Category: Bridgetown

hawthorne-bridge-pano-portland-oregon-small

Bridgetown is a nickname for Portland because of all the bridges that span the Willamette River – 12 in all (of those, one is dedicated to rail and one prohibits private cars and trucks).

Posted on

Four Things I Learned This Week (March 6)

Client needs trumped my little blog for a few weeks and paying attention to food news took a back seat. Not this week! Here are four things I learned this week.

It’s Portland Dining Month. An annual month-long event in March in Portland lots of outlets have written about it (try here, here, here, and here for lots of info). Organized by Travel Portland, you can check out over 100 restaurants all over Portland and enjoy prix fixe three-course meals for just $33.

Check out this Taco Crawl map. Reddit user u/savethisplant posted a map to a taco crawl they did in Portland with friends and it’s a decent selection of spots. Personally, I’d add Taco Pedaler, La Osita, and El Gallo to the list; no doubt there are others worth an inclusion.

East Portland (and Gresham) eats. My pal Krista Garcia put together a helpful map of eats east of 205 for Eater Portland. As someone who lives east of 82nd, I love having resources on this side of town and further east. The aforementioned La Osita made the list, thanks in part to their fab breakfast tacos. Check it out.

More Pizza Coming Soon to FoPo. Looks like the Foster-Powell area is getting more pizza—Humdinger Pizza at 9201 SE Foster Road. They submitted a liquor license recently (a Brewery Public House/Full-On Premises license) and my interest is definitely piqued. Looks like developer Chad Rennaker is involved, who has been active in that part of Portland. I look forward to see how it compares to the other pizzerias along and near Foster that have opened relatively recently (Char, Atlas, Otto).

Posted on

The Mekha-Yen Ha Connection

Ever since Yen Ha announced they were closing, neighbors have speculated that the people behind Mekha—located just a little ways up the road at 6846 NE Sandy Blvd—are now somehow involved in the Yen Ha space. I’ve perused a variety of documents online and what is clear is that the owner of Mekha, Long Nguyen, is leading a demolition project in the old Yen Ha (6820 NE Sandy Blvd).

Property records indicate that the owner of 6818-6828 NE Sandy Blvd is Long Nguyen, yet property records also indicated that 6828 NE Sandy Blvd is owned by Duc Tran, owner of Yen Ha.  Just a little confusing here. But the folks at Yen Ha have indicated that they will return—perhaps in that building with the help of the Mekha team?

Now, you might think, “why can’t they just cut a doorway between Mekha and Yen Ha and make it a bigger space? There is a little Vietnamese market in between the two buildings, Nam Phuong Market. They’ve been around since 1997, and personally I hope they don’t close with all these changes going on.

A recent permit with the city indicates that Long Nguyen (also serving as the general contractor) is taking out all the non-load-bearing walls in Yen Ha. He and his crew will be remodeling the dining room—walls and ceiling—as well as the kitchen.

Hopefully someone with more access will be able to fill in the missing pieces. Bottom line, though, looks like that space will be home to another restaurant.

Posted on

Hang Out at CHOP TALK on International Women’s Day

chop-talk-portland-oregon

Last year Portland was home to a terrific new festival, Roux, a multi-day event focused on women in food. The organizers behind Roux are teaming up with Slow Food Portland to bring us CHOP TALK, “a FREE panel discussion digging into women-owned farms and CSAs.” And it will happen on Sunday, March 8—International Women’s Day—at Real Good Food, 935 NE Couch Street. The discussion will take place from 4-5:30pm. Continue reading “Hang Out at CHOP TALK on International Women’s Day”

Posted on

Spud Monkey’s Is Coming to Hollywood

swings-spud-monkeys-portland-oregon

Swings as seating at Spud Monkey’s in Fairview. Perhaps they’ll install them in Hollywood, too.

I noticed the news today that the old Columbia River Brewing space is getting a new tenant—Spud Monkey’s. This is a bar that opened in 2011 in Gresham; the Hollywood District will be their third location. The boast that they are “primarily female owned and operated” and that they “specialize in potato-themed plates, including the Spuddy; a burger with a baked potato bun.” That’s a baked potato that serves as a bun, in case there was any confusion there. Continue reading “Spud Monkey’s Is Coming to Hollywood”

Posted on

Four Things I Learned This Week (January 31)

Welcome to the end of what has seemed like a very long January. Here are the four things I learned this week in world of Portland food.

Beewing reopens tomorrow (Feb 1). After many months, Beeswing will reopen in their new space in Sellwood. I won’t deny it—I was really hoping they’d stay in Cully, but I’m sure there’s a “rest of the story” as to what went into them relocating so far away. I’m a Kickstarter backer, so I look forward to cashing in on my pledge for brunch. Observations TK. Here’s their latest update:

To all of our lovely backers,
Thank you so much for your generosity in supporting the reopening of Beeswing! We have finished our build-out and are excited to be ready to serve you again. We are so humbled by the support we have received, we cannot begin to express the gratitude and excitement we feel right now! We will be reopening on FEBRUARY 1st in Sellwood when you come in to eat make sure to say hello, you are all a part of the Beeswing family now!

Pearl Bakery will reopen, too. Good news about this beloved Portland bakery. In a comment on their Instagram they said this, “Pearl Bakery is undergoing reorganization…” You can sign up on their website to get updated on their impending reopening.

Ezell’s Famous Chicken is coming to Tigard. Apparently it’s Oprah’s favorite. It will open on Tuesday, February 4 near the Washington Square Mall, 10218 SW Washington Square Road in Tigard.

Sicilian food is coming to Montavilla. New Sicilian deli Sebastiano’s is opening in the old Heartbreaker Neighborhood Kitchen space (411 SE 81st Avenue). The Sicilian pizza they will offer will no doubt be worth checking out, but I’m excited about the possibility of cassata, a traditional Sicilian cake that involves sponge cake, sweetened ricotta, marzipan, and candied fruit. I may be eschewing added sugars these days but I’ll take a break from that to try this wonderful traditional sweet that I miss so much.