Four Things I Learned This Week (February 21) in Portland Food

Mika Paredes will be L’Echelle’s Executive Chef. It seems very apt for Mika Paredes (Cornet Custard) to take the helm of L’Echelle, what with her close connection to the late Naomi Pomeroy, who founded the restaurant. More on Instagram. 4537 SE Division Street, Portland

Lansdowne Social opens next week. I was randomly fed by Instagram’s algorithm the page for Lansdowne Social, and was definitely intrigued by it. First, it looks like events—dinner and afternoon tea—will take place in what was the ÄNIKS space. Martin Pfeifer was Chef de Cuisine there and is now Executive Chef at Lansdowne.

They describe themselves as “a NE Portland neighborhood restaurant with a communal dining concept, all about good food and great company. Twice a night we serve up a rotating, five-course, prix fixe menu of the best seasonal ingredients from the Pacific Northwest.” You can reserve your seat on their Tock page. They look to launch February 28, 2025. 518 NE 28th Avenue, Portland

The McMenamins Ram’s Head will close. It’s uncommon for a McMenamins property to close, so this was a surprise. But they do not own the property, and they chose after 35 years, to not renew the lease. They will close in June, with a big farewell party as a sendoff. 2282 NW Hoyt Street, Portland

Portland has a food cart dedicated to loukoumades. Yanni’s Greek Donuts opened in January but I only became aware of them recently. It’s run by brothers Theo and Luke, who grew up here in Portland’s Greek community. Their cart is decked out with the look of the Greek flag.

They offer three flavors of loukoumades: a classic Honey and Cinnamon, Chocolate Pistachio, and Caramel Coconut. Plus you can get a Greek frappé with it! I love frappés! (And yes, they use Necafé.) These loukomades are the ball-shaped version, not the ring shape (personally that’s my preference, but they are harder to find). 1400 SE 9th Avenue, Portland


Stories you may have missed this week on Bridgetown Bites:

Listen to Meg Cotner on Portland’s Right at the Fork Podcast
New Food Cart at Portland’s My-O-My: Kona Kitchen
CSA Share Fairs Will Take Place in Hillsboro and Portland in 2025
Blasphemy BBQ To Open at the Flying Tortoise Pod in Portland

Zwickelmania is this weekend, too! As is the west side CSA Share Fair. And 82 Acres has opened their doors for diners. I went to a media preview, and took a few photos.

Blasphemy BBQ To Open at the Flying Tortoise Pod in Portland

Brisket, puled pork, and some Cubano sandwiches from Blasphemy BBQ in Portland, Oregon.
Brisket, pulled pork, and more at Blasphemy BBQ.

Blasphemy BBQ, a new place to get barbecue, is coming soon to Portland at the Flying Tortoise food cart pod on NE Glisan Street on the edge of Laurelhurst. They’ll offer a new style of barbecue that they think is worth your time and tastebuds. I reached out to co-ownerJenny Nickolaus to learn more about their new ‘cue vision.

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Small Bites: Update on Arrowood, Flock Food Hall, Cassoulet, and More

It’s a Bon Bánh Mì mystery.

Update on Arrowood. After I was asked if I had heard any updates from Arrowood (my emails remain unanswered), a neighbor indicated that they had seen a listing online for the Arrowood space. I checked it out, and found a listing on Crexi entitled, “For Lease: Turnkey Restaurant & Bar for Lease.” So, looks like we have the answer: They are done. Truly unfortunate for the neighborhood. 5846 NE Sandy Blvd, Portland

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Top Posts on Bridgetown Bites in 2024

Pretty data.

Welcome to our end-of-the-year roundup of top posts on Bridgetown Bites in 2024. Aside from our Thanksgiving article, the top posts were about openings and closings—restaurant, cafe, bar, and food cart news. And topping the list this year is a double-header: East Portland’s Wooden Chicken Pub! It if hadn’t been for this duo, the closing of 3 Doors Down would have taken spot number 10.

From an analytics POV, traffic had a healthy increase from 2023 to 2024. With 205,100 unique visitors up from 106,000 last year, that’s an increase of 93.3%. Page views were 142,000 last year and 265,000 this year, which is an 86.6% increase. I’m proud of the hard work that has gone into nurturing this site, and serving as a quality resource for those interested in Portland food news—all as an independent shop.

And while Bridgetown Bites is run by one person, our tipsters and readers who pass on news are invaluable to my work here, so thank you very much, friends! Additional thanks to all who read the site, comment, share articles, and send feedback. I look forward to continuing to bring you Portland food news and views in 2025.

So without further ado, here are the top 10 posts on Bridgetown Bites in 2024.

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