1. Brave the lines at Lardo for a fried chicken Chefwich

St. Jack’s Aaron Barnett and La Moule’s Cameron Addy team up for what they call the “Pretty Penny” fried chicken sandwich, part of Lardo’s rotating “Chefwich” series. In an ode to Addy’s Southern upbringing, the duo folds their dark, crunchy fried chicken between two slices of plush, buttered Texas toast with a slathering of special sauce and thick cuts of dill pickle. Crinkle fries and vinegar slaw seal the deal at $11 an order. (Available only through mid-April)

2. Gorge on Nomad.PDX’s late night menu

Afraid Nomad.PDX’s regular prices will bust your bank? Drop $35 at Sunday’s late night seating (9pm–1am), and the kitchen will literally “crush you.” And destroyed we were, by the sheer number of courses. The most charming of the lot? A trio of delicate, haute sliders including lime-sized housemade coppa banh mi, one straight-outta-Jersey Taylor pork roll, and a fishwich of Cryovac’d sturgeon mousseline, fried into an airy mouthful oceans better than any Filet-O-Fish. 

3. Chopstick into a California Sunset roll at Bamboo Sushi

One of our favorite rolls at the mini sustainable seafood empire is a double-stuffed sushi behemoth. The eight-piece roll comes tightly tucked with avocado and crab, capped with slices of albacore tuna, slicked with a thick dollop of spicy-garlicky aioli, and dusted with a crunchy sprinkle of tempura crispies.

4. Munch on homemade kettle chips at Bullwinkle’s 

The still-warm homemade kettle chips that side kids’ meals and some adult fare at Bullwinkle’s Family Fun Center in Wilsonville go a long way toward making up for the fun center’s frequent malfunctions, like virtually airless air hockey tables or jammed ball feeders in the batting cages. The can’t-look-away weirdness of the creepy animatronic banjo show on the restaurant’s stage and the Buoy Czech pils on tap help, too.