The Meadow

An enchanting little shop that’s fun to explore for inspiration or splurge on if you want to get your artisanal on.
Stunning displays of pink salt blocks are stacked in the window — with the smallest ones priced all the way down to about $ 8 — for serving and cooking. Incredible. And totally doable at several sizes for a unique gift.
The walls are lined with expensive chocolate (think around $ 14 for a bar), imported salts, and interesting bitters.
A wonderland for those with inquisitive palates and expendable income.
The staff were super sweet, sharing a flight of chocolate samples they had cut up in preparation for a pairing event coming up, and excited to share the store with first time visitors.
Definitely worth a stop if you’re touring 23^rd Ave.

I barely got to view the offerings and there were so many choices, this place definitely deserves a second visit. I became entranced with the pink salt carvings. Now, I don’t traditionally buy knickknacks because I don’t like clutter but I couldn’t help myself. I’ve only done that twice (not just an impulsive buy but a compulsive buy) — once to get a stereo that was half my rent and once to buy this enormous smoky topaz crystal (let’s just say I was in a state of mind that enhanced how pretty it was).
The girl behind the counter was great. She was so patient and friendly. Not pushy or uppity as you would expect from a high end store.
Despite my aversion to the parking situation on 23^rd, I’ll most definitely be back. I think the spices alone are a must-​see.

They have an incredible selection. I shop there often and especially love their amazing bitters. The staff are consistently, inexplicably rude. It’s quite bizarre. Also very unnecessary. I don’t think I’ve ever had a pleasant interaction with their employees despite coming by many times.

I was interested in hosting an event at The Meadow’s event space, 25Chairs. Unfortunately, after multiple attempts at contacting the event coordinator, I was left with no information and decided to host my event elsewhere.
I called The Meadow’s phone number multiple times (at least 8 times) and spoke with the same employee on every occasion, however each time I left a message with my contact information and received no reply. I am not sure whether this was by fault of the specific employee or not, however it was very disheartening to receive the same «I’ll take a message and pass it along» each time.
I also filled out the event interest form on
twice and sent two emails to the ‘Contact Us’ regarding the details of my event and my interest in renting their space and services.
I called The Meadow one final time and was actually given the email address of the event coordinator. I finally received a single email response from the event coordinator, and I quickly responded to her email hoping to get the rest of my questions answered but she failed to respond to my direct email. I sent a final follow-​up email but unfortunately over 3 weeks have gone by and I have not heard anything.
I have heard wonderful things about 25Chairs and the events hosted there, however I would not recommend hosting an event there (or even going about the drawn-​out and tiresome process of even trying to host there). It is simply not worth your time and effort.

You could get two high-​end gourmet chocolate bars to savor every week for an entire year, and still not go through their amazing collection of chocolate!

This could be a lovely place. As a chocolate lover, i was excited to discover their large selection. First I picked and chose following my own intuition since the employees were apparently too busy giggling and discussing their private lives… Then i walked up to the register to find out that their register was not processing credit cards that day (that can happen) but… did they at least offer to keep my stuff until i could come back to pay for it with cash? No. Did they offer a piece of chocolate to apologize for the trouble? No. Apparently losing a sale and a customer was not a concern that day. I left without chocolate and will not bother going back…

I love the Meadow!
Already reviewed Mississippi so let’s graze the top here… not too in depth. Also worth mentioning there’s a storefront in NYC (never been).
This location is larger (I think?) But somehow it seems like less product. I noticed at my last visit at Mississippi they had Compartes chocolate ()and a selection of peppercorns, both missing from NW. I loved the truffle salt popcorn out for sample. Loved that May is chocolate month so you can politely aso for a sample and try anything. I compared and contrasted two Pump Street (UK) chocolates; one was dark milk which the sales associate said was «so hot right now» and a milk. I think they were both close to 60% cacao. I actually preferred the dark milk and love the idea of antioxidants and benefits of dark chocolate but dislike bitterness and chalky texture. I love a good rich creamy milk.
One other possibly missing component: salt blocks. I know Mississippi has tons of shapes and sizes. I remember small thin sizes for like $ 8. I’m not sure there was a size variety here. And I think this site didn’t have much (if any?) In the way of flowers, compared to Miss. But I may be misremembering there. I was really distracted by truffle popcorn.
But! One thing NW had that Mississippi hasn’t (at least any time I’ve been there): DRINKING CHOCOLATE. $ 3 in a large glass dispenser, served warm, presumably.
I really appreciate what the Meadow specializes in. This visit, at this location, I purchased Bitterman’s Bacon Salt and a Pump Street dark milk. Prices are high but it’s such unique product you can’t get anywhere else, in a high rent district. I’d plan on budgeting $ 25 or so each visit here. Spoil yourself a little with unique high-​end chocolate, bitters, flowers and salt. And now pepper. And drinking chocolate.

