Portland food news and views
News and reviews of restaurants in Portland, Oregon.
Some of the most written about places on this blog include:
Portland Mercado [Latin American]
Ben & Esther’s [Jewish/Vegan]
Sizzle Pie [Pizza]
Bee’s Cakes [Cakes and Baked Goods]
Salt & Straw [Ice Cream]
Nepali Kitchen [Nepalese]
Vivienne[Bakery, Wine Bar, Bookstore]
Kachka [Russian]
Chin’s Kitchen [Dongbei Chinese]
Arrowood [New American]
This morning a friend let me know that Masala Lab, a brick-and-mortar restaurant from Deepak Saxena, will close later this month. They announced the news on their social channels in the early hours of the morning. Additionally, the DesiPDX cart will close and go on a short break later this month, reopening at the end of January.
Continue reading “Masala Lab Will Close in Portland”
Welcome to the final monthly top 5 posts roundup of 2024. Popular posts were all about restaurant openings and closings, with the SE Division Dairy Queen garnering the most interest, by far. Tréla was also something people wanted to read about; it had been in process for years! Following it from an idea presented to the world to its opening was gratifying.
December was a busy month, and undoubtably the best month to date on Bridgetown Bites from a traffic standpoint: Over 28,300 unique visitors generated close to 39,000 page views. Compare that to November’s numbers of 22,600 and 30,000, respectively—25% and 30% increases. It was even more drastic an increase to compare the January to December numbers—140% and 144% increases in uniques and PV.
As always, thanks to you for reading, sharing, and commenting—and for your tips!
Continue reading “Top 5 Posts on Bridgetown Bites, December 2024”
Welcome to Dry January 2025. It’s no secret that I’m a big non-alcoholic cocktail fan—AKA mocktails, dry cocktails, zero-proof, no proof. I gave up alcohol in 2018 during breast cancer treatment and I never looked back. So the growth of a robust zero-proof cocktail scene in Portland makes me pretty happy—as well as better access to NA beer. And know many readers here are also fans of this development.
Here’s our 2025 roundup of places that serve non-alcoholic cocktails, beer, and more in Portland, suitable for Dry January (or really any time). Our criteria is that a bar or restaurant has at least four developed mocktails. And if not, they offer other interesting NA options aside from mocktails and beer—they could be juices, teas, etc. We’ve also done the math and found that on the average, a non-alcoholic mixed drink runs about $8 each.
Continue reading “Zero Proof Portland: Dry January 2025”
Over the weekend, I learned about a new project called Landing Paper Planes. It is a nonprofit organization that was conceived to support a pay-what-you-can cafe supported by a fine dining restaurant. The organizers hope to open in the first quarter of 2025. I had a chance to chat over email with Jade Fenton, one of the founders, and here is what she told me.
Continue reading “Landing Paper Planes Will Bring a Pay-What-You-Can Cafe To Portland”
Over the years, Bridgetown Bites has published numerous stories about Portland restaurant openings and closings. But what’s different about this year, is that I kept a simple list of those we covered, in reverse-chronological order. I thought it would be fun to look back on that list, and make a few observations.
Continue reading “Summary: Portland Restaurant Openings and Closings, 2024”