Category: Restaurants

first-look-dining-room-grand-stark-deli-portland-oregon

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]

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Four Things I Learned This Week (February 24)

Bar Mame is coming to SE Hawthorne. Matthew Dooney, who has worked as a manager for McMenamins, and Nicole Nelson, an immigration attorney, are opening Bar Mame in SE Portland. It will be located on SE Hawthorne and 33rd Ave underneath The Hazel Room (looks like the Red Velvet Parlour was there for a while, but closed there late last year). Matt says, “I’m super excited (and of course terrified) to announce that we’ll be opening our own bar (Mame) on 33rd and Hawthorne. This has been a dream of mine for years and can’t wait to see how this comes into fruition.” 3279 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland

Barista (some of them) rebranding. A tipster told me that the Barista family cafes is changing up their name, but only for a couple of their locations. It’s the KOIN and Alberta locations that will be changing their name—initial research indicates “Enjoy Coffee LLC” is the corp behind them. These will be wholly owned by Billy Wilson; the Nob Hill and Pearl locations, which will remain Barista, will be under a partnership between Billy and Sortis (who owns the Barista brand).

Doug Fir Lounge will move a little to the southwest. Another tip that found its way to the Bridgetown Bites inbox is about Doug Fir Lounge—it will close at its current location, then move elsewhere this fall. And it seems that it will be reopening at the old Le Bistro Montage space—the new address on the documents filed with the state this year regarding Doug Fir is 301 SE Morrison Street. Look for a more official kind of announcement from the powers that be in March. And I’m seriously curious about what Jupiter NEXT will do with that space.

Free ice cream for a year. Nico’s is running a contest to win free ice cream for a year: “Beginning March 1st, make sure to buy all the half pints you can, because at some point in March, we will be putting a golden ticket inside one of our half pints (only sold at either of our two locations) and you will have the chance to win FREE ice cream for a year!” If you like to eat ice cream on the regular, this one is for you. Nico’s half pints can be found at various grocery stores in the Portland area, as well as his shops at 5713 NE Fremont Street and 1615 NE Killingsworth Street.

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Four Things I Learned This Week (February 17)

Upright Brewing is now open in Cully. Finally, they are up and running, along with Junior’s! The New School has a nice article on the opening, and these were the details I fuond particularly interesting: it’s called the Upright Beer Station; Junior’s will be open 7am to 2pm, Upright from 3pm on weekdays, from noon on weekends; pints and beers only, with 11 taps, including a cask beer; “Upright has designed a brand new beer called Spellbinder Pils that is specific to the Beer Station location”; Chaat Wallah cart opens in March; collabs include a Chai Stout and Coffee Stout. 7151 NE Prescott Street, Portland

Food system issues summary. Over on goodstuffnw, Kathleen Bauer has summarized some of the food-related legislation in front of Oregon’s 82nd Legislative Assembly, which is important to know about. Topics include raw milk sales (HB2616), improvements and clarifications to Oregon’s Farm Direct Marketing Law, (SB507), and a factory farm moratorium (HB 2667).

Whole animal, wood-fired Korean BBQ is coming to Portland. Gary Okazaki (aka Gary the Foodie) announced this news on his Instagram:
“@hanoakpdx and @tokipdx’s @talktospark and @petecho will be opening a NEW restaurant at 626 SE Main Street in what is @renatapdx but will be transitioning very shortly to Peter & Sun’s restaurant. The name of the restaurant has yet to be determined.”

Haitian pickleez pop-up this weekend. At Wellspent Market on Sunday 2/19 from 1 to 3pm, stop in for some pickleez made in Portland by Haitian expat Elsy Dinvil from Creole Me Up. I love slaws of all kinds, so this is making my mouth water as I write about it. Pickleez is “a zippy, tangy, spicy cabbage slaw that is an integral part of Haitian cuisine. Perfect alongside fried foods and braised meats, pickleez adds a bright pop of flavor to every meal, and further demonstrates the possibilities of our favorite vegetable.” There’s a good chance she’ll bring some akra-fried taro fritters, too. 935 NE Couch Street, Portland

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Goodbye Bar Dune, Hello Charliebird

charleibird-logo
The Charliebird Logo

A Bridgetown Bites tipster send me this yesterday: “I just walked by Bar Dune on E Burnside, who’s been closed for some time. On the door there’s a handwritten sign that says ‘USPS, please deliver mail to Sizzle Pie-Charliebird.'” At first I thought this was a project from Sizzle Pie but my updated guess is that they are doing a solid for Charliebird (638 E Burnside Street) and receiving their mail, for whatever reason.

Charliebird appears to be a new restaurant from Collin Nicholas, a local “bar veteran” according to Eater, so no doubt the cocktail program will be very good. Last spring, Eater also said this about Nicholas, “The current owner and manager of the electrifying Pearl District cocktail bar Pink Rabbit, he also helped open the Hoxton Hotel’s three bars, developed the cocktail program at G-Love’s opening, and managed operations for Bamboo Sushi.”

Filed state records indicate his “fearless partner, ” realtor Lauren Hasson, is on record for being behind this new spot. The two of them will no doubt bring something beautiful to the old Bar Dune space. I really enjoyed my time at Bar Dune and am sorry to see it has shuttered. As for Charliebird (Named after Charlie Parker? That’s the first thing that comes to mind), not much is online about it and their Instagram is in the first baby steps of a holding pattern. I’ll keep an eye on it.