Mirisata

Mirisata
Graphic logo of a bird, the text 'Mirisata', and the text 'Sri Lankan Food & Drinks'
Photograph of outdoor seating on both sides of a sidewalk
The restaurant's exterior and outdoor seating in 2025
Interactive map of Mirisata
Restaurant information
Established2020 (2020)
Food type
Location2420 Southeast Belmont Street, Portland, Multnomah, Oregon, 97214, United States
Coordinates45°30′59″N 122°38′28″W / 45.5163°N 122.6410°W / 45.5163; -122.6410
Websitemirisata.com

Mirisata is a Sri Lankan restaurant in Portland, Oregon, United States. It is the state's first Sri Lankan restaurant. When it began operating in 2020, it was one of the city's few worker-owned restaurants and, according to the Sri Lankan newspaper The Morning, it is the world's first fully-vegan Sri Lankan restaurant. Mirisata started as a series of pop-ups before opening a brick-and-mortar location in southeast Portland's Buckman neighborhood. The restaurant has garnered a positive reception; it is considered one of Portland's best vegan restaurants. VegNews has included Mirisata in an overview of the best vegan Asian restaurants in North America.

Description

Mirisata is a worker-owned, counter-service Sri Lankan restaurant that operates on Belmont Street in southeast Portland's Buckman neighborhood. The business, which is structured as a worker cooperative, offers food delivery, outdoor dining, and take-out service. It has a covered patio. The restroom is accessible via a working kitchen. The restaurant's junglefowl logo was designed by Sri Lankan illustrator Suprabha Irugalratne.

The restaurant's vegan menu includes curries, fried rice, rotis, and sambal. Curry dishes have ingredients such as chili peppers, coconut, eggplant, dal, jackfruit, lotus root, and mustard seeds. Among Sri Lankan Chinese dishes is deviled soy curl "pork" stir-fried with banana pepper that is served over fried rice. Brunch options include banana bread, rice cakes with coconut milk, deviled potatoes, egg-and-vegetable scrambles, hoppers, breakfast sausage by Impossible Foods, and mimosas with passionfruit.

History

Mirisata opened in 2020 as Portland's first and only Sri Lankan pop-up restaurant. The business is co-owned by three BIPOC workers. In 2020, Mirisata started a dinner series at the vegan South American restaurant Epif, until the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic. Mirisata continued operating via take-out and built a following during the pandemic.

In September 2020, the business announced plans to open a brick-and-mortar restaurant on Belmont Street on October 2, in the space that previously housed Hunt & Gather Catering. Mirisata was Portland's only vegan Sri Lankan restaurant at the time. As of October 2021, Mirisata's owners planned to open a food cart in Hillsboro in December.

Workers at Mirisata unionized in 2022. The Mirisata Workers Union is affiliated with the local chapter of Industrial Workers of the World. In January 2026, the restaurant pledged to close for a day as part of a general strike opposing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). In August the same year, a truck ran into the restaurant's outdoor seating structure.

