Small Bites: Sports Bra, Take Two, Fresh Love, and More

For Small Bites: the interior of the Sports Bra, a sports bar that shows only women's sports. — *The Sports Bra, a sports bar that shows only women’s sports, will expand via franchising.* *Photo credit: The Sports Bra*

Well, I’ve been under the weather lately—but am feeling better)—so it’s time for a Small Bites food news update. Here are some of the tidbits that have crossed my internet desk that I thought you might find interesting. Enjoy, and have a good weekend!

Boxer Ramen is closing. They announced it over on their Instagram: “It is with a very heavy heart we announce that after 11 years of serving you our unique brand of Ramen, we sadly will be closing all of our doors for good this upcoming Monday the 29th.” They cite many challenges, including the pandemic and inflation, behind their decision to close. I’m sorry to see them go. 1668 NW 23rd Avenue, 3003 NE Alberta Street, 7847 SW Capitol Highway, Portland; 3205 SW Cedar Hills Blvd, Beaverton

Denizens Cafe, on the other hand... Has a tasty special: On Weekdays from 8am to 10am get a large latte and a pastry for $6 (while pastries last). They explain: “We’ll be able to lower prices by selling larger volumes, we’re hoping the community can get behind us on this.” 6912 NE Sandy Blvd, Portland

Good Food Mercantile is this Sunday. The Good Food Foundation, the folks behind the Good Food Awards, is holding their mercantile event this Sunday. “The third-annual Portland Mercantile will be held on April 28, 2024 at the Oregon Convention Center and will showcase the best makers in the country, with a special focus on the bounty of the Pacific Northwest Corridor.” There will be over 150 food and drink makers from which to sample and purchase from. Tickets are $15 to attend between 4pm and 6pm.

Jerry’s Tavern is finally opening. Back in April 2023 (over a year ago), I mentioned that Jerry Benedetto had a new location and was “getting closer to real.” Well, that day is not too long off. He made the announcement that on Wednesday, May 1 at 3pm they will officially open the doors to the tavern. However, they “will not have pizza to start”—odd—“but will introduce it in the near future.” At opening look for things like chips and salsa, sloppy joes, hot dogs, and cheeseburgers, and Hamm’s on draft—plus Malört. Read more here. 3010 NW Nicolai Street, Portland

BuzzCutt’s Summer Fest tickets are for sale. BuzzCutt, the app that helps you find NA beverages (beer, wine, cocktails) in Portland is holding their inaugural Summer Fest this year on Saturday, July 20. They call it “THE alcohol-free PDX pride party.” Early-Bird pricing is on right now ($12 tickets), and with it you get “3 free NA bevs, access to 10+ NA vendors serving samples all evening long, a live DJ, badass photobooth, food for purchase, and MORE.” Get your tickets here. 100 NE Farragut Street, Portland

The Sports Bra is franchising. If you’ve been to the Sports Bra, a sports bar showing women’s-only sports, you know how popular it is. So it’s no surprise that expansion plans are in play, and they’ve decided to go the franchising route. Their first big investor is Alexis Ohanian, husband to Serena Williams (and co-founder of that little website, Reddit). Exact locations for expansion are not clear yet, but no doubt the Sports Bra will share that on social media. Big congrats here! 2512 NE Broadway, Portland

Wellspent Market is moving. The other day I was down by Lauretta Jean’s and noticed that the space next to them was empty. And that is was home to Anders Printing for the past 79 years in a 100+ old building). I wondered what was going in … then the news about Wellspent Market moving in there was released!

They’ll be bringing all their amazing products, including Fulamingo’s Japanese products, housewards, vintage goods, zines, seeds, and more. Plus there will be outdoor seating. Two things I also learned: they want to sell more produce and expand their deli program. Look for them June 1 in their new location, if all goes well. Bonus: they’ve launched an online moving sale. 3402 SE Division Street, Portland

What’s next for Dana at Bar Norman. Bar Norman’s Dana Frank sent out an email this week talking about her time at Bar Norman, the challenges there, and what’s next for her. She is staying in the wine industry but retiring from hospitality; connecting with her family roots in Austria (she was able to become an Austrian citizen); and will be launching a new national import company in May, called High Five Selections. There, they will focus “on the brilliant growers and wines of Styria in southern Austria.” More details on that are on Instagram, too.

