Top 5 Posts on Bridgetown Bites, January 2025

Welcome to our first monthly summary in 2025 of top posts on Bridgetown Bites! As usual, it’s restaurant status heavy, but also our Lunar New Year and Valentine’s Day roundups did well. The hope is these kinds of posts help you out when you are looking for things to do during those celebratory times.

To be honest, I was expecting the start of the year to be a little slower than last month, as January tends to be slow in a lot of sectors. So imagine my surprise to see the numbers had a nice bump since December: Close to 31,000 unique visitors generated 43,000 page views. That’s approximately a 9% and 11% increase, respectively.

Thanks for reading, sharing, commenting, and of course—sending tips. And Happy Year of the (Wood) Snake, everyone!

5. Restaurants Opening in Portland in 2025: What We’re Looking Forward To

Pleasure Mountain entrance in Portland, Oregon.

I thought I’d take a little time to share some of the restaurants opening in Portland in 2025 that I am particularly looking forward to. As we move further away from the pandemic—though COVID is not gone, by any means—I have hopes that its volatility that affected the city’s restaurants for too long is truly in the rearview mirror. And that other issues (like break-ins) can be addressed by our new city council. This year’s list includes a public market, a new coffee shop, Indigenous fine dining, and more

4. Valentine’s Day 2025 in Portland: Food and Drink

It’s almost that time—Valentine’s Day 2025 is right around the corner. Lots of places are doing special dinners and meals, and we’ve gathered them together here for you. And don’t let V-Day just be for romantic couples! Loving yourself and your friends is just as valid on this day of love.

3. Kooks Sports Bar Will Open in North Portland

A new sports bar called Kooks will open in the space that was most recently home to the Portland Pickles Public House on North Mississippi Avenue. Another venture from Stephen Chao and his wife Vy, as well as Chris Mateja, they look to open their doors in early February for your convivial sports watching needs. I do love me a good sports bar (mostly to watch baseball, but it’s great to catch tennis, too), so I’m definitely curious about this place.

2. First Look: Flock Food Hall in Portland (Photos)

Earlier today I was able to attend a media preview of the Flock Food Hall, located on the ground floor of the Ritz-Carlton hotel at SW Alder and 9th Avenue. There are eight vendors there offering a variety of cuisines, from Korean fried chicken, to birrieria, to pastries. Plenty of seating, too. Many thanks to Genesis Burton of the Qué Chilero Group, who invited me in connection to her client Pan Roast.

1. Year of the Snake: Lunar New Year 2025 in Portland

Lunar New Year 2025 in Portland starts on Wednesday January 29, when we will enter the Year of the Snake—more specifically, the Wood Snake. Here, you can read more about the qualities of this upcoming year with more insight than I could possibly give you. And, as a Monkey myself, it’s nice to read that “those born in the Years of the Rat, Monkey, Rooster, Horse and Dragon should experience good luck.”