Small Bites: James Beard Awards Winners, Coffee, and More

Portland’s James Beard Awards winners in 2026—not one, but two! No … three! On Monday night we learned who won the 2026 James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards. Portland was represented by two of these awards—one for Scotch Lodge for Outstanding Bar and one for Ryan Roadhouse at Nodoguro for Best Chef: Northwest and Pacific (AK, HI, OR, WA).

Portland also saw a third award, in the James Beard Media Awards on Saturday, June 13. Thank you to Matthew Trueherz at Willamette Week for pointing this out: “At Saturday’s Media Award ceremony, Portland’s Erica Berry (author of the 2023 nonfiction book Wolfish) won in the Personal Essay category for ‘Intuitive Eating: On Poison, Pleasure, and Trust,’ a piece published in the nature-focused quarterly Orion magazine.”

I noticed Seattle said it’s been shut out for the past seven years, which is kind of shocking. Over on The Oregonian, Michael Russell outlined the past several years of winners in Portland, which I found interesting and helpful. You can see all the 2026 winners on the JBF website. Online

I want to know what you think about Portland pizza. I read an article about pizza that was a James Beard Awards winner in 2010 for Newspaper Feature Writing. Portland was not mentioned, not even once. That seems ridiculous now, 17 years later, what with this town now considered as one of the best pizza cities in the U.S.

I’m interested in better understanding how Portland became such a significant pizza town. To start my quest, I put together a survey with the questions, “Is Portland a great pizza town?” and “What is the best version of any style of pizza made in Portland, and why?”

Here’s the link to the survey—please share your thoughts and opinions: mild, medium, and spicy (but respectful). I’ll share the results with you at a later date. This will help me determine my next research step. Thank you for your help! Online

It’s Juneteenth today. And there’s a celebration going on tomorrow—the 54th Annual Juneteenth Oregon Clara Peoples Freedom Trail Parade and Festival. The parade starts at 11am at King Elementary School and the festival at at Lilli-Albina Park from noon to 7pm. There will be vendors.

I also want to give a shoutout to some awesome Black-owned businesses we’ve featured here: Nana’s Exquisite Confections, Fwi, Leo Boulan, Burger Syndicate, Highland Spice Cafe, Bryan Furman BBQ, Allgood Brewing, and Novel Book Bar.

4906 NE 6th Avenue, Portland and 2451 N Flint Avenue, Portland

Day Twa Pizza Club popping up in Gresham. This Black-owned pizza business is run by Darshay Martin. She makes Detroit-style pies with names like The Big 3 (three cheeses), The Supremes (red sauce, 3-cheese blend, mushrooms, green peppers, onions, olives), and Hitsville (BBQ chicken, caramelized onions, bacon, BBQ sauce, crispy onions).

She’s at the Gresham Farmers Market and 3rd Thursday Street Fair on Main St. The pizzas look pretty dang good. She also has Faygo to complete your Detroit vibe. 401 NE 2nd Street and 100 N Main Avenue, Gresham

Great news: Nong has returned. Last month we learned that  Nong, who operated the Lao Food cart by PSU, was detained by ICE. Yesterday, he was released. “Seeing Nong walk through those gates is a moment we will never forget. It happened just before Father’s Day, making this gift even more meaningful.” Read more here. What a wonderful way to start the weekend! Freedom

Da Honu Hut will open tonight. It’s hard to know where to start with this story, so I’ll go with this quote: “We did have to pivot from what we were planning on doing.” This is from Jasmine Akina, one of the people behind Kitsune Cantina, which looked like was going into what had been The Eastburn space for close to 20 years (it closed last week). Jasmine wrote this on Instagram:

“A week ago, we thought we’d be opening a completely different business. What a freakin plot twist! Within just a couple days, our original plans completely shifted, and we had to pivot fast, like 48 hours fast. Now, we are officially the proud business owners of this little beverage hut in Portland!”

They’ve named it Da Honu Hut and it is located at the MLK Street Food pod. Look for “hand-crafted tiki mocktails,” with the option of transforming them into cocktails with booze. They’ve still got a lot of the behind the scenes stuff to handle but they’ll be open tonight with Spirit of Sage assisting with the alcohol side of things. 3625 NE MLK Jr Blvd, Portland

Uncles Noodles & Lounge coming to Windy’s Corner. This is a shopping center a couple miles east of the airport just off Airport Way, half a mile east of the incoming In N Out, and across the street and a little down from Jawfish (look for coverage here of Le Petit Chef soon, too). It will take up Units C and D and our source says it going to be a “big lounge and noodle place.” I’m super intrigued. 6033 NE Win Sivers Drive, Portland

Fifty Licks has landed Kerns-adjacent! Technically in the Buckman neighborhood—not in their original spot on Burnside–their ice cream truck is now at Pod 28. Curious about the status of the Burnside shop? You can read about it on their website. 113 SE 28th Avenue, Portland

