Bridgetown Bites

March 8, 2023March 8, 2023

More on What Is DBA Altropino

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My favorite product from Olympia Provisions, their summer sausage. Photo credit: Olympia Provisions

About a month ago I came across details of an application with the OLCC for something called/DBA “Altropino,” with the address of what is the Hotel Grand Stark in SE Portland’s Central Eastside District. The hotel has been without its original restaurant/cafe (Grand Stark Deli) since last year and Bar Chamberlain is no longer mentioned on the Hotel’s website. It has also become clear that Altropino is indeed a project from the folks behind Olympia Provisions. (NB: there is some speculation in this article.)

March 7, 2023March 8, 2023

Wonderlove Coming to Central Eastside

Photo credit: Scott Edwards Architecture

I’ve become aware of a new Central Eastside “destination” in the works, named Wonderlove aka Wonderlove Fun Factory. It will be located in the “outdoor yard space of Love Bucket, a bike helmet and skateboard manufacturer.” It will offer live music, and include food carts and a shipping container bar.

March 3, 2023March 3, 2023

Four Things I Learned This Week (March 3)

Jubilee Hall’s grand opening is tomorrow. This new coffee house in east Portland been in soft opening mode and now they are ready to make it official with their grand opening! Stop by tomorrow, Saturday March 4 for a ribbon cutting at 10am. Door prizes and a raffle are happening as well as free drip coffee and chai all day. 12175 E Burnside Street, Portland

March is St. Joseph’s Day pastry month at Bella Italian Bakery. Many who know me are aware of my love of St. Joseph’s Day pastries—zeppoli and sfingi, which I first learned about from the Sicilian community in Astoria, Queens. So you can imagine my delight in seeing Bella Italian Bakery in Lents offering zeppoli all month long, not just on March 19 (St. Joseph Day). From the bakery: “Give us a call to pre-order (and it’s a good idea if you’re looking for a larger order of them). If we don’t have them available that day, we can probably arrange another day for you to pick-up!” Bottom line: yum. 9119 SE Woodstock Blvd, Portland

Madman Popup on Monday, March 7. Get your local Trini food on Monday from Madman Popup, who is popping up at Rangoon Bistro from 4pm to sold out. He’s making doubles (curried chickpeas), aloo pie (potato and curried chickpeas), and bake and shark (fried bread and skate wing). His food is delicious, so if you can check it out, do! 2311 SE 50th Avenue, Portland

Updates on the Doug Fir Lounge move. This week Jupiter Hotel sent a press release out (though it never made it to our inbox) confirming Doug Fir Lounge’s move. The Oregonian, Willamette Week, and Eater have additional info related to that.

We know that you will able to see shows at Doug Fir at its current location at 830 East Burnside until the end of the summer. Then they will move to the old Le Bistro Montage space at 304 SE Morrison. New to me: Live music will be their laser-focus, with little to do with food and drink. I was curious last week about what was going to happen in the vacated Jupiter space; Portland Business Journal via KGW wrote, “The [Jupiter] property is working with Urban Works Real Estate as it determines the next uses for the music venue and restaurant/bar above it.” There’s been some concern expressed online about accessibility with that Le Bistro Montage space, too, and it will be good to hear what the overall plans are regarding that and myriad other things, which should come out later this month.

Bonus: These crocheted spam musubi at Ohana Hawaiian Cafe on NE Sandy Blvd are freaking adorable. $10/each. 6320 NE Sandy Blvd, Portland

March 2, 2023March 2, 2023

The Ranger Station Has Closed

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Photo credit: The Ranger Station

In my inbox was the news from a Bridgetown Bites reader that The Ranger Station has closed as of March 1, 2023. They directed me to the bar’s announcement on Instagram: “Hey Friends! We want to thank everyone for a great 9 years (yes 9!) on 43rd and Hawthorne. As of March 1st we will no longer be at this location.”

March 1, 2023March 1, 2023

Top 5 Posts on Bridgetown Bites, February 2023

It was another strong month for the blog, with over 12,000 page views in February 2023. I’m delighted to see traffic still heading to this article about the My-O-My bar, a warm, cozy place where I took a break from the snow last week. Facebook was a huge referrer for the Three Fifty Cafe post—whose grand opening is this Friday, March 3 (stop in if you can!), delayed one week because of the snow. The story about the Heist food cart pod was at the top of the list, which I didn’t expect, but a broad range of referrers made it so.

Last Friday I broke the news about the Doug Fir Lounge moving later this year, and I’m grateful for the referrers—Eater, Willamette Week, and Reddit; @maccoinnich on Twitter shared the news, too. I saw the KOIN reported on it, too. It will be interesting to see how that all unfolds.

Thanks, as always, for reading!

5. The My-O-My Arrives on NE Sandy Blvd This Summer

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Yesterday I published a speculative post about the old Rocky Butte Pub space on NE Sandy near 86th Ave. Fortunately, a reader tipped me off to what is actually going in there: the new place will be called the My-O-My ,”Your Favorite Bar East of 82nd.” The folks from the White Owl Social Club are behind it.