Grab a coffee and go get the bread before it sells out.

PortlandBread is an editorial guide to bread and pastry in Portland. It covers the bakeries, what to order at each one, and the people who run them. Most of the shops are in Portland, plus a few in nearby cities that are worth the drive, each filed under the city it's actually in. Since PortlandBread doesn't scrape reviews or take orders, any shop you find here is one this guide would send you to.

Usually it's a naturally leavened country loaf with a good crust and grain you can taste, the kind that still holds up the next morning, and those are the loaves at Tabor Bread, Ken's and Café Olli. Little T's baguette on Division is worth the trip too, and so is the westside country loaf at Baker & Spice if you're already in Hillsdale. Start with the naturally leavened list, and check each shop's Journal page for what to order and when to go.

On PortlandBread, naturally leavened means wild yeast and a long ferment, the opposite end of the shelf from a quick sandwich loaf made with commercial yeast. A shop goes on the naturally leavened list when that's how it bakes the loaves this guide recommends. Grand Central's everyday Como is a beloved Portland staple, and it's a different kind of bread from a dark, blistered country bâtard, so if you're after the long-ferment loaves, start with that list and the Journal visits for those shops.

On the eastside, make Tabor Bread on Belmont your first stop. The bakers make buckwheat and mountain bread on Saturday and einkorn on Monday, and the country loaf is there every day. Baker & Spice works if you're already in Hillsdale, Ken's on 21st has the westside country loaf, and Bakeshop on Sandy sometimes has a dark whole-grain miche. The weekend loaf list and the Journal pages for these shops cover what to order and when to go.

If it's your first time on the eastside, go to Little T on Division, and get there early, because the baguettes sell out. Ken's on 21st and St. Honoré on Thurman bake one too, and Baker & Spice has a westside baguette if you're already on that side of the river. Those four make up the baguette list, and each has a Journal page on what to order and when to go.

For a butter croissant, start at Twisted Croissant on Broadway. Nuvrei makes kouign-amann and flavored croissants at its new downtown shop, so use the current address and ignore any old Pearl pin. St. Honoré's main shop is on Thurman on the westside. JinJu is celebrated for its kouign and croissant and is reopening on Williams, though you can't walk in yet. The croissant list has the other shops, with Journal pages on what to order and when to go.