Update on Arrowood. After I was asked if I had heard any updates from Arrowood (my emails remain unanswered), a neighbor indicated that they had seen a listing online for the Arrowood space. I checked it out, and found a listing on Crexi entitled, “For Lease: Turnkey Restaurant & Bar for Lease.” So, looks like we have the answer: They are done. Truly unfortunate for the neighborhood. 5846 NE Sandy Blvd, Portland
Update on the Toasted S’mores Bar. I got a message from Nico this week, and the new opening date for Toasted S’mores Bar is Saturday, January 18. Definitely stop by and check it out. As of today, the weather outlook looks chilly, so warm, toasty s’mores sound perfect. 1126 SW Alder Street, Portland
The Viking Pancake Breakfast is Sunday. Head to the Norse Hall’s Bergen Dining Room (located on the ground floor) for their monthly (and tasty) all-you-can-eat Viking pancake breakfast. Along with the pannekaken (which are thinner than American pancakes, but thicker than a French crepe), you get scrambled eggs, sausage links, fresh fruit, strawberry compote, lingonberries, orange juice, and coffee or tea. Adults $10; Children ages 3 to 10 $5; Children under age 3 are free. 111 NE 11th Avenue, Portland
Pleasure Mountain has soft opened. I was over by NE Killingsworth and NE 30th Ave the other day and saw a sign on the door of Pleasure Mountain announcing their soft opening, happening now. As is the case with soft openings, they are working out the kinks, so please be gentle with them. The space looks great and the menu intriguing. 5513 NE 30th Avenue, Portland
Do you know Bon Bánh Mì? I consider myself to be a pretty good researcher, but learning really anything about this new Vietnamese restaurant in an old Pizza Hut on SE 122nd has really stumped me. They are not coming up in any of my resources. So I am looking to you, dear readers, to clue me in on this place if you know any details. Many thanks to a Bridgetown Bites tipster for originally letting me know about this place. 1747 SE 122nd Avenue, Portland
Anna Bananas has closed. According to Reddit, this longstanding coffeehouse closed on January 7. They billed themselves as “the oldest coffee cafe in NW Portland.” They opened the original spot on NW 21st Avenue in 1994—so that is over 30 years ago. And like so many other businesses that have closed recently, economics was the killer. Portland Business Journal reports that a worker indicated “the price of ingredients and reduced foot traffic” essentially forced the closure. Another piece of old Portland is gone. 1214 NW 21st Avenuye, Portland
No pizza at Jerry’s Tavern. Jerry Benedetto gained quite a bit of notoriety during the COVID pandemic with his Midwestern tavern-style pizza (party cut FTW). His dream was to eventually open a place of his own to serve these pizzas, along with drinks and other bar stuff. He revealed this week that “pizza is not going to happen here at the tavern.”
Turns out he underestimated some of the needs of running and owning a bar, as well as the challenges involved in including a pizza program. He also is worried he’d kill the vibe he’s already created at Jerry’s Tavern. So, he is pivoting and sticking with what is already working and is cherished by the patrons.
He recommends Bridge City in Woodstock and Gepetto’s in Salem for your tavern pies needs; I’ve seen some on the Red Sauce Instagram, too. Read more about Jerry’s thought process on his Instagram. 3010 NW Nicolai Street, Portland
Local buys local: Whole Bowl acquired by Moberi. Thanks to the Portland Business Journal I learned that Moberi, known for açai bowls and smoothies, has bought Whole Bowl, which offers vegetarian bowl meals. As a result, Lake Oswego will get a Whole Bowl next month where the Moberi was on Kruse Way, and … Whole Bowl will expand to two bowls! Right now they make just the one. Glad to hear the deal to merge was amicable. Various locations.
Flock Food Hall opens next month. I have learned that the Flock Food Hall will open Sunday, February 2. This is the food hall in the Ritz Carlton hotel. One of the carts, Pan Roast & Oyster Bar, which currently operates out of the Camas food cart pod Oak Tree Station, will serve some exclusive items at their Flock location, including a loaded cam chowder bread bowl.
