KERNS · PORTLAND

Kerns

Southeast Uplift

52 spots to discover in this neighborhood

LIVE ACTIVITY

Avg Rating

4.6

Average across 52 businesses

Reviews

24,981

Across 52 businesses

Open Now

18 Live

Right now

Top Categories

Shops 17
Auto Repair 13
Food 11

The Vibe

What Kerns Feels Like

Dense walkable close-in restaurant district

Kerns is dense, walkable, and food-forward, with historic homes packed close to several lively commercial corridors. The atmosphere is urban and energetic.

The restaurant row along 28th Avenue gives the neighborhood a strong culinary identity, while its proximity to downtown and the Central Eastside keeps it busy and connected day and night.

History

How Kerns Came To Be

Kerns is a compact close-in neighborhood in inner Southeast and East Portland, set just across the river from downtown and bordered on the north by East Burnside Street. Among the earliest east-side districts to develop, it filled in densely during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries with houses, apartments, and the small commercial buildings typical of streetcar-era Portland.

The neighborhood straddles several busy corridors, including East Burnside, Sandy Boulevard, and Northeast 28th Avenue, the last of which grew into a celebrated restaurant row. Its western edge brushes the Central Eastside industrial district along the river.

Today Kerns is a dense, walkable, and food-focused neighborhood, known especially for the cluster of restaurants and bars along 28th Avenue and Burnside, set among historic homes and converted commercial buildings close to the city center.

Character

What Defines Kerns

28th Avenue restaurant row

Northeast and Southeast 28th Avenue host a dense, celebrated cluster of restaurants, bars, and cafes.

Multiple commercial corridors

East Burnside and Sandy Boulevard run through the neighborhood, adding shops, eateries, and easy connections across the city.

Businesses

88%

Verified

4.3

Avg Rating

Services

Top Category

Categories in Kerns

Services

13 Auto

13 Health

5 Retail

4 Restaurants

3 Coffee

2 business

2 Bars

Services 13 Auto 13 Health 5 Retail 4 Restaurants 3 Coffee 2 business 2 Bars 2 Bakeries 2 Professional 2 Arts 2 Food & Drink 1 Finance 1

Landmarks

Notable Places in Kerns

East Burnside / 28th Avenue

A bustling restaurant row and nightlife district at the heart of the Kerns neighborhood.

Laurelhurst Theater

A historic 1923 art-deco movie theater and pub on East Burnside.

Real Estate

Homes & Architecture in Kerns

Kerns offers a dense mix of historic homes, vintage apartments, and converted commercial buildings, valued for walkability to its corridors and to downtown.

Old Portland four-square Craftsman bungalow Vintage apartment