Easter 2025 in Portland

A vintage Easter scene with a rabbit and what looks like a gnome with the words, Sincere Easter Wishes for Easter 2025.

This year, both Easter and Orthodox Easter fall on Sunday, April 20, with Holy Week starting Sunday, April 13. It is very uncommon for the two to land on the same day. But regardless of your level of religiosity, Easter can be a sweet time: Brunch, holiday candy, wine, and feeling grateful for spring are All Good Things. After all, Easter’s spring placement has origins in Oestre/Eostre, who is goddess of spring and fertility. 

Here is where you can enjoy Easter’s tasty charms in Portland

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Small Bites: Wonderlove Is Open, Portland Taco Ride, Top Portland Pizzas, and More

The space that is Wonderlove.
Behold, Wonderlove. Photo credit: Wonderlove

Wonderlove is open (partially). This is good news—the SE Portland food cart/bar/entertainment venue Wonderlove is open! A post on Instagram about a week ago goes like this:

“So excited to partially open! 11am-7pm. The first stage of our amazing journey starts now with opening (a few )of our fantastic food carts! And that’s not all—we’re also serving adult beverages out of the Wondercat Pizza Cart! Stay tuned because the Wonderlove Bar is the second act, and it’s coming soon!” 262 SE Main Street, Portland

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Four Things I Learned This Week (June 7)

It’s National Donut Day today! Here’s a map of donut shops in Portland.

OX is closed until July. A Bridgetown Bites tipster sent me this note earlier this week: “OX is closed until Jul 1st. They cancelled all reservations. We drove past it last night and it is fenced off.” The website says, “Ox Restaurant is currently closed for repairs.” Back in March, OX had a fire that “started in the flue of the grill in the first level and extended into the roof structure.” There are a bunch of permits filed with the city for repairs, including work on the roof, ductwork, exhaust, piping, and a new kitchen fire suppression system. We wish them only the best as they work on fixes in order to reopen in a few weeks. 2225 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, Portland

Ranch Pizza and LoRo Coffee are open in Montavilla. They opened their doors yesterday, Thursday, June 6. Taking residence in the former Hungry Heart location, Ranch and LoRo are splitting the space, with coffee in the mornings and pizza later in the day. I stopped in this morning and had a really nice iced latte with almond milk and a piece of their bacon-cheese-potato focaccia. This is a nice addition to the neighborhood. Bonus: I noticed that a beacon light crosswalk is in process of being installed there at Stark and SE 80th Avenue! 7940 SE Stark Street, Portland

Check out the pre-Father’s Day artisan market at STEELPORT Knives this weekend. This is the fourth year they’ve done this event and the place will be full of knives for sale, vendors, music, free custom engravings, a raffle, and more. On the edible side of things look for Flying Fish Co, Jacobsen Salt Co, Kachka, Olympia Provisions, Puff Coffee, Smith Teamaker, The Flavor Society, Vorfruede Dairy Beef, Westward Whiskey, and Wilderton. 1pm to 4pm at their space on NE Sandy Blvd. More details on their Facebook event page. 3602 NE Sandy Blvd, Suite B, Portland

The final countdown is on for JaCiva’s Bakery. Their final day will be Saturday, June 29. About nine months ago the word came out that they were going to close. They continued going, but time is up. They posted on Instagram, “Our building is still for sale but we can no longer realistically operate in a way that is beneficial to both our staff and our customers.”

They added: “Thank you so much for nearly 40 beautiful years. Thank you for allowing us to be apart of your most cherished memories as you celebrated birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, and all of life’s milestones. We have loved making your lives a little sweeter. We are not taking any preorders at this time. All items are first come first served. Please stay tuned on our social media accounts and our website for any updates as we navigate these final weeks. We love you!” 4733 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland


Stories you may have missed this week on Bridgetown Bites:

Ole Frijole Has Closed
Strawberry Shortcake Week Is Coming
Nate’s Oatmeal Cookies Opens June 7 on SE Belmont

More on What Is DBA Altropino

summer-sausage-olympia-provisions-portland-oregon

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.)

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Four Things I Learned This Week (February 10)

New menu at Cloud Pine Tea + Culture. This lovely little tea house in Milwaukie put out a new menu last week and it looks delicious. Particularly appealing are the Giant Chicken, Orange Peel, and Shiitake Mushroom Meatballs; Flatbread with Curried Beef; and Steamed BBQ Pork Buns. They also have a seasonal drink menu (I’ll take the Treasure Tea) and some snacks. The full menu is on their website, but you can also find it on Facebook and Instagram. 10835 SE Main Street, Milwaukie

Handmade noodle alert. The Hazelwood Neighborhood Association tells us that an “amazing” new Chinese restaurant has opened up in the neighborhood called Remember Spirits & Restaurant. It occupies the former Cleary’s Sports Bar space. And apparently they serve handmade noodles, and dishes are made from scratch. Certainly intriguing. 12429 NE Glisan Street, Portland

Pho Le Nguyen is opening in Parkrose. A new Vietnamese restaurant is going to open in the old Catalina’s Mexican restaurant space on NE Sandy Blvd (not too far from O’Dear and the Parkrose Marketplace). They’ve been working in there, signage is up, and we eagerly wait to see what they offer (besides the obvious pho). It makes me happy to see that space occupied. 10902 NE Sandy Blvd, Portland

Altropino? State records indicates something called Altropino is connected to the Grand Stark Hotel and Olympia Provisions (they are considered the “licensee” for Altropino). While doing a little research on this, I learned that the Grand Stark Deli has closed (old news, yes; I loved their space and avocado toast) and when it comes to looking up dining options at the hotel, you get this message: “Stay tuned for more information on a new dining concept at Hotel Grand Stark.”

Could that be a new eatery from the masters of sustainably-sourced cured meats and sausages? Does “altropino” mean “the other pine” or “to the Tropino”? Time has been my nemesis this week, but I’ll look into it some more. Of course, shoot me an email if you know any details. 509 SE Grand Avenue, Portland