Small Bites: Día de los Muertos and Diwali, Openings, Closings, Food Carts, and More

A colorful rangoli.
Example of a colorful rangoli.

Pan de muertos sources in the Portland metro area. Today and tomorrow is Día de los Muertos, aka Day of the Dead, an important holiday in Mexican culture. This is when it is believed that spirits of the dead come to visit, as the veil between the dead and the living has thinned. The sweet pan de muerto is a traditional food for this holiday, and The Oregonian put together a great list of where to find them in our metro area. Check it out. Various locations.

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Small Bites: Tusi’s Deli Creation, DesiPDX, Sandwiches, and More

Strawberry shortcake from Take Two during Strawberry Shortcake Week in Portland, Oregon.
Strawberry shortcake from this past summer at Take Two.

Tusi’s Deli Creation is open in Montavilla. The area’s only Samoan restaurant is on NE Glisan and has been operating on weekends in October. However, starting November 9 they’ll expand their hours and will be open Wednesdays through Sundays. You can stop in to Tusi’s Deli Creation and get green bananas, turkey tail, and other Polynesian dishes. Montavilla News has more info—check it out. 6824 NE Glisan Street, Portland

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Four Things I Learned This Week (October 18)

The NYT Portland 25. The New York Times published a list called “The 25 Best Restaurants in Portland, Ore., Right Now.” Here’s a gift article in case you haven’t been able to access it. It’s part of the Times’ Where to Eat: 25 Best series, which will take place in various cities around the U.S. It’s a pretty solid list but of course, Portlanders have already remarked on restaurants that didn’t make it on the list but should have. For me, the one I am most curious about is Pasar, so I need to add that to my own eating list. Various locations

Fresh Love: What’s coming? Ben Cutler, one of the owners of Fresh Love (one of my favorite food places in town) shared news about a few new things coming to this sweet little eatery and small grocery store in the Roseway neighborhood. They include bulk items (they are working what exactly they will carry); half pints of Pronto Gelato; some local frozen meat options; and more. If you haven’t been by any time soon, definitely head over for a sandwich, salad, smoothie, and some of the best avocados in town. 7434 NE Fremont Street, Portland

ICYMI, break-ins at Rose City Food Park. I often mention how empty storefronts are no bueno, but break-ins plain piss me off. This past week there were three carts in the Rose City Food Park pod that were broken into: Momo House, Ocean Sushi, and J Vein Caffe. Like most cowards, they did it in the middle of the night, around 3am. What was stolen? Tools, spare parts, and tablets, which means online ordering systems are negatively affected. The sushi cart had just moved to the pod within the last week. As its owner, Nai Tun, says, “It feels so bad.” 5235 NE Sandy Blvd, Portland

Trimet talks coffee. I recently discovered that Trimet publishes a blog. It’s mostly about transit-centric stuff, like safety on Trimet, but this week they published a post called “10 unique Portland-area coffee shops you can visit by TriMet.” I was familiar with most of the Portland-proper cafes, but many of the ones in the suburbs are new to me, and I look forward to checking them out. Also, I would add Case Study to both downtown and NE Portland, as the one downtown is right on the MAX line, and the NE one is right on the 12 line. Various locations.


Stories you may have missed this week on Bridgetown Bites:

NYC Pizzeria To Open a Second Location in Portland
Second Annual Bread Fest Is October 20
TAPTAP Cuisine Will Open a Restaurant on Sandy Blvd

Also: Bridgetown Bites is on Flipboard! If you use this platform—I do with a personal account, and love the “flipping” UI, so satisfying—feel free to follow us over there.

Visiting the Brooklyn Carreta Construction Site in Portland (Photos)

The OG signage for La Carreta restaurant in Portland, Oregon.
At this point in time they are planning on keeping the original sign.

Last month I got an invitation to visit the Brooklyn Carreta construction site, where a new food cart pod is being developed. Today I headed over, put on a hardhat, and saw the progress they’ve done. They are still on target to open in the first quarter of 2025. Read on for more details and lots of construction photos (click images to enlarge).

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Four Things I Learned This Week (October 4)

Burger Stevens has closed. Hailed at one point as one of Portland’s best burgers, Burger Stevens closed this week (Sunday, September 29). There are a variety of rumors floating around about the closure, from the amount of time employees were warned before the closing, to a new tenant for that cart/location, but that’s what they are: rumors. What is real is that the cart is closed. You can find Don Salamone and Kate Laurents (they ran Burger Stevens) in Beaverton these days as they oversee Don’s Favorite Foods, a prix-fixe restaurant offering an Italian- and French-influenced menu. 4237 N Mississippi Avenue, Portland

Rocky Butte Farmers Market fall and winter markets! I was very happy to read about the RBFM’s monthly markets happening this fall and winter. There will be three of them: October 26, November 23, and December 14. The October market will be in the Glenhaven Park parking lot, others TBD. Read more on their Instagram account. 7900 NE Siskiyou Street, Portland

Cassata at Pinolo. When I lived in Astoria, Queens, I used to get cassata cake at one of the old Sicilian bakeries in my neighborhood, and it would usually show up around Easter. But right now in Portland, you can find it in gelato form at Pinolo Gelato! Their version sounds delicious: “We combine ricotta, almond, and candied citrus zest to make a floral and zesty gelato with a delicate nutty flavor and a velvety texture.” Note: I saw that Papa Haydn is offering a cassata cake right now and, with all due respect … that’s not cassata. Now THIS is a gorgeous cassata. 3707 SE Division Street, Portland

A brewery and food hall are coming to the Hollywood District. A reader pointed out this news to me and I am very excited to see something open up in that old Pono Brewing/Columbia River Brewing/Laurelwood Brewing space. The people behind it are the same ones behind Zoiglhaus Brewing, Chad Rennaker and Alan Taylor. The O describes it as an “as-yet unnamed brewery and food hall in the Hollywood District.”

There’s also this: “He said the new food hall will incorporate the main restaurant space and potentially nearby retail places as they become available.” Construction is being delayed by the permit process but they are apparently doing some “exploratory demolition” where they open up walls to see what’s up in there.

A side note: this past spring I spied an Early Assistance permit that made it sound like a big new building was going to be considered at that location: “Request Street Vacation of alley between two parcels. Construct new 5-story mixed-use building on north parcel. Interior alterations at existing building.” The more recent permit (status: under review) from September goes like this: “Interior alteration of existing two-story building with basement by the owner. Includes demo of interior walls on first and second floor to create food pods on first floor and lounge for office employee at second floor. Partial change of occupancy from B and M to a on first floor. No work on basement.” 1728 NE 40th Avenue, Portland


Stories you may have missed this week on Bridgetown Bites:

The 2024 Portland Fermentation Festival Is Almost Here
Top 5 Posts on Bridgetown Bites, September 2024
Pleasure Mountain To Offer Indian Cocktails and More in NE Portland
Fancy Baby Will Bring “The Craziest Champagne List” to NW Portland

Bonus: This week I started keeping a list of restaurant openings and closings (including bars, food carts, and cafes) that I’ve covered here on Bridgetown Bites. It will be interesting to review the list at the end of the year.

Also, both the Portland Greek Festival and Portland Argentinian Festival are this weekend!