Tag: burgers

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Four Things I Learned This Week (August 26)

hit the spot! opens their first brick & mortar next week. Very happy for hit the spot!, a popular burger cart known for burgers with many patties, as well as their charitable interests, that made it to their first restaurant space. Their grand opening is going to be Wednesday, August 31 at 11am. “Enjoy the cheeseburger you’ve loved along with fried chicken sandwiches, cheese fries, milkshakes and brews.” 676 SE Morrison, Portland

Sayler’s gets some Feast love. Although Feast is known for its spendy festival and obsession with personalities of the Portland restaurant world, I was happy to see them give some love to Sayler’s Old Country Kitchen in east Portland. It’s been around for decades, is a shining example of the best of “old Portland,” and has a diehard fan base. From Feast:

“From the hottest new opening in the city, we turn our attention to what is among the city’s most venerable dining institutions: Sayler’s Old Country Kitchen. Opened in 1946 by brothers Art and Dick Sayler, the restaurant was founded around the maxim of offering a “quality steak dinner at prices that even the common man could afford.” Today, the restaurant is still owned and operated by the Sayler family, overseen in this, its 76th year in business, by third generation proprietors Bryan and David Sayler.”

Read more here. 10519 SE Stark Street, Portland

Lovely’s Fifty Fifty is coming to Netflix. The news has been spreading around Portland food media but I want to take some space and time to congratulate Sarah Minnick, the force behind Lovely’s Fifty Fifty, for being featured on “Chef’s Table: Pizza” on Netflix. I consider Lovely’s Fifty Fifty to be the best representative of a “Portland-style” pizza. I love her use of seasonal ingredients and lots of vegetables. The pizzas are delicious. You can watch “Chef’s Table: Pizza” on September 7, 2022 on Netflix. 4039 N Mississippi Avenue, Portland

Poor Richard’s in the news (so random). Willamette Week ran a story last week about the Poor Richard’s space, which closed in 2011. In 2019 I noticed activity inside, and had great hopes for a reopening of something great, but learned that it was going to be used for a Bank of America expansion (administrative needs, not customer space). A lot of Portland old-timers lament the shuttering of PR’s and remember the twofer fondly—two-for-one dinners featuring the iconic American dinner plate of steak, baked potato, onion rings, and salad.

As for what’s more current, it looks like they wanted to put up a new BofA sign (permit is still listed as Pending). Portland maps indicates it will be, “59.9 square feet with the following dimensions: 18′-11″ wide by 3′-2″ tall.” 3907 NE Broadway

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Four Things I Learned This Week (August 12)

Kachka pelmeni (frozen) at New Seasons. In the ICYMI category, Kachka’s delicious pelmeni are available in your local New Seasons frozen food aisle. Personally, I love the cherry ones in particular, but they are all good. Various locations in the greater Portland area

Burger Week is bigger than ever this year. The Portland Mercury presents its Burger Week event again this summer. It runs from Monday, August 15 to Sunday, August 21; there are 48 different burgers to eat and they will cost you eight dollars each. See what burgers will be available, here—there will be  vegetarian / vegan options, gluten-free options, and takeout options. There’s a lot of really good looking burgers this year. Various locations around Portland

Pacific Crust Pizza Company has closed. For whatever reason, Portland pizza news is big right now (Handsome Pizza and Hogan’s Goat closing have been on our radar). Another one bites the dust, as they say: Pacific Crust Pizza Company, which was located in the Hotel Lucia, called it quits in downtown Portland and are moving on to a new home (where, is still a mystery as of this writing). It just wasn’t a good fit for the more urban downtown, as their vibe is about the outdoors and recreational camping—Willamette Week reported, “We’re looking to reopen soon in a space that allows us to have outdoor fire pits, picnic tables and true outdoor vibes to fit our brand better.” Destination unknown

Company Bar is now open. A new natural wine bar, Company, opened recently and had their opening event last weekend. From the event post: “Tucked away in a parking lot just off Belmont, Company is Portland’s newest garage bar. We’ll be serving a selection of natural wine glass pours and Modelo. They kicked off the party Friday night (8/5) in the afternoon “with Yawning and DJ Mr. Mumu spinning ’70’s soul and funk vinyl.” They are pretty excited to be there. Nearby neighbors include spots we’ve featured on this blog: Old Pal and Sugar Hill, and they are right next door to Lilith Rocket Ceramics studio. Looks like a nice addition to the neighborhood. 916 SE 34th Avenue, Suite B, Portland

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An Update on Portland’s First Five Guys

Five Guys in the Lloyd District in Portland, Oregon.
Storefront of the Lloyd Five Guys

Back in January, I wrote about the first ever Five Guys Burgers & Fries coming to Portland, setting up shop in the old Prime Rib + Chocolate Cake space in Lloyd Station on NE Broadway. Bottom line: opening of this location is slated for end of May 2022. I’ve been in touch with their community outreach coordinator, who confirms it. Update 6/13/22: I spoke to the on-site manager at the Lloyd District location over the weekend and he confirmed the updated opening date as Friday, June 17, 2022.