Reception

Mirisata has been included in Eater Portland's overviews of the city's best vegan (and best vegan brunch) restaurants, best vegan curries, and patios for outdoor dining. Margot Bigg included the business in VegNews's 2022 overview of the city's best international vegan cuisine. Writers for the magazine also ranked Mirisata at number 18 in a 2025 list of the best vegan Asian restaurants in North America. In 2026, the magazine's Charlotte Pointing said Mirisata "has taken the city's food scene by storm". The restaurant was ranked second in the "best vegan restaurant" category of The Oregonian's annual Readers Choice Awards in 2025. Michaela Bourgeois included the business in KOIN's 2025 list of Portland's top-ten vegan restaurants, according to Yelp. The same year, Lina Shah of South Asian Herald said the pigeon pea fritters and jackfruit-potato croquettes "left a flavorful impression". Alex Frane and Katherine Chew Hamilton included Mirisata in Portland Monthly's 2026 overview of the city's best vegan restaurants.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Portland's only vegan Sri Lankan restaurant offers opportunities for workers". KGW. Archived from the original on 2021-12-06. Retrieved 2026-08-24.
  2. ↑ Bigg, Margot. "Portland's Only Sri Lankan Restaurant Is Also One of Its Best Vegan Spots". VegNews. ISSN 1544-8495. Archived from the original on 2026-03-09. Retrieved 2026-08-24.
  3. ↑ "3 New Business Models in a Notoriously Tough Restaurant Industry". Portland Monthly. Hour Media. ISSN 1546-2765. Archived from the original on 2024-04-03. Retrieved 2026-08-24.
  4. ↑ "Mirisata: Bringing Sri Lankan spice to Portland". The Morning. 2020-10-11. Retrieved 2026-08-24.
  5. 1 2 3 Bigg, Margot; Atkinson, Brett (2026). Lonely Planet Pocket Portland & the Willamette Valley. Lonely Planet. ISBN 978-1-80653-433-3.
  6. 1 2 Fodor's Oregon. Fodor's. 2026-07-21. ISBN 978-1-64097-936-9.
  7. 1 2 "Where to Find the Best Vegan Food in Portland". Portland Monthly. Archived from the original on 2025-02-13. Retrieved 2026-08-24.
  8. ↑ Wu, Waz (2021-03-15). "Portland's Exciting New Vegan and Vegetarian Restaurants". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on 2024-09-13. Retrieved 2026-08-24.
  9. ↑ Williams, Nathan (2022-09-01). "The Eater Portland Dining Starter Pack". Eater Portland. Retrieved 2026-08-24.
  10. 1 2 Wu, Waz (2020-09-29). "Vegan Sri Lankan Restaurant Mirisata Opens on Belmont This Friday". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on 2025-07-22. Retrieved 2026-08-24.
  11. 1 2 Hilton, Thom (2021-02-19). "17 Portland Restaurant Patios for Outstanding Outdoor Dining Year-Round". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on 2021-02-22. Retrieved 2026-08-24.
  12. ↑ Frane, Alex (2020-09-11). "Where to Eat in Portland Right Now". Thrillist. Archived from the original on 2023-04-07. Retrieved 2026-08-24.
  13. ↑ "Explore Portland's Plant-Based Paradise for a Day". Willamette Week. 2022-10-12. OCLC 54813570. Retrieved 2026-08-24.
  14. 1 2 Sloan, Anastasia (2015-09-15). "The 19 Most Outstanding Vegan Restaurants in Portland". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on 2025-06-01. Retrieved 2026-08-24.
  15. 1 2 Wu, Waz (2018-02-22). "Portland's Hottest Spots for Vegan Brunch Right Now". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on 2022-01-05. Retrieved 2026-08-24.
  16. ↑ "Mirisata, Portland's Only Sri Lankan Pop-Up, Is Looking for a New Home". Portland Monthly. Archived from the original on 2025-12-29. Retrieved 2026-08-24.
  17. ↑ Wu, Waz (2020-09-29). "Vegan Sri Lankan Restaurant Mirisata Opens on Belmont This Friday". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on 2025-07-22. Retrieved 2026-08-24.
  18. ↑ "Restaurants in Portland and Beyond Look to Cooperative Ownership Models During the Pandemic". Portland Monthly. Archived from the original on 2023-03-27. Retrieved 2026-08-24.
  19. ↑ Wu, Waz (2020-07-20). "The Hottest Vegan and Vegetarian Popups Right Now". Eater Portland. Retrieved 2026-08-24.
  20. ↑ "Mirisata, Portland's Only Sri Lankan Restaurant, Softly Opens October 1". Portland Monthly. Retrieved 2026-08-24.
  21. ↑ Staub, Colin (2022-02-18). "Mirisata restaurant goes union". Northwest Labor Press. Oregon Labor Press Publishing Company. Archived from the original on 2024-05-28. Retrieved 2026-08-24.
  22. ↑ Staub, Colin (2022-12-14). "2022: The rest of the story". Northwest Labor Press. Retrieved 2026-08-24.
  23. ↑ Jackson-Glidden, Brooke (2022-02-23). "Portland's Worker-Owned Cooperative Restaurant Mirisata Has Unionized". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on 2024-07-19. Retrieved 2026-08-24.
  24. ↑ Dominique, Leslie (2026-01-30). "Friday shutdown: Portland businesses join nationwide anti-ICE strike". KPTV. Archived from the original on 2026-02-21. Retrieved 2026-08-24.
  25. ↑ "'Timing is unfortunate': Truck plows into street seating of SE Portland restaurant". KOIN.
  26. ↑ "Truck crashes into Southeast Portland restaurant outdoor dining area". KGW.
  27. ↑ "Portland's Mirisata damaged in weekend crash — neighbors respond with support". KGW.
  28. ↑ Wu, Waz (2021-02-08). "Where to Find Standout Vegan Curries in Portland". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on 2021-10-26. Retrieved 2026-08-24.
  29. ↑ Bigg, Margot. "Vegan Food Near Me: The Best International, Vegan Cuisine in Portland". VegNews. Archived from the original on 2025-11-11. Retrieved 2026-08-24.
  30. ↑ Bowie, Richard; Sanchir, Aruka. "Looking for the Best Vegan Asian Restaurants? Start Here". VegNews. Retrieved 2026-08-24.
  31. ↑ Pointing, Charlotte. "From Jackfruit Curry to Kottu Roti and Fried Eggplant, You Must Make These Sri Lankan Recipes". VegNews. Retrieved 2026-08-24.
  32. ↑ Nocera, Veronica (2025-02-06). "Here are the 5 best vegan restaurants in the Portland area: Readers Choice Awards". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on 2025-10-25. Retrieved 2026-08-24.
  33. ↑ "These are the top 10 vegan spots in Portland, according to Yelp". KOIN.
  34. ↑ Shah, Lina (2025-06-26). "Discovering the Pacific Northwest Gem: Portland, Oregon". South Asian Herald. Retrieved 2026-08-24.