Category: Four Things

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Four Things I Learned This Week is a regular column published on Fridays, featuring four short entries of brief tidbits on Portland‘s food scene.

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Four Things I Learned This Week (July 28)

Pono Brewing has closed. In the “I’m Late to the Party Club,” I saw while walking around the Hollywood District this week that Pono Brewing closed their Hollywood pub in late June. Very sorry to see that storefront is no longer active. That said, it must have been hard to operate at such a weird time of the pandemic. Judging from their Instagram, it seems like they are doing ok! I’m glad. 1728 NE 40th Avenue, Portland

Update on Lazy Susan. Over at Montavilla News they have more details on what’s going to happen at the Lazy Susan restaurant, which closed earlier this month. It’s going to turn into a Thai restaurant, probably named Yaowarat (Eater has details on Earl Ninsom’s concept). 7937 SE Stark Street, Portland

The Portland Polish Festival returns this year. The Portland Polish Festival is likely one of the most popular festivals in Portland, and between the pandemic and some safety issues from last year they’ve been inactive for too long. But they are back! Enjoy the music, dance, and food of Poland—like pierogi (dumplings made with either cheese & potato or cabbage & mushroom), kielbasa (sausage), or placki ziemniaczane (potato pancakes). And beer! 3900 N Interstate Avenue, Portland

Fancy burgers at Coquine as “Johnny Burgs.” “For the next few Wednesdays we’ll be cueing up The Clash, and offering a concise dinner menu with an all Burgundy by the glass list. Come for a few different burger options, crab rolls, frites, and a menu for which we’re leaning into classic French cuisine for inspiration.”

A few of the things you might see on the menu include Burger “Le François”: Comté, rosemary griddled shallots, Dijon; Burger “La Marie-Louise”: Cantal Jeune, crispy Tropea onions, Jimmy Nardello peppers; a Dungeness crab roll, gougère fritters, and of course, the Coquine Cookie. You can make reservations on their Tock page. 6839 SE Belmont Street, Portland

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Four Things I Learned This Week (July 14)

It’s Bastille Day today! Celebrate this weekend. The Alliance Française de Portland is celebrating the French national holiday with the 21st Annual Bastille Day Festival on Saturday, July 15. “In 1789 the French stormed the Bastille prison, marking the birth of the modern French nation. The storming of the Bastille symbolizes the key values of Liberté, Fraternité, and Egalité, which endure in the hearts of the French people.” Head to Jamison Park in the Pearl between noon and 6pm to celebrate French culture—music, dancing, food and drink, and good time with friends and family. 810 NW 11th Avenue, Portland

Nico’s Cantina now has mocktails. Starting yesterday, Nico’s Cantina has mocktails on their drink list. I tried two of them and they were delicious. Here’s what they have:

  • El Toro: tamarind, lime juice, ginger beer
  • La Isla: jamaica, pineapple juice, lime juice
  • Picoso: grapefruit juice, lime juice, jalapeño, soda water
  • Cafecito: cold brew, lemon juice, simple syrup
  • NA Margarita: everything but the (boozy) tequila (they’ll be using NA tequila when it arrives)
  • Seasonal: always changing

I really enjoyed the El Toro and La Isla. These drinks are a tasty option for those of us who do not drink. 4318 NE Cully Blvd, Portland

Indio de Oro Mexican restaurant coming to old Grain & Gristle space. The building on the NW corner of Prescott and NE 15th will get a new tenant in the old Grain & Gristle space, which closed May: Indio de Oro, a new Mexican (not New Mexican) restaurant. Though there’s not many details out there yet, it looks like the people associated with Indio de Oro have also been part of Puerto Mazatlan in Ashland. I’ve reached out for more info. 1473 NE Prescott Street, Portland

More seafood is coming to 82nd Ave. Ocean City Seafood closed during the pandemic; New City Seafood is opening up in its place. An online work request described the restaurant as this: “The restaurant is 5,000 sq ft, and is the type of Chinese Restaurant that holds big events at night like weddings and company parties. During the day, it is a Dim Sum restaurant.” I suspect this will be good news for dim sum fans in Portland. 3016 SE 82nd Avenue, Portland

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Four Things I Learned This Week (June 23)

Super King Buffet II to open on SE 82nd Avenue. The Willamette Week published an article about the building on SE 82nd Avenue that was most recently home to Super King Buffet, which closed during the COVID pandemic. The building has an interesting history: “From 1973 to 1996, the angular building at the corner of Southeast Raymond Street was home to the Organ Grinder, an 1890s-themed pizzeria where the star of the show was a monstrous 1927 Wurlitzer organ.” Read more about the organ, why it found itself to this location, and—spoiler—the fact that the instrument was sold and split up into parts. 5015 SE 82nd Avenue, Portland

Cider Summit PDX kicks off today. Cider lovers, this is for you: today and tomorrow, 150+ hard ciders, fruit spirits, and cider cocktails from more than 40 of the industry’s leading cidermakers will be available at the 11th annual Cider Summit Portland, the state’s largest cider festival, at The Redd on Salmon. Attendees will taste a selection of craft beverages, many of which will be poured by the cider makers and distillers themselves. The event is a benefit for Cascade Blues Association, Northwest Cider Association and DoveLewis Emergency Pet Hospital. Tickets are available at the door, $40 general admission. This is a 21+ event. 831 SE Salmon Street, Portland