Yunomi Matcha recently turned one. And they are launching their summer menu tomorrow at the Kernside Fair. The new drinks are: mango sago matcha, jasmine creme brulee matcha, lychee matcha soda, and strawberry sudachi matcha soda. They also have a jasmine milk tea ice cream and honey hojicha ice cream. 304 NE 28th Avenue, Portland

Speaking of the Kernside Fair. AKA Kernside Midsummer Street Fair, it will have live music, dancing, comedy, storytelling, a beer garden, and 100+ vendors. 10am to 8pm on NE 28th Avenue. NE 28th between Burnside and Glisan, Portland

Find HeyDay donuts at Change. We mentioned Change PDX last week (they’re inside Garden Party) and this week I’ve learned they are now stocking HeyDay donuts. Flavors are matcha, ube, coconut mango, and vegan black sesame. 3940 N Williams Avenue, Portland

Hop Dogs at Threshold Brewing. Part of PDX Beer Week, they claim this is “the greatest Hot Dog and West Coast IPA competition of all time.” Now in its third year, they’ll have veggie dogs available along with meaty ones. Block 15 Brewing Co., Grand Fir Brewing Co., Trap Door Brewing, and Threshold will provide the beer. No advance tickets needed, just show up. The top dog and top IPA will be determined by your votes. 403 SE 79th Avenue, Portland

Final FIKA popup at Puff Coffee this weekend. As Joe says, “big changes coming in August,” with translates to tomorrow being his final popup at Puff, and the final popup ever. He’ll have:

• Empanadas: Taleggio Potato Leek, Chorizo Potato Cheddar, Sausage Gruyere Leek, and Coffee Chocolate Custard.
• Key Lime Bars. Get ’em, they’re great.
• Cookies: Chocolate Espresso, Rosemary Lemon, and Butterscotch Toffee.

9am until sold out (and stuff goes fast). 2816 SE Stark Street, Portland

New life for the old Forest Park Drive-In? Seems like someone wants this to be the case—a recent permit was set up on June 9, and is currently Under Review. The details for this new restaurant includes new interior walls, a new exterior ramp, and re-striping the parking lot. A new detached trash enclosure (less than 120 square feet) is part of the plan, and they also want to remove an existing post and shed porch on the northwest side of the building.

The applicant? Lorraine Guthrie, which means they are not messing around. And this Oregonian article about the building and the people connected to it is fascinating. I hope something awesome opens up here. 8410 NW Skyline Blvd, Portland

Hey Hey Paula opens today. This is the successor to Arlo’s Fish and Chips, which closed probably a couple of years ago now, due to the death of Paula’s husband Larry (the GoFundMe is still alive). Hey Hey Paula is open today from noon to 8pm. It’s all about their fish and chips and is run by the folks behind Too of Us. “We’ve been working hard to live up to Arlo’s legacy. Big shoes to fill.”

The truck was painted by window art artist Keith of PDX Paint Pals. Paula will be at the truck today. 7316 N Lombard Street, Portland

Hawthorne Street Food & Bar has been around for a year. They are celebrating with a soiree on Saturday. Enjoy live music by Jonathan Smith Jazz (6pm to 8pm), drink specials including $5 drafts and $8 cocktails. Plus food eating contests from Hot Dog Depot and Erbil Shawarma. 4225 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland

The World Cup continues. I look forward to watching the Australia vs U.S. match at noon. Dingo’s is the place to be for that, meat pie in hand. More places to watch the World Cup can be found here. Multiple locations

Hypnos Coffee will open in the old Bar Mingo space. For a while I’d seen permits in Portland Maps indicating a cafe was opening up in this space. It had suffered a fire a while back and last year I learned this: “Michael has retired from the restaurant business. Caffe and Bar Mingo will not return. A well-deserved rest!”

Turns out the new cafe is from Hypnos Coffee. According to Sprudge, “the space has been completely reimagined for a modern coffee experience.” Hypnos prefers a “minimal and modern design” that they believe allows you to focus on the coffee and the barista.

Hypnos opened in 2023 by Michael Taylor and Andres Echeverria, who say, “we’re a proudly Hispanic and queer-owned space.” Look for Hypnos to open on the west side mid-August. And read more over on Sprudge.  811 NW 21st Avenue, Portland

Unfortunate news just in time for prime corn dog season. Two Hands Corn Dogs in the Tanasbourne area (Tanasbourne Village) closed Sunday, June 14. They served K-Dogs and fries. It’s been pointed out that Mochinut is not far away, tho.

