Author: Meg Cotner

Bridgetown Bites is edited and published by Meg Cotner in Portland, Oregon. She loves avocados, fresh produce, NA drinks, and cats.
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Rotisserie Chickens: Another Stumptown Savings Taste Test in Portland

Pieces of rotisserie chicken for our taste test for Stumptown Savings.
All the chicken for our taste test.

I had the opportunity to participate in a taste test for rotisserie chickens, led by Bryan Vance of Stumptown Savings. I joined a handful of local food writers on Tuesday, November 18 to taste a total of nine chickens from eight stores. Bryan has published our results over on Stumptown Savings (subscription required to read—it’s free to subscribe), but I thought I’d share some additional thoughts on this very fun gathering.

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Taste of Sichuan Has Re-Opened in Beaverton

Fu Qi Beef, a cold appetizer at Taste of Sichuan.
Fu Qi (or Chi) Beef, the first item on the Wild Side menu: Thinly sliced marinated beef in a chili sauce with flakes of beef tendon. Photo credit: Taste of Sichuan.

Back in March of this year we published an article called Taste of Sichuan Will Re-Open in Beaverton. Originally the plan sounded like they’d re-open in April, but delays happened. In the end, they re-opened on Sunday, November 2. Co-owner Dietmar Schimmel and I agreed to chat about Taste of Sichuan after they re-opened, and here is part of our conversation.

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Christmas, Solstice, and More Light in Portland 2025

This year’s Christmas Tree downtown.

“Christmastime is here, happiness and cheer, fun for all that children call their favorite time of year,” so the song goes. This year we thought we’d do a roundup of things to do and eat around the time the light starts to return—the Winter Solstice, of course, but also Christmas, and Hanukkah (here is this year’s roundup specific to the Festival of Lights). Here’s our hodgepodge roundup for this time of year. 

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Small Bites: Fiery Crab, Lost Lounge, Krampus, and More

Seafood boil at Fiery Crab.
Photo credit: Fiery Crab.

Fiery Crab is coming to Portland. A reader wrote us with this tip, “The old Shari’s on NE 122nd near San Rafael and in the Winco parking lot is becoming a new restaurant. It looked like some work had been happening there, but it had been quiet for a while. Today I saw a sign going up that I think said Fiery Crab.” That matches this Google listing—“temporarily closed” likely means it’s just not open yet.

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Malpractice Celebrates One Year, Plus Some Updates, in Portland

The interior of Malpractice.
Photo credit: Malpractice.

Recently, I had a chance to chat with the folks at Malpractice, a bar known for its interesting and unconventional cocktails. I learned that they are approaching their first anniversary, with a party to celebrate that milestone. We also talked a little about their popular cocktails and the bar team’s increased efforts to engage in the non-alcoholic side of drinking at their bar. And now Hirori is joining in on the fun in their kitchen.

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