Often, breakfast is a good opportunity for an unvegan like me to get my fruit in. Remember, we’re against vegetables here, not fruit. So when I headed to Isabel (which has a very familiar site color scheme) in Portland’s Pearl District for a morning meal before leaving town, my eyes gravitated to their Coconut French Toast.

Granted, coconut isn’t what comes to mind when people typically think of fruit, but I stand by the fact that it is. The menu said it came with raspberry puree and powdered sugar, which it certainly did, but it failed to mention the delicious strawberries, blueberries and bananas that would accompany the toast. Hey, the more fruit the merrier is what I always say. And I will also say that this was some pretty incredible french toast. I was a little put off by its thickness at first, but realized it was just right for the amount of coconut and other assorted flavors.

It was a good way to finish up our stint in Portland and hit the road on a sweet note. There might not have been any meat involved, but there’s no denying it was a pretty meal.

In-N-Out Burger became a fast-food legend for its simple, yet just big enough menu. Of course, the burgers aren’t half-bad either. But what if a place were to take that simplicity, but kick things up a notch in ingredient quality? That’s where Little Big Burger in Portland comes in. Simple menu (6 items including drinks and no secret menu to speak of). Good prices ($3.75 for a cheeseburger). And hopefully delicious food.

I visited the location in the Pearl District and ordered a cheeseburger without Portlandish (or is it Portlandic?) organic veggies and a side of their white truffle fries. I quickly learned that this was no In-N-Out because after a solid 15 minutes of waiting, my brown paper bag of burger and fries was finally ready.

Where Little Big Burger lacked speed, they rapidly made up for in being incredibly delicious. For starters, the fries were bar none some of the best I’ve ever had. The had just the right amount of truffle, the right amount of salt and the right amount of crispiness. And then there was the burger itself. Matching the name of the restaurant, the 1/4 pound cascade beef (all natural as you would expect in Portland) burger looked small in its brioche bun, but was cooked to a near-medium-rare and packed with big flavor.

There’s honestly little else that can be said. The little burger and fries left a big impression on me and should be on any burger lover’s list to eat in Portland.

Portland undoubtedly has a reputation for being “granola.” Having never been myself I couldn’t quite vouch for anything, until I made my way there on my road trip. We were staying with someone in the Pearl District and I decided to check out Hotlips Pizza. Hotlips is a sort of New York-style pizza joint with a definite Portlandish twist. Pizza options were definitely geared towards being local and on the vegan/vegetarian end. Fortunately, though, they had pepperoni.

I ordered two of their massive slices and a giant pesto breadstick. The pepperonis were massive and only looked normal-sized in the picture because the pizza was equally massive (ratio-wise at least). I started working on the pizza, but it was a struggle, because the dough just didn’t really have enough behind it to support the weight of the pizza, even when folded like a New Yorker. The ingredients were definitely quality and I loved the pepperonis, but there eventually came a point in which the oils pooled at the bottom of the plate and made the slices into a bit of a sog-fest.

When I did finish up, I needed to dispose of my trash, which was not an easy thing to do. Beyond your typical garbage and recycling cans, Hotlips had more to offer. There was also a compost can and a couple others I couldn’t even figure out. If I were living in the Pearl District, I might hit up Hotlips for a fix, but they just seemed to be a few steps off in execution.