Other carts expected to be in residence there have changed over time (originally I listed out the ones via an Axios article). A reader has updated me on what they saw posted at Flock: Zabpinto Thai, Prime Taphouse, Birrieria La Plaza, HK Bistro, Tous les Jours, and bb.q chicken. 917 SW Alder Street, Portland
Javelina’s fine dining experience is called Inɨ́sha. The good folks at Javelina revealed the name of the fine dining arm of their work: Inɨ́sha. It’s a multi-course dinner, and you reserve via OpenTable; you can add-on drink pairings, too. More about how it works to get a ticket (they will start with just 22 a day):
“Tickets will be released monthly, and service will be on Fridays and Saturdays from 6pm to 8pm/8:30pm. Prices may be different depending on seasonality, access to ingredients and number of courses.” No modifications to the meal will be allowed, except to offer vegan substitutions, but that is only on a dinner-by-dinner basis. The first service will be Saturday February 8. Definitely read up on their Instagram post to fully understand how to participate in these dinners. 5425 NE 30th Avenue, Portland
“The centerpiece of the 82nd corridor.” This refers to the Eastport Plaza at SE 82nd and Holgate. Last year a massive Hồng Phát grocery store opened up in the old Walmart, and now the entire shopping center has been sold. Eastport Plaza Shopping Center LLC, led by Hồng Phát founder and CEO Brandon Wang and physician Hoang Nguyen, bought it. More details in The Oregonian. Plus, thanks to @maccoinnich for highlighting a new bakery tenant arriving there. 4200 SE 82nd Avenue, Portland
Sebastiano’s update. Things of note happening at this sweet Sicilian-American Sellwood spot this month: warm sandwich specials (chicken caesar cutlet now, meatball next week, or Italian beef later in January), a caesar salad, and bombolini (currently filled with cranberry, next month blood orange curd). They have hopes to bring back their Apertivo pop-up this summer and return to the Montavilla Farmers Market. Hopefully they will have more olive oil, too. Note: they are closed on Mondays this winter. 8235 SE 13th Avenue #7, Portland
Fair Weather is back, serving brunch. Located in the old Jacqueline space, this brunch spot that emerged during the COVID pandemic (‘while Jacqueline slept”) has reopened and is doing brunch again. “We’re getting ready for our first full (ish) week of brunch. Wednesday through Saturday this week. We got crullers. We got coffee. We got some many vibes.” 2039 SE Clinton Street, Portland
And speaking of Apertivo hour. Ava Gene’s has launched theirs, and it will operate from 5pm to 6pm each day. Have a glass of wine, a cocktail, a spritz, and maybe a little bit to eat. It’s bar seating, so no reservations. 3377 SE Division Street, Portland
Fondue nights at Blackbird Wine Shop. There on NE Fremont is a little wine and food spot that, honestly, I’ve never been to. I may have to remedy that with their upcoming fondue nights. On January 15 and 29 (Wednesdays) from 7pm to 9pm you can enjoy a pot of cheese fondue plus “dipables”—bread, sausages, vegetables. You can add on a wine flight for $20, too. 4323 NE Fremont Street, Portland
Mocha Express anniversary deal. Did you know Mocha Express has operated in the area since 1992? They are celebrating their 33-year anniversary with special pricing: You can get a 16 oz mocha or latte for $3.33 during the month of January. Be sure to mention the special in order to get it. 1951 SE 82nd Avenue and 3953 SE Powell Blvd in Portland; 14813 SE Webster Road in Milwaukie
Order your Conversation Heart donut boxes at Doe Donuts, now. Believe it or not, Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. Love it or hate it, I gotta hand it to Doe for creating these adorable vegan donut conversation heart boxes as a twist on the traditional chalky artificially flavored candy conversation hearts. Pre-order them now, as they will not be available in store.
They cost $22 per box and include four heart-shaped donuts: 1 strawberry milk, 1 brownie batter, 1 passionfruit, and 1 matcha filled with strawberry jam. If you want custom wording, it’s a buck extra per donut. They boxes are themed as sweet, sour or spicy, so let them know which one you want. You can pick up your boxes on February 14, 15, or 16 (Friday through Sunday) only. 4110 NE Sandy Blvd, Portland
January Citrus Dinner at Bergerac. Winter is citrus season and Bergerac is celebrating that with a $90 (+$40 optional wine pairing) four-course dinner on Wednesday, January 15. You can pair each course with citrus-forward cocktails, too. Each course focuses on a different citrus fruit:
- GRAPEFRUIT: Grapefruit, cilantro & red onion salsa with tortilla chips.
- KUMQUAT: Seared scallops, pickled kumquat, shaved fennel.
- ORANGE: Duck roulade stuffed with pork & orange, orange wine jus, mashed potatoes & braised leeks.
- LIME: Lime jelly, Earl grey creme patissiere, whipped cream, ginger crumble.
Book via Tock. 5520 SE Woodstock Blvd, Portland
Cassoulet Mondays are a thing. Over at Laurelhurst Market (which makes one of the tastiest salads in Portland—the Butcher Chop Salad, available at lunchtime) they are devoting Mondays to cassoulet. It features duck confit, housemade Toulouse sausage, braised pork belly, and cannellini beans, and comes with a fresh winter greens salad, all available throughout the winter months. 3155 E Burnside, Portland
Stories you may have missed this week on Bridgetown Bites:
Top 5 Posts on Bridgetown Bites, December 2024
Masala Lab Will Close in Portland
Top Posts on Bridgetown Bites in 2024
Brave Neighbor Coffeehouse Will Open in North Portland
Year of the Snake: Lunar New Year 2025 in Portland
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I realize time moves on more quickly in that neighborhood than in most in Portland, but losing Anna Bananas and Santa Fe in a year feels like a loss of institutional knowledge.
It’s also just the loss of a moment in time. I’m not going to say it was always better, but there was something to the DIY, let’s-put-on-a-show aesthetic of legitimate coffee houses (located in houses) with mismatched chairs, leftover paint and furnishings, and crowdsourced books and games where it was clear most of the cash went toward keeping the espresso machine running.
I give Anna Bananas a lot of credit for sticking with Italian roasts, creating its own breakfast menu, and maintaining an environment where you could go in on a weekend and the staff would be playing Bingo to tropes found in rebroadcasts of American Top 40.
I’ll admit we were part of that lack of foot traffic in recent years, with our time in the neighborhood split among new spots and old favorites… while other options closer to home kept us away. But I don’t envy any of the legacy businesses right now who emerged from the pandemic into a different world.
You’ve seen it: How many of the city’s longstanding coffee shops, breweries and restaurants have folded it up recently because the business is fundamentally different than it was for them even a decade ago? It’s played havoc in every city, but this one’s ours and it’s painful to watch.
I’m interested to see how it works out for some of the newcomers, but I’m going to miss some of the handpainted counters and hand-scrawled menus that first greeted me here.
There are what I’ll call right now, for use of a better word, “old time” spots in places I lived, that when they closed evoked a similar response in me. The Classic Carrot and Franky’s in Ventura; Top Tomato and Neptune Diner in Astoria, Queens; Vegi Food and Au Coquelet Cafe in Berkeley. We keep losing places in Portland and the reasons are based so often in the economics. What can Portland do to help financially support our restaurants, cafes, bars, and food carts that contribute to the culture of Portland, help make this city a place people want to live in, and support tourism? I am formulating questions to ask to the people in power. We need answers.