Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
On the left, at SE Division and 25th Ave. (across from the legitimately
divey Reel M Inn bar), you'll see Langlitz Leathers, one of Portland's
coolest home-grown businesses. Ross Langlitz started it in 1947 after
making his own protective gear for his motorcycle-racing habit (he was
a devoted rider all his life, despite having lost a leg in a motorcycle acci-
dent at age 17). Langlitz jackets these days are internationally sought-
after, but it's still a family business (Ross's granddaughter runs it now).
Pop in and check out Ross's beloved Velocette hanging from the ceiling.
Continue walking up SE Division St., through increasing numbers of
new businesses, mostly bars and restaurants. This neighborhood has
really picked up in recent years; it's officially a destination now, at least
partly thanks to celebrated chef Andy Ricker's Thai restaurant Pok
Pok, which has built an empire on a pile of chicken wings. Pok Pok star-
ted as a rickety little takeout shack in front of Ricker's house, with a
brief menu inspired by some of the culinary revelations he had en-
countered as a young backpacker in the 1980s. The place quickly be-
came so popular he had to expand it into the rest of the house. (He's
since also opened a wildly beloved location in Brooklyn and one in Man-
hattan that specializes in pad Thai). You'll see Pok Pok on your right as
you cross SE 32nd Ave. Diagonally across Division St. is its companion
bar, the Whiskey Soda Lounge, which Ricker conceived as a place for
“the drinking foods of Thailand”; it serves as a comfortable place to
wait for a table at the restaurant. (You can get many of the Pok Pok
dishes here, too.) Ricker is currently planning to open a curry house in
this same area, a few blocks east.
At the corner of SE Division St. and 37th Ave. is the Victory Bar, a nice
stopping point, with an ace menu of comfort food (hush puppies, baked
spaetzle) and bartenders with stellar cocktail-mixing pedigrees.
From here you can take TriMet Bus 4 back down to SE Division and
26th Ave., then walk two blocks south to return to the starting point.
BACK STORY: WILLIAM S. LADD
It's not easy to imagine what Portland must've looked like when 24-year-old
William Ladd arrived, in 1851, from New Hampshire with a shipment of
booze to sell. But Ladd's impact on the way the city looks today is clear: he's
at least partly responsible for some of its most beautiful areas, including
