Small Bites: Greek Street, Pizza Baron, Strawberries, and More

Greek Street has opened. This is in the space adjacent to Tréla that was going to be more bakery-focused (Yiayia’s), but they chose a different path. You can see their menu here. I’ll be by soon for some tyrokefteri, a chicken gyro (with fries!), and a lemon lime Vikos soda. 6010 NE Glisan Street, Portland

A PNW spin on European cuisine? Rachel Dennis at The Manual thinks there are four restaurants in Portland doing just that. They are Hey Luigi, Vya, L’Orange, and Lansdowne. Read more here. Multiple locations

Mayger Coffee soft opens this weekend. We wrote about them last year and it’s great to see them poised to open their doors after all these months of preparation. On Saturday and Sunday, May 16 and 17, from 9am to 2pm, stop in for $1 drip coffee, and more. They’re using Proud Mary coffee beans, FYI. 6812 NE Broadway, Portland

A new restaurant is coming to the old Coq Au Vin space. They had to work out the issue of parapets with the city first, but the bottom line is that a new restaurant is moving in and will be increasing the seating area there. That will require them to do a change of occupancy from B to A-2. Lorraine Guthrie is the architect—you may have seen her work at Coopers Hall, The People’s Courts, and the Ace Hotel.

There are plans for table seating with a couple dozen seats, a bar with about a dozen seats, a casual seating area, a grab-and-go area, and it looks like it might be counter service. Dibina Coffee is doing a pop-up there in the garage area (where Coq Au Vain’s meat truck was, I believe) at the moment. 2376 NW Thurman Street, Portland

Güero’s cook Poni was taken by ICE. Last Friday the Güero folks wrote, “Poni was forcefully abducted from his car by ICE agents near his home while heading to work.” He was been moved to the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma; he should not be there. Here is more of what they wrote—his loved ones and colleagues miss him immensely:

“If you don’t know Poni by name, you would recognize him as the cook singing in the kitchen loudly to all his favorite songs and saying goodbye to customers as they leave through the back door for the last decade. To his community, Poni is known above all as a loving father and husband, as well as a cherished friend and coworker—Truly an enormous and unexpendable presence in both his personal and professional environments. As has happened to so many others, there is absolutely no reason or legal justification for Poni to be taken and held in chains. His warrantless abduction is unconscionable and we his community are committed to seeing him safely reunited with his wife and children.”

There is a GoFundMe campaign established. Funds raised will cover legal expenses for Poni’s case, with any remaining funds going directly to the family. Online

Love for Pizza Baron. This pizzeria has “outlived every other store in that area and is a SE Portland classic,” according to a Redditor. I believe they serve what is considered Willamette Valley-style or Oregon-style pizza, which starts with a crispy crust with a dusting of cornmeal on the undercarriage. It’s fun to read the opinions over on Reddit—enjoy. 2604 SE 122nd Avenue, Portland

Pizza Nostra seems to be gone. Their domain, portlandpizzadelivery.com is still alive, but there is nothing about pizza on it anymore. The Fremont location closed earlier this year. Multiple locations

Tehroon Restaurant is relocating … to an old Pizza Nostra location. This Persian restaurant is moving from their current location of 11795 SW Beaverton Hillsdale Hwy in Beaverton to that shopping center on SW Barnes Road not far from Amaterra Winery. They reopen there on Monday, June 1, and they’ll have some opening specials. 7365 SW Barnes Road, Suite I, Portland

Chefs like this strawberry ice cream. Karla Walsh over at Allrecipes reports that Tillamook Oregon Strawberry was a favorite of a chef panel, made up of individuals from the Midwest and east coast. It beat out Ben & Jerry’s, Blue Bell, and Häagen-Dazs. Read more here. Online

🍓And more strawberry things.🍓 Here are some strawberries that I came across this week:

• Andina. Fresas de Edén, an olive oil cake with strawberry mousse, white chocolate shell, and matcha crumble. 1314 NW Glisan Street, Portland
• Cafe Olli. Strawberry Cheesecake French Toast starts with their challah, topped with Mascarpone cream, brown butter streusel, strawberries tossed in strawberry glaze, drizzled with maple syrup, and finished with mint. 3925 NE MLK Jr Blvd, Portland
• Lilia Comedor. Strawberry Cucumber Aguachile with scallops. 422 NW 8th Avenue, Portland
• Rubinette Produce. Shuksan and Hood strawberries are on the shelves. 2340 NE Sandy Blvd, Portland
• Tiny Moreso. Strawberry cheesecake brownies and strawberry rose bars, both vegan. 4520 NE 42nd Avenue, Portland
• Zuckercreme. The Strawberry Museum is back this year. Submit your strawberry art by Sunday, May 24. 414 SE 81st Avenue, Portland