Additional food-oriented details from the email outside of High Five Selections: “I continue to manage the wine programs for Langbaan, Phuket Cafe, Paadee, and Toya, restaurants that have all given me the opportunity to think about wine outside of the context of Western food. I love this work and the wonderful teams at each restaurant.”

Vivienne’s 8-year anniversary and grand opening weekend is now. Head over to the new Vivienne space on NE Alberta Street for a variety of events this weekend and a 20% off sale; “the whole weekend will be a party at the shop.” I miss their presence in Hollywood but I think this has been a very good move for them. 2724 NE Alberta Street, Portland

29 World Beer Cup Awards given to Oregon brewers. Did you know that the World Beer Cup Awards is the largest beer competition in the world? I did not, but I do now. And how awesome is it that Oregon-based brewers took home 29 awards at the competition?!? Categories include things like Herb and Spice Beer, Vienna-Style Lager, and American-Style Imperial Stout. Big congrats to the brewers—head to Brewpublic for more details on the winners and their brews.

Take Two from Gabbiano’s. So, I had heard about Take Two—a new bar that opened up in the old Toyshop Ramen space—but wasn’t aware it was a project from the folks at Gabbiano’s. They posted a nice commentary on their socials about the work that has gone into it. I’m going to post a big chunk of it to illustrate how important it is to acknowledge staff publicly for their good work (having worked for people in the past that did not do this sort of thing or worse: take credit for your hard work):

“David, Blake, Heather, and Chef Liz have been putting their hearts behind this project, creating a loosely spaghetti western inspired space that is cheeky, charming, and a lil’ bit Italian through and through. This is coming from ownership, we truly couldn’t have done it without the help and patience of our entire Gab’s team. Every single one of the crew has been supportive and taken on a lot to allow us to step away from Gab’s for a bit to make this bar come to life, and we (David, Blake, and Heather) are incredibly grateful for everyone.

“Stop by, have a grimy martini (anchovy & parm brine!!), jalapeño popper arancini’s, and all the other things we have created. It’s a special place, just like Gab’s, and we can’t wait to share it with you!” 3000 NE Killingsworth Street, Portland

New spring salad at Fresh Love. This is one of my favorite places to get a salad in Portland. They are always full of interesting ingredients that go well together. This season you can get their Sweet Peas & Groovy Beets salad: Organic yellow and red beets, organic sweet peas, organic green lettuce tossed with house Green Goddess dressing, Parmigiano Reggiano, organic pepitas, pickled red onions with light salt and pepper. Yum. 7434 NE Fremont Street, Portland

Rotating baos at XLB. Starting in May, XLB will be offering a Bao of the Month, changing monthly: “Every month we will put a fun new (or old favorite) filling wrapped in our fluffy bao dough.” Sound good to me. 4090 N Williams Street, Portland

Update from the Midtown Beer Garden. I heard from the people at the Midtown Beer Garden this morning with a little update. Looks like they are having a mural done and will unveil that next month. They are also planing multiple large events coming at pod the pod with the help of PDX Pop Now! Keep an eye on vendors at the pod on MBG’s Instagram, too—glad to see Tokyo Sando’s strawberry sandwich featured this month!

New guide: Portland Food and Drink Festivals list from Bridgetown Bites. One recent project I did here on the blog was to put together a simple and straightforward list of Portland food and drink festivals—including food weeks and relevant events, mostly in Portland but some not too far away. What was already out there in list form was not satisfying, so I created something that I found helpful. I hope you do too.

P.S. I thought I’d try something new: Here are some of the stories you may have missed this week on Bridgetown Bites:

Food Foray Screening: Food and Culture in East County
Iliamna Salmon Shares Are Available To Order
New Ownership at Junior’s Roasted Coffee