Continue reading “An Update on Portland’s First Five Guys”
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Four Things I Learned This Week (April 22)

Happy Earth Day! 🌎

Hit the Spot will move on from their burger cart and open a restaurant in SE Portland. They posted on their social media this week: “We got some big news y’all! Just signed the lease and got the keys for our new restaurant. It is located at 676 SE Morrison St. It was most recently BrunchBox! It’s only 5 minutes from our current location. We’ll be open early summer!” They are also selling their cart for $50K. I’ll be sorry to see them leave their location on NE Sandy Blvd, but the restaurant sounds like progress. 676 SE Morrison Street, Portland

Jollibee is coming. Willamette Week first reported on this—they spotted a listing for the Filipino fast food giant in the mall directory of the Tanasbourne Village mall in Hillsboro. This is a big deal; Jollibee is a big deal. Yes, the chicken is a huge draw but the sweet Jolly Spaghetti with hot dogs is truly legendary; be sure to try the halo halo, too. I love the big red bee mascot. Now if only Red Ribbon Bakery would open a location in our area. NW 185th Avenue & NW Evergreen Pkwy, Hillsboro

Division Midway Alliance features Sunbela. The March DMA newsletter has a great blurb on Sunbela, the excellent Iraqi bakery and restaurant on Division near SE 125th. I stopped by recently and let me tell you, this place is terrific. I love this quote from Faten, Sunbela’s owner: “I opened this restaurant so that our community feels a sense of belonging in the new country. Food brings people together and it’s a way to celebrate life and culture. I am happy when community members tell me how much they like the food.” Definitely check it out. 12503 SE Division Street D, Portland

The Record Pub will open in Sellwood. While I was meeting a friend for breakfast at Bastion this week, I noticed a sign up in a nearby storefront for The Record Pub. I know very little about them, aside from their offerings of “Records. Tapes. Beer. Gear. Experience.” I’m definitely curious about the beer (their liquor license application doesn’t mention anything about food). It could be a pretty awesome spot to meet up for some pints and tunes. I’ll see what else I can find out (and if you know anything, send me a tip). 6034 SE Milwaukie Avenue, Portland

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Four Things I Learned This Week (April 15)

Gartner’s interior is closing for a bit. Gartner’s Country Meat Market in Cully is going to close their shop space for 3 to 4 weeks starting this coming Monday, April 18. They’ll be working on some upgrades and maintenance on the interior, but curbside pickup and local delivery will still go on. Good luck to them with all the new changes. 7450 NE Killingsworth Street, Portland

News to me: Decarli is moving. It’s probably old news but I just learned this week that Beaverton restaurant Decarli will be moving to the old Hometown Buffet space on Southwest Hall Blvd. The new space is larger than they need now but it allows them room to grow. The move is slated for “spring 2022,” according to their website, so they should be there any time now. 4545 SW Watson Avenue, Beaverton (currently), 3790 SW Hall Blvd, Beaverton (future)

Dick’s Primal Burger is now open on N Williams. I was sorry to see Dick’s Primal Burger leave Cully, but that’s how things go sometimes. They are now open in their new N. Williams home and will be open from 11am to 9pm “every damn day.” Get yourself a bag of Dick’s, North Portland! Now… to find out what’s going to happen to their old space in Cully. 4120 N Williams Avenue, Portland

Update on Grant Park food carts. From the GPNA newsletter: “The 6-cart food cart pod at 3505 NE Broadway is currently on hold. However, the permit for the 12-cart food cart pod at 3550 NE Broadway (formerly Burger King) is expected to be approved in the next month
or two. The architect says that construction on that pod will begin as soon as the permit is in hand, with an opening expected in late spring or early summer.”

Bonus: Remember that Rabbit Hole in Montavilla is having their soft opening tomorrow, Saturday April 16. And in Sellwood, Maeve’s grand opening party is also on Saturday, April 16 from 4-8pm.

I also want to acknowledge three important faith holidays around this time: Ramadan, Passover, and Easter (4/17 for the Western church and 4/24 for the Orthodox church). So I send my greetings out to those of you who celebrate: Ramadan Mubarak, Happy Passover/Chag Sameach, and Happy Easter!