Portland food news and views
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).
The subject line is straight and to the point: Grant’s Philly Cheesesteaks is back open! This was an unexpected development. They opened their doors last week on Tuesday, July 21, 2026. I chatted with Travis Bloom, one of the owners, and son of the previous owner who passed away. Here is what I learned.
Continue reading “Grant’s Philly Cheesesteaks Reopened in Their Old Sandy Blvd Location”
I recently became aware of Sazanami, a new restaurant in Beaverton. Helmed by Hajime Sato, formerly chef at Detroit’s Sozai and Seattle’s Mashiko, both of which he founded, he brings an omakase menu focused on sustainability to a space in a mall next to Greenway Park. I had a chance to chat on the phone with him about the restaurant, and here is some of what we talked about.
Continue reading “Sazanami: Sustainable Omakase in Beaverton”
Well, today marks the final day of 2026 Portland Salad Week. It’s been a great week, and we’ve especially enjoyed being introduced to a number of new-to-us salads. For today, we bring you recommendations from local content creators and you, our readers. Plus a few final thoughts and lessons from Salad Week, including some on the elephant in the room.
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From Meg: Welcome to this year’s Salad Week taste test, where we searched for the best store-brand ranch and Italian dressings. This was done in conjunction with Bryan M. Vance at Stumptown Savings, and is a version of a piece he ran last week. Many thanks to Bryan, Elsy, and Heather for participating in this experiment that yielded—for me, at least—surprising results. Read on for all the ranch and Italian dressing taste test goodness.
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The Bridgetown Bites crew loves venturing beyond Portland in search of great salads. Last year, we expanded into the Willamette Valley and had a great time, while this year we crossed the river for a Salad Week road trip to visit our neighbors in Vancouver, Washington. Meg and I explored four restaurants, most of them clustered around the Waterfront and the Downtown districts, an easy trip from Portland and well worth the visit.
Continue reading “Salad Week Road Trip: Bridgetown Bites Heads to Vancouver”