rye bread, as well as a tidy spread of Eastern European provisions, including wines, deli items, imported packaged sweets, and tinned seafood. Speaking of tins, caviar is on offer, and mother of pearl spoons to go with, if you lost yours.

960 SE 11th Ave (in the Kachka mezzanine)

It’s easy to see why Pok Pok founder Andy Ricker once called Lily Market his favorite Thai grocery (it’s Thai-owned but stocks ingredients from across East and Southeast Asia). Since 1983, the market has stuffed its wonderfully cluttered aisles with everything from cooking equipment to chewy Korean rice cakes to—this one might be more recent—the coveted Chinese Lay’s flavors. The freezer section is a wonderland of odds and ends that you might not be up for making at home, like spiraled fish cakes for ramen and tendon meatballs for pho. And the Thai hot deli in the back makes a killer salad roll.

11001 NE Halsey St

Mama Pauline’s is a meandering hallway of a store packed with the widest variety of African and Caribbean grocery items we know of locally. It specializes in importing ingredients from Cameroon, Nigeria, Ghana, the Ivory Coast, and Caribbean countries. Inside, rows of sauces, spices, oils, and preserves vie for space on shelves that reach high towards the ceiling: jollof rice seasoning, red palm oil, kola nuts, pigeon peas canned in coconut milk. A line of chest freezers hold smoked bonga fish, Nigerian periwinkles, and cassava and jute leaves.

4606 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd 

Providore, which is actually a collection of smaller businesses, is the most extensive European-focused shop on the list. The cheese and charcuterie here is unparalleled; the case is a landscape that spans the length of the store. Glistening produce comes from a large cast of local farms and sits like designer bags in Rubinette’s display. Baguettes and danishes come from Little t. Revel Meat Co., a small-scale meat-packer in Canby, has a case, as does sustainable farmed-fish distributor TwoXSea. There’s also wine, chocolate, European candies, and half a dozen options of panettone during the holidays, not to mention the extensive selection of imported dried goods and condiments.

2340 NE Sandy Blvd 

The stock of Eastern European foodstuffs is impressive here. Whether you’re after tinned, pickled, cured, or smoked fish; intricately layered cakes sold by the pound (portions are carved off of blocks like cheese); kefir or smetana; or prepared Korean carrot salad and herring under a fur coat, there are dozens of options to choose from. Most of an entire wall is devoted to packaged wafer cookies. Several freezers are brimming with pelmeni and vareniki dumplings. There’s also a Halal butcher and a dizzying cured meat and cheese case—most of which has English translations on the labels.

10918 SE Division St

Wellspent is a hub of locally produced grocery items that reliably stocks Portland restaurants’ retail offerings, like Tiffin Asha’s green tomato pickle, Akâdi’s addictively spicy marinade, and Sebastiano’s olive oil and marmellata. You’ll find regional packaged foods, too, including Bobbie’s Boat Sauce, salami from Seattle’s Coro, and cheese from Trout Lake, Washington’s Cascadia Creamery. Also of note: this is one of the easiest places to find Katz vinegars, your favorite chef’s favorite vinegars. The small shop looks modest at first glance (you wouldn’t call the shelves bursting), but a closer look reveals that literally everything here is the best of its category. 

935 NE Couch St

These two globe-spanning markets are run by Lebanese couple John and Mirna Attar, who also own the restaurant Ya Hala in Montavilla. You’ll find green almonds in the inspiring produce section when in season, a handsomely butchered short rib at the butchers’ counter, sheets of lavash bread, and labneh of a quality you won’t find elsewhere, but the focus isn’t strictly Middle Eastern. They stock a strong selection of locally produced chocolate, condiments, and beverages, especially those bearing the Good Food Awards’ seal of approval. Wines come from all over and are curated by Monument winemaker Tyler Magyar, and the coffee bar serves local beans.

830 NW Everett St & 9845 SW Barbur Blvd

This family-operated Mexican supermarket has it all. Its carniceria is one of the city’s best and overflows with marinated cuts—many of which are offered pre-cooked in the hot deli, too. The bakery churns out pastel-toned conchas and pillowy bolillo rolls daily. The in-house tortilleria supplies the restaurant in the back. And that’s all before talking about the groceries. In addition to standard supermarket fare, you’ll find quality dried chiles in bulk, a huge selection of fresh Mexican cheese, nopales and prickly chayote in the produce section, and those transportive fresh tortillas.

18330 SE Stark St & 1025 E Powell Blvd, Gresham