Jeju should open end of June. The “wood-fired, whole-animal, Korean BBQ restaurant from the family that brought you Han Oak Restaurant” is expected to open at the end of June (that’s like next week) in the old Renata space. PoMo has the details. I think it’s going to be a hot ticket. 626 SE Main Street, Portland

Trela’s social media woke up! Trela, a Greek taverna to open in the North Tabor neighborhood that we reported on back in March 2022, has been dormant for months. The building got tagged and there was an “administrative dissolution” on their ORSOS record (they’ve now been reinstated), and honestly, I thought they were kaput. Well … I WAS WRONG. And happy to be wrong! Their Instagram has had some activity this month, including video of demo day and a date at the end of opening the restaurant “Fall 2023.” So freaking exciting! I can’t wait to try it. 6000 NE Glisan Street, Portland

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Four Things I Learned This Week (June 9)

Some openings of note. Tonight, head to Bar Mame for their opening; The Heist will open tomorrow, June 10; and Arrosto re-opened this week with a new ordering system—the outdoor walk-up window is a thing of the past. As a bi fan of Arrosto (especially their salad), here’s some tips from them I found useful: order inside Providore at the self-service Arrosto kiosk; food is served from 4pm to 7pm; they’ll start out with a simple menu of favorites (though more options are coming); and the Arrosto chicken salad and sandwich can be had at the deli case if you want it for lunch. 3279 SE Hawthorne Blvd (Bar Mame), 4727 SE Woodstock Blvd (The Heist), and 2340 NE Sandy Blvd (Arrosto), Portland

Yelp’s top donuts in Portland. Four donut shops in the Portland area made it on to the Yelp Top 100 list of donut shops around the U.S.:

  • 15—Pip’s Original, 4759 NE Fremont Street, Portland (and in July, 12400 SW Broadway Street, Beaverton)
  • 73—Donut Day, 18955 SW Tualatin Valley Hwy, Aloha
  • 78—Doe Donuts, 4110 NE Sandy Blvd, Portland
  • 94—Mikiko Mochi Donuts, 300 NE 28th Avenue, Portland

    2023 James Beard Awards winners. It was great to see Kann (which I recently ate at—the hype is real) and Berlu do well at the 2023 James Beard Awards. Kann won Best New Restaurant, and Vince Nguyen was named Best Chef: Northwest & Pacific (AK, HI, OR, WA). Congrats to both! 548 SE Ash Street (Kann) and 605 SE Belmont Street (Berlu), Portland

    Happy one year anniversary, Fresh Love! Yesterday, Fresh Love celebrated one year in business. This little Roseway spot has become a dependable, lovely place to get delicious food (salad, sandwiches, bowls, smoothies, fresh juices, a few baked goods); pick up some produce and locally made artisan products (edible and not); and see local art. I was in there yesterday and got their seasonal chopped salad, which gets a thumbs up from me. They also stock my favorite Honey Mama’s bar, Tangerine Tahini. I wish them many more years in business! 7434 NE Fremont Street, Portland

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    Four Things I Learned This Week (June 2)

    Update on The Heist. Back in February I told you about The Heist, a new food cart pod opening in the old US Bank location in Woodstock. It looks like they moved in the first set of carts this week and are aiming for a Saturday, June 10 opening. I hope they can make it, though sometimes things happen beyond one’s control. They are doing their best. Looking forward to checking it out! 4727 SE Woodstock Blvd, Portland

    Expanded hours and more coming to Nico’s Cantina. This week Nico wrote about a bunch of changes coming to the Cantina, which all sound good but he is understandably feeling a mix of excitement and trepidation. Things to look forward to: open 7 days a week; “Mezcal Monday’s,” where every bottle of Mezcal behind the bar will be 50% off; and “Taco Tuesday,” where every taco will be $1 off. These changes should be in place by Monday, June 12. 4318 NE Cully Blvd, Portland

    Zuckercreme’s Strawberry Museum returns. In Montavilla, the adorable Zuckercreme is bringing back their Strawberry Museum again this year, starting tomorrow, June 3. It will last all summer. In fact, they anticipate having so much “strawberry content” (something I can get behind) that they started up the Museum’s own Instagram at @pdxstrawberrymuseum. Along with all the yums, Zuckercreme’s Brittany Sigal is looking to expand into fashion—strawberry fashion, that is, in a show on Sunday, June 25. Stop on by the shop for lots of strawberry fun. 414 SE 81st Avenue, Portland

    Chaat Wallah has new hours. Looks like Chaat Wallah has settled on some new hours for their cart in the Upright/Junior’s parking lot in Cully/Roseway: Monday to Friday 3pm to 9pm and Saturday and Sunday noon to 9pm. 7 days a week! Over on Facebook, Deepak Saxena said about the turnout, “we’ve been blown away by the support and it’s been way beyond what we expected.” All good news. 7157 NE Prescott Street, Portland