Small Bites: Pinolo Gelato, Nam Tao Huu, No Sabo, and More

gelato-duo-hazelnut-chocolate-pinolo-gelato-portland-oregonJPG — The superb Pinolo Gelato.

Pinolo Gelato celebrates 10 years. These guys make some of the best gelato in Portland. It was started by Sandro Paolini, who is originally from Pisa in Italy. He moved to the PNW a while back, but his path eventually led him back to Pisa to learn how to make gelato from his friends and mentors there, Ilaria and Omar of @ioegelato.

He returned to Portland in 2015 and opened his shop there on Division. On Saturday help Pinolo celebrate 10 years in business! They’ll have 10% off all pints, a birthday flavor (Saturday and Sunday only), plus new seasonal flavors will launch this week. There will also be a photo booth this weekend. 3707 SE Division Street, Portland

The T-bone is the Oregon state steak. Who knew there could even be a state steak? Not me, but now I know better. This past Monday, the Oregon House passed Senate Concurrent Resolution 13 in a 50-2 vote; in March the Senate passed it unanimously, all resulting in the T-bone getting time in the limelight. Oregon Capital Chronicle has more on this beefy designation.

Two-for-one at Mekong Bistro. Every Tuesday from 4pm to midnight is “BOGO Madness” at Mekong Bistro, a restaurant that serves Cambodian food. Buy one food item, get one free. Sounds like you can mix and match, too. 8200 NE Siskiyou Street, Portland

US Bank ➡️ McDonald’s? Looks like someone wants to open a McDonald’s in an old US Bank on N Interstate Avenue between Going and Prescott in the Overlook neighborhood. The permit is at the Early Assistance stage and may or may not go through. 4550 N Interstate Avenue, Portland

East Glisan Pizza Lounge has reopened. In March, Montavilla’s East Glisan Pizza Lounge closed down to work on some things. Montavilla news reports, “During that pause, owners Todd Dennis and Kristen Brown worked with a restaurant coach to rebuild a profitable business while retaining the community-centric environment that had kept the partners interested in working into the next decade of operation.” EGPL re-opened in early May—read more about it here. 8001 NE Glisan Street, Portland

Moises Sotelo-Casas detained. There has been a passionate outburst of sadness, grief, and anger regarding ICE detaining Moises Sotelo-Casas. He has worked in the Willamette Valley for 20 years, has won awards in his field, and is the owner of Novo Start Vineyard Service. According to OPB, that company “provides pruning, pest control and harvesting services to vineyards in the Willamette Valley.”

Sotelo-Casas is a beloved member of the community and has been in the U.S. since the mid-1990s. He has been working on getting his U.S. citizenship with help from a former employer, and is well-respected among his peers and community. But they took him anyway. A Gofundme has been set up for his family, who are dealing with expenses after this ICE detainment.

Nam Tao Huu opens today. Last year we wrote about Nam Tao Huu coming to Northwest Portland, and they are finally opening today. There you’ll find all sorts of soy milk drinks, some other treats like pudding and sesame balls in syrup, a Chinese donut (youtiao, which goes great with soy milk), and more. So glad to see them open their doors in Portland! 921 NW 23rd Avenue, Portland

Portland is home to a third James Beard Award winner. Ricardo Osuna posted over on his Instagram about his team’s James Beard Media Awards win, which was for the podcast “Loading Dock Talks with Chef Preeti Mistry,” in the Broadcast Media Awards–Audio Programming category. Here’s what he said:

“Very honored that our podcast Loading Dock Talks with Chef Preeti Mistry was recognized in the Audio Programming category. The episode that was recognized with the award features the incredible New York Chef Telly Justice of the restaurant @hags_nyc.” Big congrats to Ricardo and the Copper & Heat team!

Harder Day has a new location and is planning a party. They’ve got a new shop on NE MLK and on Saturday, June 28 from 7am to 7am they’ll be celebrating their grand opening there. Look for $2 lattes, $3 pints of Steeplejack beer, and $3 pastries. 2031 NE MLK Jr Blvd, Portland

And the Steeplejack Union summer kickoff is tomorrow. On Saturday, June 21 from 11am to 9pm they’ll be kicking off summer (yes, it’s the first day of summer on the solar calendar, but it’s also midsummer to some) with a party. $5 pints all day, $4 affogatos, $3 cold brew, food from the carts, and DJs spinning vinyl. 3757 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland

Get a double scoop at Salt & Straw today. Here’s the deal, in honor of the longest day of the year: “This Friday, buy any single scoop, say “make it a double” (A.K.A. the magic words) and get an extra scoop on us.” Nice. Multiple locations

Bring! Treats for Dogs is moving. They are joining the patio outside of Someday, possibly where Ruthie’s used to be (those folks are now cooking at The End). Also in the comments was this about The Whole Bowl: “I believe they are moving, and us and another new cart are coming in.” 3634 SE Division Street, Portland

Jazz at CORE. The 6/8 Quartet will be playing between 7pm and 9pm this Saturday night. There are plenty of great carts at CORE to check out, too. 3612 SE 82nd Avenue, Portland

Palomar has a new brunch menu. And it looks really good. I may have to stop in just to see how the chilaquiles stack up against some of the others around town. I could go for that coconut guava french toast, too. 1422 NW 23rd Avenue, Portland

Two restaurants in the Array Food Hall soft open today. Head to the Array Food Hall in the newish Timberview building at noon today for the soft opening of Taqueria Nuevo Camino (they are connected to 4 Caminos Mexican Restaurant in Vancouver). A poke restaurant (the name of which is unknown to me) is also soft opening today. 540 NE 99th Avenue, Portland

Good Dough is open. This new bread-oriented bakery is now open. Run by Brad Kohler of BreadFest fame, it is located in the old Bar King bakery space. And Panther Club is their neighbor! Head over to Good Dough for a good loaf. 726 SE 6th Avenue, Portland

Grand Central Station (FKA Grand Canyon) is now leasing. This is a building on the northeast corner of Grand Avenue and NE Couch Street. It was Mattress World at one point. Now it’s been renovated to accommodate four restaurant spaces—the Thai restaurant Golden Lotus (from the Thai Sunflowers folks) is one of them. 106 NE Grand Avenue, Portland

No Sabo is open in their new location in the South Waterfront neighborhood. Last month I interviewed Jon Barragan and Sabrina Quintana, the powerhouse duo behind No Sabo, which spent about six months in residence at Kaya Cocktail Bar in NE Portland. At that time, they were winding down there and preparing to move to what is now the old Lilia Comedor space in South portland. Well, they have moved in and have developed their first menu for the new space, which you can see here. 3159 S Moody Avenue, Portland

And about Lilia Comedor. They are now in the old De Noche space, and are back open! 422 NW 8th Avenue, Portland

Stories you may have missed on Bridgetown Bites this week:

Peacock Will Open in Old Crush Bar Space in Portland
The 2025 James Beard Awards Winners in Portland and Oregon
Cutie Pie Pizzeria Will Open on NE Fremont in Portland
The Delta Carts Food Pod Is Open in Portland (Photos)
Get To Know Red Hen Bagelry in Portland

Bonus, not written by me but featuring me on Stumptown Savings: Rose City Receipts: Meg of Bridgetown Bites Balances Covering Food Events With Cooking At Home. Thanks to editor Bryan Vance for featuring me on this fantastic column.

This weekend’s festivals: Latino Cultural Festival, the Portland Thai Festival Taste of Thailand, and PDX Beer Week finishes up this weekend. Nacho Week starts Monday. More events throughout the year can be found on our Portland Food and Drink Festivals and Portland Area Cultural + Food Festivals lists.