Portland food news and views
Strawberry Shortcake Week is almost upon us! All next week, from Monday, June 10 to Sunday, June 16, enjoy various interpretations and variations of the strawberry shortcake around Portland (with a few spots in McMinville, Oregon City, and Salem). Produced by the James Beard Public Market, it is now in its third year.
Continue reading “Strawberry Shortcake Week Is Coming”
Earlier this week a Bridgetown Bites tipster emailed me news that Ole Frijole, located on the northwest corner of Killingsworth and NE 42nd Ave, has closed. They wrote, “My neighbor mentioned that she just read a sweet message to customers posted on their door saying that they closed and the property has been sold.” Looks like the closure was one month ago on May 4.
Continue reading “Ole Frijole Has Closed”Water Avenue Coffee is served at The People’s Courts. I was very happy to learn this news and it makes me want to check out The People’s Courts even more. They posted a video of their cafe space, and it looks nice. Also, know that you can go to The People’s Courts and just enjoy their food and drink without playing sports there. In their FAQ they say, “You are welcome to come eat, drink, watch a game, hang out, etc. without paying any fees.” I wonder if they will show the 2024 Paris Olympics there? 2700 NE 82nd Avenue, Portland
A Fling, a Party, and a Market. There are a bunch of things going on this Saturday, June 1, including the Spring Fling Block Party in Montavilla from noon to 5pm (live music, art, vendors, food at the Rocket Empire Machine food hall, Gigantic Brewing’s tap room); the Parking Lot Party at the pizza cart Reeva starting at 4pm (food, drink, music, vendors); and Rocky Butte Farmers Market‘s first market day of the 2024 season (9am to 1pm) at their new location next to Glenhaven Park. 6935 NE Glisan Street, 7727 NE Sandy Blvd, NE 82nd Avenue and Siskiyou, Portland
Demarco’s Sandwiches is closing. Big bummer for those who love east coast-style sandos: Demarco’s is closing their Division Street location; Saturday, June 30 is the last day you can access their food at that cart at that location. However, they will still do events and catering. So there’s that. And in their words: “COME DOWN AND SAY HELLO SO WE HOPE YOU COME DOWN AND CRUSH US FOR THE NEXT MONTH.” 4606 SE Division Street, Portland
40 LBS Coffee is moving to SW 6th and Washington this summer. It looks like this new location is the Aspect on Sixth building, where FORTE has been (their website says they closed April 30, so just a little over a month ago). According to the 40 LBS Instagram, “Currently we are doing pop-up Tuesday through Thursday from 8-noon, if you are in the area come say hi.” They also talk about construction that will be starting up in a couple of weeks. They will be hiring for this location. 400 SW Sixth Avenue, Portland
“Meg, you’re really pushing it!” I say to myself about the delayed posting—almost to June—of the blog’s monthly top 5 posts roundup. Truth be told, traffic was affected a lot after the March 2024 adjustment in Google’s “Helpful Content Update,” and … well … it’s been a real bummer. So, it means devoting some time to re-strategize. Still, over 9,300 unique visitors made it here and generated just under 12,000 page views for the month.
I appreciate your reading, sharing, and enjoying the content here on Bridgetown Bites—many, many thanks. You can also follow us on Instagram and Facebook, as well as X/twitter, and aforementioned re-strategizing will affect the social channels, too. Now, onto the top posts from April (plus some updates).
5. Get Ready for Fallow’s Restaurant, From the People Behind Bastion
The folks behind Bastion, a restaurant in Sellwood that shows you that food can be both healthy and delicious, are opening up a new restaurant, Fallow’s, just up the street in the old Relish Gastropub space. They will offer dinner service (Bastion closes at 4pm the days they are open). As a fan of Bastion, I’m pretty excited about this.
Update: They have launched a Kickstarter and it has a whole bunch of new information in it about the restaurant.
Continue reading “Top 5 Posts on Bridgetown Bites, April 2024”Help Fresh Love feed anyone. This week I learned about Fresh Love‘s project to help people access good food. They keep a gift card that can be used to pay for meals: “When someone comes in who cannot pay, no questions asked, we use this gift card to cover the cost of the bill.” Staff refills the card but you can, too—meaning, you can add to the card as part of your bill when you purchase something at Fresh Love. I think it’s a wonderful thing to do, and so simple. “Thanks so much for your help and let’s keep paying it forward!” 7434 NE Fremont Street, Portland
Adult ice cream social planned at Cafe Rowan. They announced on Instagram their plans to do an “adult ice cream social” in a couple of weeks. Saturday evenings 7pm to 11pm (more or less). “5 ridiculous sundaes, 5 ridiculous cocktails, 5 ridiculous glasses of wine… its gonna be a ridiculously fun time.” 4437 SE Cesar Chavez Blvd, Portland
Jacqueline is rumored to be moving. A Bridgetown Bites tipster sent me this inside tip: “Jacqueline will be moving into the former La Moule/Bakers place at 25th and Clinton, probably around the September timeframe.” I reached out to Jacqueline early this week for more info; I will share anything that I learn from them. You may remember that La Moule closed last July and Baker’s, a “bar with fun food,” took over that space in November 2023, then closed in early 2024. 2500 SE Clinton Street, Portland
Toki will shutter on Sunday, May 26. Right after Sunday brunch service Toki, a downtown Portland restaurant from the Cho family (Han Oak, Jeju), will close. They announced it on Instagram. And while it’s goodbye Toki, they will continue to hone their work at their other restaurants—both in experimenting with new dishes/concepts and returning to things the work for them: “As a collective team at HAN OAK and JEJU we’ll try some new ideas, bring classics back like the KOREAN FRIED CHICKEN with ‘essence of instant ramen’, the CRUNCHWRAP SUPREME, the HANOKONOMIYAKI, and the BAO! We’ll do our best to keep growing, intentionally.” 580 SW 12th Avenue, Portland
Bonus: As you’ve probably heard, Red Lobster filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this week. I was listening to an NPR story about it and the best thing that came out of the entire piece, IMO, is that Red Lobster put together a playlist of AI-generated music called “Cheddar Bay-I.” I love a good pun (and I love those Cheddar Bay Biscuits, ngl). My first experience with Red Lobster was years ago in Beaumont TX, where when I said I didn’t know what a hush puppy was, they gave me a half dozen on the house, “so you can say you’ve had them.” In the Portland metro area, there are Red Lobsters in Gresham, Tigard, and Vancouver, WA; there does not seem to be any Red Lobsters in Portland proper.
Stories you may have missed this week on Bridgetown Bites:
Zaiqa To Open in Old Bambuza Space
Bobacat Teahouse Will Open in Irvington
Good News: PSU’s Library Food Carts Will Remain Open