This area still has some fun options, though: Jolibee (mmm … peach mango hand pie) and Gogo Pot (track hot pot!). Two Hands’ neighbor Nothing Bundt Cakes, which keeps sending me PR, has seasonal specials right now—flavors like s’mores, peach cobbler, and lemon raspberry do sound good. 2055 NW 185th Avenue, Hillsboro

In N Out in Hillsboro opened yesterday. They opened their doors to the greater public at 10:30am yesterday (just over the way from the now shuttered Two Hands Corn Dogs). People are understandably concerned about the traffic, as other locations have had to deal with that in an excess, but a team of players has been working together to find solutions. This includes In N Out, representatives from Washington County, and ODOT.

And if there are more than 29 (!) vehicles, they have a team of “traffic control personnel” to direct the cars. Read more on the Forest Grove News Times. 2498 NE Town Center Drive, Hillsboro.

Saturday is Ice Cream for Breakfast Day. On Saturday, June 20 from 9am to noon, head to Kate’s Ice Cream (N Mississippi location only) to enjoy their delicious vegan ice cream, along with warm HeyDay donuts (vegan and GF), and freshly-brewed coffee. David DaCosta will also be there to celebrate his new book “I Can’t Believe It’s More Jokey Jokes.”

The first 20 persons through the door will receive a free Ice Cream for Breakfast mug. PJs encouraged. 3713 N Mississippi Avenue, Portland

Falling Fruit update. In April 2025 we wrote about Food Waste Prevention Week and highlighted the Falling Fruit app and website, which helps you forage in your area. This week I got news that they have some updates: “Our new website (long in beta) finally launched alongside updated Android and iOS mobile apps. Special thanks to UIUC Hack4Impact and Wojtek Bazant.”

Some of the improvements have to do with map filters, the ability to post multiple photos per review, new languages, view user profiles, and more. And if you’re logged in you can save locations to lists. Online

Rigo’s Restaurant has finally opened in Vancouver. They’ve run a popular spot in Longview and are excited to bring their food to Vancouver. They opened Friday, June 12. Their food has a strong Mexican influence, and that pastor burger sounds tasty; they also have a vegetarian and vegan menu. 2420 Columbia House Blvd #105, Vancouver

“Brewing Belonging With Lily Burnett.” Over on the District 1 East website is a section called Community Spotlight. Lily of Parkrose Coffee Shop is featured—check it out! Here’s our article from when we anticipated their opening. 4826 NE 105th Avenue, Portland

Pigeons? Pigeons. This week I learned that the opening of the Huckleberry’s in Gresham has been delayed. Why? They found that pigeons had flown into the HVAC ductwork, so they are working on removing them. Hopefully everyone comes out alive. 881 SW Highland Drive, Gresham

Latte Stone Cafe will open in NW Portland. The location is the former home of El Mezcalito, which closed last fall near Fish & Rice. “Latte Stone Cafe, a proudly Chamoru & woman-owned specialty cafe bringing fresh flavors, exceptional coffee, and island hospitality.” They’ll have coffee, vegan pastries, Chamoru-inspired food, and a space for community. Opening date to come. 2340 NW Westover Road, Portland

Nacho Week starts Monday. From Monday, June 22 to Sunday, June 28, enjoy $10 plates of nachos all over the city. Here are the details. Multiple locations

Better Days Cafe has some new summer drink specials. You can get them starting Sunday, June 21. They are: cookies & cream latte, lychee Red Bull, mango coconut matcha, and a strawberry shortcake latte. 3551 SE Division Street, Portland

Update on Euro Cafe. They are going through final inspections and should be open within weeks. They’ll focus on Turkish food at this location (it’s from the same people behind Lux Coffee Lounge on SE Division and SE 11th Avenue). 11013 NE Burton Road, Vancouver

Phin Caphe has soft opened. This is their Happy Valley location. They soft opened on Wednesday, June 17. This series of photos from Rose at @rosecityoon shows off the interior and some of the menus. Big congrats to the Phin team for this opening! 11211 SE 82nd Avenue, Suite M2, Happy Valley

Hui Lau Shan has opened at the Flock Food Hall. This is their first location in Portland, and they serve Hong Kong style desserts—think pomelo mango with sago, mango crystal jelly, and a lot of other mango items; coconut jelly with black glutinous rice; durian pancake; HK egg waffle; black sesame porridge; and drinks like passionfruit green tea and fresh watermelon with coconut juice. 917 SW Alder Street, Portland

Reminders: The Delta Park Powwow starts today and goes until Sunday, June 21. Castle Wyrd opens Saturday, June 20. Goodies Snack Shop closes Sunday, June 21.

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Stories you may have missed this week on Bridgetown Bites:

Freeland Spirits PDX Is Officially Open (Photos)
Simply Coffee: An Italian Cafe Has Opened in Gresham
Parkrose Grocery Is in the Plans for East Portland
Father’s Day 2026 in Portland: Brews, BBQ, Carts & More!