Category: Portland

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Portland! It’s where I live, work, and play. It’s where the food news happens (at least most of it). This category is one of the real constants on Bridgetown Bites and is probably a part of almost every post on this blog.

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Four Things I Learned This Week (September 8)

Happy 10th Anniversary, Peter’s Bar & Grill! This month, Peter’s Bar & Grill marks 10 years in business at the corner of NE Fremont and 57th. You can read some reminiscing on Facebook if you have an account, or read it in this screenshot. Honestly, I was surprised to learn that they’ve been open for only 10 years; it feels like so much more than that. My husband and I love eating there—we were there for lunch today, in fact, and the food was as good as ever. I did hear that they are going to change up the menu in a couple of weeks. Hopefully some of my favorites will not disappear into the ether. In any case, congrats, Peter’s! 5701 NE Fremont Street, Portland

Update: looks like food trucks in the Grant Park neighborhood may not happen. Back in January 2022 I wrote about the proposal/project to bring a food truck pod to the old Burger King space there on NE Broadway near 35th Avenue. I drive past there often and wonder each time when things are going to start. Well, it looks like they will not get off the ground—an Early Assistance permit was filed in late August for a “New ±16,869 square foot veterinary hospital.” At first glance this is a bummer—maybe they’d have some carts/trucks in the parking lot? Maybe that’s just weird. Since I do drive past regularly, I’ll keep an eye on it. 3550 Broadway, Portland

Rumor mill: The Sandy Jug. Over on Facebook I ran across a comment about a potential future for The Sandy Jug, Portland’s most uniquely-shaped former strip club building. It’s for lease right now and the comment in question goes like this: “Some local bar owners are thinking about buying and fixing it up! Stay tuned!” Intriguing, to say the least. 7417 NE Sandy Blvd, Portland

PoMo’s “Top 50 Restaurants” list is here. At the end of August, PoMo dropped their 2023 list of the top 50 restos in Portland, as they see to be true. They’ve divided it into five quadrants: North, Northeast, Southeast, Southwest, Northwest. It’s a fun read and there are a bunch of places I’d like to check out, like Davenport, Thom, G-Love, Akadi (I went to the old location a while back), Berlu, Fermenter, Kaede, Luce, Rangoon Bistro, and Toki. And it was nice to see places on there that I really enjoy, though there are too many to list here, though I’ll make an exception for Oma’s Hideaway, my go-to place to take out-of-town guests, and truly one of my absolute favorite restaurants in Portland. Anyway, check out the list!

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Ice Cream Is Coming to Foster-Powell

Photo credit: Borrowed Times

I’ve done a little more research on the ice cream shop that a Bridgetown Bites reader brought to my attention a couple of weeks ago. Turns out that yes indeed, there is going to be ice cream coming to Foster-Powell. And according to a permit from early August, it looks like it’s going to be part of an enlarged commercial space.

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Four Things I Learned This Week (August 25)

Ice cream in the old Hemp Bar space? A Bridgetown Bites reader emailed me to ask about what’s going into the old Hemp Bar space in the For Mrs Noble building (did you know it won the 2021 DeMuro Award?) in FoPo. He said, “Looks like someone is painting an ice cream sign next to what was once Hemp Bar.” I did some research and came up with a big ol’ goose egg. Do you know what’s going on there? Comment here or shoot me an email. 6258 SE Foster Road, Portland

Milo’s City Cafe has new owners. Albert Escobar and his wife, Maria Elena Diaz, are the new owners of Milo’s City Cafe, a breakfast/brunch/lunch spot on NE Broadway on the southern edge of Irvington. I mentioned in May what was explained as a “temporary” closure of Milo’s, but as Albert explains in an article in The Oregonian, “the closure was more permanent than advertised.”

More from Albert: “The previous owners, Jeff and Pam (Munden), they just walked away,” Albert said. “I was like, ‘Hey, I thought we were going to be shut down for a month. I know a lot of people here, customers, the neighborhood, are going to be sad.’ In my heart, I didn’t want this to be over.” Read more about it in the O. 1325 NE Broadway, Portland

French bakeries in Portland visual roundup. The Alliance Française of Portland put together a nice Instagram post of their favorite French bakeries in the area. All are great sources of delicious pastries, including the sweet almondy Galette des Rois in January.

The Portland Fermentation Festival is back! Stinkfest returns after a COVID-induced three year hiatus (here’s what went on in 2019) and will take place again at Ecotrust in NW Portland on Thursday October 19, 6pm to 9pm. The general public has two ticket options: $15 for just the fermentation tasting (starts at 7:30pm), and $30 for the tasting plus the keynote (starts around 6pm), this year by Kirsten Shockey, co-founder of The Fermentation School (Kirsten is based in southern Oregon). These prices above are for tickets you buy ahead of the event; they go up to $20 to $35, respectiverly, if you are paying cash at the door. Read more about the festival and buy your tickets via this Eventbrite link. 721 NW 9th Avenue, Portland

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Goodbye, Frog & Snail

Photo credit: Frog & Snail

Last week I saw the news on Instagram: Frog & Snail, one of the best places for French-style crepes (including Breton-style buckwheat crepes) in Portland, closed abruptly. The reason behind that is that the owner, Chad Bernard, died on August 15 in what seems to be a sudden event. My heart goes out to his friends and family on his untimely passing.

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