Montavilla

"Montavilla" was invented by a real estate developer in the 1880s who wanted something that sounded European and aspirational. "Mount Tabor Villa" became "Montavilla" in the way that marketing often smooths things into something more palatable. The neighborhood developed as a working-class streetcar suburb, and the SE Stark Street commercial strip has operated in some form since the early 1900s.

82nd Avenue runs through the eastern edge of Montavilla and has historically been one of Portland's most economically diverse commercial corridors — a mix of immigrant-owned businesses, affordable restaurants, motels, and services that reflect a different Portland than the one in the travel guides. It's changing quickly, and not entirely for the worse.

82nd Avenue is one of Portland's best streets for immigrant-owned restaurants — Vietnamese, Chinese, Ethiopian, Mexican, and more. Ox, an Argentine-inspired wood-fire restaurant, is one of the most celebrated in Portland and is located on SE Burnside at the edge of Montavilla. Biwa, a Japanese izakaya on SE Ash, is a long-standing Portland institution. The neighborhood's own Stark Street strip has a solid independent coffee, bar, and restaurant scene.

Lone Fir Cemetery, established in 1855 on SE 26th and Morrison at the western edge of Montavilla, is the oldest public cemetery in Oregon still in operation. Many of Portland's 19th-century founders are buried here, along with early Chinatown residents and thousands of Oregon Trail emigrants. It's beautifully maintained, genuinely historic, and open to the public. Mount Tabor Park is a short walk west — an extinct volcanic cinder cone with some of Portland's best views.