Salt chocolate and bitters. Didn’t get to look thru the bitters section bc too overwhelmed by the massive number of chocolates they have. But the best was the beautiful décor. Not sure if they all look like this nut the floral arrangements were gorgeous. Lotta good omiyage to get here but stuck with some local chocolate to bring back home. I think the hub would like to go back and get all the super dark chocolates if we lived here. Staff not particularly helpful or friendly but whatever. Still better than vancouver or banff.

Are you looking for unique salts (e.g. chocolate salt, prawn salt)?
Are you looking for Xocolatl de David chocolates?
Are you looking for bitters?
If you answered yes to any or all of the above questions, then a trip to The Meadow is a must. If you answered no to any or all of the above questions, then a trip to The Meadow is a must, because they will turn that No to a Yes.
Incredibly patient staff and great selections of the aforementioned item, I am sad that I do not live in the area. Had I been a Portland resident, I know that I would be a regular shopper here.

Had high hopes for this place as I found it online awhile back and came across it the other day while I was out. As I walked into the shop there was two young girls behind the desk who were more interested in their personal conversation than customers. No greeting as we walked in witch just angers me because I work in retail and we always make our customers feel welcomed.
I even watched a customer ask one of the girls for suggestions on what type of salt she needed and the girl acted like she was being bothered. Not a great way to make customers buy or want to come back. It honestly was painful to watch.
I will say the wall of chocolate is very impressive, I have never seen so many different kinds all in one place. They have a great selection of bitters, if you ever find yourself needing a rare bottle check this place out. Amazing selection of salts, pretty much everything you can think of. Not really sure about the flowers, they just kind of looked sad and over priced.
Hopefully the owners of this shop will find some people who are passionate about what they do and are customer focused, kind of disappointed for my first visit. Not sure I’d revisit.

One of the best spots to get a gift for the person who has everything. Delicious walls of artisanal finishing salts, salt blocks, bitters, and chocolates.
Downside is the staff. The last time I was there (today) my husband and I were picking out salts for gifts for at least 20 minutes. It’s a super tiny store and the clerk, Sophia (black curly hair), never once asked if we needed any help. Never said hello. To top it off, she way overcharged us and we had to drive all the way back to get a refund.

The most amazing shop I’ve ever seen.
One entire wall, from floor to ceiling, is filled with colorful, beautifully wrapped chocolate bars. I’ve never seen so many luxurious chocolate bars in one place, all different sizes and colors, from all over the world. amazing amazing!
The store itself has large windows and from the outside is warm and very inviting. the colors of the items are intriguing, which is what made my friend and I stop in our tracks to walk in.
They also sell various other cool items, such as huge salt blocks, spirits, flowers, etc. (I honestly am not really sure what else they sell, i was so mesmerized by the chocolates)
This is such a cute, cozy, and quaint street lined with little shops and boutiques! A definitely must stop for Portland!!! (the alphabet district)

This store was really cool if you are a fan of salt, chocolate or bitters. They had a nice selection of each,
The employees were very nice and you can sample all of the salts.

I’m a spice guy and yes Penzeys has become one of my favorite places. I have heard aboutThe Meadows and knew about the types of salt that they have. I know about the chocolate as well. I did not know about the small samplings of hot sauce. Definite bonus there.
It was nice to be able to sample the salts. That was a cool experience. My friend and his four year old daughter were trying them as well. She seemed to get a kick out of it. I will say the the Fleur De Hell, as the called it was not hot like I thought it would be. Salt infused with ghost pepper. The smokey salts did taste and smell of it, and the flake salts were really good on the tongue. The three hot sauces were right up my alley. None were extremely spicy but they had good flavor. One was a bit on the sweet side but you still got the vinegar in it. We did not get to try any of the chocolate but my did they have an array of it. The chocolate covered the whole side wall of the store. Local, small batch chocolate. Just incredible, but the bars did range from $ 3-​$ 10 or more, I think.
It’s a cool place to try at least once.
Enjoy.