The subject line puts it out there: The Arbor Lodge Coffee and Community Space, which is closed right now, and will re-open as Futura Coffee Roasters. This will become the second location for Futura, which opened up in the northern reaches of Montavilla about a year ago (in 2022).
Earlier this month I mentioned that a new Vietnamese restaurant, Pho Le Nguyen, was opening in the old Catalina’s space on NE Sandy Blvd. Turns out they opened last week on February 14 and are running a special until this Friday, February 24.
The speculation is over—the old Prescott Cafe, which closed at the end of September 2022, is not being razed for housing but is being reborn into Three Fifty Cafe, a new bakery and shop (which looks like it started as a home-based bakery where you order then pick up baked goods at the baker’s home; it was a very popular kind of commerce during the pandemic). They will sell Vietnamese food and drink. More specifically, to quote their Facebook page, they are “offering a unique blend of traditional and modern Vietnamese flavors.”
A Bridgetown Bites tipster send me this yesterday: “I just walked by Bar Dune on E Burnside, who’s been closed for some time. On the door there’s a handwritten sign that says ‘USPS, please deliver mail to Sizzle Pie-Charliebird.'” At first I thought this was a project from Sizzle Pie but my updated guess is that they are doing a solid for Charliebird (638 E Burnside Street) and receiving their mail, for whatever reason.
Charliebird appears to be a new restaurant from Collin Nicholas, a local “bar veteran” according to Eater, so no doubt the cocktail program will be very good. Last spring, Eater also said this about Nicholas, “The current owner and manager of the electrifying Pearl District cocktail bar Pink Rabbit, he also helped open the Hoxton Hotel’s three bars, developed the cocktail program at G-Love’s opening, and managed operations for Bamboo Sushi.”
Filed state records indicate his “fearless partner, ” realtor Lauren Hasson, is on record for being behind this new spot. The two of them will no doubt bring something beautiful to the old Bar Dune space. I really enjoyed my time at Bar Dune and am sorry to see it has shuttered. As for Charliebird (Named after Charlie Parker? That’s the first thing that comes to mind), not much is online about it and their Instagram is in the first baby steps of a holding pattern. I’ll keep an eye on it.
I’ve recently become aware of a new Mexican cafe and cantina that is opening on NE Sandy Blvd in the old Gravy space. Named Alux Mexican Cafe & Cantina, it will offer Mexican food, drink, and enjoyment in the Bindery Building on the edge of the Kerns neighborhood.