James Beard Public Market approved images. Over on Next Portland, Travis Baird updates us with approved images of the exterior and interior plans. Check it out. 610 SW Alder Street, Portland

Twisted Croissant is a top French bakery. Tasting Table put out a listicle of top French bakeries in the U.S. (“14 Best French Bakeries In The US“) and Twisted Croissant was included. FTA: “Those in the know expect to find incredibly creative interpretations of classic items on a menu that’s always changing, and have previously found things like corn bread croissants, croissants turned into Monte Cristo sandwiches, and the bakery’s own cruffins.” Cruffins are a cross between a croissant and a muffin, in the mashup tradition of a cronut (croissant + donut). Multiple locations

Goodies Snack Shop will close. They opened in 2022 and their final day open in Old Town will be Tuesday, June 30. But this is not a total goodbye—it’s a “transition for the brand.” So stop in before that and enjoy their lovely collection of products in-person while you can. 139 NW 2nd Avenue, Portland

The Ice Cream Project from Champagne Poetry has opened. This is right next door to the Champagne Poetry space on SE Hawthorne. This space had been home to East Side Guitar Repair for a number of years, but they left that location in fall 2024 (they moved over to NE MLK in the MLK Music Mall). So now Champagne Poetry has adjacent storefronts. Looks like they are doing ice cream sandwiches, mostly. 3341 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland

And Conecepts Creamery ice cream is now available at Sôi at CORE. Conecepts offers small-batch ice cream with “Asian-inspired flavors.” At Sôi, you’ll find their PANDAMN! (pandan and coconut ice cream), GOLDEN WIND (lemon ice cream with Biscoff cookies), and battlecry (Matcha ice cream with Oreos). 3612 SE 82nd Avenue, Portland

Spring Farm Dinner at Bergerac. Next week, Wednesday, May 20 at 6:30pm, Lauren Masterson from nearby 47th Avenue Farms joins Bergerac for their Spring Farm dinner. There will be spring cocktails: Magnolia Fizz and a Peashoot Fizz (NA). Plus the menu:

• Garlic Scapes. Pickled garlic scapes, pork pate crostini.
• Spring Vegetables. Leek, beets, spring onion, green garlic, vegetable broth, green sauce (V, GF).
• Fava Beans. Grilled pork chop, sautéed fava greens, mustard sauce, polenta (GF).
• Magnolia & Rhubarb. Magnolia flower panna cotta, ginger rhubarb compote, cookie, edible flowers (GF).

It costs $95 per guest, with a $45 wine pairing option. Reserve via their OpenTable page. 5520 SE Woodstock Blvd, Portland

ICYMI: The Paper Bridge in the NYT. They are pretty chuffed to be the focus of this article in The Times. Critic Tejal Rao gave them two stars, which are well-deserved (I love their food). Here’s a gift link. 828 SE Ash Street, Portland

Lucky Duck will open in the wine country. They will open this July in Carlton with a summer patio residency by Astral. It’s from the same people behind Revel Meat Co. and Hayward.

On their website they explain what they are, “A feel-good corner spot for a coffee, a cookbook, or something nice for your home. Come for fresh-baked pastries, beautiful wares from artisan makers, a glass of wine from our rotating list, or a luxury stay in the apartment upstairs.”

That apartment will have two bedrooms and one bath, with an open kitchen, dining nook, and private patio. Customizations will be available, from a lightly to fully stocked fridge, beverage curation, and they can even cook dinner for you. 105 W Main Street, Carlton

Vertical Diner will close. This vegan diner has decided that Sunday, June 14, will be their last day of service in Portland. They originally opened in July 2019, before the COVID pandemic. Here’s their reason:

“We wish we could continue to serve all of you, but the business has been economically challenging for a long time. We had planned to close years ago after the pandemic, but fell in love with our amazing customers and couldn’t bring ourselves to do it. At this time, the costs of operation are unsustainable.”

