Small Bites: Next Level Veggie Grill, Soulful Sips, Cliff’s, and More

The spread at Next Level Veggie Grill. Photo credit: Next Level Veggie Grill.

Next Level Burger relaunches as Next Level Veggie Grill. I saw this pass through an influencer email list I’m on, but saw that Rachel Saslow at Willamette Week covered the change. Basically, last year Next Level Burger acquired Veggie Grill, a fast-casual vegan competitor of theirs, and had a business baby. Now there’s burgers and bowls, and much, more. It kind of reminds me of Laughing Planet.

The first location to transform will be on SE Hawthorne and 42nd Avenue, with a grand opening party this Saturday, October 25 from 11am to 1pm. Read more on WW. 4121 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland

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Mother’s Day 2025 in Portland

"MOTHER" for Mother's Day 2025 in Portland.

Mother’s Day 2025 is almost upon us! From brunch to take-home meal kits to locally-made syrups, here are a variety of food-focused activities for the day this year. And a great way to celebrate mom this year.

Amaterra

This year is their second annual Mother’s Day Brunch. It’s a buffet and costs $76 for adults and $39 for children 12 and under. Look for classic breakfast items, savory treats, desserts, coffee, and assorted teas. They will also be a custom Bloody-Mary bar, Mimosas, and Amaterra’s wines, available for additional purchase. Reserve here

8150 SW Swede Hl Drive, Portland. Amaterra website

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Zero Proof Portland: Dry January 2025

No Regerts zero proof cocktail from The Pocket Pub.
No Regerts zero proof cocktail from The Pocket Pub.

Welcome to Dry January 2025. It’s no secret that I’m a big non-alcoholic cocktail fan—AKA mocktails, dry cocktails, zero-proof, no proof. I gave up alcohol in 2018 during breast cancer treatment and I never looked back. So the growth of a robust zero-proof cocktail scene in Portland makes me pretty happy—as well as better access to NA beer. And know many readers here are also fans of this development.

Here’s our 2025 roundup of places that serve non-alcoholic cocktails, beer, and more in Portland, suitable for Dry January (or really any time). Our criteria is that a bar or restaurant has at least four developed mocktails. And if not, they offer other interesting NA options aside from mocktails and beer—they could be juices, teas, etc. We’ve also done the math and found that on the average, a non-alcoholic mixed drink runs about $8 each.

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