Portland food news and views
Pho DaLat turns ten. If you drive east on Sandy past 205 into Parkrose, no doubt you’ve seen this Vietnamese restaurant on the south side of NE Sandy Blvd and NE 103rd. They’ve been around for ten years, though I always had the impression it was longer than that. They are celebrating their 10th anniversary all throughout December by giving you 10% off your bill. 10232 NE Sandy Blvd, Portland
Continue reading “Small Bites: Pho DaLat, Speedboat Coffee, Tamales and Other Portland Food News”Montelupo expandes to Sellwood. Now we have two great Italian businesses expanding “down south” to Sellwood! First Sebastiano’s, now Montelupo. According to reporting in The O, they “will expand with a new market for Italian pantry goods, focaccia sandwiches and Roman-style pizza, opening as soon as August.” Looks like it will be in the old Baes Chicken location. 1613 SE Bybee Blvd, Portland
Speaking of Sebastiano’s—Apertivo returns! Dan and Elise share that they have decided to bring back Apertivo this year, on Fridays during August. It’s dubbed “Hot Arancini Nights.” On Fridays from 4pm-7pm they are frying up deliciousness in the Seb’s Party Wagon, including sfinci donuts with blood orange curd. “We’ll also have some light salads featuring farm-fresh, peak season tomatoes, hand-pulled mozzarella, fresh focaccia, olives, and of course our fun drink program with Sebastiano Spritz, Sicilian wine by the glass, and non-alcoholic options.” It’s only in August, so stop on by soon. 411 SE 81st Avenue, Portland
Woodsman Tavern will close. The final day of service will be Sunday, August 20 … in their current incarnation. Apparently they will return and are “developing a new concept to share with you soon enough.” I’ll miss their wedge salad and roast chicken. 4537 SE Division Street, Portland
Spanish olive oil cake special at Reeva. This terrific cart in Roseway makes delicious pizza and salads and their Spanish olive oil cake looks absolutely fantastic. 7727 NE Sandy Blvd, Portland
Vietnamese pop-up at White Owl Social Club. Anh Tran (of Yen Ha and Hey Chaudy fame) and Momma Le are doing a popup of Vietnamese food, “Chém Gió” (“slang for ‘shoot the breeze’ and sometimes make things up to create a fun conversation”). It started yesterday, April 13 and goes until Sunday, April 16. Times are: Friday/Saturday 4pm to 1am, Sunday 3pm to 11pm. Looks like a variety of things—fried eats and pho (vegan pho options Sunday only). So stop on by! More in this video. 1305 SE 8th Avenue, Portland
Jerry’s Tavern is getting to closer to real. Jerry posted on his Instagram that he has a new location (lots of speculation favoring NW Portland, but nothing solid in that department right now), with a hopeful-projected opening of fall 2023. Jerry started out selling his Midwest tavern-style pies during the pandemic and they were a hit. I hope this next step in the process of making his pizzeria a reality goes smoothly.
Get a lasagna for tonight from Montelupo. Starting this week they will have take and bake lasagnas in their deli case. What a great solution for dinner, and I’m happy to see the lasagna offerings in this city expand. 344 NE 28th Avenue, Portland
Get your Mission-style burritos in PDX May 1. Myrtle’s, self-described as “most known unknown burritos in PDX,” is doing their Mission-style burrito popup next at Beulahland on Monday, May 1 at 5pm. Keep an eye on their stories and account for any updates (here’s a screenshot of the Story page). So often I miss their pop-ups, so I’m putting this here to do all of us a favor. 118 NE 28th Avenue, Portland
MidCity SmashBurger must leave its Stark Street digs. Looks like MidCity SmashBurger, which has had their cart serving “smashy bois” on Stark Street for a couple of years now, is going to have to move. “We are beginning a move to create space for a new pod which has certain requirements for cart owners and I do not meet the proper ‘owner criteria.'”
I noticed back in January that there was something going on at that location but beyond there being a new food cart pod arriving and improvements to the building, that’s all I knew. In late July, PoMo wrote an article about the newcomers taking over the space—a pod that will be operated by BIPOC and LGBTQ restaurant owners. The building will be home to the incoming Fracture taphouse, and that building will provide indoor seating for the pod adjacent, called Lil’ America.
MidCity will be looking for a new location—lots of fan suggestions in this Instagram post’s comments, but the PoMo article indicates “just a block away.” And it will have to happen by end of summer if the projected opening of Lil’ America happens in September as they would like. MidCity SmashBurger’s Cartside and Bend locations are staying put. 1015 SE Stark Street, Portland
Montelupo Market offers pasta night tote bags. For $65 you get “everything you need for a pasta night at home, ready to grab and go.” That includes a box of their house dried pasta, jarred sauce, wine & olive oil, all pre-loaded into a toma-tote. Nice. 344 NE 28th Avenue, Portland
Bag-O-Crab is open in Portland. Occupying what was the Original Taco House (locals still lament its closing) and more recently El Palenque (sadly, closed during the panedmic), Bag-O-Crab is now open in that space. They are a franchise, established in 2010 and have locations in CA and WA, and bring all sorts of seafood yums to the table—here’s their introduction:
“In Bag O’ Crab, you can enjoy a wide range of selected seafood including Dungeness Crab, Lobster, Shrimp, Crawfish and more in family inherited receipts. These seafoods are handpicked every day to ensure the highest standard is provided to our customers. Don’t like the seafood? Sorry to hear that. Although Seafood is our specialty, we also have something for you! Our Cajun style wings and Grill beef short ribs with French fries are gorgeous! And you can always explore the menu for more!” 3255 NE 82nd Avenue, Portland
Portland Polish Festival—on, then off again. The Portland Polish Festival, arguably one of the most beloved and popular cultural festivals in Portland, was planning on coming back after being on hiatus during the pandemic. However, they have since changed their minds. On their Facebook page they posted, “The Portland Polish Festival will not be held in September 2022 in our North Portland Neighborhood due to unforeseen circumstances (primarily related to safety concerns associated with the homeless encampment located in our neighborhood).”
They are, however, planning a smaller event—perhaps Dozynki, like last year? I’ll keep an eye on it. If you’re interested in knowing about other cultural festivals in the area, keep this list handy.
Capitola Coffee’s new location.
Although this has been a light content week, a variety of tidbits crossed my desk this week, so instead of Four Things for Friday, here are some small bites.
Celebrate with Capitola tonight. Capitola Coffee is hosting an open house party tonight: “Hey friends we are hosting an open house along with Waechter Architecture to launch the opening of our new space. We hope you can stop by on Friday, July 8 from 6 pm to midnight.” This is kind of a big deal, as Capitola is located in an all wood CLT building. Their soft opening is planned for mid-July with full opening in August. 4224 N Mississippi Avenue, Portland
Continue reading “Small Bites – Kolaches, Arrowood, Pix Patisserie, Snackfest, and More”