They will continue to operate their location in Salt Lake City. They added, “Please let any restaurant owners know that our turnkey 4,500-square-foot restaurant space—with a huge parking lot and an efficiently designed layout—will be available for lease on July 1st.” DM them if you are interested. 8124 SW Barbur Blvd, Portland

The old SE Belmont Stumptown will become a Puff Coffee. This will be their second Puff location. Workers have been in there getting things ready. Opening date TBD. 3356 SE Belmont Street, Portland

Prince Coffee has soft opened. This is the new location on N Killingsworth, and it looks gorgeous inside. They are open 7am to 6p⁠m. 1936 N Killingsworth Street, Portland

Project Matcha’s Cedar Hills opens tomorrow. Join them for their grand opening Saturday, May 16 from 10am to 8pm. The first 100 guests get an exclusive Project Matcha tote bag. 2855 SW Cedar Hills Blvd, Portland

Cloud City is moving … next door. The Woodstock location is moving into the Subway space just to its west, according to neighbors. A local business owner posted online, “It’s a bigger better space. We are happy for them and all the businesses in the Woodstock area.” Good news for ice cream lovers. 4523 SE Woodstock Blvd, Portland

Oblique Coffee is moving. This coffee shop in the Landauer Mercantile building is moving, though exact details are a bit fuzzy. They wrote, “We are in the process of moving, albeit slowly. There is a new place in the works. It’s on the water and will be very special. Fingers crossed.” They recently were affected by a fire across the street. Other challenges over the years have made themselves known, personally and professionally.

On the website, there’s a page called Passing the Torch: “After 16 hard fought years, it is time to pass the torch to the next generation. The Landauer Mercantile and Oblique Coffee Roasters are available as a package to interested parties with the financial resources to continue the preservation of the historically and culturally significant location of East Portland’s circus grounds.”

Wishing them the best on this newest path. 3039 SE Stark Street, Portland

D’s Knots at Besties. You’ll be able to get the D’s Knots salty knots soft pretzels at Bestie’s, starting now. What is Bestie’s? They are a new snack shop run by besties Corey and Derek in NW Portland. Fun fact: Corey makes a spicy mustard in-house, which should go well with the pretzels. They also sell some good looking hot dogs, too—the Bjørn sounds like a cousin to Bæjarins Beztu in Iceland. 740 NW 23rd Avenue, Portland

The Turning Peel and SUN RICE collab. This sounds really good: “Tomato based, Sun Rice smoked longaniza sausage, Mama Lil’s pepper, red onion, finished with aged Parmesan, EVOO, and light arugula.” There will be vegan and vegetarian options, too. Tthey “house made and smoke a plant based longaniza sausage for the vegetarian and vegan folks to enjoy this special.”)

You can only get this special today—lunch from 11:30am to 3pm and dinner from 5pm to 9pm or until sold out. You can make a dinner reservation here. 4546 SE Division Street, Portland

Lei Brilla closes today. This cafe that opened in fall 2024, and offered “community-centric gatherings” and nourishing food, closes today. They had a lot of fans and will be missed. 1759 NW 24th Avenue, Portland

Catherine Stough has been sentenced to jail. This is the woman who started the fire that burned Elephants Deli on NW 22nd Avenue. Andrew Schwartz at Willamette Week reports, “The Portland woman … was sentenced Wednesday to jail—with the possibility of early release for treatment—after pleading guilty to two misdemeanors.” Read more here. 115 NW 22nd Avenue, Portland

Nepali Kitchen has closed. I drove by the other day and noticed there was a realtor sign up, meaning the property is for sale. Here’s the Redfin listing; it looks like the owners of Nepali Kitchen are also the property owners. From what I can gather, they may have closed down at the start of 2026. I enjoyed my meals there; the food was legit. 3434 NE 49th Avenue, Portland

Livi’s Taqueria will open in an old Round Table Pizza restaurant. Livi’s has been a taco truck on SW Pacific Hwy in Tigard, and now they are moving into a brick & mortar on SW Barbur Blvd in Portland. They’re working on things like the gas line, changing up the floor plan, and an outdoor patio. No idea of their opening at this point, but it’s coming. 10070 SW Barbur Blvd, Portland

The Hollywood Q’s grand opening is Saturday, May 30. From 4pm to 8pm that day they’ll have a big party: “lights, drinks, food, and a whole lot to celebrate.” Things you can enjoy at the party: food and drink specials, raffle prizes, and a live caricature artist. The Oregon Human Society will also be there as a partner, and the whole time will be family-friendly. 4035 NE Sandy Blvd, Portland

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Stories you may have missed this week on Bridgetown Bites:

Memorial Day Weekend 2026 in Portland and the Willamette Valley
Bad Habit Pizza Is Now Available at Living Häus Beer in Portland
Score, A Baker Fair Returns This June in Portland
Aura Dorada: Bringing Coffee, Cocktails, and Chill To Portland